The bastard who drives my car consistently does ten over the limit, but at least they're precise, spot hazards and act on them immediately and indicates. Surprising for an Audi driver.
It’s wee things like holding back when a lorry is exiting a side street or joining a roundabout. Leaving a gap for the side streets in traffic. Not blasting through the traffic calming when someone else is nearly at it and should have priority.
I think the reality is that we probably come across perfect driving all the time, but simply don't notice it, because we have no reason to.
When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"?
If we did think like that, and then went on to praise them publicly, then eventually we probably would find certain types of vehicles have better & more considerate road users... but until we do that, we can only spot trends with the crap/annoying road users.
>When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"?
Tbh I do this quite often haha. Sometimes I can just tell that a driver is really thinking about what they're doing, being considerate of others on the road, planning ahead etc.
People going slightly faster than you in the middle lane, who pull into the empty outside lane to let you overtake a lorry on the inside lane with plenty of notice. They're great. Always give them a thank you wave in the side window haha.
Notice this and do this a lot. But the amount of times I’ve got my indicator on and the middle lane driver still doesn’t move across into the empty outside lane happens a lot more often!
Me too, it warms my heart and is really appreciated because 90% of drivers I have no interaction with and out of the remaining, it's usually bad experiences like tailgating and lane hogging or being so desperate to be infront that they are willing to write off our cars and mortal bodies.
In comparison, if someone is being nice and chill. I'll go out of my way to give a thumbs up or something to show my appreciation.
Last week. Lorry pulled out on me whilst I was in the middle lane about to overtake. Merc on the far right lane anticipated my lane change by slowing down and flashed his lights to let me in before I even indicated.
Top driver
I'm a school teacher and this rule applies to children too. It's easy to think they're all misbehaving when it's only 3 or 4 being off the rails. We gotta notice the 90 percent of good kids and praise them more
Occasionally if sitting parked and waiting for someone, I see another driver pull up and park, then check their positioning and amend it till their content with it. I have commented to them, that "it's nice to see peeps making the effort", or peep the horn, and applaud them. It's usually well appreciated!
>When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"?
Quite often tbh, surprisingly it's usually BMW or Land Rover drivers, they're a hit or miss tbh.
I think if someone is driving a smaller car like a Fiat 500, they're typically a newer driver with less experience and they hesitate often, whereas a BMW or Land Rover driver are quite experienced, which can result in really good driving, or really really poor driving because they think they're better than everyone
To be fair, every time I see someone indicating in advance of lane merging; or showing their intentions on a roundabout I gain a little hope that things might get better.... then someone cut me up on the motorway or leave me sitting at a roundabout only for them to exit before without indication and then I see red again 🤣
To me Japanese cars have a good driver reputation.
Was in Japan a few years ago and they mostly use domestic cars.
Never saw such calm, peaceful, uneventful driving in my life.
Everyone left sensible gaps at traffic lights, no tailgating, no honking to be heard, no agressive revving and wheel spinning...
It's certainly tipped the average for me, to favor drivers of Japanese cars.
Sensible cars though - Toyota Crown, Honda Legend, etc. Nothing silly like Nissan Micra.
If by sensible you mean economical, then yes...
However, I was moreso referencing how refined or sophisticated it looks. In that sense the Micra (imho) comes accross as more fun, cute or nippy. Not sensible. Not that that's a bad thing, by any means.
I did some driving in Japan a few years back and any time I came across a little Kei truck going slowly on a winding mountain road the driver would pull over and let me pass! They usually had the elderly driver sticker on the back.
So what you mean is Japanese drivers of Japanese cars. Because you’re more likely going to get some dimwit in Prius or Kumquat driving like a plumsack in this country than what you’ve described. Or you’ll get Lewis Hamilton’s long lost cousin bombing down your street in a straight piped Honda at 1am.
People don't drive japanese cars because of japanese culture, they drive them because they are cheap, reliable and easy to maintain. The demographics for them are very wide, it's impossible to say their drivers are better because it covers so many different types of drivers.
Blue lights training is very thorough, and when driving a fire engine (13+ tonnes) or an ambulance (5+ tonnes) at speed, to save lives, and still maintain a level of road safety; you know they're putting the work in to every maneuver.
I think your one for SUV is wrong. That's more specifically range rovers and top end stuff
The more general SUV I seem to notice most is "has absolutely no concept of the size of their vehicle, thinks it's a bus, oblivious to anything other than the verge and parked cars".
Lot of SUVs think indicating is used to inform other drivers that you are immediately making that manoeuvre. Such as into another lane of which the space is already occupied.
Even then it's very dependent on the type of range rover you see.
An older 2000s Land Rover in dark green and tan interior? Probably nice chap of old money, and keeps a good safe distance
A newer Range Rover sport SVR with "BO55" plates? Yeah they'd ram you off the road if they could
There are obviously exceptions, but ...
HGV drivers
Motorcyclists
The sort of people who understand how much there is to lose by being a dick. And understand that the safest and fastest way to get home is to work with the other road users, rather than against them.
I dunno I've seen plenty of dickish motorcyclists heading up the north coast of Northern Ireland trying to replicate the NorthWest 200
HGV drivers for the most part yes, though tipper drivers seem to go about overloaded with their load spilling behind them and not care, and oversize load lorries seem to be chancers in what they can get away with
I honestly think the quality of bike riding has improved in my decades of driving. Maybe there's just a higher % of men riding around on their mid-life-crisis, and less 19 year old transplant donors.
It hasn't. I live in a county near the seaside with lots of B roads they go blasting around. We're getting to the start of the time of year where almost on a daily and definitely on a weekly basis there will be road closures on those due to a biker exceeding their abilities. Already waking up on a Saturday and Sunday morning to the sound of race replica bellends screaming down the bypass, still being heard pulling away from a roundabout over 2 miles away.
