Driving standards. North V South.

[Bobthebeard]

Possibly just me, but have just returned from a trip darn sarf. Milton Keynes to be exact. Live in the North West, spend a lot of time driving up to Newcastle and The Borders etc, but today was a bit of an eye opener. Once south of Watford every roundabout seemed to be a nightmare of intolerance and aggression! Drivers speeding up on roundabouts, cutting in and general " fuck off, I got here firstness". Often in black German vehicles with non standard number plates. Is this typical? North of here is usually much more polite! Usually.

[overrun]

Same with general motorway etiquette and overall speed, I find.

 

We actually allow other people to change lanes and join from slip roads up here.

[Spiny Norman]

It's all Southern Softies to me....

I'll start a war & say the driving standards get worse almost as soon as you get into the more populated bits of England.

Northumberland and Tyneside are no worse than Glasgow on a bad day and there's bugger all in Cumbria but it gets noticeably worse by the time you get to Liverpool, Manchester & Leeds.

 

It's a few years since I was in that London but since I was expecting the worst I found it almost bearable. I did shout "Fuck off" a lot out the window in as broad a Glasgow accent as I can muster which seemed to help though.
 

[Bobthebeard]

It's all Southern Softies to me....

 

 

 

It's a few years since I was in that London but since I was expecting the worst I found it almost bearable. I did shout "Fuck off" a lot out the window in as broad a Glasgow accent as I can muster which seemed to help though.

 

Sweet! Lol.

[overrun]

When I was on the M62 a couple of weeks back, it was the usual bedlam.

 

I find it starts where the M1 becomes three lanes, when heading south.

 

Handy when you want to get your foot down a bit. Not so much when you are on a 70mph cruise control MPG mission.

[warren t claim]

I was lucky enough to be in Milton Keynes today and the locals attitude to roundabouts is just the familiarity of dealing with the fucking thousands of them that the award winning town planners thought were a good idea. I think it's called Skelmersdale Syndrome.

[Lord Sterling]

I guess it depends where you live. The fact of the matter is, for the past few years this attitude of people who drive so-called "premium" often German cars adopt a "premium" attitude to go with it. This attitude problem effects everywhere you find these people, North, South, East and West. It is true to say that some parts of the country are calmer than others and some who drive around those parts will say that they hardly see the new "premium" attitude acted out in thier part of the country.

 

Here in Birmingham, the "premium" attitude is sadly alive and happening, I have been on the receiving end of this a fair few times as many on here might have seen. I would say, densly populated areas where there is easy access to to major routes would be the most affected areas, here you will have mix of company car drivers in thier "premium" German boxes mix that in with daft mums in thier "premium" 4x4 who often think they are better than everyone and are someone special, then you've got your young 'n' loaded twats in thier parent-bought BINI/small latest premium city/hot hatch, chavs in thier shit hatches, the angry little family man etc... mix that in with the faster pace of life and roads that simply cannot handle the amount of traffic on our roads today and you've got yourself a city full twatish drivers who make even the simplist of journeys annoying and stressful.

[Bobthebeard]

I guess it depends where you live. The fact of the matter is, for the past few years this attitude of people who drive so-called "premium" often German cars adopt a "premium" attitude to go with it. This attitude problem effects everywhere you find these people, North, South, East and West. It is true to say that some parts of the country are calmer than others and some who drive around those parts will say that they hardly see the new "premium" attitude acted out in thier part of the country.

Here in Birmingham, the "premium" attitude is sadly alive and happening, I have been on the receiving end of this a fair few times as many on here might have seen. I would say, densly populated areas where there is easy access to to major routes would be the most affected areas, here you will have mix of company car drivers in thier "premium" German boxes mix that in with daft mums in thier "premium" 4x4 who often think they are better than everyone and are someone special, then you've got your young 'n' loaded twats in thier parent-bought BINI/small latest premium city/hot hatch, chavs in thier shit hatches, the angry little family man etc... mix that in with the faster pace of life and roads that simply cannot handle the amount of traffic on our roads today and you've got yourself a city full twatish drivers who make even the simplist of journeys annoying and stressful.

