Worst city/road/drivers in rush hour?

[Acuity30]

Had to take a trip to Bham yesterday. Left at 5pm, then came the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Bedfordshire. After merging onto the M1 off the M6 it was smooth sailing but everything before that was torture. Highlight for me was trying to merge onto the A38 from the B4132 roundabout. No one wants to let anyone in. Some of the strangest driving I've seen. People seemed to be fighting just to merge onto it while drivers kept bumper to bumper with the car in front to try and stop that from happening.
Then came the M6 'variable speed limit' seemingly dropping to 40 for no apparent reason. Lorries overtaking in lane 2 while vans overtake the lorries at a snails pace in lane 3. All in all a miserable experience but probably nothing compared to in and around London

[TO73074E]

Most UK cities will be horrendous to drive in these days. In and around Manchester for me is bad but doesn't sound as bad as your experience. I do still find some courteous drivers although they are becoming rarer. I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

I did drive in central Birmingham last summer, and it is the only time I can recall in many many years that I came close to losing my st with rage, due mainly to other drivers and road layout/late sat nav calls.

[Smint]

Driving decades ago you noticed a decline in driving courtesy and manners the further north you went, London was always an ill mannered hole when driving.
As the years went by and things changed, for the worse, the noticeable change going north wasn't so apparent.
Its been a few years since i drove in Scotland, used to be driving nirvana in many ways with competent courteous drivers the vast majority, whether thats still the case i'll leave to others to say.

Lack of common courtesy on the road is but a reflection of things in general, cities as expected by far the most hostile ignorant places, smaller towns not so bad, things unlikely to improve, welcome to modern Britain a place many of barely recognise any more.

[RazerSauber]

TO73074E said:

I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

Prison sentences should be issued for not waving at someone who let you out. I imagine they're thinking "about time!" in a bout of self importance.

Motorways in general are a bad place to drive. People "know" that if they use the outside lane, they get to their junction faster, then swerve across 3 lanes to make an exit. Obviously, that causes traffic chaos and the whole motorway backs up for miles. If people engaged their brains for just 15 seconds per day, we' have free flowing roads.

[vikingaero]

Definitely Brumingham. Vikingette1 is at Uni there and I like to plan my arrival/exit times to avoid the mayhem. The Uber drivers are a special breed, so much so that I resolutely refuse to allow them out or help them in any way.

Vikingette2 is in Manchester and the drivers there are pushy but have a few more IQ points than those in Brum.

[the-norseman]

Not the worst but MK is terrible in rush hour, they have recently turned off a lot of the traffic lights on the big roundabouts and the traffic flows a lot better.

[Ninja59]

TO73074E said:

Most UK cities will be horrendous to drive in these days. In and around Manchester for me is bad but doesn't sound as bad as your experience. I do still find some courteous drivers although they are becoming rarer. I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

I did drive in central Birmingham last summer, and it is the only time I can recall in many many years that I came close to losing my st with rage, due mainly to other drivers and road layout/late sat nav calls.

To be fair I would not move without an additional moment as technically flashing does not mean please go and the flash for crash issue means greater hesitancy.

Additionally, if someone does this and there is another flow of traffic to take into account some people feel in a rush to go and end up causing an accident.

Thay being said if I have stopped to let someone in some courtesy would be appreciated.

[POIDH]

Smint said:

Its been a few years since i drove in Scotland, used to be driving nirvana in many ways with competent courteous drivers the vast majority, whether thats still the case i'll leave to others to say.
.

I think it is more to do with cities than anything up here now. IMO it is still better than London and the south east for driving, but that is a particularly low bar...It is more a growing incompetence without the aggression shown down south in my view though.
Of course outside of the central belt it is a lot better and still generally relaxed driving.

[Some Gump]

Bradford.
It's scary enough on a sunday, god only knows what it must be like when busy!

[DKS]

the-norseman said:

Not the worst but MK is terrible in rush hour, they have recently turned off a lot of the traffic lights on the big roundabouts and the traffic flows a lot better.

That's interesting. The lights on the big Segensworth roundabout in Fareham have failed a couple of times and it flows so much better without them.
Also, why can't traffic lights, especially at roundabouts, turn off at, say 7pm? I don't need to be managed onto a deserted roundabout at 1am.

[QuattroDave]

Plymouth USED to be a fairly easy city to drive around in, thanks mainly to a network of underpasses that segregated pedestrians and vehicles. It was quicker for both. But then the council deemed the few homeless people taking shelter in a couple of the underpasses a scourge that must be irradicated and so filled in all the underpasses and installed traffic light crossings around the city centre. For good measure they also reduced some of the roads from 2 to 1 lanes at just the crossings. The result was gridlock around town for much of the day.

[NDA]

I drive in and out of London regularly - 90% of the time other drivers use the 'let one car in' rule, as I do. Occasionally there's an idiot who refuses to let anyone in - the type that won't make eye contact!

