Driving standards

Do you think that driving standards have dropped over the last 10 odd years?

I used to ride years ago so got very good at driving defensively, after getting back on 2 wheels again recently I am constantly reminded of driver numptyness.

I had one driver on a 2 lane roundabout - while joining the roundabout opposite me - stay in the left/outer lane and indicate left/straight-on, only to continue round and turn right! I was right to wait.
Then this week on a dual carraigeway a car just drifted out into the right hand lane for no reason or indication?

Plenty of other examples but more aware and vulnerable to them now. A lot more texting and phoning going on as well.

On the topic of phone use in cars, when I am on my bike if I spot it I tend to ride along side them, do the "phone hand" shape and shake my head at them. Most the time they quit it.

As for general roadcraft. In my opinion its linked to the number of cars about. There has been a marked increase in the amount of vehicles since even I passed my driving test in 2001. More vehicles means more idiots sadly.

Yea on the bike it's really easy to spot phone users, you can even see them texting :eek:

There's a lot of vehicle variety so you cannot drive the same speed as what's behind or in front of you on the road. The driving standard has changes about rules in which you don't have to indicate if you driving straight over a roundabout to show when you're leaving it which is a warning to other drivers and moving in front of cars to exit a roundabout has changed to not use you're self as a human shield when exiting a roundabout to a sudden exit hopefully a car won't pull out at you if it's a single lane but you could get two lanes in which there's space there need standard rules which don't change from year to year and a common road lay out to avoid looking at markings so you don't drive into incomming traffic thinking you have two lanes road signs are cheep and we need more of them even two at times spread about incase you miss one.

Personally I think making people re-take their driving tests every five years would do wonders to improve driving standards

In my opinion riding up to a car window and telling him off may be a bit rich from the drivers point of view, as he/she might see your riding quite dangerous. Its a sign of you losing control, mental control getting angry and playing the policeman and makes you dangerous. My own view is don't interact with car drivers. If you are aware that they are on the phone etc (not hard to spot) then use some risk management and give them a wide birth. As for indicating, if you seriously rely on a cars indicator as a signal that he is going to turn where his indicator indicates your probably bounce off his bonnet. As we were taught on MAC training days, cant trust an indicator, all an indicator tells you is that the bulb is working ! I don't think driving standards have changed, theres so much traffic now. Some are **** some are good, no different to you on a motorbike or me. There are some fukkwit riders as car drivers. Keep Calm and Carry On Riding, if you start getting mad at motorist you are no better than them. Be wary of them, avoid them and remember it might be your right of way, but when you are dribbling cabbage as he burst you brains out of your helmet who won ! :cool:

I also think bikers should retake there test, why just car drivers?? Do we really think that all of us are so much better than all of the car drivers !

cant trust an indicator, all an indicator tells you is that the bulb is working

Oh so true, mind you, goes for bikes as well as cars!

cant trust an indicator, all an indicator tells you is that the bulb is working !.

Excellent quote and a possible life saver.

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Originally Posted by Birdylegs

There's a lot of vehicle variety so you cannot drive the same speed as what's behind or in front of you on the road. The driving standard has changes about rules in which you don't have to indicate if you driving straight over a roundabout to show when you're leaving it which is a warning to other drivers and moving in front of cars to exit a roundabout has changed to not use you're self as a human shield when exiting a roundabout to a sudden exit hopefully a car won't pull out at you if it's a single lane but you could get two lanes in which there's space there need standard rules which don't change from year to year and a common road lay out to avoid looking at markings so you don't drive into incomming traffic thinking you have two lanes road signs are cheep and we need more of them even two at times spread about incase you miss one.

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Your 2nd sentence is so long with no punctuation that I'm afraid to me it was totally incomprehensible. !

Sorry Ade, drank too much Vino for punctuation ! If you break it into chunks Im sure you can manage it !

Taking time out from spectating at the English civil War re-enactment on the non bike section, I do think retraining and educational classes are worth consideration, I’m not convinced however, that re-tests would have a significant impact on improving road safety. (Please don’t give the powers that be any ideas about more stealth taxes for road users) Even the most sensible proficient driver/rider could have an off day on the day of the test. And to be honest, how many road users drive/ride in the same manner as they would when being observed in a test environment? I agree with Dave’s comments regarding the volume of traffic on our roads. This is the real issue which needs to be addressed in my opinion – with the predicted increase of traffic in the next decade our roads face permanent gridlock which equals frustration which equals accidents.

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Originally Posted by Swanny

Personally I think making people re-take their driving tests every five years would do wonders to improve driving standards

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Originally Posted by shiftyblake

I also think bikers should retake there test, why just car drivers?? Do we really think that all of us are so much better than all of the car drivers !

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What happens then if you fail the test through no fault of your own (because someone else did something on the road) and as a result lost your job, home, etc........ Never going to happen.

Taking time out from spectating at the English civil War re-enactment on the non bike section, I do think retraining and educational classes are worth consideration, I’m not convinced however, that re-tests would have a significant impact on improving road safety. (Please don’t give the powers that be any ideas about more stealth taxes for road users) Even the most sensible proficient driver/rider could have an off day on the day of the test. And to be honest, how many road users drive/ride in the same manner as they would when being observed in a test environment. I agree with Dave’s comments regarding the volume of traffic on our roads. This is the real issue which needs to be addressed in my opinion – with the predicted increase of traffic in the next decade our roads face permanent gridlock which equals frustration which equals accidents.

Sorry admins I appear to have posted the same post twice and it's not for the first time. Frustrating, I'm obviously doing something wrong. Apologies

Mobile phones, a massive increase in traffic volume, and complacent drivers/riders. It all adds up to bad driving. Yes I think standards have dropped. Most mornings, my Mrs passes a lad coming out of Warminster on his moped. Every morning he rides along texting! The number of truckers I see negotiating Yarnbrook roundabout in their artic, whilst talking on their phones. But the worst driving is reserved for those that use their vehicle as a weapon. It's all a video game to them.

