Why don't people slow down?

[Notyomama]

One thing I notice a lot when I'm driving is how little others seem to react to changes in the traffic/hazards. It makes me wonder, are they just not seeing them?

For example, this evening I was driving quite a distance behind another car (no other car between me and them). The car looked to be doing about the speed limit (30mph). A boy of about 14 shot across the road on a bike, having not looked at all where he was going. The car kept going at the same speed, no brakes applied, nothing. Luckily the boy managed to speed up and the car just missed him. The thing that horrified me was the car driver definitely had time to react - I was much further behind and I reacted, even though I didn't technically need to. The car driver just didn't react. It was pure luck that it didn't result in a terrible accident. The boy was in the wrong but the driver seemed not to be paying any attention.

The thing is, this isn't an isolated incident. I regularly see drivers not slowing down to take traffic conditions into account - they barrel onwards regardless. I can't tell if they think there's no need to slow down or if they just don't see what's going on. I notice DH doing it sometimes - I can see there's a clear hazard ahead, but rather than slow to make reacting easier he just keeps going and every so often he has to suddenly slow down which is much more dangerous.

To be clear I'm not talking about reacting to absolutely everything or constantly slowing causing a hazard to drivers behind me. I mean taking into account what's going and being safe by reducing the risk of a collision.

Is it that some drivers are just shit drivers who are tempting fate?

The problem is all (well, most) of these scenarios are describing near misses. Drivers don't think "Woah, that was a near miss, I'd better drive differently". Actually, even if they had accident after accident, I'm not convinced they would drive much differently. If someone was killed or seriously injured? Maybe, but there will always be a strong conviction that they are always in the right, regardless of evidence, convictions, insurance. It's an embedded attitude and it's going to take a hell of a lot to change it. IMO, of course!

Yesterday I was walking down a road - a residential area, but a fairly "main road" not a side road, and a chap was trying to reverse off a driveway. He waited for a gap and started reversing, and I think according to the highway code he'd have been in the wrong as an upcoming car would have still needed to slow down a bit to let him out. But fine, otherwise it is very difficult to get off a driveway on a main road you need a bit of give and take. Instead of doing that the upcoming car continued right up close at the same speed, then slammed on their brakes and honked their horn, swerved around him, stopped and started shouting and swearing through their passenger side window, genuinely sat there for ten seconds or so berating this guy, then screeched off still swearing through the window. Like wtf dude, chillout, if you'd slowed down a bit for five seconds the guy could have finished reversing and driven off, and no road rage would be required.

Also this morning I was cycling down a road and came up to a junction, someone swung around from the main road and almost took me out - they adjusted just in time to diagonally cut the corner rather than fully being in the wrong lane aka on top of me, a stationary cyclist waiting to turn left in broad daylight. Rubbish driving.

One of my "key moves" when motorway driving is to mirror, signal etc... then edge my car towards the lane I'm moving into and remain there for a few seconds. Enough for the cars in that lane to see me before I complete the move, even though I've left plenty of room anyway.

If someone's planning to indicate, speed up, or weren't paying attention, they get a few seconds of my position showing them my intention as well as my indicator.

Not indicating because only pedestrians are around drives me mad. I also need to know where you are going. I could have crossed! Or worse.

I was approaching some traffic lights the other day, they changed to amber then red.
It was one of those where if I'd have put my foot down I may have got through on amber but being normal I correctly stopped.
Car behind me swerved out onto the wrong side of the road and overtook me, so going through on red, on the wrong side of the road.
You are literally at the lights for 90 seconds before they change!
Where are the traffic police when you want them?

That's especially nuts!

Some people seem to be in a constant rush - no patience, can't wait for ten seconds. I know sometimes I'm under a bit of pressure but I can't imagine so many people are so desperate to be on time that they can't possibly wait. It makes me think the driving test should be more strict to root out people who just don't have the temperament to tolerate the normal issues you encounter on a road.

Driving standards are appalling. People blatantly ignoring variable speed limits and the lines on the roads are apparently just suggestions when it comes to manoeuvring round a corner.

I’ll put my hands up and say some of my standards completely slipped in the many years since passing my test and it took an accident last year (I rear ended someone who stalled at a junction) to make me reflect on how impatient I’d become.

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable as such. But I do think some cyclists need to take a bit of responsibility too. What’s he shooting out into the road without looking for?

That said as most drivers are on their phone these days I guess that’s probably what happened here 🙄

YANBU

My gripe is driving down narrow country roads where I live. The roads are just about wide enough for 2 cars to pass, but you do have to get very close to the ditches at the side. So often the car racing towards me doesn't slow down at all, passing at speed with barely a hairs width between. It scares me to death.

The boy on the bike was definitely in the wrong - he shot out. But drivers do need to be able to respond to changes in the road like that. Had the driver reacted and tried to slow and still hit him, that would have been terrible but understandable. As it was, the driver just didn't react at all and only missed him by sheer luck.

I have similar near me. They just drive on and expect everyone else to get out of the way. I genuinely wonder though - do they not realise at all how dangerous it is?

On the plus side - and I wonder if others have also noticed this - there seems to be a bit less tailgating going on. It used to be horrific around me - cars driving two inches behind you, so close you could see the other driver full in your mirror. Maybe some message has been put across about how incredibly dangerous that is?

I live in a 20 zone and have a crossing almost outside my front door as it used to be a school here. The amount of drivers who speed down the road without even thinking about stopping is unbelievable it really boils my piss.

I agree I think it's that lots of cars now warn you that you're too close to the car in front.

I didn't think of that. Generally I'm not in favour of all the beeping and warning, but if it prevents tailgating then that's definitely a good thing in my book.