Busier roads and lower driving standards, is it just me?
Discussion
I'm not sure this is the right place to post this but it seems the most appropriate.
I can't help but notice that since the big C has "ended" The roads have been considerably busier regardless of what time I drive at. I work shifts so use the roads at varying times of the day and it always seems so much busier nowadays even at 10pm. On top of that it seems like general driving standards have dropped massively (i.e loads more middle lane hoggers, people not checking their mirrors, being cut up and pulled out on etc etc seem to be a much more common occurrence)
I worked throughout the pandemic every day as I was deemed business critical so I thoroughly enjoyed driving to work and only seeing the odd lorry and car on the roads, but I knew it would come to an end and I expected traffic to rise again and driving standards to be worse given most of the population were all working from home or furloughed at the time. But as time goes on the roads just seem to be getting busier and busier and driving standards generally appear to be getting worse.
Obviously me moaning about it on the internet isn't going to change anything, I'm just curious to see if anyone feels the same way as me or has any other theories?
I can't help but notice that since the big C has "ended" The roads have been considerably busier regardless of what time I drive at. I work shifts so use the roads at varying times of the day and it always seems so much busier nowadays even at 10pm. On top of that it seems like general driving standards have dropped massively (i.e loads more middle lane hoggers, people not checking their mirrors, being cut up and pulled out on etc etc seem to be a much more common occurrence)
I worked throughout the pandemic every day as I was deemed business critical so I thoroughly enjoyed driving to work and only seeing the odd lorry and car on the roads, but I knew it would come to an end and I expected traffic to rise again and driving standards to be worse given most of the population were all working from home or furloughed at the time. But as time goes on the roads just seem to be getting busier and busier and driving standards generally appear to be getting worse.
Obviously me moaning about it on the internet isn't going to change anything, I'm just curious to see if anyone feels the same way as me or has any other theories?
Jelfy said:
Obviously me moaning about it on the internet isn't going to change anything, I'm just curious to see if anyone feels the same way as me or has any other theories?
I feel exactly the same. Quite simply too many people, driving too many cars.Lots of older folk on the roads these days which of course 40 years ago was much less so. Firstly far less had licenses and life expectancy was a bit lower. Then add in a forever increasing population (partly due to living longer) and yes the roads are busy busy.
Regarding driving standards, pretty bad. Lots of older folk that in truth are somewhat dangerous due to failing faculties, and everybody else texting and driving at the same time. I can't believe how many people I pass coming the opposite way who are looking down into their laps, presumably at their f
king phones!It's just you - the roads have always been busy and most people can't drive well
I travelled down the Fosse Way on Friday around 5pm, I was in my van so thought I'd try to just sit back and turn off
But I ended up in a long line of traffic doing 35mph in 50 and 60 limits - 35 fking miles an hour !
Needless to say I ended up making the most of every overtaking opportunity - thinking back the most unusual thing was I didn't have anyone flash or make gestures
I travelled down the Fosse Way on Friday around 5pm, I was in my van so thought I'd try to just sit back and turn off
But I ended up in a long line of traffic doing 35mph in 50 and 60 limits - 35 f
king miles an hour !Needless to say I ended up making the most of every overtaking opportunity - thinking back the most unusual thing was I didn't have anyone flash or make gestures
[quote=KTMsm]It's just you - the roads have always been busy and most people can't drive well
I completely agree it's always been busy and driving standards have always been bad. But it definitely feels like it's getting worse and the drop in standards has been accelerated by the lock downs IMO
I completely agree it's always been busy and driving standards have always been bad. But it definitely feels like it's getting worse and the drop in standards has been accelerated by the lock downs IMO
Edited by Jelfy on Tuesday 4th October 21:28
Giulia Jon said:
Lincsls1 ^^^ has it ,phones use is the new pandemic .
Got to see what's new on Faceagram .
Yes, I think so. And its moving up through the age groups, not unusual to see a 'middle aged' person doing it just the same as a late teenager.Got to see what's new on Faceagram .