+1. Well said sir!

[CreepingJesus]

South of the M55 on the M6, and roughly from the run down to Leeds, on the A1M, something does happen. It's like an odd mood of 'fuck you, me first' determination. Although, the central M62, strangely I don't find too bad.

Up here, Edinboghorror is by a country mile, the worst place to drive. There's notable careless driving around Fife and Dundee, but the capital takes the biscuit for sheer arrogance and aggression.

[Des]

I live inside the M25, so any direction, North, South, East or West shows a marked improvement.

 

Apart from North/East, that's Essex.

[Junkman]

The bitter truth is that I meanwhile avoid travelling south of Bramhall.

[simmo]

Being picky the OP was in the Midlands so has my sympathies and actually still North of Watford, he may of meant the Watford Gap but point taken.  I find when driving up North everyone seems to have all day to get there and dare I say bimbly, I find  a long loud burst on the horn usually highlights their short comings to them.   

[Partridge]

I used to regularly from pretty much the Southernmost tip of mainland Britain to Manchester an awful lot. It’s true that closer you are to a populated area, the worse driving gets. 

Does it matter if we’re Northern or Southern? A dickhead is a dickhead, regardless to if they're from Winchester or Warrington.

[nigel bickle]

Living on the south coast, I can confirm massive overpopulation with badly deteriorated 1950's infrastructure.  It kinda reflects in the driving.  

 

Cant see it getting better in my lifetime.

[dollywobbler]

To be fair, I've seen some horrifically unsafe driving on the roads of northern Scotland. You can't get much more north without hitting the sea. Single-track lanes and folk driving like it's a rally stage and, knowing there are very few coppers about, at whatever speed they feel like.

 

More population equals more stress though. On the same trip that I discovered the above, I swore I would never drive anywhere near Bournemouth ever again.

[Brent_Crude]

I despair at driving standards down south. It is not so bad outside of London, but when inside the M25 you can often only be a minute or so into a journey before some moron has tried to wipe you out and forced you into evasive action/an emergency stop. As welll as the "F-you" attitude that seems to be all too common among drivers these days, it also seems to be down to ignorance about driving standards/rules and a general lack of courtesy - I am always staggered when someone waves or flashes you (wahey!) for giving way, as it is such a rare thing these days.  

 

However, in the last few years of driving the old Range Rover, I find I am much less likely to get involved in any nonsense as I am never in a hurry, rarely want to put my foot down (it costs too much in petrol!) and generally a more relaxed driver (not that I have ever been one of those aggressive arsehole types). Also, people are bit more wary of an old Rangie and tend to think twice before trying to force you off the road or cutting you up or tailgating you. I think the old Classic Rangies still have a tough look about them that gives them a bit of presence on the road, that some of the 'softer', more modern Rangies lack.  

[chaseracer]

One look at the biffs, scrapes, dents & amusing* epithets on the Blingo - plus the 'thousand-yard stare' of the driver - and the 'premiums' tend to back off sharpish...

[aldo135]

Edinboghorror is by a country mile, the worst place to drive. There's notable careless driving around Fife and Dundee, but the capital takes the biscuit for sheer arrogance and aggression.

Nah it's the Weeg* that's the worst! Ok I may be biased, but hate driving through there, that 1 way system brings out the worst in the kamikaze private hire drivers! As Billy Connolly said, it has the only ring road in the world that goes straight through the middle of the city, where, never mind the 2 second rule, if you leave half a car space in front of you someone's trying to get in it!

 

 

*Glasgow - Europe's murder capital, but also Britain's friendliest city! - Kevin Bridges

[Sean]

I travel about a bit and can honestly say the driving is far worse down south where I live than up north. North to me is Birmingham upwards and I find there's a lot more courtesy up there, lots more letting people out of junctions etc. Also up there if you make a driving faux pas and choose the wrong lane on a roundabout and accidentally cut someone up or similar - put your hand up to say sorry and they do the same back to say its ok and it's done. Down south that's like a worse offence than spitting on a mans children and you may find yourself waking up dead for your sins!!