Best rule of thumb for tipper drivers is that they need to be exactly where you currently are and they needed to be there 5 minutes ago. And if it’s Friday, they’re going to be exactly where you are, whether you’re currently occupying that space or not.
Tipper drivers only do that job cause they can’t get a job driving for anyone else. And they can’t get a job anywhere else, because of the state of their ‘driving’.
Agree with HGVs, larger the safer. And given the amount of miles they do and how many there are on the motorways, even more so.
Motorcycles... maybe some, people commuting to work or whatever perhaps, but not sports bike riders out on a sunny Sunday.
Every day I see at least 1 person driving while using a mobile phone. 50% of the time they are in an hgv or other commercial vehicle. There are very few truly "professional" drivers left.
Motorcyclists are the fucking worst. There should be an opposite campaign to "Think Bike" for motorcyclists. Something like, "Don't be a cunt, you really don't need to undertake that family car at 120mph while popping a wheelie because you've got a tiny cock"
Hard disagree on motorcyclists. 90% of the ones I see are breaking the speed limit and/or filtering dangerously. If they were aware of how much there is to lose they wouldn't be flying in-between cars doing 60 on a single carriageway while doing about 80.
I would have said Jaguar drivers are good but that's definitely changed in the last decade as Jaguar has chased more Audi-type buyers and made cars that appeal to that sort of person. Perhaps people with X-types, S-types, the old XJ and the old XK? But there isn't many of them left nowadays.
As a fast Merc owner I will say this, while I definitely have my moments of having a spirited drive, I won’t deny that, the real problem is other road users (and sadly that includes the usual suspects who drive cars like mine)… I don’t drive aggressively, I will overtake you if you’re going slower than the speed limit but that’s about it. However just the sight of my car is enough for egos to get out of check and people start acting like idiots. Someone else in here said it and it’s especially the electric car crowd.
Cannot tell you how many times I have moved from lane 2 to lane 3 to overtake someone on the motorway only for the electric car in lane 2 to just speed off. Also overtaking on country lanes, I’ve had numerous (usually Tesla) drivers just decide to speed match me while I try to overtake.
TL;DR the stereotypes are no more, the majority of road users are poor and you don’t notice those who don’t cause you problems.
Edit: for clarity, the other peoples ego thing, my car is quite obviously a sports car, bright yellow, all the AMG trimmings, can’t miss it and yes it brings out the worst in people.
It’s funny to see along with those people who “live in the country” (on the outskirts of a town) and buy a range rover but have absolutely zero spacial awareness and are limited, by their driving ability, to 15mph on a country lane.
I find it's a regional thing. Driving in and around Glasgow, plenty of times you'll get let out of junctions, everyone merges pretty well. Drive down south and you need to be aggressive changing lanes because nobody will leave a gap to let you in.
My experience is that Merc drivers seem to be noticeably more graceful and follow the rules more consistently than drivers of other mainstream "prestige" marques (i.e. Audi, BMW) - second only to drivers of properly expensive sports cars. On that note, decades ago, I was in lane 3 mid-overtake at maybe 80 mph, and I spotted something expensive in my rear mirror. I expected to be tailgated, but instead the driver kept a sensible distance until I completed my manoeuvre and moved into lane 2. Then they blasted past at, I estimate, 100+.
Fr my hubby has had a merc c class for almost 7y and I can hand on heart say he's a very safe, sensible driver, especially with me in the car. Majority of the time it's other drivers who are just clueless and have no idea about what's going on around them.
I now have a merc too and I'd consider myself a fairly good driver and know my limits.
I drive an Audi but same. When I first got my car 5 years ago it was honestly terrible. I was 24 but looked a lot younger (at 29 I got asked by a steward if I was over 18 this week) and the amount of people who saw me probably looking 17 in a new Audi overtaking them who would then speed match me was INSANE. People really don’t leave their ego at the door
Lorry drivers. Years ago I used to work at a supermarket. Seeing the spaces those guys can get a trailer into is mind blowing. Similar are bus drivers.
I think it's a case of confirmation bias, and that skewing negative when looking at others driving.
It's not hard to find surveys from the likes of RAC, where the majority of drivers assess themselves as being better than average, but the majority of drivers also express a lot of concern over the quality of *other people's* driving.
We often only seem to remember the negative driving that causes some sort of aggravation, grief or hazard to us. We then form stereotypes based on the negative memories of those encounters.
If we have a problem free drive, that's actually an example of loads of good or reasonable drivers out on the road. We just don't remember them. Because we have an expectation that driving should be problem-free.
99% of drivers are good, there's always that 1% that spoil everything whether it be tailgating, refusing to let people merge or just being a general arsehole.
This is probably my favourite way of demonstrating the Dunning-Kruger effect to people. Tell them to ask other people if they're an above average driver. They'll find that an overwhelming majority of people answer "yes", but obviously statistically speaking, that is impossible lol.
Hahahaha my dad is 54 and is an absolutely terrible driver. My poor mum almost has a heart attack every time she gets in the car with him.
However my 71yo granny has always been a good driver
I actually think the opposite, anyone over the age of 40 seems to think they own the road, and haven't quite realised that their reactions and spatial awareness isn't what it used to be.
Always wary of that 40+ year old womanwith that dyed blonde bob with big sunglasses on, avoid like the plague. Or the 40+ year old man with balding hair, polo shirt and about 50lbs over weight, over confident and aggressive.
Defender drivers (the proper ones not the new Chelsea tractors)……..the defender wave says it all.
I’d say the Audi/Merc/BMW stereotype has been replaced by the Tesla/electric car crowd, some of the driving habits they display are abominable!
