Tuesday 16th February 2010

Survey Finds Drivers' Top Pet Peeves

Research suggests tailgating is number one gripe for UK motorists

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A new survey has revealed the British motorist's top 10 most hated driving habits.

Top of the list is tailgating, which is the biggest complaint for 66 per cent of the 1000 drivers questioned. It seems that, according to the research done by ICM on behalf of Kwik-Fit, nothing aggravates the British motorist more than the sight of somebody else's nose glued to their backside (easy, SimonSaid - ed). This is closely followed by failure to indicate, the top gripe for 62 per cent of respondents, and dangerous overtaking at 57 per cent. The full list is as follows:

1. Tailgating, 66 per cent
2. Failure to indicate, 62 per cent
3. Dangerous overtaking. 57 per cent
4. Jumping traffic lights, 35 per cent
5. Middle-lane hogging, 34 per cent
6. Dangerous late-braking, 31 per cent
7. Hesitant driving, 31 per cent
8. Undertaking, 30 per cent
9. Fast-lane hogging, 25 per cent
10. Being slow away from traffic lights, 21 per cent.

We've a couple of other suggestions for this list. How about people who slam the anchors on at the first sight of an amber light? Or people who drive at the wrong speed for the road (too quickly or too slowly). We also hate the failure to understand the concept of 'merging in turn' at road obstructions and leaving entire lanes empty, impatient folk swerving around stopped busses and nearly causing head-on collisions, people not aware they've got a headlight out, badly fitted/incorrectly adjusted xenon lights dazzling everybody - we could go on. And on.

But instead, and before we have some sort of stress-related aneurysm, it seems a good time to open the question to you: what road habits really 'grind your gears'? Do you agree with the 'Top Ten' above?

Let the debate begin...

[DanBMW]

Yes and they all annoy me equally!

[sgibson808]

Did this national 'marketing' survey extend beyond the people that sit next to the office girl that was given 5 minutes to compile this?

[milady]

Has to be tailgating - it happened to me more than once during the recent snow. I want to get where I'm going in one piece when its snowing not be first past the post. Any other time its the post thing.

[Ca11um]

People getting in the left hand lane to turn right at a roundabout or right hand lane to turn left just because it's a shorter queue. Sure enough you then have to brake and avoid a collision and they get upset when you flash your lights or use the horn! -morning commute rant over-

[Zato]

I freely admit to undertaking. Why the hell do people sit on the outside lane doing 60 on an empty motorway. If I'm on a long journey with time I do a spot of hoglapping. So far I have managed 10 laps before they moved over

[dazsmith69]

it should read 'tailgaters in traffic and residential areas' which are a pain in the fking arse

if stupid people hogging the outside lane on a duel carraigeway looked in their rear view mirror often enough, pulled in and let the car behind overtake, then there wouldnt be any tailgating!!!

too many people with no ability or awareness on the roads today, thats what causes more accidents than anything

[goron59]

In addition:

• People who zoom around you to fill the 'keep clear' box you are keeping clear (and of course all yellow box violators).

• French people (in France, to be fair) who insist on indicating left, on a 3 or 4 lane highway the whole time they pass someone. It's infuriating. Sure, it was probably a useful idea to continue indicating for an overtaking manoeuver 40 years ago when roads only had 2 lanes, but now?

• People who drive at 40 mph on motorway on-ramps, especially if the car is quite capable of driving at a safe entry speed.

[Yorkshirepud]

Talking of Xenons.

Do people that drive high vehicles with them fitted (ie Range Rovers) know that they're lights which point straight forwards like torches, are the same height as everyone else's wing mirrors?

Please, leave more of a gap behind me when we stop, or slightly to the side.

[KMT]

Ok, I don't see the point in adding to the list with the obvious gripes we all have so how about an obscure list? Starter for 10... Farmers. It's always rush hour, it's always an impassable bit of kit and it's always too much to expect them to pull over at some point in their 10 mile journey to let at least some of the 20,000 vehicles stuck at 7.5 mph behind them to pass.

[CJ.OK]

....and we must not forget the biggest irritant of all:

FOG LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[grumbledoak]

No mention of the 48,000 miles of Britain's motorways that are coned off every weekend with no damn workmen in sight?

[goron59]

[quote=KMT]Ok, I don't see the point in adding to the list ... quote]

I think the point is the joy of ranting :-)

[Soop Dogg]

I had some tw@t in a white Freelander tailgating me a couple of weeks ago. I was travelling at 65MPH overtaking another car on a Dual Carriageway, in thick fog! (And I'm talking way under 100m visibility) I had been doing under 60, but let myself get intimidated into speeding up just to let him get past. He must have been about 3 feet off my rear bumper.

When I gave him a w@*%er gesture as he passed me, he slammed on the brakes to start mouthing off at me - I think if we'd come to a set of traffic lights, he'd have wanted to get out and have a fight about it - to$$er. Not much wonder we have accidents in fog with so many people driving like they want to die.

[ukaskew]

62% of people get annoyed with others failing to indicate? Incredible, I would say the percentage of people who fail to indicate properly is actually higher than that anyway.

[Oddball RS]

9.Fast-lane hogging, 25 per cent



Made me wet myself.................... you mean 3rd lane yeh?

[tim milne]

Here's a better idea for a survey:

How many people believe their driving standard to be Above Average?

[RadarvT]

Front fog lights on when there is no fog.

Why do so many Saxo, Nova, Fiesta and BMW drivers insist on travelling everywhere with their foglights on? If you are having so much difficulty in seeing the road then you really should not be driving at all if you perceive the conditions to be that bad.

[goron59]

tim milne said:

Here's a better idea for a survey:

How many people believe their driving standard to be Above Average?

Good one... and how many people think they'd pass their test if they had to +14 days from now.

[Europa1]

It does irritate me that we have endless and expensive public enquiries into vastly expensive new road schemes/road improvement schemes when on dual carriageways and motorways it seems about a trhird of the available road capacity is unused due to bad/total lack of lane discipline. Middle/outside lane owners' club members, I'm talking to you.

My hate for the list - people doing 30, in a 30 zone (no objections so far) but who then hit the brakes and slow down to 20 because they are going past a speed camera. For f&*^'s sake, the camera is there to get people EXCEEDING the speed limit. It's how speed cameras work. If you're doing 30, keep bloody doing 30.

[MAFFA]

How about spotty teenagers in burburry caps driving Paxo's that want to race you at the traffic lights even when you're driving an M5!! Or those (usually the same Paxo drivers!) who overtake 1 car on a twisty country road almost killing themselves in the process when there's still 10 more cars in front of them & they can't overtake for another 10 miles!! Or how about those people who when you want to overtake sit on the bumper of the car in front just so you can't & you know they have no intention of overtaking either!!

Rant over!!