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Originally Posted by Uber Dave

What happens then if you fail the test through no fault of your own (because someone else did something on the road) and as a result lost your job, home, etc........ Never going to happen.

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They could be given a couple of months to have some lessons and retake and pass.
There are some dangerous drivers/riders on the road so if they did lose their licences the roads would be safer for the rest.
But yea it won't ever happen.

People seem to give up on learning to drive once they pass their tests.

Driving instructors aren't just for people learning to drive, they are also there for people wishing to brush up or improve their driving skills.

undertaking people seems to be the norm now , when I was doing my test am sure it was an offence to do that

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Originally Posted by Mal103

Do you think that driving standards have dropped over the last 10 odd years?

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I dont think so really, just increasingly crowded with everyone under more pressure to do so much in a day and do it so much quicker in all aspects of life. I think we all suffer from that.

I suspect getting back on a bike after a while just makes you more aware of it.

What I find really amazing is that we dont see more crashes and accidents due to people using mobile phones and I cant understand why the Police dont seem that bothered.

I dont think there is a time when any of us go out on our bikes when we dont see a driver texting or chatting away on a phone? It would be easy pickings for the Police.

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Originally Posted by Brizzer

undertaking people seems to be the norm now , when I was doing my test am sure it was an offence to do that

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If people stayed left like they were meant to then nobody would be able to undertake. The amount of people I see on four lane stretches of the A1 in the 3rd Lane and no traffic in front of them for miles is unbelievable!

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No.
The problem is there are too many vehicles, too much road signage/traffic calming measures and badly designed roads.
Say on a journey you pass 100 cars. You see 2 examples of bad driving.
When you finish you will inevitably moan about only 2% of the traffic you encountered (probably generalising about them being cars/lorries/women or from an ethnic background) and ignore the fact that 98% of the people you passed did absolutely nothing wrong.
You will also ignore your own mistakes "well, it was only a one off"
I don't think driving is worse I just think there are more selfish, holier than thou, a.holes around.

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Originally Posted by wiltshire builders

Say on a journey you pass 100 cars. You see 2 examples of bad driving.

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Same with anything and a very good point. If you go on any forums to research a car/laptop/camera, in fact any product at all the internet is full of negative things. When was the last time any of us rang up a company, say your mobile company or insurer to say thanks, but we are on the phone in a flash to slam them.

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Originally Posted by Uber Dave

If people stayed left like they were meant to then nobody would be able to undertake. The amount of people I see on four lane stretches of the A1 in the 3rd Lane and no traffic in front of them for miles is unbelievable!

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

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I totally agree with what you said, but I am not holding traffic

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Originally Posted by Swanny

They could be given a couple of months to have some lessons and retake and pass.
There are some dangerous drivers/riders on the road so if they did lose their licences the roads would be safer for the rest.
But yea it won't ever happen.

People seem to give up on learning to drive once they pass their tests.

Driving instructors aren't just for people learning to drive, they are also there for people wishing to brush up or improve their driving skills.

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Agreed, took IAM training and test last year after 30+ years of riding and definitely improved my riding and, to a lesser extent, my driving. Still surprises me though how many bikers don't do further training, especially those of us who have been riding for a while, and the wide range of reasons (excuses) for not doing so. I know I can't improve other road users skills but certainly can my own.

I definitely need to refresh my driving skills and am going to sign up to IAM driving sessions and put our sales guys (and girl) through similar course.

Just thinking if you want to complain about bad driving standards of people forget about it when you can send off a form to have a provision license that means all you need is insurance and a qualified person beside you to drive around and there's few road accidents makes me laugh. There's a lot of people that don't understand how a vehicle can be a death trap at speeds the human body can't cope with theirs no reason why a person should drive as the person behind him thinks he should we all like to think that we are right and we was told by someone who is not there how to act and what we should or shouldn't do without the fact that we are all different in needs from time to time and should know that everyone needs respect to function in there own conference

Like most areas during these times of austerity the courier business is very competitive and everyone is squeezed on margins. There are thousands of delivery drivers of vans (and bikes) out there who are paid in part or in full on a commission basis per drop/delivery. Feeling tired after spending a busy day negotiating congested roads and trying to squeeze that one extra delivery in? All the ingredients for an accident just waiting to happen.

Followed a car today for about 10 miles that had windscreen wipers set on intermittent. It was completely dry out :D
How bad a driver would you have to be not to notice the wipers being on???

Just to keep things in balance... I followed a moped this morning with his left indicator on for about a mile. He had no mirrors so couldn't see me but was keeping left, when the traffic picked up I went to overtake at the same time he meandered into the middle of the road.

I find it difficult to leave on my indicators on my 1949 AJS.... my arm gets sooo tired ;)

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Originally Posted by BB

I find it difficult to leave on my indicators on my 1949 AJS.... my arm gets sooo tired ;)

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Haha, brilliant!! 😃

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Originally Posted by Mal103

Just to keep things in balance... I followed a moped this morning with his left indicator on for about a mile. He had no mirrors so couldn't see me but was keeping left, when the traffic picked up I went to overtake at the same time he meandered into the middle of the road.

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I thought that was perfectly legal if not compulsory on a moped, in fact I keep my old Yam V50 specifically for meandering

And as for putting on hazards.... :eek:

I was overtaken along Bythesea Rd a while back by some chap on a scooter, he passed me then went straight through the red light but stopped at the next one to let a car through that was there then not bothering to wait for the light to change he went on his way again. I thought it was hilarious :o