Passed a small lorry on the M180 earlier today, swerving about, he was also face down - again presumably playing with his phone, f
king idiot. I'd love to take a photo, send to his firm, but then I'd just be as bad and probably crash!
My theory is that cars are now so comfortable and assist with driving so much that people have forgotten that they actually have to be involved in the process.
As an example, there is an ‘old fashioned’ Zebra crossing just up the road from my house. You can no longer rely on approaching vehicles to stop. I think this began about three or four years ago. Sometimes you even get to the middle of the road and someone comes steaming past on the far side. What are they thinking of?
As an example, there is an ‘old fashioned’ Zebra crossing just up the road from my house. You can no longer rely on approaching vehicles to stop. I think this began about three or four years ago. Sometimes you even get to the middle of the road and someone comes steaming past on the far side. What are they thinking of?
Definitely more traffic, some of the queues that form on a Sunday near us are ridiculous.
A lot more people go through red lights lately.
The bad driving could be blamed on just the general worsening attitude of people these days, we notice it more on the roads because driving is something we are interested in.
A lot more people go through red lights lately.
The bad driving could be blamed on just the general worsening attitude of people these days, we notice it more on the roads because driving is something we are interested in.
r3g said:
Fuel needs to go up by another £1/ltr, then the plebs won't be able to afford to drive and the roads will be completely empty for the powerfully built director types to waft around on 
.
I think high fuel prices are part of the problem. Nearly every time I go out, I end up behind a queue of cars doing 35 in a 60 limit. .I assume the car at the front is driving for economy, and the next one doesn't want to "waste fuel" by putting their foot down to overtake.
KTMsm said:
But I ended up in a long line of traffic doing 35mph in 50 and 60 limits - 35 fking miles an hour !
Needless to say I ended up making the most of every overtaking opportunity - thinking back the most unusual thing was I didn't have anyone flash or make gestures
I joined the M5 the other day and the car on my right, that I planned ahead to pull out behind of, got closer REALLY quickly. I was going to undertake him at the modest 60-70 I was building up to, so I backed off (not wanting the scare him), and backed off, and... backed off! I ended up having to do 40 odd to slot in behind him (I really should have undertaken him but I just never knew someone would drive THAT slow on the motorway). He was sat at 40, on the motorway.king miles an hour !Needless to say I ended up making the most of every overtaking opportunity - thinking back the most unusual thing was I didn't have anyone flash or make gestures
To the OP, yes, the roads are a lot busier. I'm back in the same town I learnt to drive in and it is incomparable. A simple example is driving after midnight. In my 20's after midnight (on the way back from the pub) on the A358 you'd maybe, just maybe, see 2 or 3 cars. Now it is a never ending stream, pretty much round the clock.
Motorways had plenty of space and I'd get to London (150 miles) in 2 hours consistently - M5, M4 - fat chance of that now other than at 3am - even then, I think the speed cameras at Bristol, and on the way in the M4/A4 past the M25 would put paid to that.
Phones are an absolute plague. It has always been good advice to get the other side of the armco when on the motorway hard shoulder, but now, it should be law, not advice :-) Lorry drivers veering on the hard shoulder texting is something I see every time I'm on the motorway now.
Roads are barely policed any more unless you live somewhere very rough.
I also tend to agree to what someone above posted about modern cars. They are comfy, have cruise, are warm, and have nice music. Back in the 80's and beyond, you'd want your journey to be over with asap in a Maestro with a frozen windscreen, a warbling casette, wheel wobble, and a pull to the right. Now, it is far more relaxed so its no massive surprise that dawdlers have increased.
Finally, multiple car households are quite new - back in my day you borrowed a car until you could afford one. Now you get bought one (caveat, I DID get bought one, but barely any of my mates did)
Edited by Griffith4ever on Wednesday 5th October 09:15
Agree, the standard of driving has declined.
To me, it feels that no matter what day or time you take to the roads, you share it with a high percentage of utter morons.
