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Original poster

What are your biggest driving pet peeves?

162 replies

DrivingCrazy · 09/03/2026 10:08

inspired by the fact I encountered one of mine this morning! What are your biggest pet peeves on the road?

not necessarily something that is breaking the Highway Code etc, but just something irritating! Or something you’d change about the current system!

here’s a few of mine:

Lorries overtaking on a duel carriageway that is uphill, resulting in a huge queue that feels like it lasts ages!

Cyclists on back roads who don’t duck into the passing places to let cars go past

People who drive at 10mph under the speed limit in a 50, but carry on at that speed in a 30!

People who wander aimlessly around a car park with no sense of danger and don’t look for cars moving around

Dogs on long leads right next to the pavement - gives me anxiety that it will run right out into the road

Slightly different tangent but another one is that over 70s should have to sit a very basic driving test each year (not like the one a new driver sits, a much more simple ‘are you safe on main roads’ type test) and it should not be based on a self assessment

Looking forward to hearing what other people hate on the road! Just a bit of fun on a miserable Monday morning :)

OP posts:
BenedictsButton · 13/03/2026 15:31

SirChenjins · 13/03/2026 11:33

I don't want to be delayed by 15 minutes by anyone else using the roads, but I accept it's one of those things. However, it's never just a couple of minutes on the roads I commute on - and really, if there's a well maintained cycle lane, please use it.

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As long as you still give them room because you do realise that a line of paint on the road offers no protection.

SirChenjins · 13/03/2026 15:38

BenedictsButton · 13/03/2026 15:31

As long as you still give them room because you do realise that a line of paint on the road offers no protection.

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Yes I do realise. I wish cyclists would do the same to me as a pedestrian on shared paths or footpaths, but that's a whole different thread.

suburburban · 13/03/2026 16:46

SirChenjins · 13/03/2026 14:56

Oooh another one - drivers who ignore the obstruction on their side which means they should give way to oncoming cars because those cars have priority, but instead speed up to reach the obstruction first and overtake it, leaving inches to spare between them and the oncoming car.

Yes and usually in big SUVs ime

ValidPistachio · 13/03/2026 18:17

igelkott2026 · 13/03/2026 14:42

Yes I really dislike it when cyclists don't use well maintained cycle paths. They say it's because they don't want to get held up by families on bikes and don't understand the irony of what they are saying!

The one alongside the A24 in Dorking comes to mind. It's a really fast road and yet the MAMILs won't use the usually empty cycle lane!

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Why is that ironic? Is it only motorists who are allowed to go as fast as they like (within the speed limit)?

Squirrelchops1 · 14/03/2026 10:22

People with estate sized vehicles or big SUVs who can't manoeuvre or park. I'm sorry about the generalisation but it is often women. I do have female friends who drive absolute monster vehicles and have no issue but I think they're a rarity.

Piglet89 · 15/03/2026 18:02

SirChenjins · 13/03/2026 14:56

Oooh another one - drivers who ignore the obstruction on their side which means they should give way to oncoming cars because those cars have priority, but instead speed up to reach the obstruction first and overtake it, leaving inches to spare between them and the oncoming car.

Yes, again: this happens in my area of east London constantly. It’s absolutely ghastly, selfish behaviour.

Youmeanyouvelostyourkey · 15/03/2026 19:56

Drivers who do the same speed limit the whole time. I drive mainly country roads and people drive too slow eg 40 mph for miles (60mph) get to a village where it’s 30 and they keep driving at 40. I get it that if not used to country roads, you will be more cautious, but then pull over and let the resulting queue to pass.

igelkott2026 · 16/03/2026 18:04

MrsAvocet · 13/03/2026 15:15

I agree to a certain extent. I am a cyclist and I get annoyed by people who don't use sensible routes or let traffic pass when it is safe to do so and not massively inconvenient. I was driving behind a guy for miles on the A road between my house and the nearest town yesterday in fact. In my opinion it is quite a dangerous road to cycle on and I always take the back roads which add maybe 5-10 mins to the journey but are far safer and much more pleasant. So I was bemused by this guy's choice of route (and his jersey told me that he was local so I doubt it was a mistake). But the thing that really annoyed me is that there is a massive lay by part way along. If he had pulled in there, all the cars behind him could have passed. He probably wouldn't even needed to have stopped, just free wheeled through the lay by and joined the road again behind us. No, there was no legal obligation on him to do that but it would have been courteous and I would have done it.
However, if you are not a cyclist yourself it is not always obvious why people aren't riding on routes that look good to you. What looks well maintained as you go by in the car may turn out to be covered in glass or thorns from hedge cutting when you get close up. Or like our local cycle path, very uneven due to tree roots. And remember that a small pothole that you might barely notice in the car can have you on the floor if you hit it on a bike. Plus on shared paths the speed differential between a decent cyclist and say a mother pushing a pram or someone walking their dog may be significantly greater than between the same cyclist and a car obeying the speed limit on some roads. And don't get me started on the dangers of retractable dog leads.
A lot of cycle paths are also unlit and quite isolated which is something that particularly lone women need to consider.
Yes, there are some absolute idiots on 2 wheels just as there are on 4, but there are also perfectly good reasons why a cyclist may choose to ride on the road. Personally, if there is a genuinely good traffic free route then that's always my first choice, but they are not common where I live. Otherwise I prefer to ride on quiet roads but sometimes a main road is the place I think is safest.

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Totally with you on retractable dog leads. They pop up on the list of inventions by women every so often - that doesn't make them a good thing I'm afraid.

And it's also a good point about cycle paths being unlit - although the ones I am thinking of aren't. However, sometimes they have bushes either side - or they use disused rail tracks which are great - but not great if you meet a man with malign intent coming the other way as there's nowhere to go. But if they are alongside a road, then you do have somewhere to go.

(probably should start a new thread about male-dominated urban design)

igelkott2026 · 16/03/2026 18:08

Squirrelchops1 · 14/03/2026 10:22

People with estate sized vehicles or big SUVs who can't manoeuvre or park. I'm sorry about the generalisation but it is often women. I do have female friends who drive absolute monster vehicles and have no issue but I think they're a rarity.

Probably becoming less of an issue with parking assistance etc but otherwise yes - drive a car which is sized according to your ability to drive and park it safely! I actually think that you should have to do an extra test to drive an SUV.

onlyoneoftheregimentinstep · 16/03/2026 18:14

cramptramp · 09/03/2026 10:26

Mine is cyclists who don’t cycle close to the kerb. Often very hard to overtake them so results in a massive queue of traffic, all waiting for them to move or turn off. I hate them.

I’m not a cyclist, but I do think there’s a problem with cycling close to the curb - so many pot holes, drain covers etc which can be lethal to bikes.

tobysmouse · 16/03/2026 18:21

People who don't indicate on mini-roundabouts. We have one at the end of my road which has a set of traffic lights afterwards that I have missed many a time as people coming onto the mini roundabout to my right are incapable of signalling that they are in fact turning left. Absolutely infuriating.

igelkott2026 · 23/03/2026 17:46

Had another one today. Someone was crossing a pedestrian crossing very slowly as she had two sticks so the lights went back to green for the cars.

Cue people beeping, even though they must have been able to see her crossing.

Impatient arses.

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