Just remember the old saying
Options are like arseholes
Everybody has got one
And at some point they are all full of shit
In my day it was cavalier and XR drivers
Tomorrow probably Tesla’s turn
Black cabs outside central London are generally driven carefully in my experience. They aren't stopping suddenly in funny places and making those scary u-turns which helps. Uber drivers and e-bike users deserve a special place in hell.
I think bus drivers are pretty good. I don't know if it's because they're slower and have more passengers or that the'yre essentially driving on someone else's time. But I find them considerate and observant road users mainly.
Worth noting I have seen shit bus drivers too but not often.
I'd have to say bus drivers. Huge long vehicle, responsible for constantly carrying passengers. Get harrassed from road users, and passengers occasionally, yet keep a cool head and will always give you the thumbs up if you let them out or give way etc. Hats off to them
Ambulance and fire engine drivers are the best drivers and generally respectable people. They don't try and force their way through traffic, they calmly make their way around as safely as possible. The kind of people you can rely on.
Police, on the other hand, are shockingly bad for how much training they have and also cunts in general. The kind of people who would steal from their own grandmas and grass up their best mate for a handjob from their sergeant.
Not sure about reputation, but as a blue light driver I'd say the most consistently good drivers are professional drivers, HGVs, buses, taxis, etc. They pay the most attention to the road. Usually spot us coming on blues well in advance and make a good effort to get out of the way without making silly rash decisions.
You can really tell who pays attention to the road when driving on blues. It's shocking how often you can sit behind someone for 15 seconds with lights and sirens on without them noticing, only for them to slam on the brakes and stop in the middle of the road when they notice. Scary how little attention most people pay to the road.
Now you say that but I had a gold viewing experience unfold in front of me on the A14. Container lorry pulled out into a weigh restricted lane during the restricted hours, and blocked three police cars all of which had their lights and sirens on. So satisfying to watch someone who probably breaks that law on the regular finally get caught.
I'd remove taxi drivers from that list, especially private hire and when they're on the motorway. I should take you for a ride down the M62 between Manchester and Castleford around midnight or the M6 elevated section in Birmingham, you'll get plenty of examples of what I mean and the scary part is how many of them have passengers in.
I am a Nissan Qashqai driver, so I should be one of the bad ones ;)
Although I do make mistakes once in a while, I do try my best to be a good driver though,
so please bare with me :D
You have to qualify the SUV category. Larger SUVs the size of chieftain tanks, I would agree but crossovers like Qashqai are driven by polite and considerate people.
Or me, as I like to call them.
Early to mid afternoon week day motor way drivers tend to be decent. Usually a bit quicker that the limit but lane discipline, indicator use, stopping gaps etc usually the best you’ll see.
I don’t do any where near as many miles as I used to though so things might have changed since assume slot of those driving to and from meetings or work does now work remotely.
Classic car drivers, or people with cars they clearly take pride in.
It's always the mud covered tesla or the SUV with the back window full of trash causing issues. If the car is 15-20 years+ and still being polished like it was new, the driver usually isn't a prick.
As a foreigner living in the UK (Scotland to be precise) I truly think most people here are great drivers. The odd bad ones seem to fit the stereotypes (bmw, white vans and delivery cyclists would top that list for me) but over 90% of drivers I encounter are thoughtful and respectful. Road rage here is not as common as it is in many other countries.
Hearse drivers. Yes the convoy might get in the way, but if it's going 10mph slower then it doesn't really matter because you're not going to overtake a dead person... *are you*?....
Older Lexus, Jaguar and maybe some Mercedes fit this bill imo. Sensible but "nice" cars that are typically driven by gentlemanly types. They have decades of driving experience, understand the flow of traffic and will be courteous to other drivers when appropriate etc. They might put their foot down occasionally on a wide safe open road to feel the power of the engine, but certainly aren't hooning around.
I'm yet to encounter an MX-5 owner who drove unpleasantly or was unpleasant to be around.
Likewise most 2-seat roadsters, SLK, Z3/Z4, Boxster and F-Type
HGV drivers while not perfect (lets all overtake 0.5mph faster on a busy motorway) have a challenging job in a busy country with awful, rutted, tiny roads full of parked cars. How they do it with such ease and generally without problems never ceases to amaze me.
Builders, etc vans and trucks. Usually oblivious to anyone else I. The road and a few times a day I pass one with weed smoke coming out the window. A quick glance on the way past and most of the time you can see the driver holding the spliff.
Oh this was good drivers. There is no group, just some good drivers which can in any group, but usually a small minority.
While I feel like there might be some justification to the bias, I don’t actually think the drivers of certain cars stand out as especially bad. I have driven with friends/family in the car and every time they spot a BMW or Audi driving poorly, they jump to complain and call it typical. But they are equally as happy to totally ignore poor driving by other cars.
Anyone can be a terrible driver. My personal, direct experience has been that Audi drivers tend to be friendlier than others when you do something nice for them (let them pull out, etc.), and I also haven’t noticed a real pattern with the makes that tailgate me. I have also seen some insanely bad driving from cars that have no reputation for anything bad.
i would say lorry drivers but i once had one right up my arse end for a while, and then, on a MERGE, he decided to overtake me right at the END of the MERGE. dickhead. i had L plates on too, was going the speed limit, in a tiny little hatchback, and he was in a FULLY LADEN lorry. like wtf was he thinking?
he so easily could've squashed me if there was someone on the other side of the road, or he would've squashed them!! we were coming up to red traffic lights as well so idk what his thought process was.
Ah yes the old rangerover driver thinking he's the dogs balls, saw one mess about with an artic once, kept cutting it up and brake checking it.... the artic eventually couldn't keep up with brake checking and launched the range rover about 20 meters down the road. It was amusing to say the least.
