I hate driving in the UK

B

B8RS4

New member
I had a 3.5 hour drive to South Wales at the weekend and it was horrible. Average 50 mile limit on the M1, same on the M42 and M5. People refusing to move out of the right hand lane, indicating at the last minute and then pulling out, refusing to move over in the average 50 zone as I am at the Waze GPS 50 and they are at the cars 50, queuing to get into service stations. The only enjoyable bit was two tunnels.
 
At least you were sitting in a very nice place while you were being frustrated. Think of the poor devils in "ordinary" cars - how they must have envied you!
 
I don't know if it's the hot weather or dehydration but the standard of driving is awful at the moment. Took a 40 minute drive from Exeter to Dartmouth last weekend and had 2 cars on my side of the road coming at me. Various people sat in the outside lane. People indicating last second like it gives them priority and cutting me off. I even had one person go through a red light, onto the wrong side of an island so they're on the wrong side of the road and nearly have a head on. Around 10 minutes later they smashed into a curb on a near straight road 🤦
 
I have to say i agree. The standard of driving now is awful - people dont seem to give a sh** - young / old / male / female.

I'm a motorbiker too and it can be scary on the roads now - i'm tempted to buy an old land rover and just keep driving into people when they cut me up. :lol:
 
The warmer weather does bring out the idiots down this end of the world too, faffing about, oblivious to their surroundings, veering onto your side of the carriageway, and cutting blind corners to name a few. Seems to be worse after 'rush three hours' when all those people are on the road who are more used to doing the school run to drop off little Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea at prep school, watching them trying to squeeze through a gap in their SUV which a bus has just comfortably gone through, or panic braking whenever a lorry or agricultural vehicle is coming on the opposite side of the road🙄
 
I agree there's a lot of awful driving. My current hate is country lanes with old folk doing 15mph in a 60 then braking for every little bend. They're the ones that feel the need to flash me if I nip past. Hooligan! They're probably also on their local council / speed awareness, putting lower and lower limits on all the roads around here. I do give them time and space as that's the best they can do. Also I had a real scare the other day when a biker nearly hit me when he was overtaking on a blind bend. I might be quick on a bike but I wouldn't do that. Moan moan moan. :)
 
Don't... get... me.... started....

I'm not too far from Kev and this part of the country this time of the year... holy sh*t. I think this area specifically attracts a lot of older tourists. You see them all, four Doris's in their Honda Jazz or Nissan Note all together heading to Arundel or Midhurst/Petworth or wherever. They all have their early 2000's TomTom in the window that hasn't been updated in 20 years so doesn't reflect the current road layout. They follow it religiously rather than paying attention to road signs so are ALWAYS in the wrong lane at the roundabouts. They don't have the ability to look at the nav and the road and therefore have to drive 35 in a 60 and despite the road being wide enough for two tractors... or possibly even two light aircraft they get scared by oncoming traffic and brake every time something approaches or they have to go around a corner that is more than a 3 degree bend. They then get everyone all pissed off and people start taking chances with blind overtakes etc. And even if you do overtake them in a safe manner, because you did it you are some aggressive angry driver so they start flashing their lights at you like you've run them into a ditch.

There is a lot of clueless driving out there in general though, the above people aside. A lot of people I'm not convinced have a license, or at least not one issued in the UK where you actually have to take a test (even if it is pretty useless). A few big bugbears of mine outside of the above, are people who brake and then indicate. It's an INDICATOR. It's to INDICATE what you are about to do. If you are driving down a 40 road and want to turn into your driveway at 3mph, indicate to let people know you are about to brake down to next to nothing... same goes for indicating at the CORRECT time on a roundabout. I'm always careful and wait to see the change of direction of the wheels, but the amount of people I see indicate off the roundabout too early making it look like they are taking the exit and then carrying on around... grrrrr (also almost always old people). The other big one is people who don't join a dual carriageway or a motorway at suitable speed, or brake to slow down when exiting on a slip road BEFORE getting on the slip road. WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU THINK THAT LONGGGGGGG SLIP ROAD IS FOR EXACTLY?! In a similar event, I had this the other day when I was joining the A27 eastbound after Chichester. Some lady in her Nissan Juke heading down, slowly accelerating down the slip road but at least she got to about 55ish before she was going to join. Anyway... me AND her up ahead of me were both WELL clear of a lorry on the A27 that we were about to join, but she obviously has no ability to judge what's in her mirrors or the speed of objects in it, because she decided to slam on the brakes at the last minute. Leaving her, me and two other cars trapped at the END of the slip road trying to join a 70mph road. PLEB! Needless to say, my riled up self with a lack of self control gave her the obligatory beep and "TWAT" mouthing as I overtook her after, and she looked completely buffudled as to what she could possible of done wrong.

Breathe... breathe.... breathe...
 
