To conclude there must be many thousands of people on the roads who have not passed the driving test.

[redange]

I cannot believe the appalling standard of driving i see every day. To 'Legally' pass a driving test today requires a higher standard of competency than 35 years ago. In order to pass today requires an awareness of Hazard perception, correct use of Gears (if in a Manual) understanding of speed and distance and before that a difficult theory test. Therefore, how is it possible that the standard of driving is infinitely worse. The only conclusion can be that many thousands of people are driving illegally and dangerously on the highways of the United Kingdom.

Someone overtook me in a 30 zone last night doing 52! No care at all for others (there was one of those speed indicators with the smiley/sad face which is how I know how fast they were going).

I also saw a bloke getting arsey at a woman for simply walking along the footpath yesterday as he wanted to cross it to enter a business premises and seemed to think he had right of way. It wasn't a road entrance but a dropped kerb entrance. I see stuff every day that makes me sigh.

I have also noted that the new crop of strange men who struggle to drive like a normal person, want you to notice them, they come across as even more narcissistic than the boy racer teen of old, as they are often middle aged 35 to 45 ish men.

The clown mask topped it for me, I genuinely thought he was going to a terror attack plugh people over with his chum all masked up like that. I was shaking.

Among all this doom and gloom about declining standards, people not being able to drive because modern cars have too many gizmos, it showing a general collapse of morality, the youth of today not being up to the glories of their elders, etc. I do think it's worth noting that the roads have actually never been safer. Those are absolute numbers - it would be even more dramatic a decline if shown as the number of fatalities per 100,000 cars on the roads.

Interesting. Do you have a source for that?

We have a 70 year old car that definitely didn’t have them fitted when new.

I dare say this is because cars are constantly improved and changed rather than anything to with anyone's driving.

My brother is 56. He has been driving since his early 20’s and has never passed his test. He is in construction and drives a van for his work

On a national level I wouldn't be surprised if there are hundreds of thousands of people with no licence on the road, in a country with tens of millions of drivers.

It won't account for all of the bad driving you see though. If most of us were honest, we don't drive as well as we did for that one hour when we were 17/18, pretty much ever again.

0andlovelife · Today 13:49

My brother is 56. He has been driving since his early 20’s and has never passed his test. He is in construction and drives a van for his work

Has he never been stopped by the 'Police' even a spot check or ever asked for proof of a driving licence when getting insurance for himself or for the companies he has worked for.

So what happens if your brother crashes in to somebody else.

I think there is a lot of this. ‘Real’ driving.

I keep wondering if the Highway Code on traffic lights has changed - so many cars go through on red when they evidently had sufficient time to stop safely. In my (old) day we used to have ‘amber gamblers’ but I don’t know what the updated version is - reckless reds?
Then there is the weird understanding of motorway lane management- saw a whole stream of cars in the 3rd lane recently doing around 60mph with nothing in the inner 2 lanes - it annoys me as I don’t like the outside lane but also don’t care to undertake - partly as I can’t trust other drivers at all.
Then the total lack of understanding that if I’m already doing the speed limit then driving up my arse and sticking your fingers up at me just isn’t going help you out - you could dangerously overtake and end up just in front of me at the next junction or behind other cars though.
The new ways of driving look so stressful to me I just wouldn’t bother and I’m surprised many don’t have heart attack en their route.
Maybe I’ve turned into my grumpy father though.

Yes he was pulled over about 18 years ago. He did community service and there was a little section in the local paper about it.
He is self employed so won’t need to get insurance through his employer

I have more problems with aggressive young women in 4x4's on the school run than I ever have with grey haired men.

The uber drivers I have spoken to complain bitterly about people with foreign driving licenses being allowed on our roads and not understanding lanes/rights of way. This is quite a theme with them if the conversation turns that way. I uber a good deal.

On the motorway, I find it's a completely mixed bag of idiots hogging the middle lane and I wouldn't be able to fix on an age or demographic.

That would worry me so much as what would happen if he had an accident, would his insurance be valid?

That’s not true. My next door neighbour’s 20 year old was put away for 10 years for death by dangerous driving 2 years back. Straight into Strangeways.

Well you can drive like a learner to pass a test. Then do whatever you like once you have the licence. You’re absolutely correct though so many terrible and some dangerous drivers out there. I literally saw a few cars tonight fly past me and through a roundabout it was also very wet. Just crazy to get home 2mins quicker.

My 75 year old friend recently passed the advanced driving test and was rewarded with a sizeable reduction in her insurance cost. She can parallel park like a champion, has been driving for 30 years without incident. Whereas her 42 year son, who has been drivi g since age 17, has difficulty reversing and is absolutely hopeless at parallel parking!

East London in particular. The impatience and selfishness on overcrowded roads is absolutely breathtaking.

Most live in Bradford.

I just think a lot of people pass, are cautious for the first few months then start getting lazy.

That would definitely explain many of these idiotic incidents.

And that is helpful how? It needs proficiency tests

Sorry but that roundabout one is on you. You should never assume people are indicating correctly.

This morning, thick fog car came blasting first behind me then shot past, headlights on full beam threw it round the island and disappeared shame they didn’t have an argument with a lampost

I know someone who drove a car without having passed a driving test.
There was a local rumour that where I live, taxi drivers would share their details with relatives.