Why are there so many bad drivers on the roads?

[Mydinosaurnest]

Every day I seem to encounter awful drivers doing dangerous things and it’s beginning to make me nervous and anxious about driving, particularly when my children are in the car.
Where I live people are constantly speeding, they pull out at junctions without checking, rarely any indicating going on, road rage incidents, tailgating, serious accidents at least once a week and so on.
I like to consider myself a good driver. I obey the rules of the roads, I stick to the speed limit, I let people go in front of me, I wait my turn, I do everything I consider safe driving. I have never had an accident, near miss or any reason to contact my insurer. Yet there are idiots like previously described all over the roads putting us in danger with no care in the world. How do they pass their tests?
Just today I had 2 cab drivers who were parked up suddenly pull out onto the road in front of me. Neither indicated or reacted.
At the weekend my husband was on a motorway driving at 70mph when the car next to him pulled in front very closely without indicating and then slowed down to 50mph so he had to brake fast.
I just witnessed a young girl being intimated by a van driver who was tailgating because she was at the speed limit. Who then preceded to speed off through a bus Lane and should hopefully receive a fine.
I hate driving because I know I will be met with at least one asshole. It scares me knowing one wrong move and we could be involved in a serious accident.
Has anyone else found the roads are loitered with bad drivers lately?

Yes but I don’t agree that this is anything new. It’s always been like this as far as I can tell. It’s why you have to be so alert when driving, you need to always keep an eye on what other people are doing unfortunately.

Not if they were observing the correct stopping distances they wouldn't.

Everyone is a shit driver apart from themselves.

Yes

I think though with an auto it's slightly different

I take on board the handbrake point though

That's to avoid having to brake sharply if the lights change.
Alternatively they could just drive in a way that's appropriate for the road, visibility and conditions.

If someone genuinely thinks braking and dawdling up to a green light is the way to avoid braking sharply in case the lights change, I'd question their reactions and whether they're safe on the road.

If someone hasn't got enough reactions to see a green light turn to an amber light and slow down appropriately for the impending red then I'm not sure they should be driving several tons of metal around tbh.

I was taught 7 seconds in a manual. However, I drive an auto now, so just stick it in park. I have had half a dozen or so automatic cars and never even used the handbrake when I’ve parked up.

That depends on the speed limit. You're right on, say, 30 mph roads if you're doing 30 or under, but for roads with higher speed limits, if you're driving at, say, 40 or 50mph, there's no way you'll be able to stop within the timescale of the amber phase as the thinking and braking distances/times are too high!

Hence why people ease off the accelerator to lose a few mph and for the possibility of braking being more effective to actually stop before the lights turn red, also to reduce the "thinking" time as they're already anticipating the lights changing, so the "thinking" element of stopping distances is also reduced.

We moved 2 years ago from a small seaside town in Wales to a larger town in the NW of England. My husband and I haven’t had any accidents/ insurance claims etc over many years of driving.
I am very worried about continuing to drive here. At least 2-3 times a week we see oncoming traffic overtaking on A roads and either they only just get back in time or we have had to take evasive action to avoid being in a head on crash as they speed towards us on our side of the road. Tailgating/ undertaking / not stopping for red lights / entering roundabouts dangerously is rife. My sons in their early thirties are equally appalled ,especially since they now both have small babies/ toddlers. I see young men driving very powerful , expensive cars with seemingly no care or attention paid to the rules of the road ,let alone normal politeness and consideration for others. We have an alternative ‘country roads ‘route to the eldest ds’s house. I genuinely feel this is the only safe way to transport our precious grandchildren. Why should I feel I am risking their innocent lives by driving on an A road? Yes ,I know every road has the potential to be dangerous but we have yet to experience these dangerous drivers on our slow route!

@Viola59 we have exactly the same issues where we live. Cars regularly doing double the speed limit, seemingly using the roads as a race track. In the last month alone two walls on a road we walk the dog on have been demolished due to drivers not being able to control their cars.

Undertaking, tailgating, sailing through red lights, straight out of give ways and onto roundabouts is commonplace, and if a car is in the wrong lane it will just cut you up to get into the right one. Several drivers seem to consider indicating as optional, why give other road users a clue as to what you are going to do when you can scare them senseless by just randomly veering in an unexpected direction.

My OH was on the motorway when the car in front of him slammed on for no reason whatsoever, apart from seemingly trying to cause an accident.

I nearly was run over in the city centre by a van that had gone down a contra flow bus lane and then turned the wrong way into a one way street I was crossing. Then you have the blinding headlights on a night.

Driving is far worse now than ever before. The driving through red lights amazes me. I used to be able to cross the road once the light turns red but now you can't guarantee a car will actually stop.

I agree the standard of driving has deteriorated especially in the last ten years, particularly in London.

It's probably a reflection that over 40% of Londoners are from outside of the UK, where standards are generally lower.

DH and I are in the process of getting dash cams fitted to our cars - front and back - since I was rear-ended in an accident earlier this month. It's like wacky races out there! Every single time I drive on a motorway now, which is at least once a week, I see at least one example of appalling driving - tailgating, weaving in and out of lanes, undertaking, sudden braking, threatening behaviour, people drifting out of their lane because they aren't concentrating. I knew it was just a matter of time before I was involved in an accident and fortunately I was right

I notice there are public information adverts on the telly now, expaining to people why they should use proper lane etiquette on motorways. We didn't need those 15 years ago.