Why are there so many bad drivers on the motorway

fez · 2 Jan 2017 at 11:54

So they are going to allow motorway driving for learner drivers which I guess might be a good thing but my mind is constantly boggled at the utterly **** driving that you constantly see on the motorway.

People going at 50 in the inside lane.

People sitting in the middle lane with absolutely no traffic around.

People sitting in the outside lane on dual carriageways for miles in the outside lane or even better, just sitting alongside someone in the inside lane for miles so you can't overtake.

People who wait behind a slow moving vehicle when the road is clear but decide that they will pull out into your lane when you are about to fly past them and force you to slam on your brakes.

Our motorways and dual carriageways are busy at the best of times but I reckon at least half the time the congestion is caused by bad driving.

When 90% of the cars are in the outside lane there is something wrong. I know there are people who are bad at driving whatever road they are on but its almost as if as as soon as people get on the motorway they just switch off their brains. Personally I think driving on the motorway is far easier that on small roads because you aren't worried about someone opening their door onto you, people stepping out into the road or someone doing something ridiculous at a roundabout.

So why do people have such an issue on motorways? You would think that going at a speed that is likely to kill if you crash would make people more observant.

Orionaut · 2 Jan 2017 at 11:59

fez said:
People going at 50 in the inside lane.

.

You do realise that many fleet operated light goods vehicles are governed by their operating companies to just over 50 dont you.

Rilot · 2 Jan 2017 at 12:00

TBF I think the standard of motorway driving in general is fine. I see far worse in towns and on single-carriageway roads.

shauncr91 · 2 Jan 2017 at 12:05

Because people aren't taught how to drive on the motorway and so the vast majority of the population just wing it for years without having a clue what they are doing, to a lot of people operating the car they are in is about 4th on their list of priorities so they aren't aware of the carnage they are causing around them.

stewski · 2 Jan 2017 at 12:09

I agree motorways (well the M40 especially) generally are better safer roads.

That said If I have a pet peeve it's: Drivers who "teach" other drivers to change down lane, well those who seem to think "teaching" the lesson is important enough to do during high traffic situations, where I'd argue changing lane often isn't even advisable.

Rroff · 2 Jan 2017 at 12:12

Its one thing I've wondered about perspective wise - much of my earlier life I spent a lot of time travelling on the motorway - doing either the M3-M25 or M5 every few days so it is almost second nature to me while some people I grew up with had never even been on a motorway or only experience was from the odd segment in a TV show or the odd summer holiday :S

fez · 2 Jan 2017 at 12:25

Orionaut said:
You do realise that many fleet operated light goods vehicles are governed by their operating companies to just over 50 dont you.

Yep, thats not what I am talking about however. Its people in their cars sitting in the inside lane doing 50 completely oblivious to anything around them.

Rroff said:
Its one thing I've wondered about perspective wise - much of my earlier life I spent a lot of time travelling on the motorway - doing either the M3-M25 or M5 every few days so it is almost second nature to me while some people I grew up with had never even been on a motorway or only experience was from the odd segment in a TV show or the odd summer holiday :S

I drive on the motorways perhaps twice a week but its literally the easiest form of driving to do. You could explain how to drive on a motorway to a complete idiot in 5 minutes and if they did what they were told they would be totally fine and not cause any issues.

new boy · 2 Jan 2017 at 13:57

Its normally fine until the summer holidays when you get caravans and people who only travel on the motorway once a year to go camping, then the quality of driving gets a bit questionable.

Kanpai · 2 Jan 2017 at 14:32

The thing that annoys me most is when people don't indicate and keep cutting lanes.

Oh and the idiots driving so slow and can't keep in lane straight (usually both cases explained by driving past them to be on their phones!)

Rroff · 2 Jan 2017 at 14:34

The one that gets me the most is when the weather closes in - you can't see 20 feet ahead yet ~~people~~ muppets still plow on at 80+ MPH. See it on the M6 time after time and so often is the cause of accidents.

Teknobry · 2 Jan 2017 at 15:22

There is no driving test for motorways and I doubt many new drivers ever do a pass plus motorway course. How many will pick stuff up from their parents, who still refer to the 1st lane as the 'slow' lane? Also if you're unsure the trick seems to be get in the middle lane and just follow the car in front until you get to your exit.

Highly annoying to those who have good motorway awareness and etiquette!

Dav4 · 2 Jan 2017 at 15:28

Was thinking of starting a thread like this op you've saved me a job. The standard of driving on the motorways lately seems to be getting worse and worse.
Just now on my way home I've had at least 10 cars fly past me going way over 100 and an idiot in an Insignia must have been going about 120mph and rather than slow down decides to cut right across into the inside lane to undertake about 5 cars and then goes right across to the outside lane again :eek:

I've also had an awful lot of people pulling out on me in the outside lane lately they seem to think they can move the second they put the indicator on rather than waiting to access the situation and speed of the approaching driver.
Considering we can now be fined for middle lane hogging aswell it seems to be worse than ever with idiots on empty motorways just plodding along in the middle lane when there's nothing on the inside.

