To think the roads are becoming more unsafe

[Solonelywastheballard]

I've been driving for 16 years and never had an accident. I've lived in two major cities and driven all over the country.

I would consider myself an experienced and very good driver. I've never had an issue on the roads. Until this last month.

Two weeks ago a man became very very aggressive with me. I was really shaken for a while, he looked like a proper thug. This was because I overtook a parked car when he was coming in the opposite direction. I had plenty of time to get round, it's a 20 mph road with speed bumps. He deliberately sped right up, zoomed up to me as I was passing the parked car didn't stop until he was almost touching my bumper, I reversed out the way, he the drove beside me and started spouting abuse at me, calling me a stupid foreign bitch. I thought he was going to get out the car and rip my head of he was so angry. (I'm English and white btw)

Then today I stopped at a roundabout to give way to a car on the right and a van driver drove up the back of me. Another tattooed thug. Shouting about how I shouldn't have stopped I should just have carried on driving to keep the flow of traffic moving. I've noticed people have less and less regard for giving way at roundabouts, he's obviously one of them. I said he needed to take a driving course because you have to giveway to the right.

My dh has also had two road rage incidents in the last couple of weeks while I've been in the car - one was a thug on a bike.

I feel like the roads aren't safe and the world is being taken over by bully boy men. Right now I don't want to get behind the wheel again but my DS is disabled and I need to drive for him.

Is anyone else feeling like the roads are becoming lawless or is it just me.

@wouldyouadamandeveit I've had similar on Christmas Day: huge delay in a notorious road tunnel, you have my sympathy. Just in case, when I mentioned "spot the crash" bingo, I didn't mean it was a good thing that they happen, just that they always do on 25th December.

You'd think they'd want to keep their expensive cars nice, but time after time it's me who backs down to avoid an accident

Alot of people don't own their big expensive cars though, maybe that makes a difference.

I've found that driving my 'mum' car means I'm open season for aggressive male drivers in certain brands of car!

I think this is an issue for me too, although I have a grandma car. Doesn't matter how fast I go, I'm too slow so some. I had to remove my baby on board sign because it was making people so aggressive towards me.

There is definitely more twats who thing they can do what they want.

At a massive awful junction in the middle of our town yesterday, i had to slam on right in the middle because some twat in a flatback van decided to try and get in front of me - he was coming from opposite direction going onto the same road as me and its always my sides right of way. Beeped at him he sped off through a red light.

Also had one at a roundabout where there was a car waiting to my right but he couldn't go as there was a car passing him from his right (but not me) so i went and he sped accross the middle of the roundabout and almost crashed into the side of me and started shouting at me like it was my fault. He then sped off and again, went through a red light.

Where are these people going thats so important?

This wasn't in the Brighton/East Sussex area, was it?

No, not far though. The man was so scary, he had tattoos on his neck and looked like a gangster. I was really shaken up after I've never experienced that sort of rage from someone so intimidating.

Where are these people going thats so important?

I always think that. I've often notice them pull up into a drive through. Just had to get them nuggets.

Maybe the next road safety campaign should include signs that say "you cant eat nuggets if youre dead"

Interesting.

Ds and I have noted a huge change in road users not giving way and always wanting to be moving fast and so have done a survey this week!

We have noticed the worst culprits for not giving way when cars have to go past parked cars are woman!
They are also the worst for not saying thank you when someone stops for them.

Also the number of people undertaking has increased imo.

We had to endure M3 today. Already hellraising without the added rain.

I do think people are more in a rush nowadays. I find myself getting annoyed in a 30 stuck behind drivers who don't go above 25, or 32/34 in a 40. I actually wonder if these are the drivers who cause the accidents. Cars travelling up behind them at limit all having to slow down.

Killing someone while drunk or on drugs - 20 years in prison, and no driving allowed ever again. At the moment, some such drivers are out and back behind the wheel after hardly any time.

Drugs are a tricky area. Over very recent years many prescription drugs have been added to the "banned list" if they affect your ability to drive. Yet on whose say so? I can test positive for a strong opiate in blood/urine yet because I've been taking it for so long I have a massive tolerance to any impairment effects.

Everything else, absolutely, but you could make any enforcement result in a five-figure fine and it would make no difference. Actually it might put more police on the roads so....

you cant eat nuggets if youre dead

I find myself getting annoyed in a 30 stuck behind drivers who don't go above 25, or 32/34 in a 40. I actually wonder if these are the drivers who cause the accidents.

Slowing the flow of traffic down doesn't cause more accidents. People driving too fast for the road and/or weather conditions, not paying attention and driving too close to other cars causes accidents.

I hate the way people drive when it rains . Still speeding up each others arses. And not surprisingly there are always loads more crashes.

Killing someone while drunk or on drugs - 20 years in prison, and no driving allowed ever again. At the moment, some such drivers are out and back behind the wheel after hardly any time

Totally agree with this. In 2016 two girls in my son's athletics club were killed by a drunk driver. He got 6 years. 3 years per life. 1.5 per life once he gets out of prison.

The number of people killed in road accidents is around 1750/year. Go back 30 years and it was 6000.

Emergency medicine has improved immeasurably in that time though. Lots of people suffer injuries that would have killed them 30 years ago.

Serious injuries have also massively reduced.

YANBU OP. In that last week alone, I've had a group of men in a car driving up so closely behind me that I could see the strange gestures they were making towards me in my rear view mirror. Yesterday I was doing 60mph in a 60 zone on a busy trunk road and immediately had a guy tailgating me really closely. He was so close that I could see and his passenger's features clearly. It was so bad I pulled over into a laybye to let him past, only to see him tailgating the car in front just as badly, in a line of at least 20 cars as far as the eye could see, all doing 60.

The road at the end of my drive is a twisty country road but the speed limit is of course 60mph. Regularly, there are single car accidents where drivers fly off the road and end up in a hedge or a wall at the roadside. Its not unusual to see a car doing what looks like 80mph or more along it - there is a dip in one area and a lot of cars do actually momentarily leave the ground if you go over it at more than 60. In fact, 60 is too fast due to the fact its a country road with agricultural vehicles, horse riders and cyclists.

I think its getting worse because all the government policies in this country for years have been promoting car use. Public transport is dire when compared to European nations, footpaths and cycle paths are increasingly absent or not maintained unless you are lucky to live in certain areas. All this means that people get frustrated when they can't go as fast as humanely possible in a car at all times and additionally have no appreciation for any other road users, because all they've ever done is drive a car.

Of course there were more deaths and serious injury 30 years ago. Rear seat belts were not even compulsory until the 90s. And no one had airbags in those days. It doesn’t mean drivers have got safer, but the vehicles probably have a little.

Serious injuries have also massively reduced.

Cars are also much safer these days, and people generally wear their seatbelts and put children in suitable car seats. I remember riding in the boot of people's cars even as late as the nineties. People didn't rear face their children, let alone use booster seats or anything.

The road aren't necessarily safer than they used to be, it's just that cars are safer so people are more likely to survive accidents that would have killed them 10-15 years ago.

We need to get rid of cars really. They do no good in the grand scheme of things. We need a cycle lane network that covers the entire country instead. Driving is awful for all of us but so many don’t have an alternative. Consequences:
Worsening climate change catastrophe that is soon to unfold.
Death and injury through accidents.
Death and morbidity through sedentary lifestyles leading to much greater risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus etc.
Death and morbidity due to air pollution and exacerbation of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Plus so many more.
We need to step away from a society dependent on cars and the government needs to invest in cycle lanes so people of all abilities can cycle safely as a mode of transport.
Public transport needs to be renationalised, made much more affordable and extended dramatically.

Cross post adaline

ToTry We need to get rid of cars really. They do no good in the grand scheme of things.

That would be great but many people, including my inlaws, have lost the ability to move without a car. The only time they actually go outdoors is the few steps from house to car, and back. SIL and BIL are the same. As is one of my neighbours. None of them are particularly elderly or infirm. It would take decades and generations to resolve even if we started now. I think its easier to move to a more enlightened country tbh!

I see so much bad driving every day, its actually terrifying. Just some examples:

People who need to drive onto the opposite side of the road to do a left hand turn. Not even a difficult one, a standard turn with a small car. Even a tight turn can be done without going wide first. Also, if cars are coming towards you, maybe don't drive onto their side of the road. I'm seeing a lot of this now, people even swerving left to go right. I've yet to have to do that in 11 years of driving, why is it suddenly a thing?

People drifting all over the road because they are too busy talking to the passenger to pay attention. Got over taken by a nutter the other day who stayed on the wrong side of the road the majority of the time.

People who change lanes without looking on roundabouts. Or just anywhere on the road.

People who swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid a puddle. How about you just slow down rather than hit someone?

People who don't slow down to go past horses. You know they weigh half a ton right? If they land on your car, they will write off your car. You can also guarantee to either kill the rider or severely piss them off by killing their beloved horse, so they may sue you. But sure, that 10-30 second wait was too much.

Im sure there's more but it's all I can remember right now.

The road aren't necessarily safer than they used to be, it's just that cars are safer so people are more likely to survive accidents that would have killed them 10-15 years ago.

The roads are safer. Far few people being injured and killed, hence they are safer. More cars on the road means more congestion which means less speed. More minor accidents but far fewer major accidents.

Add in safety features when you do have a major accident, means travelling on the roads has never been safer.

The roads are safer. Far few people being injured and killed, hence they are safer.

It doesn't mean the roads themselves are safer, it means cars are safer, so people are more protected when they do get into accidents. Roads themselves are not safe places to be at all - bigger, more solidly built cars just make us feel less vulnerable.

Just because less people die these days, doesn't mean roads are any safer. It means people are using more safety measures in their car so that if they do crash, they're less likely to get injured or killed. The number of casualties might have decreased, but I'm not sure the number of accidents has.

A few months ago, a young lad was driving at 60mph and took a corner too quickly - he flipped his car off the road, it rolled several times and came to stop on it's roof. The car was a right-off (as you'd expect at that speed) but the lad walked away with bumps and bruises. He didn't even need a hospital stay. If that had happened 15 years ago in an older, less-safe car, I would imagine he'd have been killed. The road itself isn't any safer now, but cars are built to withstand much higher speeds and impacts than they used to be.

I see you've answered it OP - but I was going to ask if you drive a "typical" mum type car. People behave differently toward you in different cars - to a barmy extent and, as usual, it's the more typical "female" cars that get the shittiest treatment.

And less non-car users are using the roads. I never see anyone out walking along our road and the footpath has been allowed to deteriorate that it is no longer usable anyway.

I don't drive a "typical mum car", in fact I drive a large powerful "luxury" type car, and I get tailgated by young guys in small cars all the time.

YANBU. Been driving for nearly 30 years and noticed the change.

I was at a crossing with DC the other day and lights changed to red on a major fast road in town and the young female driver in a massive car braked last minute. Many seem to rely on great brakes rather than driving responsibly

I'm sick of drivers up my arse when I'm doing the speed limit by schools. Shocked by the speed and stupidity at how some drive in school zones.

I was once 'forced' through a red light by an aggressive prick (it was that or he went into the back of me as he was speeding). I got points which lasted years and impacted on my insurance.

Everybody needs to slow down. Not saying Miss Daisy, but just sticking to speed limits.