current state of motorway driving
Discussion
Need to rant about this. Came over to the mainland from the Isle of Wight yesterday to drive to the Midlands. I only drive on motorways maybe 2/3 times a year and its been very noticeable to me that the general standard of driving is rapidly going downhill. M27, A34, M6, M42 & M54. Started in very heavy rain and instantly noticed many vehicles with no lights on. At several points visibility was extremely poor to the point where the vehicle in front was not visable. Lorries on the A34 trying to pass each other and actually having to pull back in because they cannot get by. Middle lane morons. Drivers not pulling over to let faster vehicles pass in outside lane. People driving far to close for the conditions. In a queue today where M6 meets M5 the smell of weed. All of the above not just a handful of incidents but its every few hundred yards. At times I felt quite unsafe. By contrast M6 toll , complete contrast with no hold ups and thoughtful courteous drving.
I believe it is since the start of 4 lane motorways, ever since that time for me the standard of driving has become almost a free for all, I see people sitting in lane three on their own, people who just move over to lane 2 or 3 without thought as soon as they enter the motorway.
I daily see lorries using totally unsuitable B roads to save a few minutes on a journey rather than save the roads, increase noise and make it slower for regular traffic, all so they can get to a depot 5 minutes earlier than wait 2 hours to get tipped, utterly selfish, ignorant and rude. But you cant say much because lorries are the saviours of our lazy good for noting lives
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
I daily see lorries using totally unsuitable B roads to save a few minutes on a journey rather than save the roads, increase noise and make it slower for regular traffic, all so they can get to a depot 5 minutes earlier than wait 2 hours to get tipped, utterly selfish, ignorant and rude. But you cant say much because lorries are the saviours of our lazy good for noting lives
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
flatlandsman said:
I believe it is since the start of 4 lane motorways, ever since that time for me the standard of driving has become almost a free for all, I see people sitting in lane three on their own, people who just move over to lane 2 or 3 without thought as soon as they enter the motorway.
I daily see lorries using totally unsuitable B roads to save a few minutes on a journey rather than save the roads, increase noise and make it slower for regular traffic, all so they can get to a depot 5 minutes earlier than wait 2 hours to get tipped, utterly selfish, ignorant and rude. But you cant say much because lorries are the saviours of our lazy good for noting lives
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
I sat in a road safety meeting scheduled to last 2 hours. When after 1hr50min only speeding had been discussed I asked when we were going to discuss the causes of at least the other 85% of RTCs I just get blank looks. I then quoted my old physics teacher, "Evaluate what is important; don't make important what is easy to measure". I doubt a single person in the room saw the relevence of the quote.I daily see lorries using totally unsuitable B roads to save a few minutes on a journey rather than save the roads, increase noise and make it slower for regular traffic, all so they can get to a depot 5 minutes earlier than wait 2 hours to get tipped, utterly selfish, ignorant and rude. But you cant say much because lorries are the saviours of our lazy good for noting lives
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
Road safety meeting! No wonder driving standards are so low. Absolutely no interest in improving driving standards. The driver is only considered after a RTC; and then only to decide whether to prosecute or not. 'Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted' springs to mind.
flatlandsman said:
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
A fella with a PHD in driver behaviour once told me we all start learning to drive from two years old. But hey, wtf does he know. Perhaps some of it is the influence of previous generations 
Ziplobb said:
Need to rant about this. Came over to the mainland from the Isle of Wight yesterday to drive to the Midlands. I only drive on motorways maybe 2/3 times a year and its been very noticeable to me that the general standard of driving is rapidly going downhill. M27, A34, M6, M42 & M54. Started in very heavy rain and instantly noticed many vehicles with no lights on. At several points visibility was extremely poor to the point where the vehicle in front was not visable. Lorries on the A34 trying to pass each other and actually having to pull back in because they cannot get by. Middle lane morons. Drivers not pulling over to let faster vehicles pass in outside lane. People driving far to close for the conditions. In a queue today where M6 meets M5 the smell of weed. All of the above not just a handful of incidents but its every few hundred yards. At times I felt quite unsafe. By contrast M6 toll , complete contrast with no hold ups and thoughtful courteous drving.
M6 toll perhaps you didn't drive on it between 06.30 and 09.00 and 16.30 and 19.00 because it appears to be the race track for the frustrated office worker in their superior vehicle of all types, either going to work or coming homeStandard of driving is appalling at those times
Other comments are true
I can tell you for a fact I learned from my Dad, I was lucky he was a police traffic driver, so I gained a lot especially about vision, at times if we went out on our own he would do the observation thing, driving while talking about potential issues, it made me see ahead a lot more.
This is something so few people really do, they look about 100 yards in front no more, no idea of junctions, brows, half the people i see cant drive at night or have poor vision, surely time for eye tests every few years linked to driving, for all vehicles not just cars.
So to em the basics are easy, simple and come to hand, but I was lucky, some people are not, and learn from awful drivers, this is the problem. And heck none of us are perfect we all do annoying things.
This is something so few people really do, they look about 100 yards in front no more, no idea of junctions, brows, half the people i see cant drive at night or have poor vision, surely time for eye tests every few years linked to driving, for all vehicles not just cars.