Marvin · 2 Jan 2017 at 15:53

In these threads there always seems to be the suggestion that new drivers are the ones who are worse. In my experience, those with the worst lane discipline are not those who have just passed or in the first years of driving. The driving test and theory test are more difficult and stringent now than at any time in the past, yet apparently the test needs to become harder (which I don't necessarily disagree with)? Care to explain - it makes no logical sense?

Orionaut · 2 Jan 2017 at 15:55

fez said:
Yep, thats not what I am talking about however. Its people in their cars sitting in the inside lane doing 50 completely oblivious to anything around them.

What makes you think they are oblivious

I must confess to being "One of those people"

Far from being oblivious, I am very aware that the difference between cruising at 50 and cruising at 70 is the difference between about 25MPG and 37MPG (4.2TD LC80, Yes really, I have measured it)

On the journey from SW Surrey to Yorkshire and back that is about £30 difference.

On the round trip I suppose it only adds about 20-30 mins each way in practice (You can cruise at 50 for hours at a time, cruising at 70 is unlikely to be continuous. You are much more likely to have to change speed from time to time and that really kills Hypermiling and overall average speed)

£30Hr after tax is far more than I make, so it makes sense to drive slower and make the saving.

Lima · 2 Jan 2017 at 15:56

If the insignia managed to undertake 5 cars it sounds like the motorway was filled with morons with no lane discipline and he got wound up by it. Were you one of the 5 cars he undertook?

shifty_uk · 2 Jan 2017 at 18:04

Motorways are generally ok Monday-Friday, its the weekend warriors in their shopping trolleys you need to watch out for. Folks who are use to driving to and from the school gates and only venture onto the motorway once in a blue moon are the worst.

Dav4 · 2 Jan 2017 at 19:17

Lima said:
If the insignia managed to undertake 5 cars it sounds like the motorway was filled with morons with no lane discipline and he got wound up by it. Were you one of the 5 cars he undertook?

I was going more than fast enough in the outside lane and seen him approaching at a ridiculous speed so moved over to the middle lane when he flew past me then when the other cars in the outside and middle lane's wouldn't move over he swerved across two lane's to undertake then back out to the outside.
You sound like your defending the drivers actions :eek:

everyone was doing 70 ish so it's not like anyone was holding him up.
I see drivers on my commute everyday travelling at way over 100mph on busy motorways without a care in the world as there is never any police around anymore

new boy · 2 Jan 2017 at 19:35

What makes you think they are going over 100mph? I see lots at 90, some at 95 but almost never see anyone going 100mph+ due to fear of instant ban I presume

Dav4 · 2 Jan 2017 at 19:39

new boy said:
What makes you think they are going over 100mph? I see lots at 90, some at 95 but almost never see anyone going 100mph+ due to fear of instant ban I presume

If I'm occasionally doing silly speeds myself and someone shoots past me and dissapears then they are obviously doing a considerably faster speed than me which makes it easy to gauge they are easily doing over 100

Scania · 2 Jan 2017 at 19:54

shifty_uk said:
Motorways are generally ok Monday-Friday, its the weekend warriors in their shopping trolleys you need to watch out for. Folks who are use to driving to and from the school gates and only venture onto the motorway once in a blue moon are the worst.

Agree with this, I've just driven from Stoke in Trent to Magor, South Wales and it took nigh on two hours to get from M6Jct 15 (my depot) to Jct 8, the M6/M5 junction, it's usually around an hour on a Monday starting at my usual time which I did today, the main difference today was the vast majority of traffic was plainly non commercial,very few trucks hardly any vans and the usual flood of BMW 520d company cars was noticeable by their absence.

I saw no accidents on the way but umpteen near misses caused by clearly clueless drivers changing lane for no reason or without indicating and many many cars so crammed full of tat that the driver couldn't see what was going on around him.
The carriageway barely got flowing at all before some numpty did something that caused a ripple effect of braking and ground everything to a halt, repeatedly.

Whilst as a Stobart driver I'm very used to people tooting and waving, it was very noticeable today that a lot of the wavers and tooters were clearly surprised to see a Stobart truck and acted accordingly, any regular motorway user (certainly on the M6,M1 and M25) know very well you almost can't not see numerous of us!

- a regular occurrence and nothing out of the ordinary....

It's always the same at holiday periods, and weekends- but not to so great an extent - I'll be happy when the holiday season is passed and the regular motorway users are back in the majority.

Inexperience and motorways are a bad mix and entirely why the government proposes to allow learners to get experience of them.