[cyruspower]

Coming from the North West and now living in the South East with friends and family still in the North West, the difference is marked between the two.  

 

The South East is way more agressive, both in and around the M25.  London is very push and shove on the roads, but for the most part, people do let you in when filtering in to lanes etc, as they seem to know they need to keep the flow running.

 

The M25 is a free for all, with so many retards in the two outer lanes, with the inner three or four lanes totally devoid of traffic.  It is literally like having your own three to four lane motorway at times, if you simply maintain a steady 63mph on the inside.   Everyone in the outer two lanes are wrestling with each other to be at the front of the queue on a circular road, alternating between 35 and 115mph every half mile.  98% of the cars in the outer two lanes are black Audi A6s, black Range Rovers or white Fiat 500s.

 

There are differences between each home county too, Surrey and Sussex are mostly polite, Kent is a bit like Essex and Essex is a bit more like Essex, Berkshire and Hertfordshire are agressive wannabes and Bucks doesn't know what it is.

[Brent_Crude]

I might be drifting away from the North/South aspect of this thread; but it amazes me how often driving stereotypes live up to their poor driving reputation. Time and time again, it's the Barry Boys, Addison Lee drivers (in London), old giffers in 1.3L auto Hondas, German repmobilers and Royal Mail Racing Club drivers that are the ones reaping havoc on our roads. In some ways this is a good thing, as you can spot them, anticipate them doing something moronic and take whatever steps you need to keep you and your car well out of their way and in once piece.

 

How any of these categories get insurance is beyond me.   

[jonny69]

If you thought Milton Keynes was bad then you'll have a shock if you ever enter Surrey. Epicentre of unecessary cunty behaviour. Never seen so much of it.

 

London has its own rules so you can't really compare it with anywhere else. Apples and Oranges. The roads are different and the people are different, so you drive different. I'm originally from London.

[Tonka]

I remember the first time I took my wife to visit my Grandmother in Bexleyheath we had just gone through the Dartford toll and all hell broke loose she couldn't believe how bad the driving was as we waited at a junction a the guy behind mounted the pavement to pass everybody in the queue! granted you get the occassional kn*bhead up here in his Audi/Merc/BMW  but generally the standard of driving improves the further North you get, maybe it's the lack of stress in life and lower traffic volumes that makes Northerners more chilled behind the wheel.

 

And before anybody goes on about me fueling the North/South divide, I am Yorkshire born and bred to a Welsh Father and Kentish Mother.............       

[MrDuke]

I notice the change almost as soon as I cross the Welsh border; the symptoms then get progressively worse the further south I travel. That's not to say you don't get twattish driving out here in the wilds, but the problem here is just ignorance or lack of skill and judgement, whereas down south it seems to be genuine malevolence and aggression towards other drivers. I'm not sure if it's changed in the last 10 years, or whether I've got softer, but I really don't remember it being as bad when I lived in the home counties.

[jonny69]

That's not to say you don't get twattish driving out here in the wilds, but the problem here is just ignorance or lack of skill and judgement, whereas down south it seems to be genuine malevolence and aggression towards other drivers.

 

I totally agree with that. 90% of the drivers round here might as well have 'for fuck's sake' written on their face, if their expression is anything to go by.

[Junkman]

What really does annoy me when driving in Britain is this totally unneccessary niggling, dilly-dallying and dawdling.

90% of the congestions in the UK are caused because nobody drives the fuck on.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I havent read this thread properly but i'll just pop a bit in here about audi drivers, modern car drivers, youth of today, cunts etc etc

[RobT]

If everyone in London drove cars with the correct gearbox i.e. automatic, it wouldn't be such a bad place to drive.  I'm sure lots of the aggression and shit driving is down to people resenting the fact they've had to change gear for the 456th time in the last two miles.

[autofive]

hey mr boll

 

whats the standard of driving like on the other side of the channel?

[chaseracer]

...it has the only ring road in the world that goes straight through the middle of the city...

[cough!]

 

Newcastle...

 

{/cough!]