[CivicDuties]

North West London/Middlesex.

Unfathomable behaviours abound.

The rest of London is fine, everyone seems to know what they're doing, and manages to work with everyone else for the most part to keep things moving as far as possible.

[Countdown]

TO73074E said:

Most UK cities will be horrendous to drive in these days. In and around Manchester for me is bad but doesn't sound as bad as your experience. I do still find some courteous drivers although they are becoming rarer. I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

I did drive in central Birmingham last summer, and it is the only time I can recall in many many years that I came close to losing my st with rage, due mainly to other drivers and road layout/late sat nav calls.

One of the issues is that, because roads are in such poor condition these days quite often it looks like somebody has flashed you when their car goes over a bump. I wait until i see the car slowing down before I join.

[Moodyman1]

Some Gump said:

Bradford.
It's scary enough on a sunday, god only knows what it must be like when busy!

Bradford can indeed be bad, but that is largely due to its layout. It’s in a valley and most traffic moves in two or three arterial directions.

Birmingham though, is on another level. I though Bradford was tame after Brum.

[75Black]

DKS said:

the-norseman said:

Not the worst but MK is terrible in rush hour, they have recently turned off a lot of the traffic lights on the big roundabouts and the traffic flows a lot better.

That's interesting. The lights on the big Segensworth roundabout in Fareham have failed a couple of times and it flows so much better without them.
Also, why can't traffic lights, especially at roundabouts, turn off at, say 7pm? I don't need to be managed onto a deserted roundabout at 1am.

The same has happened a few times on the northbound to Aylesbury A41/M25 roundabout/junction coming from Watford and it's true, broken lights and suddenly no 2 mile queue for the lights and you can get through in 5 minutes, I think part of the issue is also timing. Been days where you're sat for ages because the lights turn green for a split second, 2 cars go through and it's back to red. They may have changed the timings though because it's a lot better recently.

[croyde]

Some Gump said:

Bradford.
It's scary enough on a sunday, god only knows what it must be like when busy!

Driving in London on a Sunday is scary as all the idiots that don't drive in the week come out to play.

At least during the week you are with other like minded drivers that want to get on and don't suffer fools gladly

Saying that, I rarely use the car these days as I just don't enjoy it anymore. Too many cameras, 20mph zones and general fekwittery.

I use the motorbike.

[TO73074E]

Countdown said:

TO73074E said:

Most UK cities will be horrendous to drive in these days. In and around Manchester for me is bad but doesn't sound as bad as your experience. I do still find some courteous drivers although they are becoming rarer. I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

I did drive in central Birmingham last summer, and it is the only time I can recall in many many years that I came close to losing my st with rage, due mainly to other drivers and road layout/late sat nav calls.

One of the issues is that, because roads are in such poor condition these days quite often it looks like somebody has flashed you when their car goes over a bump. I wait until i see the car slowing down before I join.

Oh I fully get that, most of the time when I let people go I am in slow moving traffic. At most I am trundling along at 5mph or even fully stopped. Monday just gone, I flashed a driver 5 or 6 times to let them out of a side road and I had come to a complete stop in the trafic. They just stared at me with a vacant expression, refusing to move.

[TwinExit]

You just have to reset your mind when you venture into busy cities in a car. Concepts of fairness, good manners, courtesy (much like unenforced speed limits) are only a suggestion, it is not mandatory.

The key is to be in a position where driving is optional, however I suspect that many are compelled to be out and about ... for the sake of FOMO of the office dynamics or the frezy of their local Asda.

[Gigamoons]

TO73074E said:

Countdown said:

TO73074E said:

Most UK cities will be horrendous to drive in these days. In and around Manchester for me is bad but doesn't sound as bad as your experience. I do still find some courteous drivers although they are becoming rarer. I do find it funny that these days when you flash someone to let them out of a side road, a lot of people sit there and don't know what to do! More often than not I don't get a hand wave or flash of the hazards to say "Thank you" if they do set off.

I did drive in central Birmingham last summer, and it is the only time I can recall in many many years that I came close to losing my st with rage, due mainly to other drivers and road layout/late sat nav calls.

One of the issues is that, because roads are in such poor condition these days quite often it looks like somebody has flashed you when their car goes over a bump. I wait until i see the car slowing down before I join.

Oh I fully get that, most of the time when I let people go I am in slow moving traffic. At most I am trundling along at 5mph or even fully stopped. Monday just gone, I flashed a driver 5 or 6 times to let them out of a side road and I had come to a complete stop in the trafic. They just stared at me with a vacant expression, refusing to move.

I’m in London a lot.
The van drivers and taxis are courteous and very proactive - not unfamiliar to get the thank you wave whilst pulling out of a side road into… well just into the stream of traffic!