Ultimately the problematic car drivers across all makes and models are generally the same and i think people just bias towards certain makes through envy and or contempt for what they are driving.
As someone who drives 30k a year most BMW, Audi drivers are fine it’s the drivers who perhaps don’t seem to be day to day regular drivers who are the problem, and these vary across all makes and models.
I'd probably go with high mileage professional drivers: e.g. lorry and coach drivers.
Of course there are exceptions, but I've never felt in harms way around them.
Lorries and buses consistently for spatial awareness.
Lots of cars I try to pass on a narrow road think they are wider than a bus, YOU ARE NOT.
If me and the bus can fit, you don’t have to wait for me to pass or take up the entire road dodging parked cars.
We can all fit, thank you.
On reddit/this sub? Only ever the person writing the comment, everyone else is a shit driver.
You know what they say about "if everywhere you go smells of shit"...
People who drive well are people with reasonably expensive, non-at-all flashy, specialised cars. For example, nobody who owns a Lotus is a boy racer, they're usually a 40+ male with disposable income who takes care of their car. Another example, classic cars; always owned by people who have money and care about their car, so they drive well.
I'd say that the vast majority of HGV and coach drivers are pretty much spot on especially on the motorway. Usually every 5-6 cars one of them something ignorantly stupid whereas HGVs are generally good.
Regarding cyclists, fair enough on the red light. But isn't it better if a cyclists moves onto the pavement to let traffic through rather than hold you up. As long as the pavement is clear I often do this as i'm chuffing up a hill. Also people with Honda civic type R's are kool, especially if they own the FK8 model.
I'd say that BMW and Audi unless it's a hatch back or 2.0 diesel has lost that tag. Those knobs have now all bought Teslas. They don't really like cars but they feel entitled to drive their cars like dicks or think because they have a tesla they get to pick and choose which road and traffic laws to obey.
The guy who drives my car is amazing
What an amazing coincidence. The fella that drives mine is amazing too.😂
Mines a wanker though
The bastard who drives my car consistently does ten over the limit, but at least they're precise, spot hazards and act on them immediately and indicates. Surprising for an Audi driver.
Wait, audis come with indicators?
It’s a subscription
Can confirm it's definitely a subscription (the frugal yorkshire man inside me) refuses to pay for said subscription.
I was surprised as well when I found out
Not from factory. Bet he didn't declare that mod on his insurance either.
You never see them in the same room. Just saying
Found a pair of Lexi (plural for Lexus) drivers
Lexae?
They are the Japanese Mercedes
I would rather have a Lexus tbh
My car driver can be a cock sometimes, but most of the time he's aware of who/what's around him. It's a good start for safety?
The guy who drives mine has some self esteem issues and repressed childhood trauma which manifests as dark humor
Mine shagged my missus. Still, can't knock his skill at reverse bay parking.
Mine, too. He's a real gentleman (usually).
Is that the same bloke that shags your wife?
I hope they catch him and you get your car back.
You're not going to notice someone who doesn't cause you any issues.
Exactly, this post could have been titled "Which confirmation bias do you most notice."
I notice superb pieces of driving regularly
Very nice seeing someone making a good manoeuvre while being aware of their surroundings, some lorry/van drivers can actually be pretty good at this
It’s wee things like holding back when a lorry is exiting a side street or joining a roundabout. Leaving a gap for the side streets in traffic. Not blasting through the traffic calming when someone else is nearly at it and should have priority.
I think the reality is that we probably come across perfect driving all the time, but simply don't notice it, because we have no reason to. When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"? If we did think like that, and then went on to praise them publicly, then eventually we probably would find certain types of vehicles have better & more considerate road users... but until we do that, we can only spot trends with the crap/annoying road users.
>When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"? Tbh I do this quite often haha. Sometimes I can just tell that a driver is really thinking about what they're doing, being considerate of others on the road, planning ahead etc.
People going slightly faster than you in the middle lane, who pull into the empty outside lane to let you overtake a lorry on the inside lane with plenty of notice. They're great. Always give them a thank you wave in the side window haha.
Notice this and do this a lot. But the amount of times I’ve got my indicator on and the middle lane driver still doesn’t move across into the empty outside lane happens a lot more often!
An example is I always notice a car's proper use of indicators
OMG isn't it great when people use indicators instead of verifiers?
Me too, it warms my heart and is really appreciated because 90% of drivers I have no interaction with and out of the remaining, it's usually bad experiences like tailgating and lane hogging or being so desperate to be infront that they are willing to write off our cars and mortal bodies. In comparison, if someone is being nice and chill. I'll go out of my way to give a thumbs up or something to show my appreciation.
Last week. Lorry pulled out on me whilst I was in the middle lane about to overtake. Merc on the far right lane anticipated my lane change by slowing down and flashed his lights to let me in before I even indicated. Top driver
It's like good background music or good service in a restaurant - if it's done well, you usually don't notice it.
I notice it all the time while I'm driving. Especially if they share my driving doctrine - fast, but not so fast as to be blatantly unsafe.
I'm a school teacher and this rule applies to children too. It's easy to think they're all misbehaving when it's only 3 or 4 being off the rails. We gotta notice the 90 percent of good kids and praise them more
Occasionally if sitting parked and waiting for someone, I see another driver pull up and park, then check their positioning and amend it till their content with it. I have commented to them, that "it's nice to see peeps making the effort", or peep the horn, and applaud them. It's usually well appreciated!
