Standard of driving in the UK going downhill.

Sgarrista
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Not going to lie, people sitting in lane 2 or 3 at ~60mph with empty lanes to their left and NO REASON for them not to pull over has caused me to undertake in lane one more than a few times recently.

Not even aggressively doing so, just sat in lane 1 at 70mph cruising past people who refuse to move left. Usually getting some flashing and gesticulation from the middle lane idiot.
 
Caporegime
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On the road....
Says a lot when your speed limited to 55mph, weigh upto 44tons yet are frequently held up by cars doing 50 odd - on a motorway!

UK driving standards are getting worse but, are still very good compared to other places (Cyprus springs to mind!!)
 
Soldato
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I've noticed a lot more overly slow driving in recent years too, it's annoying. Especially on a B road when they are just doing 40 in a 60 with a mile of people backed up behind them.
 
Soldato
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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.
That's not the case for all, I have one and it's advised by health care professionals, idea being in an emergency the services know to look for a baby or child.

Not just cars, I see cyclists in fog with no lights or sometimes not even high viz as well. It's suicidal.
I pass one most mornings on my way to work, no lights and wearing black, flash him everyone as well and he still hasn't got the idea, you really can't see him until your too close to do anything should he swerve or cut in front of you.
 
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Soldato
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27 Mar 2013
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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.
I honestly think they should get rid of the current switch for lights and replace it with one that has the option of auto or dipped that way they'd always be on when needed.
 
Man of Honour
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I pass one most mornings on my way to work, no lights and wearing black, flash him everyone as well and he still hasn't got the idea, you really can't see him until your too close to do anything should he swerve or cut in front of you.

Had a couple in gloom where the only reason I realised they were there was because of the white socks going up and down - that and seeing other drivers suddenly brake/swerve ahead of me.

High vis really makes a huge difference.
 
Soldato
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Kent
I honestly think they should get rid of the current switch for lights and replace it with one that has the option of auto or dipped that way they'd always be on when needed.

That still wouldn't work all the time though. Even in thick fog, it's not always dark enough to trigger my lights to come on automatically. I think it would be better to just have the tail lights come on with the DRLs. That way you always have at least some lighting at both front and rear.

But in general, yes, not a bad idea. I leave my lights on auto almost constantly, or turn them on manually in poor weather.
 
Soldato
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That still wouldn't work all the time though. Even in thick fog, it's not always dark enough to trigger my lights to come on automatically. I think it would be better to just have the tail lights come on with the DRLs. That way you always have at least some lighting at both front and rear.

But in general, yes, not a bad idea. I leave my lights on auto almost constantly, or turn them on manually in poor weather.
Yea I've never understood why the rears don't come on. I've had times in my car where I thought it was dark enough for lights but they hadn't come on. I do think some problems are to do with the over active speed kills, which seems to make all other standards deteriorate, even minor ones like indicating or being in the correct lane. I realise speeding is the easy one to monitor with the others actually taking some work.
 
Soldato
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That's not the case for all, I have one and it's advised by health care professionals, idea being in an emergency the services know to look for a baby or child.

Then you're better putting it in a side window, not the rear.

Not sure why drivers behind need to know, it doesn't win any kind of right of way.
 
Soldato
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Birmingham
That's not the case for all, I have one and it's advised by health care professionals, idea being in an emergency the services know to look for a baby or child.

a) Emergency services will look for a baby or child anyway regardless of whether you have one of those signs.
b) Emergency services aren't going to waste extra time looking for a baby or child just because of one of those signs (because I guarantee you that 148% of people who have one don't remove it when they use the car without taking the kids).

I'm going to have to agree with the fact it's a warning (much like any kind of clip on flag) to give the car a wide berth (and don't park anywhere within a 100m radius!)
 
Associate
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London
Says a lot when your speed limited to 55mph, weigh upto 44tons yet are frequently held up by cars doing 50 odd - on a motorway!

UK driving standards are getting worse but, are still very good compared to other places (Cyprus springs to mind!!)

Worst one is they sit at 50mph and as soon as you try and over take them doing 55 in a HGV they speed up, like really?
 
Soldato
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10 Mar 2012
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unstated.assortment.union
Says a lot when your speed limited to 55mph, weigh upto 44tons yet are frequently held up by cars doing 50 odd - on a motorway!

UK driving standards are getting worse but, are still very good compared to other places (Cyprus springs to mind!!)

I apologise if you ever get stuck behind me when I'm at work. A couple of our routes take me on M1/M18 briefly and my vehicle is physically limited to 51.
 
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