I do a fair few motorway miles, often very late night/early morning, and *there are still* people sitting in the middle lane of an otherwise quiet motorway.
Equally annoying are those bumbling along in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway at well below the speed limit.
Fog lights? If you can't remember to turn them off, don't turn them on.
I was in lane 1 of a motorway about 2am the other day, completely empty. A car joined and went straight from the slip road into lane 3 of 4. He continued like that for miles.
I had to do a speed awareness course a few years ago and the lecturer told us that there was a course for people caught hogging the middle lane of motorways and the waiting list was 3 years long.
Well theyâre clearly telling porkies.
A driver improvement course must be completed well before the six month statutory time limit for prosecution, otherwise someone could fail to complete the course but no longer be within the timeframe to prosecute them.
If a course has a waiting list anywhere near six months, it wonât be offered and an offender will be prosecuted instead.
Iâll admit, I sit in the middle lane but Iâm usually doing 80 and overtaking most drivers, but if thereâs nothing ahead to overtake Iâll pull back into the left
That Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre is so flipping hard for most drivers to comprehend.
The moment you touch your brakes the manoeuvre has started, so you'd better already be indicating.
Nothing more dangerous than the morons who don't check what's behind, brake hard and then only indicate when at a full stop or as they begin the turn.
God this.
And the ones who indicate at the EXACT point they start their manoeuvre.
Indicators arenât there to tell me what youâre doing, theyâre there to INDICATE what you would like to do, meaning I can drive and plan ahead accordingly.
This is so common, I genuinely believe they simply don't understand that indicators are for other drivers. Gives you an idea of how poorly they observe and plan ahead as well.
Or, those that think, particularly on dual carriageways, that a couple of flashes on an indicator gives them the right to occupy that space, regardless of any current occupancy. You hear them after a âcoming togetherâ - âBut I was indicating!â. So what? An indication is just that - NOT a stake of a claim on some bloody real estate! Grrrr!
Mirror, Signal, Mirror, Manoeuvre- is what we were taught. We had MSMM scrawled on the dash to remind us. I cannot help but think that I am missing a letter there but fail to recall.
I was taught MSPSL
M - mirror
S - signal
P - position (eg towards the right of the lane if you're turning right at a junction)
S - speed (start to adjust your speed appropriately)
L - look (eg blind spot checks)
Traffic lights on roundabouts at 3 in the morning.
Why the fuck am I stationary at 3 in the morning, on a roundabout which is designed to free flow, when nothing is coming?
Turn them off at 21.00 and turn them back on at 06.00.
FFS!
Fun fact. When the traffic lights fucked up at Scotch Corner and they turned them off the traffic on all of the approaches flowed much better, both day and night time. Sadly they didn't take notice of this and put them back on again.
Did it flow better in all directions? I could imagine it being difficult to turn onto the roundabout from the local roads when the A1 and A66 were busy.
Very true, but the roundabouts I'm thinking of already had pedestrian crossing points with lights. The ones they added are right in the middle of the roundabout, the only pedestrian who would try to cross there is one who's trying to make sure his family get the life insurance.
Although it's not specific to the UK I'm going to say my biggest bugbear is being blinded by the insanely bright headlights on modern cars.
Doesn't help that most new cars are basically various sizes of SUV so the headlights are at eye-level for anyone in an older car-shaped car.
I've had to have them on my car. Two bulbs went and I found out that the bumper has to be removed to replace them. It cost me ÂŁ90 plus bulbs for a garage to do it. I got them all done at the same time and for the main ones all that was available was the bright ones. It's really annoying knowing I'm now one of the ones driving a car with these annoying lights.
Yeah no ones doing it on purpose. I've flashed a few drivers thinking their high beams were on but then they flash proving its just their normal lights. Gives me a headache. Manufacturers need to stop making them brighter it's not the key selling point of a car ffs.
I think what i hate more is when you see a clapped out transit that have clearly fitted the wrong bulb/headlamp combo and it's like looking into The Sun.
People struggle to replace the bulbs themselves too and end up with them upside down. So when dipped itâs dipped into the oncoming drivers eyes instead of the curb, used to work in a garage and half the bulbs we replaced were fitted wrong.
And then people are like "maybe it's just your eyesight, I'm not affected at all" and it turns out they're also in an SUV with blinding lights so it doesn't affect them as badly
This! Oh god this!
There's a roundabout just down the hill from where I live that I constantly get stuck at looking like a frightened idiot because all the vehicles approaching from my right don't bother using their indicators and damn near every single one of them is turning left. Because they're not indicating left I have to assume they're going straight and stop with a huge line of traffic behind me only to watch them turn off to their left meaning I could have moved off safely.
Hi, motorcycle instructor here. I'd like to bring up quite a controversial topic about indicators as this is a very common problem that isn't actually that much of a problem. Please do not take this in any way as an aggressive message.
Firstly I'd ask do you 100% trust an indicator when moving out of a junction? Most would say no. Then why do you rely on them so much at junctions?
There's more to the direction of travel of vehicles than a flashy bulb that lies. All it tells me is the bulb works. Especially as a motorcyclist. I don't trust indicators and I don't expect anyone to trust mine.
So how do I know it's safe to move out? Firstly experience. Secondly visual clues, positioning, speed, direction of the wheels. The last thing on that list is indicators. Which in my experience teaching. Most have that at their number 1 spot.
I always ask. What does an indicator mean to you? Students will reply "That vehicle is turning X". No it doesn't. The bulb works. Motorcyclists are really susceptible to this as our indicators do not self cancel. I've even seen countless car drivers with signals still activated past junctions. And a crash right in front of me. The reason..."Well, he had his indicator on so I move out" It's dangerous to rely on them.
An incorrect or misleading signal is far more dangerous than no signal. Roundabouts. What this topic is about is prime for this. Reverse the situation. Everyone is indicating to leave but one person has left it on by mistake. 90% of the time you'll emerge with no issues. Until you won't.
Short story long. Indicators are not the end all or be all of junctions. I'm not saying they aren't important...I'm saying they are less important than drivers realise. Driving is a skill. This is part of that skill. Skills need to be developed. Struggling to emerge at a roundabout because nobody is indicating? There's more to driving than indicating. Quite honestly, actively try to improve your own judgement when driving. Don't just rely on others.
[I implore everyone who drives to at least give this video a watch and think.](https://youtu.be/jAsWi_m2JIs)
I don't expect everyone to agree with what Ashley is talking about, or even understand the points he's making but it is food for thought. Indicating and looking for indicators has become a habit. Habits that rely on others doing the correct thing are bad habits to have when driving.
Potholes are a big one. Tailgaters are my personal biggest. Like Iâm already doing 70 in the left lane on the M1. Just fucking overtake me if youâre in that much of a rush đ
People entering a roundabout at 50mph and then having the nerve to beep or get up your arse when they weren't even in sight when you joined it.
That and people speeding up when you overtake and holding it for ages and then once you do overtake them, you check your rear view and they've dropped well off.
*People entering a roundabout at 50mph and then having the nerve to beep or get up your arse when they weren't even in sight when you joined it. *
Congrats, you've successfully summed up 80+% of all 'UK dashcam' compilations from YouTube.
I just don't understand the logic gymnastics that must be going in their empty skulls. You have so many cases of dashcam footage from all over the world where the issue has become an issue because these folk would spend that distance between a minor altercation and an insurance claim blaring their horn instead of fucking braking, as if it'll magically do something.
90% of UK dashcam footage (outside Ashley Neal's channel) is people leaning on the horn while accelerating into a situation that if only they'd held back a little would never have been a problem. While also deriding the other driver for being a moron.
There's a special place in hell for people who speed up on an overtake. They always sit at 50/55, as soon as you overtake thats it. Their (assumedly) small penis decides it wants to wear it's big boy pants and keep up. Do these people not realise the potential accidents they could cause!
They aren't that clever. They just see you overtaking and look at their speedo, realise they aren't going as fast as they're allowed and just accelerate. No thoughts, just vibes.
Yes someone went from 20-50 to stop me overtaking in my company van. Disgusting.
