Driving Standards in Rutland - can anyone enlighten me???
Discussion
For family reasons I moved to Rutland about a year ago and get out and about in the car most weeks. I would love to understand if anyone has any insight into the general standards of driving in the UK's smallest county and why they seem so much poorer than anywhere else I have driven in the UK over the past 30 years.
Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
TGCOTF-dewey said:
It's rural communities with high percentages of elderly drivers... See also North Yorkshire and Suffolk for example.
I was going to say the OP may as well have been describing Harrogate. Any time you drive the car you'll be either:- tailgated and nearly driven in to the back of by someone in a Golf/BMW/Audi
- follow someone whose indicators are apparently completely non-functioning
- get driven in to the side of by some stupid idiot who has no understanding of the concept of 'lane discipline'
It's a shame everyone drives modern cars with all the safety accoutrements, were eveyone forced to drive original Minis the roads would probably be nice and quiet, with all the incompetent oxygen thieves dead or disabled through their own incompetence.
paulyv said:
For family reasons I moved to Rutland about a year ago and get out and about in the car most weeks. I would love to understand if anyone has any insight into the general standards of driving in the UK's smallest county and why they seem so much poorer than anywhere else I have driven in the UK over the past 30 years.
Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
Are you sure the problem is Rutlanders, and not the pass throughs, who are just not used to the pleasurable, inviting and exciting roads that Rutland offers compared to the neighbouring counties who are mostly flat and boring? Outsiders arrive and do not understand the bends and brows and hence find themselves ablaze behind a hedge or having to pass the local yokels by any means possible to get out of dodge as quick as possible?Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
Maybe the town behaviour is because the local drivers are so much more polite and don't mind waiting for others to pass without having to resort to squeezing past and nudging mirrors?
Not sure which parts of Cambridgeshire you are referring to, but in my part many drivers are definitely ability challenged in the driving skills department.
paulyv said:
For family reasons I moved to Rutland about a year ago and get out and about in the car most weeks. I would love to understand if anyone has any insight into the general standards of driving in the UK's smallest county and why they seem so much poorer than anywhere else I have driven in the UK over the past 30 years.
Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
The people on the A47 will have been stuck behind a lorry since Peterborough and push their luck once they get to a nice inviting straight (so not actually Rutland residents)Upon arriving here in there first 3 days I saw 4 cars in ditches and another completely burnt out on the other side of the hedge it had driven through.
On the stretch of the A47 I live near I regularly see people tailgating, overtaking where there are junctions on each side (and clear 'no overtaking' signs), and taking risks on corners only to get 1 or 2 cars ahead in a line of traffic all moving at the speed limit.
In the last 24 hours alone I've seen evidence of a car having gone straight through a large roundabout and 2 cars that have been rolled. I see this very regularly.
In the small town I am in people don't seem to understand the width of their cars and wait to get past parked vehicles when there's clearly room for almost 4 car widths.
Once I get back into Leicestershire, or Cambridgeshire I see none of this nonsense and I know I am not imagining it - so as I asked originally, does anyone have any insight into why this is and if it has always been the case? I am fascinated!
Small towns with nice people is the reason they wait for you to come through, rather than getting their elbows out, learn to relax and enjoy a small town where not everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere else ;-)
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