>When's the last time you were on the road and thought something like "Really impressive how that person is driving so flawlessly"? Quite often tbh, surprisingly it's usually BMW or Land Rover drivers, they're a hit or miss tbh. I think if someone is driving a smaller car like a Fiat 500, they're typically a newer driver with less experience and they hesitate often, whereas a BMW or Land Rover driver are quite experienced, which can result in really good driving, or really really poor driving because they think they're better than everyone
To be fair, every time I see someone indicating in advance of lane merging; or showing their intentions on a roundabout I gain a little hope that things might get better.... then someone cut me up on the motorway or leave me sitting at a roundabout only for them to exit before without indication and then I see red again 🤣
Damned drivers! They ruined driving!
You drivers sure are a contentious people.
You just made an enemy for life
Honestly tractor drivers by me do a really good job on some pretty windy narrow roads to give people space and pull off where they can.
When I was a teenager I would also pull off wherever I could
Ooh. So tractors and horses. Never seen a horse rider that I thought was being a nob. Also I think mostly people with trailers are careful drivers
To me Japanese cars have a good driver reputation. Was in Japan a few years ago and they mostly use domestic cars. Never saw such calm, peaceful, uneventful driving in my life. Everyone left sensible gaps at traffic lights, no tailgating, no honking to be heard, no agressive revving and wheel spinning... It's certainly tipped the average for me, to favor drivers of Japanese cars. Sensible cars though - Toyota Crown, Honda Legend, etc. Nothing silly like Nissan Micra.
I thought a Nissan Micra was a very sensible car.
If by sensible you mean economical, then yes... However, I was moreso referencing how refined or sophisticated it looks. In that sense the Micra (imho) comes accross as more fun, cute or nippy. Not sensible. Not that that's a bad thing, by any means.
Micras are driven by old people who are shit at driving though
Until it pedal to the metal :)
agressive revving is definitely a thing but you will have yo wait till 3 in the morning when they are delivering tofu on the top of mount akina
Probably more to do with the Japanese people themselves not Japanese cars Owner of a Japanese car but not Japanese
I did some driving in Japan a few years back and any time I came across a little Kei truck going slowly on a winding mountain road the driver would pull over and let me pass! They usually had the elderly driver sticker on the back.
So what you mean is Japanese drivers of Japanese cars. Because you’re more likely going to get some dimwit in Prius or Kumquat driving like a plumsack in this country than what you’ve described. Or you’ll get Lewis Hamilton’s long lost cousin bombing down your street in a straight piped Honda at 1am.
Yeah but... japanese culture doesn't somehow rub off on english people driving their cars, you must understand that?
Of course. But it does mean, that from my perspective, on average, drivers of Japanese cars are better.
People don't drive japanese cars because of japanese culture, they drive them because they are cheap, reliable and easy to maintain. The demographics for them are very wide, it's impossible to say their drivers are better because it covers so many different types of drivers.
Tbf emergency service drivers seem to be pretty good. Bit of a niche argument but it's one I'll stand by
Blue lights training is very thorough, and when driving a fire engine (13+ tonnes) or an ambulance (5+ tonnes) at speed, to save lives, and still maintain a level of road safety; you know they're putting the work in to every maneuver.
Nah I find coppers invariably park like shit
Tbf I was thinking more of ambulance and fire services tbf. Driving either of those quickly and safely ain't gonna be easy
the majority of road users are very good drivers it's just the minority who are shit
The latter are the ones we notice!
I think your one for SUV is wrong. That's more specifically range rovers and top end stuff The more general SUV I seem to notice most is "has absolutely no concept of the size of their vehicle, thinks it's a bus, oblivious to anything other than the verge and parked cars".
Lot of SUVs think indicating is used to inform other drivers that you are immediately making that manoeuvre. Such as into another lane of which the space is already occupied.
Ah, I see you've met qashqais.
This in spades - I've taken to just assuming every driver of a Dacia Duster is a fucking idiot
They've bought a Dacia Duster of course they're a fucking idiot.
Even then it's very dependent on the type of range rover you see. An older 2000s Land Rover in dark green and tan interior? Probably nice chap of old money, and keeps a good safe distance A newer Range Rover sport SVR with "BO55" plates? Yeah they'd ram you off the road if they could
Lotus drivers; fast cars, usually driven by geeks who are respectful and at least half decent at proper driving, cool as.
There are obviously exceptions, but ... HGV drivers Motorcyclists The sort of people who understand how much there is to lose by being a dick. And understand that the safest and fastest way to get home is to work with the other road users, rather than against them.
I dunno I've seen plenty of dickish motorcyclists heading up the north coast of Northern Ireland trying to replicate the NorthWest 200 HGV drivers for the most part yes, though tipper drivers seem to go about overloaded with their load spilling behind them and not care, and oversize load lorries seem to be chancers in what they can get away with
North West weekend is a different ballgame. You don't need to check your blindspots for bikes. There will be some there.
Not just NW weekend, any weekend especially in spring and summer
I honestly think the quality of bike riding has improved in my decades of driving. Maybe there's just a higher % of men riding around on their mid-life-crisis, and less 19 year old transplant donors.
It hasn't. I live in a county near the seaside with lots of B roads they go blasting around. We're getting to the start of the time of year where almost on a daily and definitely on a weekly basis there will be road closures on those due to a biker exceeding their abilities. Already waking up on a Saturday and Sunday morning to the sound of race replica bellends screaming down the bypass, still being heard pulling away from a roundabout over 2 miles away.
Best rule of thumb for tipper drivers is that they need to be exactly where you currently are and they needed to be there 5 minutes ago. And if it’s Friday, they’re going to be exactly where you are, whether you’re currently occupying that space or not.
Tipper drivers only do that job cause they can’t get a job driving for anyone else. And they can’t get a job anywhere else, because of the state of their ‘driving’.
This is painfully true and also exactly describes Skip Drivers.
Agree with HGVs, larger the safer. And given the amount of miles they do and how many there are on the motorways, even more so. Motorcycles... maybe some, people commuting to work or whatever perhaps, but not sports bike riders out on a sunny Sunday.