So to em the basics are easy, simple and come to hand, but I was lucky, some people are not, and learn from awful drivers, this is the problem. And heck none of us are perfect we all do annoying things.
The A34 is brilliant for elephant racing. Once had to travel 6 miles waiting for one to overtake the other. Morons.
Since the M27 became a dumb motorway, everyone picks a lane and then just sticks to it. And I don't know whether it's me or not but the accident rate on the M27 seems to have gone up to the point I now just avoid it as much as I can.
Since the M27 became a dumb motorway, everyone picks a lane and then just sticks to it. And I don't know whether it's me or not but the accident rate on the M27 seems to have gone up to the point I now just avoid it as much as I can.
Glosphil said:
I sat in a road safety meeting scheduled to last 2 hours. When after 1hr50min only speeding had been discussed I asked when we were going to discuss the causes of at least the other 85% of RTCs I just get blank looks. I then quoted my old physics teacher, "Evaluate what is important; don't make important what is easy to measure".
^ this explains a lot 
pocketspring said:
The A34 is brilliant for elephant racing. Once had to travel 6 miles waiting for one to overtake the other. Morons.
Since the M27 became a dumb motorway, everyone picks a lane and then just sticks to it. And I don't know whether it's me or not but the accident rate on the M27 seems to have gone up to the point I now just avoid it as much as I can.
Can regularly spot 3 lanes of HGVs on M6 failing to overtake each other. Since the M27 became a dumb motorway, everyone picks a lane and then just sticks to it. And I don't know whether it's me or not but the accident rate on the M27 seems to have gone up to the point I now just avoid it as much as I can.
Since there speed limiters' differentials are so tiny, there everlasting overtakes (sometimes reversed) doesn't actually influence their journey time. It is amazing that they have never questioned the practice. The danger they present or other people, as they barge out into faster traffic never seems to matter.
The only reason it doesn't often end in tragedy is that most people treat them as hostile and expect the worst.
Regularly see them tailgating cars (less than 10ft away) in 50mph roadworks sections. Are they stupid or nasty?
They are the saviours of the world, they deliver everything, and during the pandemic they became the Holy Grail allowing people to purchase stuff. The sad part is the real heroes are the millions of poorly paid and very poorly treated van drivers who get nothing like the pay, work woeful, awful hours and have a far harder and more stressful job. But we are not allowed to criritise truck drivers as the media has made them honorary saints.
Some of us who actually drive trucks for a living don't approve of or take part in the so called elephant racing, nor do we tailgate, we actually try to apply some sort of professionalsim to our work, we're embarrassed by those who can't differentiate between driving a car and driving a truck, but never let the chance of a good generalising go by eh.
Bunching serious endless tailgating and elephant racing wasn't an issue until speed limiters came in, in due course some sort of electronic road related speed limiting will come in for cars as well, and then all of those moaning can show us exactly how it should be done, so enjoy your reasonably uncontrolled motoring while you can.
You arn't going to enjoy it when you get to experience speed limiters for yourselves, and for those who think they'll be able to defeat it and carry on regardless, just like a truck that has a doctored limiter sticks out like a sore thumb a car capable of leaving the herd behind will also stand out, and true to form those who are stuck at the regulated limit will galdly shop (video record and send it in as requested by the office based traffic police) any miscreants to the authorities, and just as with trucks the penalties for having a doctored speed limiter will be unpleasant...the bankrupt govt of the day will be keen to extract large wedges plus licence removal punishments.
Bunching serious endless tailgating and elephant racing wasn't an issue until speed limiters came in, in due course some sort of electronic road related speed limiting will come in for cars as well, and then all of those moaning can show us exactly how it should be done, so enjoy your reasonably uncontrolled motoring while you can.
You arn't going to enjoy it when you get to experience speed limiters for yourselves, and for those who think they'll be able to defeat it and carry on regardless, just like a truck that has a doctored limiter sticks out like a sore thumb a car capable of leaving the herd behind will also stand out, and true to form those who are stuck at the regulated limit will galdly shop (video record and send it in as requested by the office based traffic police) any miscreants to the authorities, and just as with trucks the penalties for having a doctored speed limiter will be unpleasant...the bankrupt govt of the day will be keen to extract large wedges plus licence removal punishments.
Smint said:
Some of us who actually drive trucks for a living don't approve of or take part in the so called elephant racing, nor do we tailgate, we actually try to apply some sort of professionalsim to our work, we're embarrassed by those who can't differentiate between driving a car and driving a truck, but never let the chance of a good generalising go by eh.
Bunching serious endless tailgating and elephant racing wasn't an issue until speed limiters came in, in due course some sort of electronic road related speed limiting will come in for cars as well, and then all of those moaning can show us exactly how it should be done, so enjoy your reasonably uncontrolled motoring while you can.
