To think that driving has gotten worse since the pandemic?

As others have mentioned, there has been a population increase (probably more than the official figures suggest) and there may be a lot of unlicensed drivers on the roads - Birmingham is apparently particularly bad for this.

I am not the first person to suggest this, but the UK should think about systems where drivers’ licenses have to be beeped every time you try to put petrol in a car or charge with electric power. Same with car parks and other car-related infrastructure. It would not absolutely stop all unlicensed drivers (unlicensed drivers who were really determined to drive anyway could get partners or friends to fill up their car and drive cautiously around certain areas where they don’t need to pay for parking or go through tolls) but it would make it a lot more difficult and off putting, and people would get caught a lot sooner. Maybe link the license chip identity to chips in blue badges too, given the fact that these are getting “borrowed” by non-disabled.

The highway code btw.
I mean feel free to think you are perfectly reasonable but be prepared for a reckless driving charge.

You are the epitome of irony.

That says to 'undertake' slowly.
Why should I slam my brakes on, and drive at 40, in a 70 zone, which is obviously dangerous. How is overtaking in the inside dangerous?
The middle lane hogger is blocking the middle lane, causing drivers in the left hand lane to have to slam on their brakes, AND causing the outside overtaking lane to have extra cars pulling in and out of it.
I don't get how drivers have got to the point where they're driving on motorways, without understanding how they work!

I stopped at a traffic light the other day. It was for road works on a smallish road. It was red when I stopped. The man behind me went round me and carried on and caused a mess the other end when people started moving forward.
I counted how long he would have to have waited at the traffic light. A min and a half. That’s it. He couldn’t wait a min and a half. Baffling.

No, you are wrong AND right.

If you are travelling faster than cars in the lane to the right you should overtake them (unless it's in queuing traffic). You should not pass cars on the inside, even if that car is a twatty middle lane roadhog. It is very dangerous to pass on the left. This is a classic "two wrong don't make a right" scenario.

Restrict drivers to 5,000 miles per annum?
So, carers, couriers, grocery delivery drivers and lorry and taxi drivers would have to go part time and claim benefits, then stay home on their days off, while those working from home, can go wherever they want, on theirs?
Or would those 5,000 miles be leisure miles, only?

That's not how motorways are designed to work.
I wasn't frustrated, yesterday. I was simply driving along in the correct lane, at the correct speed. Why would I pull out to the outside overtaking lane, when I wasn't overtaking anyone? There was no slower moving vehicle ahead of me, in my lane.
The driver sitting in the overtaking lane, not overtaking, was in the wrong lane.
(This should read driverS, as I observed it, multiple times).
At one point, a car in the middle lane was overtaken and undertaken, at the same time. The driver was in the overtaking lane, driving more slowly than the cars on either side. S/he was not actively engaged in overtaking anyone. There was plenty of space and opportunity to pull over to the left lane. The correct lane.

They should only sell fiat multipla. Then we'll find out who needs a car

It's got significantly worse in the last couple of weeks from my perspective, or I'm just having a run of dickheads

Restrict larger vehicles and SUVs would be a start. Separate driving test and medical requirements would mean many would choose a smaller car.

My experience of France is that driving standards are consistent. You know someone will pull out, and can prepare accordingly, for example.

There is so much aggression on roads. Angry men people who drive with a sense of entitlement, seemingly wanting to dominant and intimidate. It's just horrible to be tailgated when you're already driving at the speed limit. Or beeped at because you've taken a nanosecond to pull away at lights. I had one guy last week drive pass me beeping making a wanker sign when I had my 3 young kids in the car. It's just vile behaviour and leads to crashes and accidents.

Yes there are more accidents now. Part of the reason it feels worse than during the pandemic is that during the lockdowns roads were MUCH quieter in general. Significantly less traffic and fewer non-essential roadworks. So even if things went back to how they were before the pandemic in terms of driver quality, ability and volume, you would see a lot more carnage now than during it.

I think it is getting worse in general though. The main reason is there are too many people in the country driving more vehicles than the roads are able to comfortably support. British road policy has always been backwards, we have always designed solutions a few decades after they were needed. (We had dirt roads when we needed paved ones, we paved single carriageway roads when they needed to be dual carriageways, three lane motorways were constructed when we needed four lane ones.)

We need to limit the number of people who can drive - maybe give every citizen an annual entitlement of 5000 miles, and face a lifetime ban if they exceed it. Perhaps ban under-30s from driving altogether, so people develop a habit of using public transport into adulthood.

Either that, or properly upgrade the road infrastructure. This will take a hell of a lot of money and will take a long time, and we need to avoid the problem I mentioned above about building yesterday's fix tomorrow. Road policy needs to be ahead of the game, not reactive.

It’s definitely pandemic related- I’d say speed, impatience and entitlement are so so rife on roads now- everyone just has to be somewhere but yesterday!! Saturday evenings on our road are terrible, people passing out and speeding

I live a few miles from the motorway, I can tell easily if there's an accident. Fog and rain seems to have more accidents.

People forget that breaking distances when it rains is double. I know ABS brakes reduces that but sometimes these fail.

Yes, DH says this daily, people can’t drive these days.
And what I see on roads myself is shocking..
People diving themself into a busy roundabout in the last second when I’m giving way, I am always shocked. I wait for a suitable gap but always everyone around me dives in in front of incoming traffic coming from right…

Then get food couriers on mopeds, 95% of them with an L plate. Think needs to be a law to make people only do business work on mopeds and motorbikes ONCE they have passed their test.

These moped couriers have zero road sense, driving down one way streets down the wrong way, ignoring no left/right turn signs, crossing on pedestrian crossings.

YABU to use the phrase 'has gotten worse..'

It certainly has. I don't remember seeing cars without headlights when its totally dark before covid. Then the other day, driving on a major road with thick fog, only about 15% cars had headlights on.

My car has autolights but need to override this when its foggy. This involves moving a switch at end of the indicator stalk.

People are cutting corner when they turn right. They almost hit cars awaiting to turn right from this road. If an accident did occur here, it will gridlock the town.

I passed my test earlier this year and I find other people's driving so so scary. No indicating, aggressively tailgating, overtaking because I'm going the speedlimit or I've slowed to let someone out or I'm behind a cyclist.

Huge SUV type cars giving people a ballsy confidence and also not understanding their own size or road positioning.

Definitely think there's a lot more people driving without a licence due to the delay in test dates and lack of getting caught plus more people driving automatic cars. And uninsured too as the cost of new driver insurance (versus learner insurance) is so stratospheric.

Around where I live, it's actually so stressful to drive because the driving etiquette and knowledge is so poor and it seems people are in such a terrifying rush they would rather cause an accident. Letting people out at junctions seems to be none-existent - why?

This could well be the case - it is very difficult to get driving test dates and insurance is expensive.

But most of the problems are because people are incredibly impatient. I am not very patient but self-preservation makes me so when I am behind the wheel of a car!

Examples:

speeding up behind you when you are clearly stuck behind a slower moving vehicle or intending to turn right and waiting for a gap in the traffic

beeping people who don't move off the nanosecond lights turn to green

driving at pedestrians who have the temerity to be crossing a road you only just turned into

never parking on a road when a pavement will do

overtaking bikes and other slower moving vehicles on bends or when cars are coming towards them

The list goes on.

I think they were up to 2022. I can't copy the link but the stats came from the official .gov site & also quoted on brake (the road safety charity) website

I would always give way to a pedestrian on a zebra as 'should' to me means obligation.

I always stop for pedestrians waiting to cross. My point was that it’s weird to get “maddened” by someone not doing something they’re not obligated to do.