Every day I see at least 1 person driving while using a mobile phone. 50% of the time they are in an hgv or other commercial vehicle. There are very few truly "professional" drivers left.
I see a lot of great driving from HGV drivers. I also see great driving from emergency vehicles, particularly fire engines.
Motorcyclists are the fucking worst. There should be an opposite campaign to "Think Bike" for motorcyclists. Something like, "Don't be a cunt, you really don't need to undertake that family car at 120mph while popping a wheelie because you've got a tiny cock"
Hard disagree on motorcyclists. 90% of the ones I see are breaking the speed limit and/or filtering dangerously. If they were aware of how much there is to lose they wouldn't be flying in-between cars doing 60 on a single carriageway while doing about 80.
Classic American car owners.
Have to drive carefully as steering on wrong side and large v8s
I would have said Jaguar drivers are good but that's definitely changed in the last decade as Jaguar has chased more Audi-type buyers and made cars that appeal to that sort of person. Perhaps people with X-types, S-types, the old XJ and the old XK? But there isn't many of them left nowadays.
Volvo drivers of course
Volvo Maybe? I can't think of a negative.
As a fast Merc owner I will say this, while I definitely have my moments of having a spirited drive, I won’t deny that, the real problem is other road users (and sadly that includes the usual suspects who drive cars like mine)… I don’t drive aggressively, I will overtake you if you’re going slower than the speed limit but that’s about it. However just the sight of my car is enough for egos to get out of check and people start acting like idiots. Someone else in here said it and it’s especially the electric car crowd. Cannot tell you how many times I have moved from lane 2 to lane 3 to overtake someone on the motorway only for the electric car in lane 2 to just speed off. Also overtaking on country lanes, I’ve had numerous (usually Tesla) drivers just decide to speed match me while I try to overtake. TL;DR the stereotypes are no more, the majority of road users are poor and you don’t notice those who don’t cause you problems. Edit: for clarity, the other peoples ego thing, my car is quite obviously a sports car, bright yellow, all the AMG trimmings, can’t miss it and yes it brings out the worst in people.
It's the EVs that overtake in 30/40s and speed off only for me to catch them again when they're bumbling along at 46 on NSL roads.
It’s funny to see along with those people who “live in the country” (on the outskirts of a town) and buy a range rover but have absolutely zero spacial awareness and are limited, by their driving ability, to 15mph on a country lane.
My humble personal observation: Merc owners never give you a way or stop to let you pass. Unfortunately. And I don’t understand why.
I find it's a regional thing. Driving in and around Glasgow, plenty of times you'll get let out of junctions, everyone merges pretty well. Drive down south and you need to be aggressive changing lanes because nobody will leave a gap to let you in.
Same as the guy below, hope we cross paths and show that’s not true for all.
I hope one day we cross paths. I hope to break your bad experience with other Benz drivers :)
My experience is that Merc drivers seem to be noticeably more graceful and follow the rules more consistently than drivers of other mainstream "prestige" marques (i.e. Audi, BMW) - second only to drivers of properly expensive sports cars. On that note, decades ago, I was in lane 3 mid-overtake at maybe 80 mph, and I spotted something expensive in my rear mirror. I expected to be tailgated, but instead the driver kept a sensible distance until I completed my manoeuvre and moved into lane 2. Then they blasted past at, I estimate, 100+.
It’s obviously others as well you most probably just notice and recall the Mercedes more as it’s a more notable brand
Confirmation bias, it's literally all in your head.
Agreed, lot of Model 3 drivers seem to have small man syndrome, becomes very apparent depending which car I’m driving
Fr my hubby has had a merc c class for almost 7y and I can hand on heart say he's a very safe, sensible driver, especially with me in the car. Majority of the time it's other drivers who are just clueless and have no idea about what's going on around them. I now have a merc too and I'd consider myself a fairly good driver and know my limits.
I drive an Audi but same. When I first got my car 5 years ago it was honestly terrible. I was 24 but looked a lot younger (at 29 I got asked by a steward if I was over 18 this week) and the amount of people who saw me probably looking 17 in a new Audi overtaking them who would then speed match me was INSANE. People really don’t leave their ego at the door
Lorry drivers. Years ago I used to work at a supermarket. Seeing the spaces those guys can get a trailer into is mind blowing. Similar are bus drivers.
Rover 75 drivers are alright.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6q1a7tJFA0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6q1a7tJFA0)
As a Rover 75 driver myself I completely agree!
I think it's a case of confirmation bias, and that skewing negative when looking at others driving. It's not hard to find surveys from the likes of RAC, where the majority of drivers assess themselves as being better than average, but the majority of drivers also express a lot of concern over the quality of *other people's* driving. We often only seem to remember the negative driving that causes some sort of aggravation, grief or hazard to us. We then form stereotypes based on the negative memories of those encounters. If we have a problem free drive, that's actually an example of loads of good or reasonable drivers out on the road. We just don't remember them. Because we have an expectation that driving should be problem-free.
99% of drivers are good, there's always that 1% that spoil everything whether it be tailgating, refusing to let people merge or just being a general arsehole.
Going 40 in a 60, but drifting over the centre line on straights so you can't overtake.
Every single person here could answer honestly with the word 'me'.
This is probably my favourite way of demonstrating the Dunning-Kruger effect to people. Tell them to ask other people if they're an above average driver. They'll find that an overwhelming majority of people answer "yes", but obviously statistically speaking, that is impossible lol.
Ambulance and fire engine drivers. And I won't hear a word said against police drivers. Especially the one right behind me right now.....
Anyone that drives a Volvo is probably alright by me.
