The Brits - Definately some of the worst drivers in Europe

[TheHeretic]

I've driven all over the world. Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, India, Canada, the US, and the UK... The UK is one of the better places... Undoubtably.

[Dave Hedgehog]

i drive a bit in france and 99% of the time if there's a traffic queue caused by a prick who wont use their mirrors or pull over it will have a UK plate on the car

the french themselves seam very apt at getting out of my way

[Vladimir]

Driving in Italy = near suicide

I don't think UK drivers are too bad. Our roads used to be good too - now they are knackered.

[shoestring7]

rsv gone! said:

The issue with the UK is the roads are so damned crowded - especially when you've just popped over on a ferry from Northern France.

Incidentally, whilst the toll roads are lane-discipline perfection, ordinary busy dual carriageways can be just as congested in France.

This.

Put peaceful rats in a cage that's too small and they'll fight each other to the death.

SS7

[traffman]

The further South i venture , the standards drop , maybe its the idiot to person ratio is greater da an sa ath.

[Le Pop]

Watchman said:

matthias73 said:

Just got back from canada. I dont think its the driving, just so many people driving at once, compared to over there

jbi said:

On the contrary... UK drivers are some of the best in Europe... we just have the worst/most crowded roads in Western Europe

rsv gone! said:

The issue with the UK is the roads are so damned crowded - especially when you've just popped over on a ferry from Northern France

^^^ All these people have hit the nail squarely on the head.

+1. I live and drive in France (rural Normandy) and it is only because the roads are so empty they don't have far more accidents. French drivers generally don't have to concentrate (or indicate) because there is nobody behind them. Generally, when the French do get behind you they want to be only 2 cm off your rear bumper and will overtake you as soon as possible, particularly if you have UK plates, but even if you drive normally on French plates.

However, UK roads are so crowded it makes for much better levels of concentration apart from the few maniacs who don't care.

[Pints]

traffman said:

The further South i venture , the standards drop , maybe its the idiot to person ratio is greater da an sa ath.

You're not wrong there.
The standards of driving in South Africa are atrocious.

[Azur]

I drove from Goodwood to Mongolia... Trust me, we don't know how lucky we are with the standards of driving in this Country.

Saw 5 or 6 crashes, one fatal. In the Ukraine you go round corners and see cars coming at you head on.

The photo above is some standard overtaking on a single carriageway road in Romania!

[Vanya]

cptsideways said:

Having just arrived back from a transcontinental European jolly the UK is catergorically dire when it comes to general driving standards.

I drive thousands of miles a year for work in the UK & obviously one just gets used to it? However upon arriving back in the UK it suddenly becomes apparent just how bad the standards are over here.

In our 2000 mile journey I think I can only think of three occasions where expletives were used to describe the drivers across Europe, yes thats 3 counts of "bad driving" spotted in 2000 miles. I think we lost count at 300 in the 200 miles of driving from Dover to home.

You would think we had descended into a 3rd world country if it was'nt for the new cars!

I assume you've excluded the roads of Delhi and its suburbs, Moscow, Pattaya, southern Italy, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, to name a few challenging locations from your comparison.

[Diamond blue]

Even allowing for the fact that compared to many of the more "mad" countries of the world we live in driving heaven, the OP is making judgements base on other western european countries, notably France, his frustration is based on how crowded our roads are rather than driving standards.
Its very easy to maintain lane discipline on a near empty French autoroute and I would say that British drivers are perfectly good at this, at least as good as other europeans. But when its busier the lack of patience and common courtesy in France especially is way below that you can expect in the UK.
We're good at taking our turn and being stoical when confronted with congestion and frustrating delays by comparison and our traffic safety record is MILES better. Really, the French are appalling.
Still well over 3,000 road deaths there last year despite the space and quality of their roads and a systematic campaign against speeding. 10 years ago they had 112 deaths in one day.
Spend time driving on the motorway network surrounding Paris in rush hour and tell me again whether you think we don't compare favourably. Its an absolute free for all.

[cptsideways]

sjg said:

cptsideways said:

You would think we had descended into a 3rd world country if it was'nt for the new cars!

I'm guessing you've never been to anywhere with truly bad driving standards.

I have driven on many continents, and have driven across Africa a few times too, so am very familiar with driving in 3rd world countries. Hence my comparison to the UK standards.


Yes I appreciate its a lot busier over here especially on DC's & MW's, but half of it is down to lane discipline or the total lack of it.

[DaveZT260]

^^^^^^^^

Couldn't agree more. If everyone stayed to the left except for overtaking we wouldn't be in this mess. It's plain and simple.

Driving back up north from Windsor last weekend there were numerous info signs on the motorway network advising people to stay left and it made not one jot of difference. 56 mph in the middle lane causing massive tailbacks. People just cannot read the road and drive correctly - plain and simple.

[0000]

cptsideways said:

Yes I appreciate its a lot busier over here especially on DC's & MW's, but half of it is down to lane discipline or the total lack of it.

[rsv gone!]

But a big plus point for France and most of the continent (I don't count Switzerland) is that they love bikes and usually dive for the gutter to let you pass.


With regard to roads around Paris, yes they are pretty hectic but filtering around Boulevard Périphérique (ring road) following local bikers is one hell of a buzz.

[off_again]

dvs_dave said:

Try driving in the USA and then see if your opinion of drivers in the UK remains so low....

Or try Turkey or Greece - if you still think that the UK has bad drivers, well I give in.

[moreflaps]

Pothole said:

Mr2Mike said:

cptsideways said:

Having just arrived back from a transcontinental European jolly the UK is catergorically dire when it comes to general driving standards.

I drive thousands of miles a year for work in the UK & obviously one just gets used to it? However upon arriving back in the UK it suddenly becomes apparent just how bad the standards are over here.

In our 2000 mile journey I think I can only think of three occasions where expletives were used to describe the drivers across Europe, yes thats 3 counts of "bad driving" spotted in 2000 miles. I think we lost count at 300 in the 200 miles of driving from Dover to home.

You would think we had descended into a 3rd world country if it was'nt for the new cars!

Every time I've driven on the continent and come across some bell-end hogging the outside lane of a road it has had UK plates on it. It's actually quite embarrassing just how bad Brits are at driving.

They are just following the highway code (not having adjusted for the fact they are now driving on the right)

[isee]

Had a marked police car change from left lane to a middle lane without indicating (and no obstruction in front) as I was overtaking him on a motorway...

What's sad is that I wasn't even surprised, just accepted it.

[Centurion07]

americancrx said:

... and yet you have 9 world champions.

Exactly. You don't become world champ by letting people past do you?

[Diamond blue]

Centurion07 said:

americancrx said:

... and yet you have 9 world champions.

Exactly. You don't become world champ by letting people past do you?

Ironically, the problem with hogging the right hand lane is caused by a refusal to disobey the highway code and "undertake"
And a competitive streak refusing to lose out in the fight to go fastest.

Its hilarious watching the average brit deal with 4 lane motorways though. The middle lane hogger doesn't really know what to do. Unfortunately the default seems to be to stick determindly to the 2nd lane from the inside so , in a stroke, reducing the expensive and painful M25 expansion to 4 lanes right back down to where we were

[Munich]

I would say that a lot of the drivers (on motorways at least) have become very lazy, but much of that is to do with the speed limit and weight of traffic.