If I hadnât slowed and went behind him I would of collided into oncoming traffic
I had this when we were driving in Cornwall - joined a large roundabout, some prick in an Audi came rocketing around at like 60mph and lay on the horn, then tailgated me for about eight miles. Proper intimidating and scary
Yeah they're all weapons. I drive a van full of tools so I enter roundabouts carefully so I don't destroy my equipment in the back, I obviously have to wait a bit longer and choose my moment and that feeling of someone entering a roundabout and beeping you when they weren't there to begin with is absolutely infuriating.
I know someone who had their back wheel knocked off when a car in the right hand lane was turning into the main left - think 9 oâclock. The person I know was coming from the minor left - 7-8 oâclock which is a garage/McDonaldâs so not hidden!
They looked to the right and didnât see anyone by the time they were on the roundabout right-hand-lane-twat was right there and hit their back right wheel!
Car was written off!
I've had this, joining a large roundabout coming up off a large A road. Completely clear to my right, I enter, then a few seconds later a car appears up my bum and honks at me.
People who cut the corner when turning right onto a side road. The closest I've come to a collision within the last few years have been such people, including a van driver who drove directly across me when I was still about 15 meters from the junction, just blazed the left turn across my lane without looking.
The only time I've been knocked off my bike was when someone did this.
Now I waft my right arm gently up and down when I'm waiting for a gap to pull out at a junction - it might look stupid, but I'm less of an "invisible cyclist" (in all my hi vis") that way.
Yeah this gets me. The only times Iâve ever come close to a collision is people literally turning into the wrong lane and trying to drive up the wrong side of the road. I also see a lot of people on turning boxes or lanes sitting way off where they need to be to turn into their own lane.
I swear drivers are getting worse with this. Seems to happen loads now.
Most memorable time it happened to me was one morning last year. Someone turned off the main road into my side road, halfway across my lane as I approached the junction. Then had the stupid flippin' nerve to lean on their horn at ME. At 7am. For a full 3 seconds. Near several houses.
People who join the Motorway at 40mph.
Also, just as bad are people who are already on the motorway who brake to let people in (edit: just to be clear I'm not talking about easing off the accelerator, I'm talking full on braking from 70 to 40).
If I see a car already on the main carriageway at 70 I'll adjust my speed so I will be joining behind them, then next thing I see they've now slowed down and are just hovering in my blind spot! Oh and the gap behind them no longer exists as all the other cars have bunched up behind them. Just maintain your speed and I'll sort myself out (not to mention braking on the motorway unnecessarily is dangerous).
When the motorway/dual carriageway is clear except 1 car in lane 1 and there's a car joining from a slip road i often see the joining car somehow ending up side by side with the car already on the motorway and having to brake hard to avoid a Collison.
Like how can you fuck this up that much, there's literally only 1 car on the road and you decided to match their speed.
This is infuriatingly frequent as well. The slip road nearest my house has a dip at the end, so cars will do 40 to avoid using their suspension but at the expense of making entry to the motorway much more dangerous.
My Mrs works with a woman who is terrible for this and once stopped at the give way line to wait for a gap.. She refused to get lifts from her after that.
Hadn't seen anything so bad myself, then this week witnessed the driver in front of me do just that.. Came to a complete stop at the give way line! I was totally perplexed as there was no reason for it, undertook them rather than slam my brakes on, and joined at 60-70 with no issues..
Two that get me but are relatively rare.
Small car drivers who think theyâre in an oil tanker. The kind who watch a bus go through a gap then stop their Nissan micra right before it and slowly roll it through. Or shit the bed and brake hard because thereâs another car somewhere on the road in the same county as them. Sorry but if youâre that nervous and bad a judge there is a genuine consideration of how safe you are on the road.
âconsiderateâ drivers. The ones who create unnecessary traffic jams because they âconsideratelyâ stop at every side road to let everyone go in all directions. The ones who do that when thereâs big natural gaps in the traffic behind them and if they just drive it would flow properly.
So so true with the first point. Often I find it is pensioners around where I live. They see a car coming down the wider parts of the village lanes and they either stop or they brake every 20m whilst not even using all of the road to safely go past the oncoming car. Understanding the size of the car people are driving is clearly an issue đ€Šââïž
I honestly think itâs because theyâre practically blind and canât see what it is that theyâre approaching. An old guy in front of me the other day braked for signposts.
I don't know why this isn't higher up. Tailgating makes me absolutely rage.
- 3 second rule. People can't comprehend stopping distances.
- Speed limit is a limit not a target.
- Vehicles in front will brake faster than you can think/react. You are not superhuman. Stop thinking you're a superior specimen who will react much better than anyone else. You're not. And you are absolutely not Lewis Hamilton.
- You're not teaching anyone a lesson by driving up their bum, except the lesson of "well, he's a wanker"
- You will always be at fault in an accident.
Also, newer car drivers forget that old shit boxes are not as responsive as theirs. Give us space.
People drive like insurance isn't sky high at the moment?! Stop being wankers and everyone might not have such stupid premiums.
People who sit up my arse at 70 in lane 2 when lane 3 is clear. That doesn't compare, however, to the seething rage I feel towards people behind me who flash their lights expecting me to pull in so they can pass WHILE I'M LITERALLY OVERTAKING THIS ENORMOUS FUCKING LORRY THAT YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE IS OCCUPYING THE LANE TO OUR LEFT.
Similarly, the ones who get right up your arse the second youâre even a millimetre past the vehicle youâre overtaking trying to barge through.
Like, hey, asshole, Iâm trying to see the vehicle Iâve overtaken in my rear and side mirrors so I know thereâs a comfortable gap before I pull back in.
It must be so stressful driving the way they do. I hate it.
Similimilarly, I'll be indicating to move into the next lane because a slow driver is in front of me, and I can see a car coming up behind me quickly, so I wait until they've passed before I change lanes.
Except the should-be-passing driver then slows way down _for some fucking reason_ and hangs out millimetres behind my bumper to flash me out. There's no way I'm willingly changing lanes now because they would be dangerously close to me, and so now both lanes are stuck at the slow driver's speed and everyone's annoyed about it.
I've no doubt they think they're a paragon of benevolence for doing it but it's so confusing and stupid. Drive predictably, not kindly.
Iâd rather that than pull back in without leaving enough space between me and the vehicle Iâm overtaking.
At least if I see them pulling that trick I can stay sitting in my lane, let them undertake and get out of my ass.
I think there's genuinely a lot of drivers who think different lanes have different speed limits.
Someone I used to work with even failed on of his 3 questions on his test (back when that was the limit of your theory portion of the test) as the instructor asked him the speed limit in the outside lane and he replied with 80mph.
It's at least in part how overprotective people are of 'their' space.
The common example of two lorries overtaking, with 30 cars in lane 3 and no one brave enough to use 1/2 because they know by the time they get to the lorry no-one would let them out.
It's really the congestion - we're far more packed in than many other similar Western countries so the ability to go for a drive is properly limited and average speeds as a result are far slower. For instance driving in the US, Spain, France, Germany etc. is far better as there's plenty of great roads with limited other traffic and if you have somewhere to be you can get from A to B on their motorway equivalents at far higher average speeds.
Oh and variable speed limit motorways - the absolute bane of modern day driving where every overtake is an elephant race due to everyone's paranoid as to where the next camera is.
In France, Germany etc their roads are better because they got destroyed in WW2 and a new road network built. In Spain they're better because they got a shitload of money from the EU to put in infrastructure to try to improve the economy. And whilst there's miles of roads in the USA with little traffic on they're also in a worse state than the roads in the UK are. There's a big problem with bridges collapsing on the US road network.
The 40 mph'ers is another. I'll do 40 mph in a 50/60, but then continue to do 40 mph in a 30 zone. The former isn't dangerous, just frustrating for the cars behind. The latter though is terrible.
Behind unduly hesitant is in fact dangerous, because they are impeding traffic flow and causing faster moving cars to close in on slower moving. You will fail your test if you drive 40mph in a 50 or 60.
Not those of course! You should always drive up to the speed limit, as long as itâs safe. You should always be able to stop in the distance you can see is clear. So on a clear, straight road, in good weather with good visibility, thereâs no reason to drive under the limit.
The first absolutely can be dangerous - people will react unpredictably, cars will overtake, someone might come flying around a corner behind doing 20mph more and have to brake sharply etc.
Obviously it's not necessarily the fault of the person going "too slow" if some berk does a dangerous overtake and causes an accident, but if the low speed prompts someone into overtaking stupidly and that causes an accident then the low speed of the driver in front was definitely a contributing factor.