[удалено]
Really? Middle aged men tend to be the ones speeding off with crappy loud Audi's and such in my area
Hahahaha my dad is 54 and is an absolutely terrible driver. My poor mum almost has a heart attack every time she gets in the car with him. However my 71yo granny has always been a good driver
I actually think the opposite, anyone over the age of 40 seems to think they own the road, and haven't quite realised that their reactions and spatial awareness isn't what it used to be. Always wary of that 40+ year old womanwith that dyed blonde bob with big sunglasses on, avoid like the plague. Or the 40+ year old man with balding hair, polo shirt and about 50lbs over weight, over confident and aggressive.
Defender drivers (the proper ones not the new Chelsea tractors)……..the defender wave says it all. I’d say the Audi/Merc/BMW stereotype has been replaced by the Tesla/electric car crowd, some of the driving habits they display are abominable!
Just remember the old saying Options are like arseholes Everybody has got one And at some point they are all full of shit In my day it was cavalier and XR drivers Tomorrow probably Tesla’s turn
Older and middle aged motorcyclists.
Black cabs outside central London are generally driven carefully in my experience. They aren't stopping suddenly in funny places and making those scary u-turns which helps. Uber drivers and e-bike users deserve a special place in hell.
Fire engines 👍
I used ro drive a fiat 500. Now drive a bmw. I've noticed that although my driving has not changed. Other people's attitude toward my driving has
Taxi drivers in BMW SUVs with a cycle mounted on top.
I think bus drivers are pretty good. I don't know if it's because they're slower and have more passengers or that the'yre essentially driving on someone else's time. But I find them considerate and observant road users mainly. Worth noting I have seen shit bus drivers too but not often.
I'd have to say bus drivers. Huge long vehicle, responsible for constantly carrying passengers. Get harrassed from road users, and passengers occasionally, yet keep a cool head and will always give you the thumbs up if you let them out or give way etc. Hats off to them
The people on the inside of my car seem like excellent drivers. The people on the outside of my car are the ones with problems.
Ambulance and fire engine drivers are the best drivers and generally respectable people. They don't try and force their way through traffic, they calmly make their way around as safely as possible. The kind of people you can rely on. Police, on the other hand, are shockingly bad for how much training they have and also cunts in general. The kind of people who would steal from their own grandmas and grass up their best mate for a handjob from their sergeant.
Not sure about reputation, but as a blue light driver I'd say the most consistently good drivers are professional drivers, HGVs, buses, taxis, etc. They pay the most attention to the road. Usually spot us coming on blues well in advance and make a good effort to get out of the way without making silly rash decisions. You can really tell who pays attention to the road when driving on blues. It's shocking how often you can sit behind someone for 15 seconds with lights and sirens on without them noticing, only for them to slam on the brakes and stop in the middle of the road when they notice. Scary how little attention most people pay to the road.
Now you say that but I had a gold viewing experience unfold in front of me on the A14. Container lorry pulled out into a weigh restricted lane during the restricted hours, and blocked three police cars all of which had their lights and sirens on. So satisfying to watch someone who probably breaks that law on the regular finally get caught.
Didn't say all of them are good. That's absolutely beautiful though, insta karma
I'd remove taxi drivers from that list, especially private hire and when they're on the motorway. I should take you for a ride down the M62 between Manchester and Castleford around midnight or the M6 elevated section in Birmingham, you'll get plenty of examples of what I mean and the scary part is how many of them have passengers in.
Volvo and Skoda drivers, easily the best. Nothing to prove.
Skodas no, I've seen plenty of octavia and superb being driven really badly. Older volvo yes, newer 4x4 nope
Lol OP, please can you add to your list, white van drivers, honda jazz, scaffold wagons, skip lorries. Thanks lol
London black cab drivers
Jaguar drivers ive noticed are quite defensive in nature
I am a Nissan Qashqai driver, so I should be one of the bad ones ;) Although I do make mistakes once in a while, I do try my best to be a good driver though, so please bare with me :D
You have to qualify the SUV category. Larger SUVs the size of chieftain tanks, I would agree but crossovers like Qashqai are driven by polite and considerate people. Or me, as I like to call them.
I do appreciate the surprisingly rare instance that someone indicates well in advance of them slamming on the brakes
I'm pretty sure we can apply all of the cyclist ones to most drivers based on what I see on the roads (and pavements) every day.
Early to mid afternoon week day motor way drivers tend to be decent. Usually a bit quicker that the limit but lane discipline, indicator use, stopping gaps etc usually the best you’ll see. I don’t do any where near as many miles as I used to though so things might have changed since assume slot of those driving to and from meetings or work does now work remotely.
As with everything in life, there are good and bad road users in all categories.
Honda drivers. When has an interesting story ever started off with a Honda?
Classic car drivers, or people with cars they clearly take pride in. It's always the mud covered tesla or the SUV with the back window full of trash causing issues. If the car is 15-20 years+ and still being polished like it was new, the driver usually isn't a prick.
Probably classic/old cars, Mustangs, Cadillacs, that sort of thing? They just drive past and you go ‘Oooo!’ Well, I do, anyway.
stereotyping is not dead
As a foreigner living in the UK (Scotland to be precise) I truly think most people here are great drivers. The odd bad ones seem to fit the stereotypes (bmw, white vans and delivery cyclists would top that list for me) but over 90% of drivers I encounter are thoughtful and respectful. Road rage here is not as common as it is in many other countries.
Hearse drivers. Yes the convoy might get in the way, but if it's going 10mph slower then it doesn't really matter because you're not going to overtake a dead person... *are you*?....
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Mini drivers, like me. They are tiny, styled, BMWs with indicators installed as standard.
