Our 4000 mile survey of driving standards so far

[cptsideways]

Myself & a colleague are doing a 7000 mile tour of the UK for work, stopping off at most big towns & cities along the way, we are 4,000k mile in & have come to rather startling if maybe unsurprising conclusion. 3 more weeks to go till will finish but so far

We have not encountered one single traffic police car except those attending accidents where we have passed by. We have encountered about 30 Talivans on our travels, or one per every 130m travelled or one per day approximately.

Certain towns somewhere in the region of 50% yes that's half of drivers don't wear seatbelts, I'll leave you to guess where but its in the North. This in particular had us amazed, we literally were laughing at the sheer numbers doing it. And we did not see a single piece of law enforcement going on in the two days we were there.

In our estimate about 20% of drivers really should not be driving, the amount of appaling driving, red light jumping, tailgaiting, cutting up & total lack of observation is at such a level its bordering on fiction.

In just 4k miles, we have nearly been taken out twice, both would have been substantial accidents if we had not taken avoiding/defensive action. Considering the mileage we have done is approximately 1/3rd of the average annual mileage its been an interesting compressed insight into the current appaling standards of driving in the UK.

I'll update as we go along (assuming we are still alive by the end of it)

[Mercury00]

I've been working night shift for the past four or five years so have not driven at peak times for a long time. I've recently gone back to normal working hours and I now dread the drive to and from work, it's horrific. I was just thinking to myself today that there's a total lack of courtesy and consideration for other road users, it really is like the wild west.

I look forward to your future findings, but sadly I think we know what to expect.

[TonyF55]

cptsideways said:

In our estimate about 20% of drivers really should not be driving, the amount of appaling driving, red light jumping, tailgaiting, cutting up & total lack of observation is at such a level its bordering on fiction.

This is why after 16 years of commuting by motorbike/scooter I am finally giving up and getting back on the train. For me it seems to have really gone to pot in the last 3-5 years.