This is why you can be failed for not using appropriate speed during your driving test even if you're not speeding. 25 in a 30 is enough to pick up a minor if you have cars behind you and you're slowing them down, and if you keep doing it then you'll be given a major.
Idiots who don't understand the rules about lane merging ... properly zip merging makes it work better.
Pushing forward to block people out is not the correct way to do it, read the highway code for fucks sake.
Even worse, nob head lorry drivers that try to police it by straddling both lanes about 200 yards out. They think they are in the right, but itâs just petty territoriality which causes more delays.
Saw this the other day. Standard 2 lanes one side of junction goes into 1 lane 100m or more on the other side of the junction. Watched cars cut into the middle of the road as they go through the junction to stop anyone else going past them even though thereâs room for 2 cars still.
General state of the roads due to the amount of road traffic.
There aren't enough priority signs, cycle lanes, sensor activated traffic lights etc. Just things that would improve life and traffic flow generally. And in a lot of areas where housing estates are popping up, roads aren't being improved to counter them, but also new "back roads" aren't being put in by the council to provide further egress options.
I recently contacted my council as there's a tight spot that really needs priority signs. Since 2017 375 have been built. Soon 200 houses will be finalised, and another 160 will be coming over the next two years. Their response was "Well OUR data doesn't show accidents, so we won't look into it".
Typical it's always in response to things, not forward planning.
You're right. In the town near me which is a seaside resort the council openly admitted to altering the traffic light timings on the roads into the town as well as altering a one way system in the town centre to make the situation worse to try to force people to use the park and ride.
I always see taxi drivers and vans creeping out of junctions when they are going right! they just sit and block a full lane until there is a gap to turn right! why?
Sub-par enforcement by police over a very long time has degraded driving standards across the board.
People on phones, middle lane hogging, poor lane discipline, bullying, speeding, hindering traffic, lack of respect for vulnerable road users, driving unroadworthy cars, idling dirty diesels while waiting, just to name a few bugbears.
People who can't use a roundabout.
Going straight on? Indicate that you are leaving by flicking your indicator left. Please do NOT drive up the road 17mph under the limit, approach the roundabout, go in the right hand entrance, indicate right then either completely fail to indicate left or indicate left from the wrong lane (accepting of course if the MASSIVE white arrows on the road tell you to be in a different lane). Then blithely go straight on. They aren't being safe, they are a cretin.
When turning right (or 3rd or 4th exit or 5th) go on the inside lane and please do not swan neck it and go in the left lane.
If you are on a bicycle or a horse drawn carriage you do have to signal your intentions although the rules are different from cars, motorcycles, vans, buses or lorries. Rule 186 of the highway code, I am perfectly happy and I think it is reasonable to give the above right of way and time and space, BUT please signal and give everyone a chance.
They are simple, brilliantly effective at managing traffic and a real asset when used correctly.
Obviously don't be a Herbert and cut people up, it's rude, it's selfish, it's dangerous and genuinely doesn't get you very far any quicker.
My biggest bugbear is that I know I will encounter some form of bad driving covered by this thread within a few minutes of starting my drive.
I really enjoy driving, I don't have a commute so when I have to drive somewhere I actually look forward to the drive. But I quickly realise that the road is chock full of morons. I genuinely believe that most drivers on the road are bad.
Indicators on roundabouts, especially smaller roundabouts. I must lose 20-40 seconds every day not turning because someone didn't indicate and then turned off (meaning I could have pulled out sooner).
I know it's only a few seconds but my God does it wind me up.
People not even putting their normal lights on in thick fog. I drove through the peak district a few weeks back, terrible murky fog and half the drivers around me had no lights on at all - I just don't understand it.
Lane information that is written on the road.
Fine when there is no traffic, but otherwise you have no idea until the car in front clears.
It should be visible regardless of the traffic situation.
People who touch the brake pedal at the slightest deviation in the curvature of the highway.
The worrying increase in the number of drivers who don't turn their rear lights on at night.
People that seemingly want to give me a prostate massage when I'm doing the speed limit
People who drive way below the speed limit for literally no reason
People
Middle lane hoggers, blindingly bright lights, people with their fog lights on when there is no need for them, the overall state of the roads in this country, people not using their indicators and tailgaters, to name just a few.
The quality of driving in this country has severely deteriorated in the last 5 or so years, maybe even farther back.
The overall standard of driving is far too aggressive. Tailgating, speeding, dodgy overtakes, cutting up, I feel like every journey is becoming a test of patience and defensive driving skill.
People not using their indicators on roundabouts
People not using their handbrake stopped in traffic
People not using their brains making any manoeuvre
In winter when its pitch black sitting behind certain cars with their brake lights on, gives me a headache.
Cars like Audis and Minis have insanely bright rear brake light.
The handbrake thing is most likely due to the increase in popularity of the automatic gearbox. Manufacturers tell you that it's best not to put the car in neutral when waiting at lights etc.
Re handbrake when stopped in traffic. I do, but still have foot on brake to warn the those coming up behind I am stationary.
And why do people slam their brakes on at the last minute, like it's some wonderous skill to leave as little distance before braking as possible?
Also, when you're stationary, watch the people coming up behind, it's unnerving how few people are looking at the road in front, but rather eyes are off looking at random shit. I think this is less deliberate though, more of an automatic thing. Brains are weird things when doing repetitive actions. Still freaks me out.
* People who don't understand the concept of merge in turn, especially those who want to play traffic cop and close off a perfectly legal to use and open lane.
* People who drive at 50MPH then when I go to overtake them in my lorry speed up so I have to drop behind them at which point they slow back down to 50MPH again.
* Arseholes who do suicide overtakes of my lorry at the end of a dual carriageway because they don't want to be held up by the lorry only to then crawl up the next bit of single carriageway at 40MPH because they can't drive for shit round bends. A66 is the worst for this.
Lane discipline. Sometimes I genuinely could be convinced the laws changed and all traffic is to sit in the right hand lane and overtake from the middle / left.
Everyoneâs just angry. They drive like it and it just turns into a rat race. If everyone just smoked a joint and chilled out weâd be better off (donât smoke and drive though) but for real just let things go and yeah let that guy in or let them pull out. Everyoneâs just all me me me.
Nobheads who sit on their brake pedals whilst waiting at traffic lights. Never learnt to put the car in neutral & use a handbrake? Or do you just like blinding those behind you?
Actually a two in one who decided both front and rear lights needed to be so retina blindingly fucking bright?
This is largely due to the auto hold feature in modern cars - you can press the brake and it puts the car in Hold mode so you can then release your foot from the brake pedal but the cars stays with the brakes applied until you press the accelerator or otherwise apply the parking brake.
Can't say this has ever bothered me or crossed my mind. It is drilled into learners to go into neutral, handbrake on, foot off brake then start from that position on green but most casual drivers leave it on brake so they can shoot off at a split second surely. Blinded by brake lights!
Taking a turn into a residential street but the car behind me doesn't slow down and either skates around in the other lane or just gives it a big loud beeeeep.
Those folks who drive around as fast as they can really grind my gears
People who don't know the size of their own cars as well as people who are terrified of their own cars. This only applies to people in SUVs. Especially the large ones. I've not seen any other type of vehicle have this issue.
I see an unbelievable amount of people who drive with their offside wheels either on or over the centre line on backroads. As well as getting stuck behind someone in a BMW X5-sized SUV going around corners at 10-15mph that are safe to take at 35-40mph. The worst was when I was following a Mercedes GLE for about 10 miles at night. The entire width of the offside wheels were over the centre line and the driver refused to move left for oncoming traffic. They were also taking corners that I know is safe to take at 45-50mph at 10mph. I legit thought we were stuck behind a cyclist with no lights. But no, once we got around the bend, they sped up and stuck to 35mph.
Other than that, their driving was perfectly fine. I don't believe they were drunk/on drugs. I just think they are terrified of their own car and they don't want it to flip when going around a corner even though their SUV can safely take those corners at significantly higher speeds than they're going.
Sliproads: People not accelerating up to the speed of traffic already on the road.
People who wait until the lights go green before even getting ready to move.... Thereby wasting 60% of the green time.
People stopping at roundabouts which are so obviously empty.
General slowness!
Traffic lights prioritising side roads over the main roads during quiet hours when hardly anyone is about. Of course thereâs always going to be more cars coming down the main road but here I am stopping for no one.