You arn't going to enjoy it when you get to experience speed limiters for yourselves, and for those who think they'll be able to defeat it and carry on regardless, just like a truck that has a doctored limiter sticks out like a sore thumb a car capable of leaving the herd behind will also stand out, and true to form those who are stuck at the regulated limit will galdly shop (video record and send it in as requested by the office based traffic police) any miscreants to the authorities, and just as with trucks the penalties for having a doctored speed limiter will be unpleasant...the bankrupt govt of the day will be keen to extract large wedges plus licence removal punishments.
Glad to know there are some that don't tailgate or elephant race, but it seems that the many many do. Bunching serious endless tailgating and elephant racing wasn't an issue until speed limiters came in, in due course some sort of electronic road related speed limiting will come in for cars as well, and then all of those moaning can show us exactly how it should be done, so enjoy your reasonably uncontrolled motoring while you can.
You arn't going to enjoy it when you get to experience speed limiters for yourselves, and for those who think they'll be able to defeat it and carry on regardless, just like a truck that has a doctored limiter sticks out like a sore thumb a car capable of leaving the herd behind will also stand out, and true to form those who are stuck at the regulated limit will galdly shop (video record and send it in as requested by the office based traffic police) any miscreants to the authorities, and just as with trucks the penalties for having a doctored speed limiter will be unpleasant...the bankrupt govt of the day will be keen to extract large wedges plus licence removal punishments.
Granted that speed limiter are a contributory factor, but drivers should be making conscious choices when driving and when sped limiters lead them to make a bad choice it is still their fault. Similarly,doing what all the others do is still their fault.
When they have pulled into lane 3 of a motorway into the path of traffic that is 15mph faster, causing them to brake or change lane to avoid an accident, then they fail to overtake the lane 2 HGVs there are failing to overtake those in lane 1, does nothing go though their heads?
"Why am I obstructing the motorway to gain nothing"
Trucks have always liked a race and that's nothing to do with a car sitting in the middle lane when there are no trucks in sight.
I think the mantra of speed kills and the endless speed cameras across the motorway network is to blame. Lanes 2 and 3 are no longer for overtaking because that would be dangerous. I'll just sit here in my lane doing somewhere near the speed limit as nobody could want to go any faster. It's led to a marked decrease in driving standards and it seems an uptick in the serious accident rate, despite a significant increase in car safety.
I think the mantra of speed kills and the endless speed cameras across the motorway network is to blame. Lanes 2 and 3 are no longer for overtaking because that would be dangerous. I'll just sit here in my lane doing somewhere near the speed limit as nobody could want to go any faster. It's led to a marked decrease in driving standards and it seems an uptick in the serious accident rate, despite a significant increase in car safety.
CLK-GTR said:
Trucks have always liked a race and that's nothing to do with a car sitting in the middle lane when there are no trucks in sight.
I think the mantra of speed kills and the endless speed cameras across the motorway network is to blame. Lanes 2 and 3 are no longer for overtaking because that would be dangerous. I'll just sit here in my lane doing somewhere near the speed limit as nobody could want to go any faster. It's led to a marked decrease in driving standards and it seems an uptick in the serious accident rate, despite a significant increase in car safety.
Has there really been a marked increase in serious accident rate, due to speed limits and speed cameras?I think the mantra of speed kills and the endless speed cameras across the motorway network is to blame. Lanes 2 and 3 are no longer for overtaking because that would be dangerous. I'll just sit here in my lane doing somewhere near the speed limit as nobody could want to go any faster. It's led to a marked decrease in driving standards and it seems an uptick in the serious accident rate, despite a significant increase in car safety.
Source of this data would be interesting to see.
7mike said:
flatlandsman said:
The standards are awful, some of it is immigration, people who dont know or understand the rules and standards, some of it is poor training, some of it is just effing laziness, but all of it causes accidents ,yet all the authorities care about everywhere is speeding, they care about Nothing, NOTHING else. when this causes accidents too, and needs considerably less spent on it for improvement.
A fella with a PHD in driver behaviour once told me we all start learning to drive from two years old. But hey, wtf does he know. Perhaps some of it is the influence of previous generations 911hope said:
Has there really been a marked increase in serious accident rate, due to speed limits and speed cameras?
Source of this data would be interesting to see.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2022/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2022#casualties-by-road-typeSource of this data would be interesting to see.
Scroll down to road type numbers. There has been a 14% increase in motorway fatalities since 2012 despite the increase in vehicle safety in that time.
The connection to speed cameras is just my own theory.
I can't find anything about collision statistics in isolation but I suppose most motorway accidents will have casualties.
CLK-GTR said:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-...
Scroll down to road type numbers. There has been a 14% increase in motorway fatalities since 2012 despite the increase in vehicle safety in that time.
The connection to speed cameras is just my own theory.
I can't find anything about collision statistics in isolation but I suppose most motorway accidents will have casualties.
Thanks.Scroll down to road type numbers. There has been a 14% increase in motorway fatalities since 2012 despite the increase in vehicle safety in that time.
The connection to speed cameras is just my own theory.
I can't find anything about collision statistics in isolation but I suppose most motorway accidents will have casualties.
Big question is fatalities per mile travelled. Would be very surprised if motorway traffic has not increased by less than 14% in 10 years.
I will read report, when get the chance.
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