No indication, driving too slow or too fast, not giving a hoot for other drivers or the 'greater good' of traffic flow - the list goes on.
I live South of Manchester in a relatively quiet area and I've seen a marked demise in standards. Sometimes it feels like i'm in the city center!
Not so long ago, I witnessed some mouth breather drop their kids off outside the local school and then proceed to do a launch control start in their Seat Cupra thing. No regard for bus loads of kids making their way to school, crossing the road etc!
To me, it feels that no matter what day or time you take to the roads, you share it with a high percentage of utter morons.
No indication, driving too slow or too fast, not giving a hoot for other drivers or the 'greater good' of traffic flow - the list goes on.
I live South of Manchester in a relatively quiet area and I've seen a marked demise in standards. Sometimes it feels like i'm in the city center!
Not so long ago, I witnessed some mouth breather drop their kids off outside the local school and then proceed to do a launch control start in their Seat Cupra thing. No regard for bus loads of kids making their way to school, crossing the road etc!
The Government produces daily stats on traffic and overall they're about the same year on year - car use is little down most days.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-tra...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-tra...
I posted this on another thread recently but the brazen way people are using phones now is awful. Not even attempting to hide it, just pootling round phone in hand on speakerphone for all to see. I actually took a photo of one guy cruising along staring at his phone barely taking a glance up. When he spotted me photographing him, he made many an aggressive gesticulation and beeped his horn. That sure showed me, although I'm not sure of the logic behind getting angry at someone for catching you doing something you shouldn't. I was a passenger before you all start!
I do quite a lot of driving around picking cars up from auctions and I can’t tell you how great it was when lockdown was on but we were allowed to travel for work purposes, hardly anything about.
Standards have been dropping for a long time imo, if people don’t think they’re going to get caught by the police they’ll do what they want and don’t care what other drivers think. Through red lights, phone use, overtakes, lane discipline you name it. I often wonder how some people pass their test.
The classic for me is a local national speed limit road that goes into a 40 as it approaches a roundabout. Fairly straight road, you get people doing 35-40 in the 60 then 50 in the 40. Visibility is actually worse in the 40 limit. Bizarre.
Standards have been dropping for a long time imo, if people don’t think they’re going to get caught by the police they’ll do what they want and don’t care what other drivers think. Through red lights, phone use, overtakes, lane discipline you name it. I often wonder how some people pass their test.
The classic for me is a local national speed limit road that goes into a 40 as it approaches a roundabout. Fairly straight road, you get people doing 35-40 in the 60 then 50 in the 40. Visibility is actually worse in the 40 limit. Bizarre.
Sheepshanks said:
The Government produces daily stats on traffic and overall they're about the same year on year - car use is little down most days.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-tra...
I just took a look at the govt graphs for "vehicle miles" (which is a seperate issue, below).https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-tra...
1994 compared to 2019 (post pandemic numbers mess things up) - a 25% increase.
There is also the issue the vehicle miles may not be a true representation of perceived traffic as lots of journies are now short trips to the supermarket/shopping centre, keeping the miles low, but the frequency of trips higher.
Looking at the graph below (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42182497):
Looking at the mid 80's (half way along that graph) - our car miles have nearly doubled (but clearly have indeed levelled off over the last 8 years or so)
My biggest bugbear at the moment is people who can't drive at the speed limit where safe and appropriate.
Followed a car yesterday on a regular country lane, easily wide enough for 2 cars, good visibility a lot of the time.
I don't think they got above 40 and down 25/30 at times, first opportunity I was away and gone and they only caught me up due to a red light around a mile away, no doubt they were behind me laughing at me.
I was glad to get onto the motorway, and we all know what type of driver I encountered on there...
Followed a car yesterday on a regular country lane, easily wide enough for 2 cars, good visibility a lot of the time.
I don't think they got above 40 and down 25/30 at times, first opportunity I was away and gone and they only caught me up due to a red light around a mile away, no doubt they were behind me laughing at me.
I was glad to get onto the motorway, and we all know what type of driver I encountered on there...
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