Driving in the UK (or wherever) - an amplification of diminishing social attitudes?

Has anyone noticed how bad driving (and perhaps society) has become?

Here are just a few examples, no videos or pictures of course as they are just my experience...

Huge amount of people using mobile phones handset whilst driving, which is proven to be hugely distracting and also leads to less control of the vehicle. This is also more noticeable in van and truck drivers.

A complete lack of ability to use a roundabout properly. The roundabouts have lanes that traffic should flow around, yet so many people just move across these lanes and cut people up without any thought for others. More worringly when you beep the horn of a car now to alert someone who is in the wrong, all you get is a torrent of abuse. It is like people have a complete inability to just admit they were wrong, made a mistake, etc and are just spitting with rage.

I have been in the wrong lane coming to traffic lights before, but upon realising it I indicate, motion to people beside me if stationery, and get the OK to move over from someone - then thank them for it. Not too difficult, yet countless other people just move over with complete disregard for any other road users.

People who travel with their children (supposedly the most precious people in your life) just bouncing around in the car, in the footwell, leaning out the window. Yet these same ******* make sure they are wearing seatbelts so will be OK in event of a crash.
Just yesterday I spotted one and by great chance a police car pulled up beside me, so I alerted him to this **** of a van driver and he sped off to give him a ticket.

There is even a site that people report their experiences of road rage in the UK...
Road Rage



What are your experiences of this?
Do you feel this is indicative of people just being more aggressive, dismissive and rude generally?
That this attitude is just amplified when people are in their vehicles?

My take is that people are so used to society being a "me, me, me" culture and just show an ever increasing lack of thought or concern for others..in driving and all walks of life

I'm probably one of the most laid back people you could meet, but when I get behind the wheel I seem to end up effing and blinding at other road users.

There are so many terrible drivers on the road, people who don't indicate do my head in as well as impatient drivers who get too close behind.

Bad drivers??? Take a trip to Texas at ANY time, on ANY day and you will see the REAL meaning of bad drivers. Been to MANY states in the U.S., and Texas is a nightmare for driving.

There are flipped over vehicles in the middle of the highways and interstates EVERY SINGLE DAY in Texas. Everyone is blabbing on the cell phone even at 4 am in the morning. To make it worst, they are incompetent at driving even without a cell phone in their hands. Texas folks are dangerous driving anything other than a HORSE.

I used to live next to a hospital down there. Every single 20 minutes I would hear and see a care-flight helicopter overhead flying another KNUCKLEHEAD into the hospital who caused a HUGE accident. Dumb folks there when it comes to driving, PAINFULLY dumb.

There should be a law enforced in Texas that forces their automobiles away from them and makes them return to riding HORSE for transpiration. Then they can put their SILLY cowboy boots and silly cowboy hats to GOOD USE!!!!

UK drivers are surely saints compared drivers in Texas USA.

Originally posted by facchino

What are your experiences of this?
Do you feel this is indicative of people just being more aggressive, dismissive and rude generally?
That this attitude is just amplified when people are in their vehicles?

My take is that people are so used to society being a "me, me, me" culture and just show an ever increasing lack of thought or concern for others..in driving and all walks of life

I think you have pretty much summed it up right - Its a me me me culture! People also wrongly assume that they are safe in cars which we both know is just not the case at all. I laughed about your comment on the roundabout issue because its 100% true. My uncle said the same thing recently "Is it me, or do people not understand how to use a roundabout?"
People come to them and stop - because they dont actually know the give way rules! Taxi drivers in my experience are very bad drivers, they care for no one. I recently ordered a taxi only to find the man had his arm in a sling and was driving with ONE HAND. Best of all, he couldn't even find the place i needed to be!

Why talk about bad UK driving only to go on and show a video from the US ??

reply to post by sayzaar


Ha ha yes sorry about that!
- it was just one I found on you tube, here is a few from the UK

I have had some serious serious road rage in my 7 years of having my licence. I have actually had a fight with one lad for driving on my bumper and not backing off. Bad times.

Unfortunately I have a very low boiling point as it is, and once I am behind the wheel thats it. I can't stand people who hesitate and hold up the flow of traffic. People who don't know how to parallel park, or even park anywhere for that matter. Morons on phones, people driving below the speed limit, idiots who slam the brakes on every few seconds; and finally my NUMBER 1 hate- drivers who let every single person they come across out of junctions.

I am probably one of these people you talk about but in my defence I am very courteous to others and polite!

Don't wind me up and I am calm and collected

I think the roads in UK are nothing though compared to some countries abroad, turkey is the worst place I have ever driven in, there is complete disregard for every road sign/marking/traffic light and for some reason people overtake even on blind corners etc. Is crazy.

reply to post by facchino


Could,nt have put it any better myself facchino, I can,t add to it. People are discourteous, and forget they are in charge of a lethal weapon . Driving Is not taken seriously, and I put a lot of it down to the frenetic pace of modern life, and the fact that people feel safe and anonymous in their cars, until the fickle finger of fate catches up with them, I.e " Accidents happen to other people " and " Everyone else is a rotten driver "

Originally posted by KingDoey
people driving below the speed limit, idiots who slam the brakes on every few seconds; and finally my NUMBER 1 hate - drivers who let every single person they come across out of junctions.

Thanks for replying...and kudos for kind of admitting you may be one of those guys on occasion.
Its a shame you have been involved in a ruck because of driving - butit happens quite often I believe.

