Driving in the U.K

[vegster]

Not seen the slip road coyboys in my countless trips from home in Fav, but there is a culture up from here and round the 25 for disregarding speed and lane signs on the grounds they are bogus. The number of times I have seen lane closure warnings on the gantry that don't manifest as a lane closure is indicative of system failure. This is a version of the boy who cried wolf, except it is the bloody road safety managers who are crying wolf, and then randomly becoming the wolf themselves when they fire off the flasher when a mug like me fails to take note of the ludicrous and needless sudden 40 limit. I may be mixing my metaphors up a bit here....

Yes, I am bitter.

So have you been done by a gantry camera when they lowered the speed limit and you ignored it or was it a genuine case of exceeding the 70 limit ? I always knock my speed down when I see the speed reductions but most seem to ignore them and I would love to know how many times the lower speed limits actually trigger a fine. Plenty of people in very expensive cars seem to think it is a risk worth taking.

 

[Creaky]

UK v France.

Hmmmm - Both have a similar sized population.
France is 2.5 times bigger.


Just putting it out there...

And Germany has almost double the number of autobahn deaths per million Kms travelled than there are on UK motorways.

 

[swindonseagull]

And diesel was only 84 pence per litre ( equivalent ) in Luxembourg last week..... ( Germany and France same as UK)

 

[boik]

Some of the aggression on here makes me wonder if some people should be allowed behind the wheel. You should drive a big Citroen (DS or CX) - you can't help but drive them in a relaxed manner.

 

[easynow]

 

[B-right-on]

Drove from Calais to near Barca and back again in August. 2,000 mile round trip. 5th year done this trip. The roads in France and Spain are less congested but also just not as many to$$ers on the road.

Ok we have more cars per mile of road and weather conditions may cause roads to wear out quicker. What drives me and Mrs B mad is prats sitting in the middle or outside lane when they should move over and that causes congestion behind. They just don't do it over there.

 

[GT49er]

There are the speeds at which the authorities think it is safe to drive at. Perhaps the wrong people are being called tossers.

There are a lot of arbitrary and unnecessary speed limits around, designated as such by tossers in authority. There is, in my area, a beautiful peace of road, beautifully engineered, lovely curves, and perfect for driving along at 60. It has been downgraded to an unnecessary 50 mph limited because of 'multiple deaths'. Yes, there were; on two separate occasions, a car full of young men in the small hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning, almost certainly ignoring the (then) 60 mph anyway.
Just as they would probably ignore the 50 mph limit if they were alive today. Now it just makes it more boring and no safer for the rest of us who can drive well.

 

[Chief Wiggum]

UK v France.

Hmmmm - Both have a similar sized population.
France is 2.5 times bigger.


Just putting it out there...

Spot on

French driving is notoriously bad. Impatient, up your arse at 130km/hr, overtaking at every concevable danger point. They are shit drivers (ok, it's a generalisation) but as a sapeur pompier here I deal with fatal accidents on a far too frequent basis.

I think because the roads are relatively empty here, French drivers get the red mist when someone is in front of them and they can't deal with it. In the U.K. congestion is expected.

 

[GT49er]

Drive in Brittany - it will calm you down. The thing I notice when back off the ferry is how bloody impatient people are here. I may be lucky but I've never had an altercation with another driver in France.

There are places in Britain that will do the same. This branding of all UK driving as shite is very inaccurate - it varies greatly depending on where in the UK you are. As a very experienced driver, I have extensive experience of driving all over the UK, and the one thing I can't quite make up my mind about is whether driving gets worse the nearer you get to London, or whether it's the nearer you get to the south-east corner.
Go further north or west and you will find drivers who actually understand 'give way', and a bit further you'll find drivers who know how to merge into one lane from two without trying to nudge in front of the car next to them, and without resorting to one finger or two finger signs, bad language (futile, as everyone keeps their windows shut) and symptoms of road rage/impending heart attack.

 

[sully]

I also think it would help if company cars where stopped from being a tax concession and companies then had pool cars which would reduce the numbers given to employees who do not really need one.

I'm guessing you don't have a company car. They stopped being "a tax concession" years ago!

 

[Weststander]

Drove from Calais to near Barca and back again in August. 2,000 mile round trip. 5th year done this trip. The roads in France and Spain are less congested but also just not as many to$$ers on the road.

Ok we have more cars per mile of road and weather conditions may cause roads to wear out quicker. What drives me and Mrs B mad is prats sitting in the middle or outside lane when they should move over and that causes congestion behind. They just don't do it over there.

I've done that same drive a few times and experienced just that. Drivers overtake fairly swiftly in Spain and France, then pull into the inside lane swiftly. Strangely, all the British drivers on the same roads follow that to a tee.