So glad I live in the NE of Scotland and traffic is generally very light and plenty of quiet country roads to blast about and have fun. My nearest motorway is almost 100 miles away. I always dread travelling down south, very rarely get a clean run at it. My neighbour commutes fortnightly to Stoke on Trent (460 miles each way), no idea how he does it, especially in the winter months.

My only grievance up here is people who brake when you go to overtake them on a country road, I don't understand it. Usually the same person who drives at 40mph everywhere, regardless if it's a 30 or 60.
 
Problem us not helped because before 2018 driving instructors couldn't give lessons on motorways. There's generations of drivers who don't know what to do, as well as those who only drive around towns and then venture out once a year on highways when they go on holiday. I used to find the depths of winter was much be easier to drive in. When it's dark and-9C everyone is just getting on with it, because all of the numpties stay at home.

The 45mph drivers also irritate me. They just drive at that speed irrespective of the speed limit, situation, or e.g. over a blind hill etc. I was behind one last summer in a similar situation to that Stefan mentioned, except that this was at a short slip road onto the A27 again. Anyway, Mrs 45 mph gets to the slip road with me behind. I wait at the top because I can see an artic bearing down immediately, doing about 50mph and there's no way that even I could accelerate out in front of it. Mrs 45 mph sails down the slip road and I predict that she's going to end up stopped as it narrows at the end. Nope! Out she goes, wobbling into the path of the HGV, which is alongside where I am at this point.

All credit to the Hungarian truck driver who swerves into the outside lane, which was fortunately clear. He didn't have time to sound his horn or anything and I really don't know how he managed to miss ramming her, this was inches from death. I overtook her and she was just yacking to her friend and completely oblivious as to how she was nearly squished.
 
mickjaguar said:
Problem us not helped because before 2018 driving instructors couldn't give lessons on motorways. There's generations of drivers who don't know what to do, as well as those who only drive around towns and then venture out once a year on highways when they go on holiday. I used to find the depths of winter was much be easier to drive in. When it's dark and-9C everyone is just getting on with it, because all of the numpties stay at home.

The 45mph drivers also irritate me. They just drive at that speed irrespective of the speed limit, situation, or e.g. over a blind hill etc. I was behind one last summer in a similar situation to that Stefan mentioned, except that this was at a short slip road onto the A27 again. Anyway, Mrs 45 mph gets to the slip road with me behind. I wait at the top because I can see an artic bearing down immediately, doing about 50mph and there's no way that even I could accelerate out in front of it. Mrs 45 mph sails down the slip road and I predict that she's going to end up stopped as it narrows at the end. Nope! Out she goes, wobbling into the path of the HGV, which is alongside where I am at this point.

All credit to the Hungarian truck driver who swerves into the outside lane, which was fortunately clear. He didn't have time to sound his horn or anything and I really don't know how he managed to miss ramming her, this was inches from death. I overtook her and she was just yacking to her friend and completely oblivious as to how she was nearly squished.
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I think it's that part that irritates me the most. When someone does something stupid on the road but they did it knowingly, sure they are an idiot/dick/twat/prick (take your pick really), but it's the oblivious ones that annoy me more oddly.

Whilst I'm on the subject of oblivious people... do you think the people who do 35-40mph on a clear straight 60mph country road with 20 cars queuing behind them ever look in their mirror and think "o shit... I'm causing that"? Are they oblivious to it, do they not look in their mirror, or do they not care? It's just something I've always thought about when I've been sat 10 cars back in one of those queues.
 
[rant]And a lot of people don’t realise that the markings where the on-slip joins the dual carriageway are give way markings…so when I’m trundling along in lane 1 with traffic in lane 2 about to enter my bubble*, why do I get the filthy look because I haven’t moved over?![/rant]

*Bubble: Reference to ‘Roadcraft’ and driving in a bubble, always having somewhere to go in an emergency situation such as waiting until your exit is clear when passing an HGV on a motorway or dual carriageway rather than sitting besides it in its blind spot
 
I've been a passenger of a work colleague who was a slow oblivious driver. Middle lane cruiser too. I cringed for the whole journey almost to the point of crying out. She had absolutely no concept of how she was p-ing off so many drivers, no idea at all, even though there were a few hoots and gestures. This was her personality, completely oblivious to the people around her. They are out there!
 
As I think it Jasper Carrot (now there's a name for any oldies out there ) once said in a skit about old people driving .
"I have never had an accident as long as I have been driving but I have seen thousands"
 
If people would just move, take their trolleys back and cease from chucking dirty fags out of their cars my stress levels would reduced by half :)
 
stickshift steve said:
As I think it Jasper Carrot (now there's a name for any oldies out there ) once said in a skit about old people driving .
"I have never had an accident as long as I have been driving but I have seen thousands"
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Ah, the old insurance forms routine...

