To realise very few people care about road rules or the Highway Code any more

[JacquesHarlow]

AIBU here - is anyone on Mumsnet like me, and thinks about the Highway Code or bothers to follow its guidance? Please join me if so!

For my job I have to drive a LOT. I drive pretty much all over the UK.

Yes, the standard of driving is far better than many countries around the world. But something I have noticed increasingly (and especially since the pandemic) is this:

1. Very few people indicate right on a roundabout. You get this bizarre situation where someone approaches a roundabout in a right hand lane, doesn't indicate, careers around the roundabout for 270 degrees, then once at their junction, they indicate off left to show they're taking the exit!!
2. Middle lane hogging is now third lane hogging On any four lane motorway in the UK, I find the vast majority of drivers have moved to the third lane and sit there at 60 or 65mph. The first and second lane have been re-designated as a lorry lane, and as a lorry overtaking lane. Again, this is not the Highway Code.
3. Phone driving is an absolute epidemic. On the school run people drive off holding their phones and checking messages... next to a SCHOOL where children are still walking and crossing the road.
4. Merge in turn is completely ignored - instead you see bizarre behaviour like road captains who sit straddling two lanes, a mile before the merge, to stop "queue jumpers". This goes completely against the road rules and the Code but once again, British drivers know best and no one can tell them otherwise
5. Give way if parked cars are on your left again seems to be ignored. I've seen plenty of fellow women do this one, where they barrel through hoping the other person will concede, and then when asked to reverse their car, go into a complete blind panic and start swearing and shouting for the other person to reverse instead.
6. Give way to traffic already on the motorway when joining Again, forget it. When I'm in lane 1, and I see a slip road ahead, I try and move over. I can't straightway because middle lane hoggers, however I wait for a gap and then move in time. Only to find the car that is joining isn't happy I've made a space...because they want to slalom across two lanes and barrel their way into lane 2 or 3 in one quick glide! WTF.

Yeah I've shared too many examples, but I could share dozens more.

It's like the Highway Code is irrelevant to most drivers. They decide "what is fair". So if they feel they don't want to wait and there's an obstruction on their left? Barrel on through!

The only way around this is either

• increased traffic policing of road offences, which we all know won't happen because we have fewer police
• mandatory driving retraining, which everyone would hate

Is this just me? Does anyone else care about this or notice this, or am I a lone female voice in this space and actually it's fine to just make up the rules as we go along?

Thanks in advance

Rest my case

It’s seemed that Covid caused everyone to forget what indicators were for and oh dear lord the third lane hoggers have got so bad, there is talk of it being clamped down on as it is dangerous. We can only hope!

It's literally illegal to lane hog. What other laws do you break because you think you're exempt?

Can't say I've noticed it getting worse. I passed my test in the 70s.

Yep this one. And pedestrians need to know what you are doing too, thought he magic indicator doesn't mean they can disappear if they are already in the middle of a road you want to cross.

On the indicating at roundabouts point, I find that a lot of people do indicate, but they indicate right - but then keep indicating right as they go round, rather than switching to left as they approach their exit. I think I'd actually prefer the no indicating and then indicating left!

The ones that annoy me are people who overtake cyclists when a car is coming towards them. And pavement parking. When I am Queen people who park on pavements will have their SUVs crushed and will be made to drive Smart cars instead. On The Roads.

The beeping thing drives me mad.

If you time to beep you have time to brake and you should only beep if someone is going to actually drive into you.

The other day I sw a van driver beep a car that went across the roundabout in front of him. He wouldn't have even needed to take his foot off the gas. But he was able to beep for no reason of course.

Also, in standing traffic,if an emergency vehicle needs you to move to create an extra lane for them to get through... don't move back into your old position afterwards because rheres likely to be more following. The sooner the emergency vehicles get through, the sooner the accident will be cleared.

I’m not convinced it’s a new thing. Remember we had TV adverts telling us to wear a seatbelt?

But it takes literally next to no physical energy to change lanes. Imagine being so pleased with yourself for breaking the law and inconveniencing everyone else because you’re simply too lazy to look, indicate and tilt your steering wheel a little bit.

I was actually going to use this as an example that so many people don’t seem to know and then get angry and try and force their way through, even though they were nowhere near the row of cars when you started to go through!!