I would say in response to the point I have quoted above, don't forget that it is a speed LIMIT, not a minimum speed which some people seem to get mixed up over.
I was in a 30 earlier on way home from work, doing 30, and had a BMW Driver going so close to me I could see the whites of his eyes. I do understand people going 20 in a 30 for example, yes its annoying, but is it really worth getting so close to someone who is perhaps not confident or an old driver, so that you plough into the back of them when they make a mistake.
That winds me up most when I have my kids in the car, because someone cannot just back off and get somewhere a few minutes later. If it was that important - leave earlier?!

I am fortunate that I haven't driven abroad, but as you point out there are some horrendous things going on over in some of those countries...London is bad enough for me, where it seems no one cares, at all.

reply to post by MrJohnSmith


How true...there are a multitude of idiots on the road every day.
You can see them a mile off...the other morning someone comes flying down the inside lane, I knew he was going to do it, then just cuts across me but then has to brake heavily as I am in a solid lane of (albeit moving) traffic, and causes me to slam on as I no have only 2 metres to stop in not the 4 or 5 I had before...
Thanks a lot, got him precisely nowhere in the scheme of things.

That is why I would love to see more traffic cops, pulling over people like that who may not neccesarily be speeding but are more dangerous...

You should come to British Columbia, Canada.

We have the added "bonus" of Chinese immigrants who can't read road signs or speak English being given drivers' licenses. They're even allowed to take their knowledge test in Chinese which is completely ridiculous.

Where I live, it's a city known for poor drivers over other cities, even with our provincially run insurance company, ICBC. We have three roundabouts in this city of 100,000, I've seen people come up to them, and be completely baffled as to how to approach.

Flashing green, flashing orange, and flashing red lights appear to be a complete mystery to most drivers as to what they mean. Approach a three or four way stop with caution in this town. People have absolutely no idea what a "four way stop" means. God help us, stay off the roads completely if there's been a city wide power outage and ALL the lights in the city are flashing red.

Merging ability is pretty much non existent, I see people on cell phones every single time I go out (despite it being illegal here in BC - you can use cell phones but must be handsfree). We also have the dubious distinction of being one of the best pot growing regions in the world here in the Okanagan, and I often have a car around me with the window down who's driver is obviously smoking pot while driving.

Every single time the weather is bad, there is some sort of massive traffic accident. The first time every year there's even a little bit of snow, accidents are plentiful and usually we get warnings on the radio about only going out on the road if absolutely neccessary due to high accident volume.

The other day I got yelled at by someone speeding past overtaking me as I was doing 30 kph in a 30 kph school zone during school hours, with kids on the highway. He was so busy yelling at me and flipping me the bird that if a kid had of stepped out on the clearly marked cross walk he probably wouldn't have seen them in time to stop.

Our provincial insurance company ICBC actually had a campaign going a while ago to try and bring back the "courtesy wave" for drivers when someone does something nice like let you into a line of traffic, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears here.

I got pulled over by a cop a few weeks back, I drive a 300 hp vehicle but was doing 50 kph in a 60 kph zone. He asked me why I was driving so slowly, said it was usually an indication of someone who was drunk driving slowly in a powerful car. I pointed out the children walking along the edge of the highway (which actually didn't have a sidewalk) and said that I ALWAYS drive slowly when kids are present, even with a sidewalk, as you never know when they're going to step out without looking. He told me that even HE hadn't noticed the kids (but could see them, as they were walking right by where I was stopped), and commended me for good observation skills and cautious driving.

reply to post by SearchLightsInc


shocking really...I have had to tell taxi drivers to put mobile phones away, or they weren't getting a fare from me.

Originally posted by babybunnies
Our provincial insurance company ICBC actually had a campaign going a while ago to try and bring back the "courtesy wave" for drivers when someone does something nice like let you into a line of traffic, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears here.

Thats another thing greatly lacking...so many times you let someone go and nothing, no wave of thanks. Very frustrating indeed. Courtesy costs nothing.
Makes me wonder if they are so rude outside a vehicle? If someone held a door open, would they just walk through without thanks?

Originally posted by facchino
reply to post by SearchLightsInc

 

shocking really...I have had to tell taxi drivers to put mobile phones away, or they weren't getting a fare from me.

I've had to do the same with BUS drivers. City bus drivers texting on their phones. Took a photo of one once, and sent it in to City Hall. Turns out that he was on a final warning for the same thing, they told me he was disciplined, I never saw him driving a bus again after that.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


yes - over here in the UK (and hope I don't offend BMW drivers but lets be honest here "most" BMW drivers are pretty bad hence this image (warning STRONG LANGUAGE on image)

reply to post by HangTheTraitors


wow it sounds like you have it far worse over there...I think the worst place in the UK to drive is London.
Its like give way and traffic signs mean nothing. As I found out the first time I went there, unless you just pull out you dont get anywhere.
However it sounds like Texas is worse, probably not for sheer volume of traffic (not much is?!) but definitely for accidents...luckily in london people are never moving fast enough to cause serious damage.

reply to post by babybunnies


Thats even worse!?
What goes through their tiny minds, driving so many people around and paying no attention to the roads by being on a mobile. I think people caught with a mobile handset next to their ear should get banned, not the 3 points and £100 fine it currently is.

A wireless headset costs £10 to £20...what price someones life?

Driving in UK is not so hard but before you drive you must know traffic signs and how to handle in different road traffic conditions. Learner drivers must pass their driving test before driving on the public places. There are a lot of study material to pass driving test. To find hazard perception test clips, search "hazard perception test" on Google and select top search result and practice your theory test with confidence.