Standard of driving in the UK going downhill.

[cheesefest]

A couple of roads have service roads designed for people living/going to properties down it. In stop/start traffic, get some ***** that go down the service road to bypass the traffic. When I approach the exit to service road, I get into a position so anyone who used the service road can’t get in front of me.

A couple of years ago, there’s a service road which also has a through road going down to a small estate. The exit of the service road was blocked due to roadworks. Found it hilarious when ***** had to go through the estate to exit as service road is one way…. Justice

 

[Resident]

I would’ve gone around them as soon as they had blocked the outside lane, just before the oncoming traffic. Yeah, there’s a solid line but **** ‘em.

Had I been on my own in the car I probably would have however I had my (at the time) 2yr and 5wk old kids in the car so wasn't going to take a risky move.

 

[Jean-F]

A couple of roads have service roads designed for people living/going to properties down it. In stop/start traffic, get some ***** that go down the service road to bypass the traffic. When I approach the exit to service road, I get into a position so anyone who used the service road can’t get in front of me.

Few things annoy me more than “wannabe” traffic cops/enforcers, the kind that as you attempt to join an M-Way by smoothly merging with the left lane, will accelerate to close the gap, rather than sensibly maintain their speed to allow the joiner to safely join the traffic flow.
I’d love to be there when someone driving a battered old Land Rover Defender emerges from that service road and shows you the error of your ways by rearranging your f/n/s wing.

 

[cheesefest]

As today is the first day on the second half of the year, many have to scrape the ice off their cars.

Get drivers that scrape off a ‘porthole’ of ice so they can see. Illegal and dangerous.

Then when it snows, get people that don’t clear off the snow off their roofs. Seen it too often when cars brake hard with snow on roof, vast majority of it lands on the windscreen and the wipers can’t cope. So driver has to get out to scoop snow with hands.

If people can’t prep their car in icy and snow- give up driving.

 

[theone8181]

As today is the first day on the second half of the year, many have to scrape the ice off their cars.

Get drivers that scrape off a ‘porthole’ of ice so they can see. Illegal and dangerous.

Then when it snows, get people that don’t clear off the snow off their roofs. Seen it too often when cars brake hard with snow on roof, vast majority of it lands on the windscreen and the wipers can’t cope. So driver has to get out to scoop snow with hands.

If people can’t prep their car in icy and snow- give up driving.

Are you surprised. People don't know that they need to put lights on when it's dark so actually having to do something outside the car is just asking too much. Maybe if there were more than half a dozen cars on each force, they might actually fine someone for driving dangerously rather than offending somebody on twitter. Wonder if you could send dashcam footage in.

 

[lordrobs]

There's a long standing MIT near mem has existed for years but people will still queue for miles rather than use both lanes and merge.

If you do then it's likely that some final campanologist will do this:

* You can stop watching at the 1:10 mark, nothing else happens *

Urgh. People like that make me want to jump out of the car and start singing Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler at the top of my lungs while pounding the bass line on the bonnet of their car.

I mean seriously, well done. You've blocked that empty lane an absolute treat, you complete and utter legend. The fact the subsequent line of traffic is twice the length it needs to be blocking other junctions, roundabouts etc. is irrelevant because you've stopped someone "pushing in".

 

[LuckyBenski]

The fact the subsequent line of traffic is twice the length it needs to be blocking other junctions, roundabouts etc. is irrelevant because you've stopped someone "pushing in".

Well put. There's always a little annoyance when someone slides past 6-7 waiting cars (London here so that's the threshold of "busy lights") but then I just think, road's there to be used properly.

 

[muon]

I had a guy in Ferrari 488 nearly ram me, with my family in the car, off the road at the weekend.
He was joining a dual carriageway, tailgating another car along the slip road and pulls out into me in lane 2. What a **** !!!

Did he really though? Was he just going through a tight gap.

I often will speed up to faster than the traffic on the dual carriageway and easily find a path to the outermost lane.

If it is a 488, unless he is going in behind you, as long as he is in front you probably couldn't touch him as long as he was flooring it.

 

[Jean-F]

Are you surprised. People don't know that they need to put lights on when it's dark so actually having to do something outside the car is just asking too much.

I agree, when I was regularly driving for a living in London, if it was reduced daylight visibility, light mist, heavy or drizzling rain, snow falling etc, and something loomed out of the mist toward you displaying two little sidelights like candles on a birthday cake it was dollars to doughnuts that it was a woman, no doubt feeling safe in the mistaken belief that her car was visible from miles away, lit up like a Christmas Tree in her mind.
I say this while acknowledging the fact that gazillions of women drive just as good if not better than most men.
My wife, both my daughters-in-law, my sister-in-law, my three nieces, half a dozen female friends in the U.S., I can safely kick back, close my eyes and drift off to sleep with any of them at the wheel

 

[SDK^]

Did he really though?

Yes, he was driving like a muppet
Overlapping the car down the slip road and if I hadn't braked it would have been a crash. My car anti-collision was going off too.

 

[Jean-F]

Well put. There's always a little annoyance when someone slides past 6-7 waiting cars (London here so that's the threshold of "busy lights") but then I just think, road's there to be used properly.

The road’s there to be used properly as you said, I have this in mind when on the rare occasions that I drive my wife’s car and come across a bus lane that’s posted 7 a.m. to midday, and it’s 2.45 p.m. so I cautiously proceed legally along the marked out bus lane to the front of the line at the lights.
If I had a £1 coin for every time some irate driver who has difficulty reading has shouted, “Oy, that’s a bus lane!” I’d be able to buy Tower Bridge.
It’s hardly rocket science, some bus lanes are clearly marked, “In operation Monday to Friday”, but the lemmings form a long line on Saturday and Sunday too, and look daggers at those that can read and are moving carefully along the bus lane.