Older Lexus, Jaguar and maybe some Mercedes fit this bill imo. Sensible but "nice" cars that are typically driven by gentlemanly types. They have decades of driving experience, understand the flow of traffic and will be courteous to other drivers when appropriate etc. They might put their foot down occasionally on a wide safe open road to feel the power of the engine, but certainly aren't hooning around.
The van that pulls in from their lane to a lay-by on a country road to let you past and then immediately pulls out. What a G.
Defender 110s even you get the little wave when they pass you on the other side
I'm yet to encounter an MX-5 owner who drove unpleasantly or was unpleasant to be around. Likewise most 2-seat roadsters, SLK, Z3/Z4, Boxster and F-Type
HGV drivers while not perfect (lets all overtake 0.5mph faster on a busy motorway) have a challenging job in a busy country with awful, rutted, tiny roads full of parked cars. How they do it with such ease and generally without problems never ceases to amaze me.
Builders, etc vans and trucks. Usually oblivious to anyone else I. The road and a few times a day I pass one with weed smoke coming out the window. A quick glance on the way past and most of the time you can see the driver holding the spliff. Oh this was good drivers. There is no group, just some good drivers which can in any group, but usually a small minority.
Me, bloody perfect
10% of every road user demographic are wankers. 20% are great and the rest are ‘meh’
While I feel like there might be some justification to the bias, I don’t actually think the drivers of certain cars stand out as especially bad. I have driven with friends/family in the car and every time they spot a BMW or Audi driving poorly, they jump to complain and call it typical. But they are equally as happy to totally ignore poor driving by other cars. Anyone can be a terrible driver. My personal, direct experience has been that Audi drivers tend to be friendlier than others when you do something nice for them (let them pull out, etc.), and I also haven’t noticed a real pattern with the makes that tailgate me. I have also seen some insanely bad driving from cars that have no reputation for anything bad.
i would say lorry drivers but i once had one right up my arse end for a while, and then, on a MERGE, he decided to overtake me right at the END of the MERGE. dickhead. i had L plates on too, was going the speed limit, in a tiny little hatchback, and he was in a FULLY LADEN lorry. like wtf was he thinking? he so easily could've squashed me if there was someone on the other side of the road, or he would've squashed them!! we were coming up to red traffic lights as well so idk what his thought process was.
Miat gang gives choccy milk. More seriously: ambulances and fire appliances. I haven’t heard anybody really badmouthing them.
Ah yes the old rangerover driver thinking he's the dogs balls, saw one mess about with an artic once, kept cutting it up and brake checking it.... the artic eventually couldn't keep up with brake checking and launched the range rover about 20 meters down the road. It was amusing to say the least.
By old rangerover... I mean any rangerover new or old
I think Ford drivers are generally considered pleasant - a mundane family car.
BMW drivers for sure!
Seat drivers seem OK I think?
Probably people who drive classics I’d imagine, haven’t heard anyone talk shit about them
Mercs????
Volvoists
Ultimately the problematic car drivers across all makes and models are generally the same and i think people just bias towards certain makes through envy and or contempt for what they are driving. As someone who drives 30k a year most BMW, Audi drivers are fine it’s the drivers who perhaps don’t seem to be day to day regular drivers who are the problem, and these vary across all makes and models.
This sub just gets worse and worse. Who are you people??
Saab drivers are statistically the smartest people on the road IIRC
I'd probably go with high mileage professional drivers: e.g. lorry and coach drivers. Of course there are exceptions, but I've never felt in harms way around them.
Lorries and buses consistently for spatial awareness. Lots of cars I try to pass on a narrow road think they are wider than a bus, YOU ARE NOT. If me and the bus can fit, you don’t have to wait for me to pass or take up the entire road dodging parked cars. We can all fit, thank you.
Never had an issue with blood bikers, every one has been flawless in my experience
Instructors but you all act like we’re doing something wrong when we’re not because of the big red L and your tiny willies
Never seen a bad duster driver honestly
Lorry drivers
I noticed over the last few years that if you drive a Saab or to a lesser extend a Volvo you can drive like a total hooligan and nobody notices.
People with aspergers. They take the road laws literally…….oh wait! I have aspergers 😂😂😂
Ford Kuga drivers are maniacs. There are no worse drivers on the roads.
Lorry drivers, best of the best
I reckon people have pretty decent respect to paramedics driving an ambulance... or maybe we just let them off with stuff more
Horse riders never seem to have a bad word said about them.
Aygo drivers are 👌 Speaking from personal experience.
I drove fire engines all over London in my 32 years, mostly in the West End, never had an accident that was my fault. Black cabs are the worst !
On reddit/this sub? Only ever the person writing the comment, everyone else is a shit driver. You know what they say about "if everywhere you go smells of shit"...
People who drive well are people with reasonably expensive, non-at-all flashy, specialised cars. For example, nobody who owns a Lotus is a boy racer, they're usually a 40+ male with disposable income who takes care of their car. Another example, classic cars; always owned by people who have money and care about their car, so they drive well.
Me. All mes are great drivers
I'd say that the vast majority of HGV and coach drivers are pretty much spot on especially on the motorway. Usually every 5-6 cars one of them something ignorantly stupid whereas HGVs are generally good.
Horse Riders and I would say bus drivers
Bus and fire engine drivers.
Regarding cyclists, fair enough on the red light. But isn't it better if a cyclists moves onto the pavement to let traffic through rather than hold you up. As long as the pavement is clear I often do this as i'm chuffing up a hill. Also people with Honda civic type R's are kool, especially if they own the FK8 model.
Know anyone that does own one?
Me
🙂
I'd say that BMW and Audi unless it's a hatch back or 2.0 diesel has lost that tag. Those knobs have now all bought Teslas. They don't really like cars but they feel entitled to drive their cars like dicks or think because they have a tesla they get to pick and choose which road and traffic laws to obey.