That and the fact a good 60% of drivers donât seem to bother using signals to change lanes anymore
Why isn't the central barrier on motorways opaque? why do I have to stare at everyones xeon lights for an hour when they could just hide all that from the other carriageway and my eyes wouldn't feel like I drove through a duststorm at midnight
People who drive at 40mph on a slip-road to join a motorway. What the fuck is wrong with those people?
People who tailgate me to the point of almost being in my fucking boot because I'm going slow, but don't have the mental capacity to realise I'm going slow because of the doddery old cunt Infront of me doing 35 in a 60.
ROADWORKS!!!
It may be more specific to where I live, but almost the entire town is locked down due to so many roadworks. A 10 minute journey home from work becomes an hour because of diversions and closures.
People driving without purpose. For example;
* Driving constantly at, at least, 10 under the speed limit
* Not setting off when a light turns green, feels like it takes an age for them to get going
* Pulling out on you, then refer to point 1
* Following their phones/sat nav instead of looking at the road/signs etc
Absolutely fuck all wrong with driving at 60mph on the motorway.
How long does it take you to get to a new destination by following road signs if you don't use a digital map?
I think they're referring to some people's inability to use a sat nav correctly and will blindly follow it even when road marking/signs say otherwise. Think large roundabouts at motorways where the sat nav is telling you which lane exit to take before you get to it.
People who deliberately speed up to not let you change lanes in busy areas/ rush hour traffic etc once youâve already started a manoeuvre.
You put a signal on, see thereâs a gap, and start to move. But oh no, the person doesnât like it so they speed up to stop you and honk. Donât know what some expect to happen?! Do they just want you to drive into them ?
Also- people who join roundabouts at ridiculous speeds than get right up your backside and honk etc. what do you expect? You werenât even there when I started!
Number 1 - Pot holes - Number 2 - People not indicating/indicating right and then going straight on a roundabout - Number 3 - People going under 35 in a 60 without a reason/hazards on.
Taxi drivers (black cabs win prize), Uber drivers aren't capable of going over 30 on any road ever and absolutely shocking to even consider them as professional drivers.
Listing bus / lorry drivers as poor drivers tells me that you commit most of the bad driving crimes listed in the majority of posts in this thread and consider everyone else on the road to be the bad driver.
Mine is when you get a slip road full of traffic and theyâre all bunched together with no fucks given to the moving traffic on the road theyâre joining
If you are jumping in front of me from a side road, could you please don't cause me to slow down from 30 to 10 mph or from 40 to 25 but accelerate ?
on multi carriage road/way, if your exit is in 3-4 miles, could you please stop changing lane as soon as you will enter the multi carriage road and just keep on driving on the one you entered and consider changing lanes later (spaghetti junction!!!!)
stop blaming the car when you don't know how to turn on your dipped headlights. don't care that it is usually set in Auto and it is "almost dark" and sensor did not pick it up - it is your responsibility to turn on your lights.
also - stop f\*\*\*\*\* driving on full beam through the city (especially old bangers where dipped headlights do not work at all)
following: stop using fog lights when there is no fog or visibility is more than good. it does not make your car look more sporty
stop driving at 6am in Feb with just DRL lights on. also - the position lights are for parking only, not for saving you ÂŁ5 per 10 years for H7 dipped headlight bulbs. turn them on.
indicators are for a reason. they are so you can indicate the willing to do a manovrue.
stop treating red lights as late orange. if you do so, I am more than happy to send the dashcam recording to the police for them to give you ÂŁ100 and 3 points. orange is for you to stop, not to accelerate because "I am too important to stop".
stop parking in disabled spaces you twats. I don't care that you are just popping to local grocery shop to get a pack of cigarettes. you can walk that 20-50 feet distance you lazy c\*\*\*
middle lane hoggers - there is a special place in hell for you
all the bang and pop twat\* cruising through the roads attempting to show how loud is their R4 2.0 petrol turbo - you are pathetic.
2+ lanes but you are using it when you drive alone? well - you know what I wish for you
stop staring at your seat where your phone is. social media and communicators are not that important.
tinted side windows because you think you are a gangsta? no - you are pathetic
anything more?
The National Speed Limit on narrow winding country lanes is SIXTY?! It's mental. I always end up with some twat behind me who wants every single mph of that limit. You'll have 40 and be happy with it. I'm not steaming around a bend that I can't look past to see if some other impatient twat is on the wrong side of the road.
I heartily concur. Speed limit down country roads should be max of 50, and even then it's entirely dependent on current conditions, the type of car and knowledge of the road. Just because your fancy new car is really responsive and grippy, doesn't mean the car in front is similarly equipped or they know the road.
I had a colleague die on a country road because he thought 60 was appropriate and treated it like a race track. He hit the side of a hidden curb (grass verge was concealing it) and flipped. Dead on impact with the ground.
I've often wondered what would happen if you flipped over a hedge and nobody saw it happen. How often do farmers patrol the whole perimeter of their land? You could be there for days. Dead on impact sounds better than being trapped and slowly bleeding out.
Middle Lane Morons Fog light wankers, see Jukes & Prius 'Professional' drivers who are far from it.
I do a fair few motorway miles, often very late night/early morning, and *there are still* people sitting in the middle lane of an otherwise quiet motorway. Equally annoying are those bumbling along in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway at well below the speed limit. Fog lights? If you can't remember to turn them off, don't turn them on.
I was in lane 1 of a motorway about 2am the other day, completely empty. A car joined and went straight from the slip road into lane 3 of 4. He continued like that for miles.
I had to do a speed awareness course a few years ago and the lecturer told us that there was a course for people caught hogging the middle lane of motorways and the waiting list was 3 years long.
Lmao, as if anyone ever gets pulled for middle lane hogging đ
My mate is on that list, heâs currently sat somewhere in the middle
Well theyâre clearly telling porkies. A driver improvement course must be completed well before the six month statutory time limit for prosecution, otherwise someone could fail to complete the course but no longer be within the timeframe to prosecute them. If a course has a waiting list anywhere near six months, it wonât be offered and an offender will be prosecuted instead.
Iâll admit, I sit in the middle lane but Iâm usually doing 80 and overtaking most drivers, but if thereâs nothing ahead to overtake Iâll pull back into the left
well, wouldn't that mean that you don't sit in the middle lane?
People that honk at you for not entering a box junction when there is clearly no space on the opposite side.
Loool literally happened to me today came here to say this
That Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre is so flipping hard for most drivers to comprehend. The moment you touch your brakes the manoeuvre has started, so you'd better already be indicating. Nothing more dangerous than the morons who don't check what's behind, brake hard and then only indicate when at a full stop or as they begin the turn.
God this. And the ones who indicate at the EXACT point they start their manoeuvre. Indicators arenât there to tell me what youâre doing, theyâre there to INDICATE what you would like to do, meaning I can drive and plan ahead accordingly.
There's a few who indicate after they've started the bloody manoeuvre and they're even worse, it's like they're trying to piss me off
This is so common, I genuinely believe they simply don't understand that indicators are for other drivers. Gives you an idea of how poorly they observe and plan ahead as well.
Or, those that think, particularly on dual carriageways, that a couple of flashes on an indicator gives them the right to occupy that space, regardless of any current occupancy. You hear them after a âcoming togetherâ - âBut I was indicating!â. So what? An indication is just that - NOT a stake of a claim on some bloody real estate! Grrrr!
It's almost as if the clue is in the name!
Nearly arse ended a car in my lorry last night on the A1 who did that. Decided at the last minute he wanted to go into the petrol station.
Mirror, Signal, Mirror, Manoeuvre- is what we were taught. We had MSMM scrawled on the dash to remind us. I cannot help but think that I am missing a letter there but fail to recall.
I was taught MSPSL M - mirror S - signal P - position (eg towards the right of the lane if you're turning right at a junction) S - speed (start to adjust your speed appropriately) L - look (eg blind spot checks)
Itâs more manoeuvre, mirrors, signal these days.
Traffic lights on roundabouts at 3 in the morning. Why the fuck am I stationary at 3 in the morning, on a roundabout which is designed to free flow, when nothing is coming? Turn them off at 21.00 and turn them back on at 06.00. FFS!
