Southern english drivers

[vexorg]

I've spent the last week and a half working up and down england, and find as you go further south, say about below manchester, drivers on motorways or dual carriageways do not know how to move back over to the slow lanes.

How hard is it to move back over. Worse on the 4 lane sections, when the outside 2 lanes are all queued up and inside lanes are completely empty.

Is there some fear of the left hand kerb down there???

[Robsey]

I am not sure about south of Manchester, but in and around Manchester, many drivers are very inconsiderate to other road users.
Randomly swapping lanes, forcing their way into non-existent gaps and generally being a bunch of tools.

I think it is the big city "look after number one" attitude.

I can say it has got much worse in the past 6 months.

Driving used to be enjoyable 20+ years ago.
Now it is a competitive road brawl.

[Mk3alan]

Totally agree the standard of driving has really gone downhill. My biggest gripe is the tailgaters, utter morons.
Next would be the numpty that swings across from an outside lane to reach an exit.
Thought it might be 'fun' to get something 'solidly built' and just enjoy some of these situations!

Alan

[vexorg]

Someone once told me that most driving issues could be solved by fitting a large spike in the middle of the steering wheel and remove the front doors.

[Robsey]

I whole heartedly agree.

I had my car converted for that exact reason.

Tada...
No front doors - ha ha.

[James McGrath]

Growing up in the south east I've been a bit blind to it.
But recently I have noticed that the driving standard here seems far worse than other places.
It's the level of aggression that's different.
Go to Suffolk and everyone drives with so much more space between them and at lower speeds.

People hardly ever wave thanks if you pull over to let them pass either.

The south east is very busy at all times of day now too.
I'm sure when I started driving it was far quieter in the day. Now it seems like rush hour never end's!

[Robsey]

Warning - going off at a tangent alert!!

I don't think it is just a "southern thing" - or just a motoring thing.

It is abundant throughout the majority of England - definitely upto as much as 50 miles north of Manchester.

There "is" a lot more aggression everywhere.
A large element of selfishness also exists.

With the higher prevalence of 4x4 type Chelsea Tractors on the road there is a lot more bullying about.

As I see this every day, I have become quite numb to it all. Modern attitudes have lost the care and consideration aspect.
It is all about me,
what is in it for me?, or
what can I get away with?

I could go on... people only care if it is fashionable.

When there is a bombing somewhere, Facebook lights up with people sending best wishes, then a month later it is all forgotten, and no-one gives a monkey.

Same with the NHS - people clapped and cheered for the NHS in 2020.. before Covid paramedics, nurses etc. were constantly being assaulted... now that pubs are open again and English louts are getting drunk again, I am sure the assaults have continued in ernest.

Maybe I am cynical... maybe.
Maybe it is what protects me from a society that disgusts me.

Harsh, but sadly it is true.

[chrisp]

Growing up in the south east I've been a bit blind to it.
But recently I have noticed that the driving standard here seems far worse than other places.
It's the level of aggression that's different.
Go to Suffolk and everyone drives with so much more space between them and at lower speeds.

People hardly ever wave thanks if you pull over to let them pass either.

The south east is very busy at all times of day now too.
I'm sure when I started driving it was far quieter in the day. Now it seems like rush hour never end's!

I recently read somewhere that, in the late 1960s when I started driving, there were 6.5 million cars on the UK's roads. Now there are 32 million. I think that goes a long way to explaining why motoring has got less enjoyable, the roads are always crowded, and drivers have got more aggressive. Modern cars are also quite a lot wider and longer than they were all those years ago, and take up a lot more road space and make progress down streets with on-street passing increasingly difficult, so leading to more aggression.

[James McGrath]

Yep, we have very narrow roads hear in east Sussex, even the A21, the main road from London to the coast, is a winding single carageway for most of its length.

The size of vehicles seems to be an inverse ratio however. Big 4x4s are definitely the favourite. Why I have not a clue!

I honestly think that part of the aggression comes from modern cars themselves. They are all refinement obsessed with no vibration or feeling from the road. It gives people a false sense of security and makes people numb to their surroundings and oblivious to the dangers around them.
Cars are all so powerful nowadays too, pretty much all of them are turbocharged with a sub 10 second 0-60.
The range of driver assistance on modern cars further removes people from the experience as well.

[vexorg]

I'm not sure I can see the aggression coming from modern cars. They are the same cars throughout the country.

[James McGrath]

I'm not sure I can see the aggression coming from modern cars. They are the same cars throughout the country.

Think you're taking what I'm saying slightly out of context there.
Not saying that's the main cause, just saying that they don't help the situation.