"The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week" 😀
 
F-typo said:
stickshift steve said:
As I think it Jasper Carrot (now there's a name for any oldies out there ) once said in a skit about old people driving .
"I have never had an accident as long as I have been driving but I have seen thousands"
Click to expand...

Ah, the old insurance forms routine...

"The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week" 😀
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Happy memories of his car an house insurance claim routines:

I drove into the wrong house and hit the tree we don't have..
I swerved violently from side to side before finally hitting him..
 
Kev said:
....such as waiting until your exit is clear when passing an HGV on a motorway or dual carriageway rather than sitting besides it in its blind spot
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Talking about passing HGVs, I've regularly noticed drivers who appear to maintain their speed right up until their car reaches the HGV to the left, at which point they slow down and spend an eternity passing and then, once they get past, they speed up again. Yes, I want to spend as much time as possible in this vulnerable position please :?

My father thought it was amusing that almost every drive I have, be it a 5-minute drive to the shops or a multi-hour run, results in stories of near misses, red-light jumpers, inattentive drivers, the whole gamut of poor roadcraft. Then he gets in a car with me and witnesses it first hand. Just the other day I had somebody drive at me with 50% of their car over the central white lines and give ME a nasty glare for having the sense to pull over onto the path to get out of THEIR way!

Of course, what we all forget is that we don't notice the hundreds, or thousands, of other cars we see merrily doing the right thing all the time. We only notice and remember the few. I am as guilty of that as everybody else.
 
Clocked up over a million miles in 50 years of driving. It covers every type of vehicle and country, up to 12 tonnes, in UK, EU, plus all continents. Both sides of the road in LHD & RHD vehicles, so probably spent 30,000 hours behind the wheel
Standards are certainly worse than back in the 70's and I'd put it down to

Primarily me calming down by the 80's and getting enough hp to easily kill myself :)
Many more cars, which leaves less room for error
Big change of driver profile across different groups of society
Pressure of life and in car distractions that prevent focus on the task in hand
Feeling of protection that modern cars give makes people feel less vulnerable


So my pet hates:
Tailgating (but we don't even compare to the Spanish where it's a national sport)
Mid-lane cruising when adequate space and time to move in and nothing coming up to pass and the undertaking it causes some to then do
Not indicating for non standard manoeuvres like going fully 360 around an island
Stopping at traffic island when there is no traffic from the right or anywhere near
Texting causing veering across lanes
Braking for speed cameras when they are average speed. What part of average don't they get?
Joining motorways assuming that traffic will somehow vanish as they join
Replacement of MSM discipline with their variant of manoeuvre first, then optional signal and look
Lack of any spatial awareness by drivers of what's happening around them..
 
B8RS4 said:
If people would just move, take their trolleys back and cease from chucking dirty fags out of their cars my stress levels would reduced by half :)
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Ahh the famous trolley.

Stolen from someone who posted it anonymously:

Before some shops started doing the whole pound coin thing to make you return it, this was the ultimate litmus test for whether a person was capable of self-governing.
To return the shopping trolley is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognise as the correct and appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping trolley is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their trolley. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your trolley and generally there are no repercussions for doing so. Therefore the shopping trolley presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you for not returning the trolley, no one will fine you and imprison you for it, but you also gain nothing from returning it. You must return it out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return it because it is the right thing to do.
A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with a law and the force that stands behind it.

Basically, the shopping trolley is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society.... unless it's one where you get your pound coin back... then it's just a test of how close you live to Scotland.
 
Cluck said:
Kev said:
....such as waiting until your exit is clear when passing an HGV on a motorway or dual carriageway rather than sitting besides it in its blind spot
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Talking about passing HGVs, I've regularly noticed drivers who appear to maintain their speed right up until their car reaches the HGV to the left, at which point they slow down and spend an eternity passing and then, once they get past, they speed up again. Yes, I want to spend as much time as possible in this vulnerable position please :?

My father thought it was amusing that almost every drive I have, be it a 5-minute drive to the shops or a multi-hour run, results in stories of near misses, red-light jumpers, inattentive drivers, the whole gamut of poor roadcraft. Then he gets in a car with me and witnesses it first hand. Just the other day I had somebody drive at me with 50% of their car over the central white lines and give ME a nasty glare for having the sense to pull over onto the path to get out of THEIR way!

Of course, what we all forget is that we don't notice the hundreds, or thousands, of other cars we see merrily doing the right thing all the time. We only notice and remember the few. I am as guilty of that as everybody else.
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Stupidity does have a habit of standing out.

The lorry overtake one always had me wondering if they were just scared of doing it possibly. Although I think it's the same category of person who comes up behind a car doing 59mph whilst they are doing 60mph. Slowly slowly catching them bit by bit, and then finally they move out to overtake but do they go up to 70mph for the overtake? Nope... they stay at 60mph and slowly overtake with that 1mph advantage.
 
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