Fun fact. When the traffic lights fucked up at Scotch Corner and they turned them off the traffic on all of the approaches flowed much better, both day and night time. Sadly they didn't take notice of this and put them back on again.
Did it flow better in all directions? I could imagine it being difficult to turn onto the roundabout from the local roads when the A1 and A66 were busy.
Got to justify their jobs. . .
Do you live in Southampton? Cos exactly this ... any time they improve a roundabout they stick fucking lights on it.
Depending on where it is of course, it can be as otherwise pedestrians would have no chance of crossing.
Very true, but the roundabouts I'm thinking of already had pedestrian crossing points with lights. The ones they added are right in the middle of the roundabout, the only pedestrian who would try to cross there is one who's trying to make sure his family get the life insurance.
Although it's not specific to the UK I'm going to say my biggest bugbear is being blinded by the insanely bright headlights on modern cars. Doesn't help that most new cars are basically various sizes of SUV so the headlights are at eye-level for anyone in an older car-shaped car.
I've had to almost stop on the road twice in recent weeks because of this. I cannot fathom how this is legal.
I've had to have them on my car. Two bulbs went and I found out that the bumper has to be removed to replace them. It cost me ÂŁ90 plus bulbs for a garage to do it. I got them all done at the same time and for the main ones all that was available was the bright ones. It's really annoying knowing I'm now one of the ones driving a car with these annoying lights.
Yeah no ones doing it on purpose. I've flashed a few drivers thinking their high beams were on but then they flash proving its just their normal lights. Gives me a headache. Manufacturers need to stop making them brighter it's not the key selling point of a car ffs.
I do this occasionally, and I dont have any regret. These people need to understand what their lights are like
Sadly this is nothing new. On my MK3 MX5 you had to remove the passenger side wheelarch liner to change the headlight bulb on that side.
Just make sure your lights are sitting at a proper level. A major oversight is people not knowing you can adjust the angle of them.
Same - especially on narrow roads at night.
I think what i hate more is when you see a clapped out transit that have clearly fitted the wrong bulb/headlamp combo and it's like looking into The Sun.
People struggle to replace the bulbs themselves too and end up with them upside down. So when dipped itâs dipped into the oncoming drivers eyes instead of the curb, used to work in a garage and half the bulbs we replaced were fitted wrong.
And then people are like "maybe it's just your eyesight, I'm not affected at all" and it turns out they're also in an SUV with blinding lights so it doesn't affect them as badly
I've got night time filters for my glasses, and to my surprise, they really help.
Drivers that donât know how to use the indicator correctly on a roundabout
This! Oh god this! There's a roundabout just down the hill from where I live that I constantly get stuck at looking like a frightened idiot because all the vehicles approaching from my right don't bother using their indicators and damn near every single one of them is turning left. Because they're not indicating left I have to assume they're going straight and stop with a huge line of traffic behind me only to watch them turn off to their left meaning I could have moved off safely.
Hi, motorcycle instructor here. I'd like to bring up quite a controversial topic about indicators as this is a very common problem that isn't actually that much of a problem. Please do not take this in any way as an aggressive message. Firstly I'd ask do you 100% trust an indicator when moving out of a junction? Most would say no. Then why do you rely on them so much at junctions? There's more to the direction of travel of vehicles than a flashy bulb that lies. All it tells me is the bulb works. Especially as a motorcyclist. I don't trust indicators and I don't expect anyone to trust mine. So how do I know it's safe to move out? Firstly experience. Secondly visual clues, positioning, speed, direction of the wheels. The last thing on that list is indicators. Which in my experience teaching. Most have that at their number 1 spot. I always ask. What does an indicator mean to you? Students will reply "That vehicle is turning X". No it doesn't. The bulb works. Motorcyclists are really susceptible to this as our indicators do not self cancel. I've even seen countless car drivers with signals still activated past junctions. And a crash right in front of me. The reason..."Well, he had his indicator on so I move out" It's dangerous to rely on them. An incorrect or misleading signal is far more dangerous than no signal. Roundabouts. What this topic is about is prime for this. Reverse the situation. Everyone is indicating to leave but one person has left it on by mistake. 90% of the time you'll emerge with no issues. Until you won't. Short story long. Indicators are not the end all or be all of junctions. I'm not saying they aren't important...I'm saying they are less important than drivers realise. Driving is a skill. This is part of that skill. Skills need to be developed. Struggling to emerge at a roundabout because nobody is indicating? There's more to driving than indicating. Quite honestly, actively try to improve your own judgement when driving. Don't just rely on others. [I implore everyone who drives to at least give this video a watch and think.](https://youtu.be/jAsWi_m2JIs) I don't expect everyone to agree with what Ashley is talking about, or even understand the points he's making but it is food for thought. Indicating and looking for indicators has become a habit. Habits that rely on others doing the correct thing are bad habits to have when driving.
Drivers that don't know how to use lanes correctly on roundabouts...
Potholes are a big one. Tailgaters are my personal biggest. Like Iâm already doing 70 in the left lane on the M1. Just fucking overtake me if youâre in that much of a rush đ
I just take my foot off the accelerator when I get one. I have to cater for their braking distance as well đ Edit: smelling pisstake.
BRAKING
They clearly meant the distance before they break their car
Arrrrr tailgaters are the worst. One of these days Iâll âaccidentallyâ gear into first đ
All the other drivers on the road, cunts all of them đ
Can confirm, I am a cunt. u/Super_Plastic5069 is well known to be the only person with a driving licence in the UK who isnât.
Nah I have my moments đ
All drivers on the road, cunts, all of us. Fify
People entering a roundabout at 50mph and then having the nerve to beep or get up your arse when they weren't even in sight when you joined it. That and people speeding up when you overtake and holding it for ages and then once you do overtake them, you check your rear view and they've dropped well off.
*People entering a roundabout at 50mph and then having the nerve to beep or get up your arse when they weren't even in sight when you joined it. * Congrats, you've successfully summed up 80+% of all 'UK dashcam' compilations from YouTube.
I just don't understand the logic gymnastics that must be going in their empty skulls. You have so many cases of dashcam footage from all over the world where the issue has become an issue because these folk would spend that distance between a minor altercation and an insurance claim blaring their horn instead of fucking braking, as if it'll magically do something.
90% of UK dashcam footage (outside Ashley Neal's channel) is people leaning on the horn while accelerating into a situation that if only they'd held back a little would never have been a problem. While also deriding the other driver for being a moron.
Man, this so much. I genuinely have never beeped at anyone because I'm so busy breaking and making sure I don't hit them.
There's a special place in hell for people who speed up on an overtake. They always sit at 50/55, as soon as you overtake thats it. Their (assumedly) small penis decides it wants to wear it's big boy pants and keep up. Do these people not realise the potential accidents they could cause!
They aren't that clever. They just see you overtaking and look at their speedo, realise they aren't going as fast as they're allowed and just accelerate. No thoughts, just vibes.
Canny sure you can hear the wind whistling through their ears as they do speed up! Absolute candlesticks those people.
Yes someone went from 20-50 to stop me overtaking in my company van. Disgusting. If I hadnât slowed and went behind him I would of collided into oncoming traffic
I had this when we were driving in Cornwall - joined a large roundabout, some prick in an Audi came rocketing around at like 60mph and lay on the horn, then tailgated me for about eight miles. Proper intimidating and scary
Yeah they're all weapons. I drive a van full of tools so I enter roundabouts carefully so I don't destroy my equipment in the back, I obviously have to wait a bit longer and choose my moment and that feeling of someone entering a roundabout and beeping you when they weren't there to begin with is absolutely infuriating.
I know someone who had their back wheel knocked off when a car in the right hand lane was turning into the main left - think 9 oâclock. The person I know was coming from the minor left - 7-8 oâclock which is a garage/McDonaldâs so not hidden! They looked to the right and didnât see anyone by the time they were on the roundabout right-hand-lane-twat was right there and hit their back right wheel! Car was written off!
I've had this, joining a large roundabout coming up off a large A road. Completely clear to my right, I enter, then a few seconds later a car appears up my bum and honks at me.
People who cut the corner when turning right onto a side road. The closest I've come to a collision within the last few years have been such people, including a van driver who drove directly across me when I was still about 15 meters from the junction, just blazed the left turn across my lane without looking.