 

[theone8181]

The road’s there to be used properly as you said, I have this in mind when on the rare occasions that I drive my wife’s car and come across a bus lane that’s posted 7 a.m. to midday, and it’s 2.45 p.m. so I cautiously proceed legally along the marked out bus lane to the front of the line at the lights.
If I had a £1 coin for every time some irate driver who has difficulty reading has shouted, “Oy, that’s a bus lane!” I’d be able to buy Tower Bridge.
It’s hardly rocket science, some bus lanes are clearly marked, “In operation Monday to Friday”, but the lemmings form a long line on Saturday and Sunday too, and look daggers at those that can read and are moving carefully along the bus lane.

I miss them being like this in Hull, was like a private lane lol.

 

[Mekrel]

Witnessed some absolutely crazy driving the last couple of days, at the same junction.

Single lane road with a set of traffic lights, with a left hand turn literally right before the lights that go up to a car park that's currently used as a COVID test centre.

First occasion, Jag S Type with orange powder coated wheels and massive exhaust) pulls out from the traffic queue as the lights were red onto the wrong side of the road in order to turn left up to the car park (thankfully there's a gap due to keep clear signs on the floor). At the time I'm thinking fair enough, nothing coming the opposite way with the light being red and whilst overly aggressive, speeding up to get the manoeuvre completed kinda makes sense.

However, an S Type with such Barry mods can only mean one thing: driven by an idiot. When he gets to the car park he starts doing donuts!

Second occasion, quite a nice Merc (pretty sure an E Class) is in the same queue but rather than waiting all of two minutes for the lights to change, he does the opposite to the Jag. He mounts the curb but clearly didn't see the temporary COVID road sign was flat on the pavement, most likely blown over by the wind. Could hear the sign scrape the underside of his front bumper or entire under tray. Madness.

 

[Mysterae_]

In a previous job we were put on a defensive driving course and The One Thing I took away from that course is that you must treat all drivers as ******* morons. Even you reading this, MORON! Even if you don't drive, MORON!

Treating every single driver in this manner regardless of colour or creed of the car means that you aren't surprised when they do something stupid, and you can act appropriately. But damn, it's exhausting because everyone's a ******* moron.

 

[muon]

In a previous job we were put on a defensive driving course and The One Thing I took away from that course is that you must treat all drivers as ******* morons. Even you reading this, MORON! Even if you don't drive, MORON!

Treating every single driver in this manner regardless of colour or creed of the car means that you aren't surprised when they do something stupid, and you can act appropriately. But damn, it's exhausting because everyone's a ******* moron.

That sounds like a terrible way to drive. You'll be giving way to everyone, stopping for every pedestrian that wants to cross the road, slowing down at every junction.

I drive assuming everyone does what they are supposed to do and very assertively leaving little room for ambiguity. Driving in London for 10+ years, hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Rroff]

That sounds like a terrible way to drive. You'll be giving way to everyone, stopping for every pedestrian that wants to cross the road, slowing down at every junction.

I drive assuming everyone does what they are supposed to do and very assertively leaving little room for ambiguity. Driving in London for 10+ years, hasn't failed me yet.

You can still drive assertively but defensively they aren't mutually exclusive - sometimes the best defence is a good offence

Part of defensive driving can include taking up a position early to block someone doing the inevitable if you think they are a moron, etc.

 

[tom_e]

You can still drive assertively but defensively they aren't mutually exclusive - sometimes the best defence is a good offence

Part of defensive driving can include taking up a position early to block someone doing the inevitable if you think they are a moron, etc.

That's generally how I drive, remove that tiny seed of "Ooo that gap looks just about big enough for me to squeeze in if I really breath in" people then generally don't do silly things.

It's not even about doing anything daft like blocking the 2nd lane in that video above but just making sure you're using your lane and not crawling along by the kerb and things like that. Probably comes from spending my first few years on the road on a bike.

 

[cheesefest]

Seen this many times and yesterday. On road between row of shops, restaurants etc and main roundabout, there’s a council car park plus c.80 properties on the right. This road gets clogged up as two sets of traffic lights - one is for a crossing. Get idiots who have zero patience in driving in the opposite lane to turn right for car park/properties. Seen some near misses as the road from the opposite direction has a bend before the right turn.

 

[Stu999]

There’s a lot of really terrible road layouts in this country too. Inadequate signage, lane indicators painted on roads but only right at the junction which doesn’t help if you don’t know the area, etc.

Common bugbear for me at the moment is laziness. People parking on double yellows, hatched off areas and so on and putting others in danger or disrupting traffic flow because they can’t be arsed to walk a couple of metres or because they “will only be a minute”.

 

[Resident]

There’s a lot of really terrible road layouts in this country too. Inadequate signage, lane indicators painted on roads but only right at the junction which doesn’t help if you don’t know the area, etc.

Common bugbear for me at the moment is laziness. People parking on double yellows, hatched off areas and so on and putting others in danger or disrupting traffic flow because they can’t be arsed to walk a couple of metres or because they “will only be a minute”.

An image from a couple of weeks ago at a local hospital.

The brown dacia behind the ambulance is moving into the last actual parking spot.

IMO there needs to be a law allowing hospitals to employ vehicle removal services to shift muppets like the Puke driver.