I’ve reached that age when things wind me up and I become a Grumpy Old Man. Like most other people I have a mutter under my breath or, if I’m in the car, a good swear and shout. I thought it time that I shared some of my views with others to gauge whether it’s just me or the others.
Whilst driving through the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside on quiet roads, unfortunately with the hood up due to high winds, we wanted to take out time to enjoy the views. I kept an eye on the mirror and if traffic approached from the rear I waited for a clear road ahead, indicated left, slowed, pulled over tight to the side of the road and waited for said car to overtake. This was a practice learnt from my father and other considerate drivers many years ago. I can then continue with my lazy drive and they can tear off down the road.
Unfortunately most drivers of today have not learnt of this practice and don’t know what to do. On most occasions they slowed down, pulled in behind me and followed for a while. When the penny dropped they either overtook, if the road was still clear, or continued to follow until another half opportunity arrived and then overtook and cut me up. Not one person acknowledged the manoeuvre with a thank you of any kind.
Where has the politeness gone from driving on the roads?
No, it’s not you. People seem so impatient & self absorbed on the roads these days.
I think it has been that way for some time. As they say, “An Englishmans home is his castle” For that…read anywhere else in the UK.
Just another facet of the modern day " I know my rights" Patience & obligations? What are they?
I find polite and courteuos drivers stand out from the crowd now rather than the opposite.
It’s mayhem “out there” sadly.
No its not you, we find exactly the same as in the summer, on days out we tend to potter round on back roads with the hood down, and have several times when pulling over to let faster traffic past, found people giving us odd looks as they tear past
It seems everyone is in a rush these days, some no time for courtesy, not even time to indicate which direction they are going. Now you’ve got me started
As someone who in the past taught people to drive (ab initio) I can tell you that getting most people through the very basic test is hard work. They are not going to progress much beyond that point in the majority of cases irrespective of sex or social status or quids in the bank.
Censored work is sex - why?
If I were to drive you at the bare minimum standard required for a driving test most of you would bale out after a couple of miles. If indeed you lasted that long.
I progressed to training people to a much higher standard; the likes of chauffeurs etc and more than 90 percent were rejected!
However I do not agree that driving is worse now than previously as in fact I find it better and more courteous; something that must be relevant when road casualties are a quarter or less of what they were in the ‘Good old days’.
Ok I’ll try again - censored word is that thing you do with someone else that begins with an S and ends with an X! I wonder why such a work is censored?
One of the problems is that most people expect you to be driving flat out if you are in a sports car. They don’t seem to realise there is more to driving pleasure than sheer speed !
‘There’s no such thing as bad habits. It’s either good driving or dangerous practices’ Not my words but those of the police driving instructor who got rid of my err! Bad habits Many moons ago but I haven’t forgotten.
1. Drivers not using their indicators or if they do it’s at the last moment.
Drivers showing a serious lack of anticipation.
Mothers (Yes it is mothers mainly) delivering their Kids to school with their mobiles seemingly glued to their ears, turning to shout at them, one hand on the wheel. we have a primary school near us, there is a steet down which they drive ( Lloyd street) with cars parked on both sides. It’s a nightmare.
Drivers cutting corners, too lazy or too stupid??
Just heard ther’s a new word in the oxford English dictionary " SELFIES I think it applies to people that are obsessed with themselves. I think it’s a very suitable word to describe the drivers that we are concerned about.
I did a “defensive driving course” about 20 year back to see if useful for my company car drivers & when ever i do something stupid now i think back “Mmm Frazier wouldn’t like that move, must try harder”.
basically, think every other driver on the road is an idiot & avoid/evade at all cost.
One of the things that astounds me on the roads is the complete numpty driving you see in the older generation. Yes, I know, people forget things as they get older. This is not an excuse however, to completely forget a skill that you have practiced for in most cases, all of your life! I live in a village full of over 60’s, the number of people I have had nearly plough into me because they have turned out of their drive without even looking, assuming you will stop if it will cause a problem, is unbelievable.
If a person knows he or she cannot turn their head to look behind properly, see far enough up the road to make the correct judgement, or simply remember to do certain things at the wheel, then it should be the family members duty of care to make that person hand in their license. My grandad had similar problems and after nearly killing me when I was 14 years old whilst driving in his car, we made him give up. He pulled out to the left on a 50 MPH road, with a white transit van approaching. The van was forced into a blind overtake with a VW golf the coming in the other direction. Luckily for the other two parties they both managed to come to a halt, whilst grandad merrily carried on, completely unaware of the near devastation he had just caused.
Young people get a lot of stick for driving like prats, and rightly so. Mostly far too fast in suburban areas where they are likely to hit a pedestrian, or driving like it’s dry when the road surface is saturated with water, assuming their cars will drive the same. However, we are an aging population and I think that the issue of old drivers causing accidents is only going to become more and more commonplace.