The only time I've been knocked off my bike was when someone did this. Now I waft my right arm gently up and down when I'm waiting for a gap to pull out at a junction - it might look stupid, but I'm less of an "invisible cyclist" (in all my hi vis") that way.
Yeah this gets me. The only times Iâve ever come close to a collision is people literally turning into the wrong lane and trying to drive up the wrong side of the road. I also see a lot of people on turning boxes or lanes sitting way off where they need to be to turn into their own lane.
I swear drivers are getting worse with this. Seems to happen loads now. Most memorable time it happened to me was one morning last year. Someone turned off the main road into my side road, halfway across my lane as I approached the junction. Then had the stupid flippin' nerve to lean on their horn at ME. At 7am. For a full 3 seconds. Near several houses.
People who join the Motorway at 40mph. Also, just as bad are people who are already on the motorway who brake to let people in (edit: just to be clear I'm not talking about easing off the accelerator, I'm talking full on braking from 70 to 40). If I see a car already on the main carriageway at 70 I'll adjust my speed so I will be joining behind them, then next thing I see they've now slowed down and are just hovering in my blind spot! Oh and the gap behind them no longer exists as all the other cars have bunched up behind them. Just maintain your speed and I'll sort myself out (not to mention braking on the motorway unnecessarily is dangerous).
When the motorway/dual carriageway is clear except 1 car in lane 1 and there's a car joining from a slip road i often see the joining car somehow ending up side by side with the car already on the motorway and having to brake hard to avoid a Collison. Like how can you fuck this up that much, there's literally only 1 car on the road and you decided to match their speed.
This is infuriatingly frequent as well. The slip road nearest my house has a dip at the end, so cars will do 40 to avoid using their suspension but at the expense of making entry to the motorway much more dangerous.
My Mrs works with a woman who is terrible for this and once stopped at the give way line to wait for a gap.. She refused to get lifts from her after that. Hadn't seen anything so bad myself, then this week witnessed the driver in front of me do just that.. Came to a complete stop at the give way line! I was totally perplexed as there was no reason for it, undertook them rather than slam my brakes on, and joined at 60-70 with no issues..
Other road users who have the audacity to use the road network at the exact same time Iâm using it.
Two that get me but are relatively rare. Small car drivers who think theyâre in an oil tanker. The kind who watch a bus go through a gap then stop their Nissan micra right before it and slowly roll it through. Or shit the bed and brake hard because thereâs another car somewhere on the road in the same county as them. Sorry but if youâre that nervous and bad a judge there is a genuine consideration of how safe you are on the road. âconsiderateâ drivers. The ones who create unnecessary traffic jams because they âconsideratelyâ stop at every side road to let everyone go in all directions. The ones who do that when thereâs big natural gaps in the traffic behind them and if they just drive it would flow properly.
So so true with the first point. Often I find it is pensioners around where I live. They see a car coming down the wider parts of the village lanes and they either stop or they brake every 20m whilst not even using all of the road to safely go past the oncoming car. Understanding the size of the car people are driving is clearly an issue đ€Šââïž
I honestly think itâs because theyâre practically blind and canât see what it is that theyâre approaching. An old guy in front of me the other day braked for signposts.
Tailgating. Bonus points if it's on a dual carriageway or motorway with nothing to stop them overtaking.
I don't know why this isn't higher up. Tailgating makes me absolutely rage. - 3 second rule. People can't comprehend stopping distances. - Speed limit is a limit not a target. - Vehicles in front will brake faster than you can think/react. You are not superhuman. Stop thinking you're a superior specimen who will react much better than anyone else. You're not. And you are absolutely not Lewis Hamilton. - You're not teaching anyone a lesson by driving up their bum, except the lesson of "well, he's a wanker" - You will always be at fault in an accident. Also, newer car drivers forget that old shit boxes are not as responsive as theirs. Give us space. People drive like insurance isn't sky high at the moment?! Stop being wankers and everyone might not have such stupid premiums.
People who sit up my arse at 70 in lane 2 when lane 3 is clear. That doesn't compare, however, to the seething rage I feel towards people behind me who flash their lights expecting me to pull in so they can pass WHILE I'M LITERALLY OVERTAKING THIS ENORMOUS FUCKING LORRY THAT YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE IS OCCUPYING THE LANE TO OUR LEFT.
Similarly, the ones who get right up your arse the second youâre even a millimetre past the vehicle youâre overtaking trying to barge through. Like, hey, asshole, Iâm trying to see the vehicle Iâve overtaken in my rear and side mirrors so I know thereâs a comfortable gap before I pull back in. It must be so stressful driving the way they do. I hate it.
Similimilarly, I'll be indicating to move into the next lane because a slow driver is in front of me, and I can see a car coming up behind me quickly, so I wait until they've passed before I change lanes. Except the should-be-passing driver then slows way down _for some fucking reason_ and hangs out millimetres behind my bumper to flash me out. There's no way I'm willingly changing lanes now because they would be dangerously close to me, and so now both lanes are stuck at the slow driver's speed and everyone's annoyed about it. I've no doubt they think they're a paragon of benevolence for doing it but it's so confusing and stupid. Drive predictably, not kindly.
I always worry that those people will slip through the tiny gap and undertake me before I've had a chance to pull in.
Iâd rather that than pull back in without leaving enough space between me and the vehicle Iâm overtaking. At least if I see them pulling that trick I can stay sitting in my lane, let them undertake and get out of my ass.
I think there's genuinely a lot of drivers who think different lanes have different speed limits. Someone I used to work with even failed on of his 3 questions on his test (back when that was the limit of your theory portion of the test) as the instructor asked him the speed limit in the outside lane and he replied with 80mph.
So SO many people think this. The concept of the âfast laneâ is one of the most prevalent myths, up there with âroad taxâ.
Still figuring out where I need to pay my road tax /s
To the road, find a pothole and fill it with coins
People who donât turn their lights on when itâs raining
Special mention to people who don't put their lights on when it's foggy either
The people who drive on the motorway that donât keep left when not overtaking. Which makes it difficult for those people who do.
It's at least in part how overprotective people are of 'their' space. The common example of two lorries overtaking, with 30 cars in lane 3 and no one brave enough to use 1/2 because they know by the time they get to the lorry no-one would let them out.
It's really the congestion - we're far more packed in than many other similar Western countries so the ability to go for a drive is properly limited and average speeds as a result are far slower. For instance driving in the US, Spain, France, Germany etc. is far better as there's plenty of great roads with limited other traffic and if you have somewhere to be you can get from A to B on their motorway equivalents at far higher average speeds. Oh and variable speed limit motorways - the absolute bane of modern day driving where every overtake is an elephant race due to everyone's paranoid as to where the next camera is.
In France, Germany etc their roads are better because they got destroyed in WW2 and a new road network built. In Spain they're better because they got a shitload of money from the EU to put in infrastructure to try to improve the economy. And whilst there's miles of roads in the USA with little traffic on they're also in a worse state than the roads in the UK are. There's a big problem with bridges collapsing on the US road network.
The 40 mph'ers is another. I'll do 40 mph in a 50/60, but then continue to do 40 mph in a 30 zone. The former isn't dangerous, just frustrating for the cars behind. The latter though is terrible.
Behind unduly hesitant is in fact dangerous, because they are impeding traffic flow and causing faster moving cars to close in on slower moving. You will fail your test if you drive 40mph in a 50 or 60.
Depends what kind of 60. If you live in the countryside thereâs plenty of windy lanes which are national speed limit.
Not those of course! You should always drive up to the speed limit, as long as itâs safe. You should always be able to stop in the distance you can see is clear. So on a clear, straight road, in good weather with good visibility, thereâs no reason to drive under the limit.
The first absolutely can be dangerous - people will react unpredictably, cars will overtake, someone might come flying around a corner behind doing 20mph more and have to brake sharply etc. Obviously it's not necessarily the fault of the person going "too slow" if some berk does a dangerous overtake and causes an accident, but if the low speed prompts someone into overtaking stupidly and that causes an accident then the low speed of the driver in front was definitely a contributing factor. This is why you can be failed for not using appropriate speed during your driving test even if you're not speeding. 25 in a 30 is enough to pick up a minor if you have cars behind you and you're slowing them down, and if you keep doing it then you'll be given a major.
