Standard of driving in the UK going downhill.

Scougar · 6 Oct 2021 at 00:29

Is this just past 1.5 years?

I found that I was spending a lot of time at home during covid and my level of driving skill dropped. If you are still in lockdowns over there, I would assume other people are having the same.

I'm good again now as driving more .

Also, if you think UK is bad (which it isn't)... US is awful.

K.C. Leblanc · 6 Oct 2021 at 01:44

lordrobs said:
People right up your chuff on the dual carriageway when you are doing 70 ish overtaking slower vehicles in now way more common. I had a woman right on my bumper this morning in torrential rain, kids strapped in the back, "Baby on Board" sign swinging in the back window...

Even worse there's a special class of idiot who will do this on the motorway despite the fast lane being clear.

Rroff · 6 Oct 2021 at 03:40

lordrobs said:
People right up your chuff on the dual carriageway when you are doing 70 ish overtaking slower vehicles in now way more common. I had a woman right on my bumper this morning in torrential rain, kids strapped in the back, "Baby on Board" sign swinging in the back window...

I had a funny one the other day, driving my Navara Outlaw, someone tailgated me, though far from the worst for it, then once they got past me 200 yards up the road was another of the exact same vehicle I was driving which pulled out in front of him.

theone8181 · 6 Oct 2021 at 06:20

lordrobs said:
People right up your chuff on the dual carriageway when you are doing 70 ish overtaking slower vehicles in now way more common. I had a woman right on my bumper this morning in torrential rain, kids strapped in the back, "Baby on Board" sign swinging in the back window...

I've found that parents with those signs do tend to be poorer than other drivers, and that's nothing to do with me being a parent without a sign :cry:

.

Greebo · 6 Oct 2021 at 08:03

I take the "baby on board" as a warning sign to other motorists to stay well clear of that car as they don;t know how to drive properly and will make insane stupid decisions.

Rroff · 6 Oct 2021 at 08:10

theone8181 said:
I've found that parents with those signs do tend to be poorer than other drivers, and that's nothing to do with me being a parent without a sign.

I've never once seen a vehicle with it on driving sensibly it either seems brandished like a weapon (more usual) or they drive excruciatingly slow (and badly).

Dis86 · 6 Oct 2021 at 08:28

@Rroff @theone8181 same experiences here. The level of crapness increases exponentially when it's 'grandchild on board'. Or there's a woman I encounter regularly with "nanas little $*!**$ on board". Like...who for a second thinks that's acceptable?!

Terminal_Boy · 6 Oct 2021 at 08:37

Greebo said:
I take the "baby on board" as a warning sign to other motorists to stay well clear of that car as they don;t know how to drive properly and will make insane stupid decisions.

I think they know how to drive properly, they just can’t concentrate due to the kids kicking off, being late for a Pilates class/school/dentist, forgetting the shopping list and the nagging feeling that their OH might be playing away from home.

Supernova · 6 Oct 2021 at 08:53

lordrobs said:
People right up your chuff on the dual carriageway when you are doing 70 ish overtaking slower vehicles in now way more common. I had a woman right on my bumper this morning in torrential rain, kids strapped in the back, "Baby on Board" sign swinging in the back window...

This, and it's definitely got worse over the past couple of years. If you're not doing 90, they'll tailgate you. Increasingly, I think people are essentially treating non-smart motorway as derestricted. Because you can easily get away with it.

K.C. Leblanc · 6 Oct 2021 at 09:23

The other thing I've noticed is more people driving really slowly. It's worse where you have two junctions close together. People using the motorway to make local journeys. Seriously if you want to drive at 40 then the motorway isn't for you.

pinkpound · 6 Oct 2021 at 10:09

K.C. Leblanc said:
The other thing I've noticed is more people driving really slowly. It's worse where you have two junctions close together. People using the motorway to make local journeys. Seriously if you want to drive at 40 then the motorway isn't for you.

I've found the opposite people are speeding a lot more in my area and tail gating and in the last 3 weeks I've had 5 near misses due to people not stopping at roundabouts or junctions and me having to slam on then getting the finger from the other driver , so I've decided to fit dashcams .

lordrobs · 6 Oct 2021 at 10:59

Another one that it now seems way too common is people holding you up on a NSL road but then disappearing off into the distance when that road becomes a 30 limit. First part of my commute goes 30, 40, 30, 40, 30, 60... or as most other people on the roads seem to view it 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 45 :rolleyes:

b0rn2sk8 · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:06

Yup and the opposite, you completely drop them in the 60 section and then they are right up your rear going through the 30s like you are somehow holding them up.

