Do you think driving standards vary around the country?
Discussion
I spent last week in Lincolnshire where most people seemed to have quite high driving standards. They managed to do 60mph in NSLs and slow to 30mph in villages rather than 40mph everywhere. If I got a little lost I was allowed to change lanes, people were always happy to give way rather than picking a fight. Where I was staying had a tricky driveway with a dogleg around trees and I ended up holding up traffic while I maneuvered onto it. It was a conservation area so the trees couldn't be cut down when the house was built. At home I get sworn at by my own neighbours if they have to wait for me to back on or off my driveway so I was expecting plenty of glaring, horn sounding and questioning of my parentage and sexual preferences. Instead people were quite happy to stop and wait for me. As soon as I got home to Blackburn I was nearly killed on the M65 by a gang of yobs in hired luxury cars with ribbons on in a wedding convoy. One came up behind me flashing at me to move over and when I started to another shot up my inside. Other people have said to me that driving standards, on the whole, are pretty bad in Blackburn compared to other parts of the country.
What places do other people think have the highest and lowest driving standards?
What places do other people think have the highest and lowest driving standards?
It's one thing being assertive to get through traffic but I find where I live people just go round swearing at one another in the sure and certain knowledge that they're the only people who matter on the road. If somebody slows to turn the person behind will swear at them for momentarily holding them up like they have no right to turn in front of them. My uncle lives in Worcester and he remarked that when he comes to Blackburn, when he's waiting at lights and they change, there are always people still coming through. He even reckons the traffic light settings are different here to account for it, there is a longer period between the lights for one direction changing to red and those for the other direction changing to green, though I daresay that difference could be down to how busy the junctions are and how long it takes them to clear.
More rural villages seem to be better which I suppose is to be expected, I was in Nettleham just outside Lincoln.
More rural villages seem to be better which I suppose is to be expected, I was in Nettleham just outside Lincoln.
All I know is that every time I drive through Farnborough someone in a maroon Vectra will try to crash into me.
It's a different one every time, too; as if the town had done a bulk deal with Vauxhall to buy the entire 1997 factory output of maroon Vectras so they could repel invaders by trying to crash into them.
It's a different one every time, too; as if the town had done a bulk deal with Vauxhall to buy the entire 1997 factory output of maroon Vectras so they could repel invaders by trying to crash into them.
Mr POD said:
Blakewater said:
Lincolnshire Verses Blackburn ?
I think it's bad up the m55 corridor. Burnley is worse In my humble oppinion. It's all the cotton mill workers, who think they are driving a sewing machine. Oh definitely. Time for some sweeping statements.
London drivers are generally keen to get where they are going, even at the expense of others.
Dorset/Somerset drivers are frequently slow and incompetent.
On my forays to the east side of the country I've found people seem to be constantly angry.
London drivers are generally keen to get where they are going, even at the expense of others.
Dorset/Somerset drivers are frequently slow and incompetent.
On my forays to the east side of the country I've found people seem to be constantly angry.
Spent lots of time driving around North Yorkshire Moors, driving standards generally much better than what I've experienced living back down south (Buckinghamshire). If you came up behind someone on an NSL they would often indicate left to let you know they had seen you and were willing to let you pass. Compare that to Oxford where I spent several minutes waiting to turn right out of a junction with a "Keep Clear" across it which kept getting filled with commuters.
Yes, people get used to what they do.
In quieter wales or scotland, there are a lot fewer 40mph people. Most locals will rattle along if not fast, then at a respectable speed. If northern scotland, they will also be more familiar with the concept of overtaking, which means they get less upset when others do it.
On the other hand, send them into Inverness, or any city and they are beyond useless. Never looking the right way as the lights change, never ready to go...
The city folk are paying more attention in town, always ready to go. However, dump them in Scotland/Wales, and they don't overtake, get angry if anyone else does, speed through the towns and crawl through the country. After MLMing to get there.
Seriously though, I do think I've noticed some quirks... I find better lane discipline on the M5 than any other motorway. The M6 north of Manchester is great, south it's busy.
In quieter wales or scotland, there are a lot fewer 40mph people. Most locals will rattle along if not fast, then at a respectable speed. If northern scotland, they will also be more familiar with the concept of overtaking, which means they get less upset when others do it.
On the other hand, send them into Inverness, or any city and they are beyond useless. Never looking the right way as the lights change, never ready to go...
The city folk are paying more attention in town, always ready to go. However, dump them in Scotland/Wales, and they don't overtake, get angry if anyone else does, speed through the towns and crawl through the country. After MLMing to get there.
Seriously though, I do think I've noticed some quirks... I find better lane discipline on the M5 than any other motorway. The M6 north of Manchester is great, south it's busy.
waughie said:
The taxi driver that nearly forced me off the road on the Lincoln bypass earlier would disprov your theory, as well as the people that went the entire length of the dual carrigeway in the outside lane, just becasue they were turning right at the end!
I find them everywhere. I guess it's a matter of the number and proportion of them.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff