To think driving standards are abysmal?

[Pihrd]

On the motorway, two lorries in front of me so I begin to overtake. I’m not keen on overtaking in my little car, but have to when stuck behind lorries. Just as I was about to overtake, one lorry suddenly pulls out in front of me, causing me to break hard then wait for ages as it edges pass the other lorry at about 1mph faster. This happens numerous times a month. WHY do lorries wait till you’re just about to overtake then suddenly pull out?

And why do driver tailgate you on the motorway? If I have to break for any reason, we’re both fucked. What is wrong with people?

Exactly! If I’d been a few yards further along it would’ve crashed into me.

Right, I'm getting a better understanding now.

I would say it’s from people who didn’t learn to drive in the UK/get their licenses here. Very different standards of what is appropriate and safe.

I agree with you! I wish people had to resit their driving licence every 10 years, although I doubt many would pass. The worst for me though is slow dithery drivers, they are the most dangerous, not to mention all the SUV drivers who have no idea how to drive a vehicle of that size. The rule should be if you can't park it, you can't drive it

Haha. This country doesn't even allow learners to learn to drive on the motorway until after they get their licence. Plus many many people kn the UK rely exclusively on driving instructors which means have only had about 20 hours of practice or something by the time they get their license. Dont even get me started on the cluelenssness about roundabouts!

Give me a driver who learnt in another country any day.

I thought the law changed a few years ago now so learners can drive on motorways? I haven’t checked to see if they HAVE to, but I think they can. I think it has to be with a proper driving instructor but they can go on motorways. Maybe it should become law (if it isn’t already) that they have to?

I absolutely agree.

As to the OP, we were on our way back from hospital post-operation, so DH was driving carefully, and a lorry just pulled out from a lay-by in front of us - no signal, no warning, no nothing! Fortunately we were not going fast, but it was terrifying.

Most lorries I see on the motorway don’t have English license plates. When I see one of these, I give with a VERY wide berth.

I’d guess you were sitting in his blind spot so he didn’t know you were there at all and if you managed to brake so he could come out in front of you then you must have been at his rear end rather than level with him. Not a chance you can be level with a lorry and not get hit if they pull out.

@Pihrd not good if the lorry pulled out last minute but my only advice would be to make sure you are overtaking and getting back into the lefthand lane as quick as you can (obviously observing speed limit). Maybe the lorry thought you were going to take an age to overtake. Some people really do take too long to overtake, or they pull out into overtaking lane long before they actually need to and then are just sat there very very slowly getting closer to the vehicles in front.

The lorry was probably keeping an eye on the overtaking lane and knew it was clear but you pulled out from behind him while he was doing his checks. Your little car would have been completely invisible right behind a lorry.
I’m amazed at how many people don’t read the road in front of them though and drive right up behind large slower moving vehicles and then suddenly realise they need to overtake. Coming from a semi rural area we have quite a few tractors and trailers on our 70 mph roads and it always amazes me how some people don’t seem to see the ruddy great big things, even with the flashing lights they have on the top of them and drive right up behind them. They then try to pull out in to the stream of traffic that spotted the tractor half a mile away and moved in to the overtaking lane and are going a good 20 mph+ faster than them.

Yeah, there's certain stretches of the M1, particularly from junction 30 onwards that are absolutely dire and like you say, it's unfortunately often young inexperienced drivers, particularly female. We also drive to France regularly, and I've driven all over Europe, including all through Italy, and I always dread coming home and heading up the M1!

All standards in everything are abysmal.

You'd probably be quite shocked at the amount of drivers you come across daily that shouldn’t be on the road at all.

On my (quite small) street there are three cars (three separate households) who have and drive cars and all are a mixture of no insurance and/or no driving license. All reported constantly, police seized one of the no license cars a few months ago but he got it back, still hasn’t passed his test, still drives it.

I’m a new driver (few months) and so I drive textbook as I’m inexperienced and don’t know any different. I find other drivers, especially on motorways and busier A roads really intimidating. Driving up my backside, cutting me up, suddenly deciding to undertake me when I’m signalling to move back to the left. I end up arriving at my destination with a sweaty back from the stress 😂

It takes 67 hours on average.

‘I was about to draw level with the lorry’.

What has given you the impression that I don’t get back into the left hand lane?

You only move out of the inside lane when you’re overtaking. Not whenever you spot a larger vehicle in your lane.

That is a bit better (but I have heard LOTS of people in RL and on MN saying they can only afford 20 or whatever). But by the time I got my license, having had my learners license for a year, I must have done a couple of 100 hours of driving. I had 8 weeks of 90 minutes wth my dad learning th ebasics, then I was the one driving home from school, to sports activities, on holiday, to do the shopping, to friend's houses etc. I grew up in Cape Town and I remember being bundled into the car on our way to a holiday outside of cape town and my parents giving me strict instructions on how to manage the steep incline to get over the mountain on our way out of Cape Town (I did NOT do a great job the first time... they made me drive back down and do it again, much to my younger brother's irritation as he was sat in the back and just wanted to GO).

Do you read the road infront of you and think 'oh, two lorries there coming up soon, I'll start planning to overtake now'? Or do you wait until your quite close to lorries before you overtake?

If these lorries are managing to get so far up your bum on the motorway, are you going too slow?

It's so dangerous for motorway users when either of the above happen. Lorries have massive blind spots and I'm constantly checking my mirrors when I'm on the motorway so I know exactly where I could go, should there be a need to quickly change plan.

The motorways around Leeds and between Leeds<>Manchester are a nightmare for vehicles driven by incompetent morons, lorries AND cars. It's like the Whacky Races. I try to avoid it wherever possible. Heaven knows where they got their licences from (IF they have valid UK licences that is - I suspect many don't). So many don't have a clue. Undertaking, weaving between lanes, Lorries in lane 3 (when there isn't a lane 4!), driving far too close, speeding, etc. It's no surprise there are almost daily accidents.

Some of the lorry drivers are insane - literally just a few feet between them with absolutely no hope of having time to brake if the one in front stops or changes lane suddenly. Clearly living on cruise control and expecting/hoping their anti-crash auto braking to save their lives.

Why can’t people read?

How could the lorry have been up my bum if they were both in front of me?

Learners in the U.K. can now go on the motorway (only with a qualified driving instructor though).

My DP does some personal injury law cases with RTAs, and the U.K. car licencing system is actually by far one of the tougher ones across the globe, so you’re a lot better off with a driver with a U.K. licence than not! In many countries you can take a test which lasts less than 15 mins with minimal preparation beforehand (eg India, Mexico, Pakistan, South Korea etc.) The UK test also is one of the hardest to pass.

I disagree.
Owing to lots of family illness I’ve been up and down 250 miles of the M5 and M6 over the last three years on a regular basis, sometimes every fortnight, and the all-lane running, variable speed limits and cameras in gantries have revolutionised the way people drive on these two motorways.
Hardly anyone hammering at 90 in the outside lane, nearly everyone doing the speed limits including 70/75 in the unregulated sections and generally much more polite.

Good driving is all about anticipating what others are going to do and acting accordingly yourself. It sounds like you got too far up behind a lorry then struggled to pull out in time. I’ve seen Fiat 500s bowling along merrily at 70mph so no matter how small your car is, you need to anticipate better, sorry.