Yes totally agree

those who dash into open lane at last minute are selfish and too important to wait their turn.

see this on M25 slip road where they go in RH lane which goes the other direction say then purposefully barge into lane going South at last minute because they couldn’t possibly wait their turn

I think there’s a dickhead in lane 2

I've found that on motorways more and more people speed up when you're overtaking them. People doing 65 in the left lane speed up to 70 when you're going past. Forcing you to either speed to finish your manoeuvre, or drop back behind them.

I do question whether some of the drivers on the road have passed a driving test

Or people who are going straight over a roundabout who dont actually go around the roundabout and just barrel straight over. Nearly had an accident yesterday because some idiot behind me assumed i was turning left as I kept in the left hand lane to go straight over and didnt straddle the middle lane.

Need to add people using blue badge spaces without a blue badge. These people need to lose their licence how selfish can you be?

I feel like you would enjoy watching BigJobber's videos on social media. He describes these people (and there are a few in the comments) as human bungalows (nothing going on upstairs)

Also illegal to go over 70 but nobody seems to worry about that one.

For me a middle lane sitter is someone who stays there for miles even when the inside lane is free. Not someone who moves over to let someone join the motorway, not someone who moves over because they don't want to leave the motorway if the inside lane becomes a slip road and not someone who stays put because there's a line of traffic they want to overtake.

Actual middle lane sitters are comparatively rare. Mainly because there's inevitably someone more slow-moving to overtake!

Please can we stop flashing lights at people to say thank you? Blinding me is not a thankful action, it means I have less visibility of the road ahead and its surroundings for a few seconds, and accidents can happen in that time.

I just assume everyone is glad I let them pass, or whatever i did. Life's easier that way.

That's not the motivation in my case. I stay in my lane (usually the left) until about 100 metres away from the beginning of the lane closure, then merge into the other lane when safe to do so, because it's better use of the road.

The lane closure warning signs are usually every 200m and start at 800m before the closure point, or even more than that. To switch lanes 800m away from the closure is ridiculously too early. It causes the other lane to snarl up and there's then a massive tailback of near stationary traffic in one lane and none in the other. That's not an efficient use of road space. It's far better for the traffic to use both lanes and then merge just before the closure point.

To switch lanes 800m away from the closure is ridiculously too early. It causes the other lane to snarl up and there's then a massive tailback of near stationary traffic in one lane and none in the other. That's not an efficient use of road space. It's far better for the traffic to use both lanes and then merge just before the closure point.

This is wonderfully put @Icon15 thank you. Completely agree.

It's a needless introduction of "etiquette" in a road system that already has rules in place to help traffic flow correctly.

It's like when people give way to the left at roundabouts or stop to let pedestrians cross at crossing points controlled by lights and the pedestrian lights are still on red and the vehicle lights green. Disrupts the flow and is also dangerous because it's the opposite behaviour of what people can reasonably expect you to do i.e. stopping suddenly when it's your right of way.

I was taught “mirror, signal, mirror, manoeuvre“ so you’ve got a really good awareness of what’s going on around you before you change lanes, turn, etc.

You’d be amazed how many drivers get annoyed that I indicate and pull up to a standstill so I can reverse on to my drive. It’s a busy road (30 limit) and I’m doing what the Highway Code recommends. I certainly don’t want to reverse off my drive into traffic!

The one I’m puzzled about is:
cars going uphill tend to have priority,
cars with parked cars on their side don’t have priority.

So, when you are going uphill but there are cars parked on your side, do you have priority or not?!

Agree with all points but something I’ve realised for point 1:

UK is one of 4 countries in Europe to drive on the left. The rest drive on the right which means that their roundabout rules are different. They don’t indicate to signal intent, but rely more on lane discipline instead and signal on exit. Not an excuse not to familiarise yourself with the Highway Code of the country you’re in, but it’s not so much laziness, just not understanding the rule.

Come to North Yorkshire.
Speed limits appear to be optional here, especially when they are for 50mph on a dual carriageway (for safetyreasons.)

I've lost count of the number of irate drivers steaming up behind me then zipping into the overtaking lane whilst disappearing into the distance way over the speed limit.
Just why?