Not just part of the Highway Code, in 2013 lane hogging was made illegal as part of the careless driving offence. The most reason for refusing to abide by this law is not wishing to waste time changing lanes or dangerously driving in a dream, with over 65's the most likely to do so.
http://www.motordefencelawyers.co.uk/motoring-news/half-of-drivers-admit-to-still-hogging-the-middle-lane/

 

[GT49er]

I've done that same drive a few times and experienced just that. Drivers overtake fairly swiftly in Spain and France, then pull into the inside lane swiftly. Strangely, all the British drivers on the same roads follow that to a tee.

Not just part of the Highway Code, in 2013 lane hogging was made illegal as part of the careless driving offence. The most reason for refusing to abide by this law is not wishing to waste time changing lanes or dangerously driving in a dream, with over 65's the most likely to do so.
http://www.motordefencelawyers.co.uk/motoring-news/half-of-drivers-admit-to-still-hogging-the-middle-lane/

"The South East of England was also found to be the country’s middle lane hot spot".

Exactly. Just proves my point about driving standards in the UK being strictly regional.

 

[maltaseagull]

Spot on.

I've driven thousands of miles in France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, where drivers use the outside lane to overtake, then immediately pull over to the inside lane, as matter of course, 100% of the time.

In the UK it's the opposite. It can only be for one of two reasons:
a) control freaks disapproving of others overtaking; or
b) drivers who are totally unaware of other road users and the Highway Code -

"Rule 264
You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking."

Mostly B

 

[portlock seagull]

Drove from Calais to near Barca and back again in August. 2,000 mile round trip. 5th year done this trip. The roads in France and Spain are less congested but also just not as many to$$ers on the road.

Ok we have more cars per mile of road and weather conditions may cause roads to wear out quicker. What drives me and Mrs B mad is prats sitting in the middle or outside lane when they should move over and that causes congestion behind. They just don't do it over there.

Driven 300 miles tonight and numerous middle lane tossers causing many tailbacks. Even when others flashing them 5m from bumper the donuts seem so asleep and fixed in the middle they don't budge. by far the biggest cause of congestion in the UK, effectively we've got a 2 lane motorway network because of the millions of inconsiderate hogs.

 

[easynow]

Max speed limit should be about 75-80 mph. Don't see that happening anytime soon though...

 

[Bry Nylon]

Max speed limit should be about 75-80 mph. Don't see that happening anytime soon though...

To be fair it pretty much is. Drive at 75 - 80mph on a motorway in good, clear conditions and you'd be unlucky to get pulled by the police - in my experience. Similarly, cameras seemed to be calibrated to trigger at higher speeds than that. Trouble is, if the max was set at 80mph, the norm would become 90-ish and so on.

(This is only my view - if you get a ticket for doing over 70mph, don't blame me!)

 

[easynow]

To be fair it pretty much is. Drive at 75 - 80mph on a motorway in good, clear conditions and you'd be unlucky to get pulled by the police - in my experience. Similarly, cameras seemed to be calibrated to trigger at higher speeds than that. Trouble is, if the max was set at 80mph, the norm would become 90-ish and so on.

(This is only my view - if you get a ticket for doing over 70mph, don't blame me!)

True, driving 70-80 has always been my optimum speed for motorway driving regardless of the country I am driving in. I don't think it would set norm for 90+ though, cruising at that speed, even in the most modern cars is not exactly simple when you consider all the factors.

 

[RandyWanger]

Top rant, some very good points. When I moved back to the UK, apart from the shit weather and food, the driving was another thing I noticed was poor at best. I do wonder how many foreigners who've settled in the U.K. Have taken our driving test? No idea if it's law but I know in other countries you need to take their test after a few months.

But I should say, I am in south east Asia at the moment. Picture slow dual carriage way, like the one through Lancing. 2 lanes going east, 2 west. Now picture on the east lane, there is a 3rd 'middle' lane that if you can squeeze in a gap, you do. Now also on the inside, mopeds going west towards you. It's mental, but they do use the indicator correctly, they signal and move, it's an indication that they're moving, not asking for permission to pull out.

 

[drew]

I may be wrong but I havent seen many accidents when driving through France to Cyprus, Spain or Portugal and very few traffic jams. Perhaps we have just been lucky. IMHO there are too many cars on our roads so perhaps the answer is to make banned drivers take another test before getting their licence back. I also think it would help if company cars where stopped from being a tax concession and companies then had pool cars which would reduce the numbers given to employees who do not really need one.

Really don't think company cars are the problem. Besides, didn't many company stop providing cars as a perk and replace it with a car allowance? Those that are on the road are during the week are probably there out of necessity for their work!

As for improving driving, test everyone every ten years (ie when your photo ID is renewed and make sure everyone has a photo id card and not the old paper one). However, won't happen as not a vote winner. Maybe for serial offenders, fit black boxes to their cars and bump up their premiums. More dashcams will mean more people get exposed for their bad driving. Also the Police are supposedly getting better at accepting footage.

 

[studio150]

Just wait for driverless cars, everything will be solved and complaints about driving standards will be a thing of the past,