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

I’m sorry are you saying that those people doing it right should not do it just because those who don’t know the rule do it wrong?

bonkers

Ffs
”at the last minute” is the literal point at which they are supposed to merge in turn. At the merge point!

To be fair to @Ace56 if she is overtaking artics in lane 1. she isn't doing anything wrong, its her understanding of why that is incorrect. But if lane 1 is clear, then, well, may god have mercy on your soul.

The standard of driving has been in decline for years! Even following driving instructors, their teaching is absolutely appalling now! No indicators, for turning, changing position or pulling over! Mine wouldn't even let me behind the wheel until I knew how everything worked and where everything went and that was in 1990.
I am fed up to the back teeth of people thinking they have the right to come straight out at a give way. There is a particular one near me, coming from a big superstore. They all think they have the right to just sail out into traffic, no indicator needed.
In an ideal world, it would be good to have a phone number to be able to report these offences and people should be sent on a driving test again. I bet you anything, 99% of them wouldn't pass now!

The standard of driving in this country is appalling. (I mean you left off running red lights, speeding, high Lorrie’s that pull out just because they can, ignoring pedestrian crossings, non-blue badge holders parking in blue badge spaces, school parking, etc, etc). And it’s particularly prevalent in certain communities you can’t mention without getting into trouble.

There’s very little chance of getting caught. And there is certainly no war on motorists, only a war by certain motorists on pedestrians, cyclists, other drivers, etc.

At least I ave a dashcam, any dangerous driving it catches gets sent straight to the police and normally the driver involved gets fined and points on their licenses.

I absolutely despair. And I'm going to say this, even though I fear to god what anger and denials it will provoke: there are a lot more people at the moment on our roads who haven't learned to drive in the UK. And having done a massive amount of motorway driving over the past 4 months (geographically distant close family illness), its mostly people from Africa or South Asia. There are so many middle lane drivers, for example, that the whole thing has broken down.

This horrifying self-righteous narrative is exactly why we're so fkt'd as a nation.

Instead of a mutually agreed system of rules that everyone knows, understands, and silently follows and enforces, we have become a nation of selfish "me-firsts" who don't care about the rules, as long as it makes their own life easier.

And add to that the MLDs from abroad (because they are), and you have a very frustrating and dangerous situation.

Mind you, I will admit to occasionally undertaking the MLDs out of sheer frustration. So maybe I am one of the self-righteous bell-ends. 😬

I live in an area which is very hilly with cars often parked at the side of the road. The Highway Code says…
If it’s a 2 lane road and your side is obstructed, you give way regardless of whether you’re going up or downhill.
If it’s a single track road and you’re going uphill, it’s your right of way (which makes no sense as then someone is reversing uphill).

I had my wing mirror smashed off by a driver overtaking parked cars who decided to use my side of the road at speed whilst I was using it and expecting me to get out of his way. I hope it broke his way more expensive Audi wing mirror! He didn’t stop.

I have a dashcam now which gives me some peace of mind. Especially with the kids wearing hoodies and balaclavas on their electric motorbikes or wheelying down the middle of the road on their mountain bikes.

I’ve wfh for the last couple of years and don’t often drive on the motorway any more. But I’m terrified of the idiots on the motorway. The lurching between lanes, last minute lane changes, driving 6ft behind each other. The sooner self driving cars are properly a thing, the better.

Flying through red lights, often when the pedestrian light is green and a total lack of indicating are my favourites. It makes crossing the road terrifying. It's definitely much worse than it used to be.

As a pedestrian the lack of indicators is very frustrating.
At a junction pedestrians are supposed to get priority of you are turning in but they don’t care.
Some will not bother indicating then turn left meaning we’ve missed the opportunity to cross.
Bolting through traffic lights even though they’ve already turned red.
In a queue of traffic blocking the pelican crossing meaning we have to weave through the cars to cross the road.

Omg this, all the bloody time! Just driven back from a trip 200 miles today and this was just so common and it is so frustrating!

Sorry but no. I was recently on a 4 lane motorway. Lanes 3 and 4 were clogged up with people doing 55-60mph. Lanes 1 and 2 were TOTALLY EMPTY. Sorry but im not braking all the way from 70 (which I had got to on the slip road) to 50 when I have a completely empty lane in front of me AND to the right of me. I am maintaining the speed of my lane. Not undertaking.

Yes to all of these. It annoys me a lot.

Agree with everything in the OP.

What I've noticed more and more is people who have no idea how a roundabout works. They just pull up and hope that someone will tell them when it's their turn to go. Idiots.

What I've also noticed recently, is someone coming up to a roundabout and indicating right - and then halfway across indicating left and going straight on! I've actually seen it about 4 or 5 times in the last couple of weeks.

Pedestrians are no better when walking in the road with no pavements and have their backs to traffic when the Highway Code says you must face oncoming traffic. This is more important these days with very quiet electric vehicles.

Yes, l agree with everything you have said

I no.longer drive due to being disabled with waking and joint problems.Use crutches to get about

However my new pet hates are drivers who park on pavements. ,So you can't get past them.

And the Sainted cyclists who cycle on pavements and through pedestrianised shopping areas without lights, bells or helmets. Despite our local authority spending nearly £15 million pounds on cycle lanes. Which are hardly used.

LONG LIVE THE HIGHWAY CODE.
A NATIONAL TREASURE!

🚴🚙🙈🙉🙊📜👍

Speed limits.
My road is 20mph - it has 2 primaries and a secondary off it.
So today I saw a car doing about 40mph on it - untaxed for the last 112 days. What are the odds they didn’t have Insurance? Nobody interested.
No point in having rules if nobody is arsed enforcing them. Nearly 60mph on the next road over - also a 20 limit - shown on one of those little signs by the other side of the school that flashes up your speed is the worse I’ve seen - thankfully evening time.

This and bloody cyclists who don’t understand that a red traffic light applies to them. They are extremely common and one day I am going to push one over and just say oops didn’t see you there I was looking at the green man.

Agree with all and I'll add my personal favourite of the moment -being in the left hand lane to turn right at a roundabout, wtaf are you doing??

I've got the theory that it's insecure dickhead blokes who can't cope with being overtaken by someone in a smaller car or a woman

Every set of traffic lights should have cameras and automatic fines imo

Totally with you on point 4-this is what causes massive tailbacks! Especially on motorways when people start getting into the lane as soon as they see the sign saying lane closure 800 yards ahead then think no one should dare try to ‘cut in’ so they decide to hover between the 2 lanes! Proper gets on my nerves same with the people who never indicate and also a new one I have found living on the main road into my village-people who get angry with me for forcing them to slow down so I can (whilst indicating with notice too!) go in my OWN driveway!

There are some roundabouts where you can turn right from the left hand lane. The road
markings usually show it (normally right hand lane is right only and the left hand lane is left, straight on or right). But obviously this is not every roundabout

I had the misfortune of having to drive through part of Bradford last week. Temporary traffic lights on a busy crossroads. I was about 7 cars back and the lights changed to red. We all stopped. A few seconds after the lights went red, the 5th car back from the lights, so two in front of me, decided that he didn't want to wait at the lights, pulled out of the queue and hurtled round the first 4 cars and into the crossing traffic who were on green and had been for a good 5 seconds! I've seen that happen in Bradford at normal traffic lights on busy junctions. One once pulled out of the queue behind me at red lights, went onto the wrong side of the road and through the lights, no fucks given.
You definitely have to have a different mentality to drive in Bradford that's for sure!