I've been driving since 1987. I would say that driving standards have definitely got worse since then. That might be grumpy old man syndrome but I think it's because of the massive increase in traffic on the road. Everyone is in a rush and annoyed with delays. I had to brake suddenly yesterday when someone pulled out of a side road right in front of me. They definitely saw me before pulling out as we looked straight at each other. But apparently their need to get out of the side road was more important than me continuing down the road at 30mph.
Lane discipline has deteriorated greatly and if you drive bang on the speed limit you almost get rear ended by a muppet wanting you to speed. Also... not sure why car manufacturers bother putting indicators on their cars because so many people don't know how to use them.
I have been teaching my daughter to drive and some of the behaviour of other cars around her has been shocking. She is clearly a learner with L plates plastered over her car, indicating she is still learning and may make mistakes or unexpected actions. But they just seem to be an invitation from other drivers to drive inches from her bumper, cut her up to get past her quickly or lean on the horn if she stalls. The worst driving I've seen near her has been from delivery scooters where some of the riding had been downright dangerous cutting in front of her and she has had to emergency stop on several occasions.
Unfortunately nowadays I assume everyone is a muppet, drive very defensively and try to stay calm in all situations.
Cyclists are rife around here, haven't got a problem with them normally, but when they travel in a herd imagining they're in the Tour De France without a care in the world for other road users it makes my blood boil.
No objection to cyclists here either. But near me the council narrowed a very wide two way road by putting a wide cycle lane down one side. The idea was that cyclists would use that lane travelling in both directions. But what's actually happened is that cyclists travelling into town use it (because it's on their side of the road), but cyclists coming out of town don't bother to cross the road to get to it. Instead they use the remaining very narrow road and cars get held up and can't get past. So one direction has turned into a crawl, delaying everyone and churning out pollution.