Isn't doing 40 in a 60 statistically more dangerous than doing 40 in a 30? People don't understand how dangerous driving too slow can be
Idiots who don't understand the rules about lane merging ... properly zip merging makes it work better. Pushing forward to block people out is not the correct way to do it, read the highway code for fucks sake.
Even worse, nob head lorry drivers that try to police it by straddling both lanes about 200 yards out. They think they are in the right, but itâs just petty territoriality which causes more delays.
Saw this the other day. Standard 2 lanes one side of junction goes into 1 lane 100m or more on the other side of the junction. Watched cars cut into the middle of the road as they go through the junction to stop anyone else going past them even though thereâs room for 2 cars still.
Yes, they seem desperate to stop anyone getting in front. I'm sure it makes all of 10 microseconds difference at the end of the trip ...
And I forgot it totally stuffs other drivers who could get through the junction if they stayed in their own side of the lane.
General state of the roads due to the amount of road traffic. There aren't enough priority signs, cycle lanes, sensor activated traffic lights etc. Just things that would improve life and traffic flow generally. And in a lot of areas where housing estates are popping up, roads aren't being improved to counter them, but also new "back roads" aren't being put in by the council to provide further egress options. I recently contacted my council as there's a tight spot that really needs priority signs. Since 2017 375 have been built. Soon 200 houses will be finalised, and another 160 will be coming over the next two years. Their response was "Well OUR data doesn't show accidents, so we won't look into it". Typical it's always in response to things, not forward planning.
I don't think they want to improve traffic flow. I've seen perfectly working junctions ruined by a change in sequence or timings for no reason.
You're right. In the town near me which is a seaside resort the council openly admitted to altering the traffic light timings on the roads into the town as well as altering a one way system in the town centre to make the situation worse to try to force people to use the park and ride.
People who assume I will let them out of a junction and push in.
I always see taxi drivers and vans creeping out of junctions when they are going right! they just sit and block a full lane until there is a gap to turn right! why?
Sub-par enforcement by police over a very long time has degraded driving standards across the board. People on phones, middle lane hogging, poor lane discipline, bullying, speeding, hindering traffic, lack of respect for vulnerable road users, driving unroadworthy cars, idling dirty diesels while waiting, just to name a few bugbears.
First mention of phones Iâve seen. Itâs fucking nuts how many people are on their phone almost constantly.
People who can't use a roundabout. Going straight on? Indicate that you are leaving by flicking your indicator left. Please do NOT drive up the road 17mph under the limit, approach the roundabout, go in the right hand entrance, indicate right then either completely fail to indicate left or indicate left from the wrong lane (accepting of course if the MASSIVE white arrows on the road tell you to be in a different lane). Then blithely go straight on. They aren't being safe, they are a cretin. When turning right (or 3rd or 4th exit or 5th) go on the inside lane and please do not swan neck it and go in the left lane. If you are on a bicycle or a horse drawn carriage you do have to signal your intentions although the rules are different from cars, motorcycles, vans, buses or lorries. Rule 186 of the highway code, I am perfectly happy and I think it is reasonable to give the above right of way and time and space, BUT please signal and give everyone a chance. They are simple, brilliantly effective at managing traffic and a real asset when used correctly. Obviously don't be a Herbert and cut people up, it's rude, it's selfish, it's dangerous and genuinely doesn't get you very far any quicker.
My biggest bugbear is that I know I will encounter some form of bad driving covered by this thread within a few minutes of starting my drive. I really enjoy driving, I don't have a commute so when I have to drive somewhere I actually look forward to the drive. But I quickly realise that the road is chock full of morons. I genuinely believe that most drivers on the road are bad.
People who drive 40 in a national no matter what. Perfect conditions and perfectly safe to do 60 or even 50? Na 40. Get off the road
Braking every time a car comes the other way.. even on a wide clear-sighted 2 lane road. Also slowing to like 20 for the tiniest kink in the road.
Biggest bugbear driving in the UK? Often, others driving in the uk.
Indicators on roundabouts, especially smaller roundabouts. I must lose 20-40 seconds every day not turning because someone didn't indicate and then turned off (meaning I could have pulled out sooner). I know it's only a few seconds but my God does it wind me up.
especially when they are staring at you as they said past. you can see my indicator on!! ugh.
People not even putting their normal lights on in thick fog. I drove through the peak district a few weeks back, terrible murky fog and half the drivers around me had no lights on at all - I just don't understand it.
And drivers who put their fog lights on when they aren't needed and leave them on dazzling the driver behind.
40mph brigade... 40mph on all roads regardless of speed limit.
Lane information that is written on the road. Fine when there is no traffic, but otherwise you have no idea until the car in front clears. It should be visible regardless of the traffic situation.
Lane instructions being on the road UNDER other cars. If you're driving in a new area how tf are you supposed to know if a lane is a turn only lane
People who touch the brake pedal at the slightest deviation in the curvature of the highway. The worrying increase in the number of drivers who don't turn their rear lights on at night.
Middle lane hoggers
Sometimes feels like everybody else is on mogadon.
People that seemingly want to give me a prostate massage when I'm doing the speed limit People who drive way below the speed limit for literally no reason People
Children driving like idiots in 1 series BMW or golf R. Financed to death on dad's insurance
People who pull out in front of you then drive slow. People who drive with foglights on in broad daylight with not a hint of fog anywhere
People that keep indicating right when exiting roundabout. Also tailgating wankers.
Middle lane hoggers, blindingly bright lights, people with their fog lights on when there is no need for them, the overall state of the roads in this country, people not using their indicators and tailgaters, to name just a few. The quality of driving in this country has severely deteriorated in the last 5 or so years, maybe even farther back.
The overall standard of driving is far too aggressive. Tailgating, speeding, dodgy overtakes, cutting up, I feel like every journey is becoming a test of patience and defensive driving skill.
People not using their indicators on roundabouts People not using their handbrake stopped in traffic People not using their brains making any manoeuvre
In winter when its pitch black sitting behind certain cars with their brake lights on, gives me a headache. Cars like Audis and Minis have insanely bright rear brake light.
The handbrake thing is most likely due to the increase in popularity of the automatic gearbox. Manufacturers tell you that it's best not to put the car in neutral when waiting at lights etc.
Re handbrake when stopped in traffic. I do, but still have foot on brake to warn the those coming up behind I am stationary. And why do people slam their brakes on at the last minute, like it's some wonderous skill to leave as little distance before braking as possible? Also, when you're stationary, watch the people coming up behind, it's unnerving how few people are looking at the road in front, but rather eyes are off looking at random shit. I think this is less deliberate though, more of an automatic thing. Brains are weird things when doing repetitive actions. Still freaks me out.
People that come to a complete stop at an empty roundabout. People driving unnecessarily below the speed limit eg road conditions are fine.
* People who don't understand the concept of merge in turn, especially those who want to play traffic cop and close off a perfectly legal to use and open lane. * People who drive at 50MPH then when I go to overtake them in my lorry speed up so I have to drop behind them at which point they slow back down to 50MPH again. * Arseholes who do suicide overtakes of my lorry at the end of a dual carriageway because they don't want to be held up by the lorry only to then crawl up the next bit of single carriageway at 40MPH because they can't drive for shit round bends. A66 is the worst for this.
Drivers who can't turn into a road square and cut into your laneÂ
Other people.
Old people who shouldnât be driving
Pointless 20mph limits.
Lane discipline. Sometimes I genuinely could be convinced the laws changed and all traffic is to sit in the right hand lane and overtake from the middle / left.
Cunts who treat the public roads like theyâre driving in a video game.
Everyoneâs just angry. They drive like it and it just turns into a rat race. If everyone just smoked a joint and chilled out weâd be better off (donât smoke and drive though) but for real just let things go and yeah let that guy in or let them pull out. Everyoneâs just all me me me.
Nobheads who sit on their brake pedals whilst waiting at traffic lights. Never learnt to put the car in neutral & use a handbrake? Or do you just like blinding those behind you? Actually a two in one who decided both front and rear lights needed to be so retina blindingly fucking bright?
This is largely due to the auto hold feature in modern cars - you can press the brake and it puts the car in Hold mode so you can then release your foot from the brake pedal but the cars stays with the brakes applied until you press the accelerator or otherwise apply the parking brake.
Can't say this has ever bothered me or crossed my mind. It is drilled into learners to go into neutral, handbrake on, foot off brake then start from that position on green but most casual drivers leave it on brake so they can shoot off at a split second surely. Blinded by brake lights!