Greebo · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:09

I live in a rural area and hate the people who drive 20 through the 30 mile zone in the villages, then 30mph on all the bendy hilly bits where its not safe to overtake and then finally speed up to 60mph on one of the few straights where its safe to pass before dropping to 30mph at the next slight bend again.

Mason- · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:12

EVH said:
I'm not bothered by learner drivers. After all, everyone has to learn at some stage and most of the ones I see are capable of doing the speed limit. I find it's only really noticeable when they attempt slow speed moves (pulling away etc) and I can wait an extra 2 mins.

Sadly, I've got no time for HGVs playing "who can complete the world's longest overtake?" because they pull out at 0.00001mph quicker than the guy they've been following for 14 miles. On a 3 lane motorway it's mildly annoying but on a 2 lane stretch where you get stuck behind them for 20 mins whilst they jostle for position... die.

Yeah I do the M11 between Stansted and Cambridge for work. It's 2 lanes and really hilly so power/weight differences cause speed differences between HGVs a lot. My record is being stuck behind a lorry overtaking another lorry for 7 miles.

grudas · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:13

lordrobs said:
Another one that it now seems way too common is people holding you up on a NSL road but then disappearing off into the distance when that road becomes a 30 limit. First part of my commute goes 30, 40, 30, 40, 30, 60... or as most other people on the roads seem to view it 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 45

Yup that is the case everywhere. Has been for a while and I think people really just sit in their own bubble unaware of the speed limit even when there's like 6 cars behind them and nothing in front.

Supernova · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:13

b0rn2sk8 said:
Yup and the opposite, you completely drop them in the 60 section and then they are right up your rear going through the 30s like you are somehow holding them up.

Yup, most people (and I do mean most) don't care about 30s anymore. Though recently, I was driving with a Maserati behind me, and the driver was happy doing 30 with me through villages but happy to do 60 on NSLs.

MikeTheNative · 6 Oct 2021 at 11:47

People don't care about 30?
It's 20 all around where I live, it's been a year now so most people have got used to it but there's still the odd few who decided to help push you along while you are doing 20.

lordrobs · 6 Oct 2021 at 18:58

Urgh... So due to COVID I've done only 3 work trips in the last year and a bit. For context I normally spend around 50% of my work days on the road travelling between customers.

So it was a bit of a shock to do my first long trip in a while during work/commute hours. I say long, it was only Norwich to Bury. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD have people forgotten how to drive or have they just become ignorant beggars?

The tailgating thing I previously mentioned is on another level once you hit the motorway. I use my adaptive cruise on the shortest setting and it seems I manage to upset every one of these tools because I'm not right up the chuff of the car in front. Yes mate, I'd like to go quicker than 65 too but I'm not going to hang 3mm off the bumper of the guy in front as he passes a row of trucks :rolleyes:

Passing a row of traffic doing 65 ish at an indicated 75 and pulling in as soon as I was done still got me an Insignia parked in my exhaust pipe and a death stare with some I'm sure less than complementary comments as they passed. If only I could lip read...

Then there is the one that really surprised me. I know it goes on because I've seen YouTube videos showing it but I hadn't realised how common the complete donkeys who treat the public road like a scene from Fast and the Furious are. Weaving in and out of traffic, one hand at 12 o'clock, steering in digital 90 degree increments probably thinking they look like Vin Diesel. No mate, you look like a bald middle aged man in an Audi A6. They probably also think they are god's gift to driving but the only thing keeping them away from a major accident is the people around having their wits about them and their cars ESP system.

I pulled in from lane 3 after passing a car in lane 2 and one said donkey weaved into the gap I'd left before pulling in. There must have been inches gap either end of his car :rolleyes:

Conscript · 9 Oct 2021 at 21:04

This morning reminded me of one of my biggest pet peeves - poor lighting discipline. We had thick fog this morning, thick enough to need fog lights when I drove to the gym. Yet I still saw far too many cars looming out of the fog with absolutely no lights on whatsoever. It boggles my mind how anyone can quite clearly see how poor visibility is, yet not have the wherewithal to put at least their sidelights on.