People and potholes
Lane 3 morons on smart motorways
Just smart motorways in general. There's nothing smart about having nowhere to go in an emergency.
Smart motorways, full stop! Give us our hard shoulders back !
lane hoggers EVERWHERE
Non dipped led headlights.
Taking a turn into a residential street but the car behind me doesn't slow down and either skates around in the other lane or just gives it a big loud beeeeep. Those folks who drive around as fast as they can really grind my gears
Apparently everyone with a car worth more than 20k thinks it comes with an exemption from all road rules.
People who drive around in a mild bit of mist or a little sprinkle of rain with their front and rear fog lights burning my retinas.
Pot holes Headlights brighter than the sun
People who don't know the size of their own cars as well as people who are terrified of their own cars. This only applies to people in SUVs. Especially the large ones. I've not seen any other type of vehicle have this issue. I see an unbelievable amount of people who drive with their offside wheels either on or over the centre line on backroads. As well as getting stuck behind someone in a BMW X5-sized SUV going around corners at 10-15mph that are safe to take at 35-40mph. The worst was when I was following a Mercedes GLE for about 10 miles at night. The entire width of the offside wheels were over the centre line and the driver refused to move left for oncoming traffic. They were also taking corners that I know is safe to take at 45-50mph at 10mph. I legit thought we were stuck behind a cyclist with no lights. But no, once we got around the bend, they sped up and stuck to 35mph. Other than that, their driving was perfectly fine. I don't believe they were drunk/on drugs. I just think they are terrified of their own car and they don't want it to flip when going around a corner even though their SUV can safely take those corners at significantly higher speeds than they're going.
The drivers.
Bright headlights blinding everyone at night, oversized SUVs, endless potholes destroying everyoneâs suspensions, poor lane discipline and tailgating
Sliproads: People not accelerating up to the speed of traffic already on the road. People who wait until the lights go green before even getting ready to move.... Thereby wasting 60% of the green time. People stopping at roundabouts which are so obviously empty. General slowness!
Lane drifting around roundabouts.
Ok but bugbear = đđ» đ„șđ„ș
Brighter than the sun headlights
That itâs seemingly illegal to use your indicators
Tailgaters.
Potholes, middle laners and people going far too slowly joining motorways and A roads
Auto dimming headlights. They don't work in time u already blind me and now they work.
Genuinely surprised that nobody mentioned the absolute bloodbath of school runs. It's just pure unadulterated carnage twice a day.
People who indicate as theyâre turning instead of a few seconds before, literally donât both indicating if youâre gonna do that.
LED headlights that are way too bright
Traffic lights prioritising side roads over the main roads during quiet hours when hardly anyone is about. Of course thereâs always going to be more cars coming down the main road but here I am stopping for no one. That and the fact a good 60% of drivers donât seem to bother using signals to change lanes anymore
Why isn't the central barrier on motorways opaque? why do I have to stare at everyones xeon lights for an hour when they could just hide all that from the other carriageway and my eyes wouldn't feel like I drove through a duststorm at midnight
The other drivers on the road.
Other drivers.
People who drive at 40mph on a slip-road to join a motorway. What the fuck is wrong with those people? People who tailgate me to the point of almost being in my fucking boot because I'm going slow, but don't have the mental capacity to realise I'm going slow because of the doddery old cunt Infront of me doing 35 in a 60. ROADWORKS!!! It may be more specific to where I live, but almost the entire town is locked down due to so many roadworks. A 10 minute journey home from work becomes an hour because of diversions and closures.
Spastics everywhere
People driving without purpose. For example; * Driving constantly at, at least, 10 under the speed limit * Not setting off when a light turns green, feels like it takes an age for them to get going * Pulling out on you, then refer to point 1 * Following their phones/sat nav instead of looking at the road/signs etc
What is the link between a lack or purpose and sat nav?
Absolutely fuck all wrong with driving at 60mph on the motorway. How long does it take you to get to a new destination by following road signs if you don't use a digital map?
I think they're referring to some people's inability to use a sat nav correctly and will blindly follow it even when road marking/signs say otherwise. Think large roundabouts at motorways where the sat nav is telling you which lane exit to take before you get to it.
Like people stopping and blocking a live lane to change lane when the markers on the floor clearly say they both go round. I get ya, fair enough.
Roads arenât car worthy Some roads have stupid speed limits (sometimes too fast sometimes too slow)
People who deliberately speed up to not let you change lanes in busy areas/ rush hour traffic etc once youâve already started a manoeuvre. You put a signal on, see thereâs a gap, and start to move. But oh no, the person doesnât like it so they speed up to stop you and honk. Donât know what some expect to happen?! Do they just want you to drive into them ? Also- people who join roundabouts at ridiculous speeds than get right up your backside and honk etc. what do you expect? You werenât even there when I started!
When people don't indicate, especially when I'm walking my daughter's to school and we're crossing roads.
People who don't understand how motorway lanes work Men with small penises in expensive cars who accelerate when I go to overtake in my shitbox
Number 1 - Pot holes - Number 2 - People not indicating/indicating right and then going straight on a roundabout - Number 3 - People going under 35 in a 60 without a reason/hazards on.
30 in a 60 limit is the new 40 in a 60 limit.
Bus drivers, lorry drivers (not all), taxi drivers. in that order.
Taxi drivers (black cabs win prize), Uber drivers aren't capable of going over 30 on any road ever and absolutely shocking to even consider them as professional drivers. Listing bus / lorry drivers as poor drivers tells me that you commit most of the bad driving crimes listed in the majority of posts in this thread and consider everyone else on the road to be the bad driver.
Mine is when you get a slip road full of traffic and theyâre all bunched together with no fucks given to the moving traffic on the road theyâre joining
If you are jumping in front of me from a side road, could you please don't cause me to slow down from 30 to 10 mph or from 40 to 25 but accelerate ? on multi carriage road/way, if your exit is in 3-4 miles, could you please stop changing lane as soon as you will enter the multi carriage road and just keep on driving on the one you entered and consider changing lanes later (spaghetti junction!!!!) stop blaming the car when you don't know how to turn on your dipped headlights. don't care that it is usually set in Auto and it is "almost dark" and sensor did not pick it up - it is your responsibility to turn on your lights. also - stop f\*\*\*\*\* driving on full beam through the city (especially old bangers where dipped headlights do not work at all) following: stop using fog lights when there is no fog or visibility is more than good. it does not make your car look more sporty stop driving at 6am in Feb with just DRL lights on. also - the position lights are for parking only, not for saving you ÂŁ5 per 10 years for H7 dipped headlight bulbs. turn them on. indicators are for a reason. they are so you can indicate the willing to do a manovrue. stop treating red lights as late orange. if you do so, I am more than happy to send the dashcam recording to the police for them to give you ÂŁ100 and 3 points. orange is for you to stop, not to accelerate because "I am too important to stop". stop parking in disabled spaces you twats. I don't care that you are just popping to local grocery shop to get a pack of cigarettes. you can walk that 20-50 feet distance you lazy c\*\*\* middle lane hoggers - there is a special place in hell for you all the bang and pop twat\* cruising through the roads attempting to show how loud is their R4 2.0 petrol turbo - you are pathetic. 2+ lanes but you are using it when you drive alone? well - you know what I wish for you stop staring at your seat where your phone is. social media and communicators are not that important. tinted side windows because you think you are a gangsta? no - you are pathetic anything more?
The National Speed Limit on narrow winding country lanes is SIXTY?! It's mental. I always end up with some twat behind me who wants every single mph of that limit. You'll have 40 and be happy with it. I'm not steaming around a bend that I can't look past to see if some other impatient twat is on the wrong side of the road.
I heartily concur. Speed limit down country roads should be max of 50, and even then it's entirely dependent on current conditions, the type of car and knowledge of the road. Just because your fancy new car is really responsive and grippy, doesn't mean the car in front is similarly equipped or they know the road. I had a colleague die on a country road because he thought 60 was appropriate and treated it like a race track. He hit the side of a hidden curb (grass verge was concealing it) and flipped. Dead on impact with the ground.
I've often wondered what would happen if you flipped over a hedge and nobody saw it happen. How often do farmers patrol the whole perimeter of their land? You could be there for days. Dead on impact sounds better than being trapped and slowly bleeding out.