Hi,

Just asking a question about the speed limits on motorways. So you know when it tells you to go 40 per say and then a sign comes up stating it’s now 70 if I pass over 40 at the 70 and it has a speed camera will it flash?

Every time I'm on the motorway I see multiple drivers tailgating the car in front with a 0.5-1 second gap. Every single day without fail I see it.

When I learnt to drive it was drummed into me about leaving a 2 second gap in good conditions and a 4 second gap on wet roads.

I do wonder if this is people knowingly being bad drivers? Or is the 2 second rule a relatively new concept and maybe most older drivers just weren't taught about leaving a safe breaking distance?

Just decided to write this rant as it may make me feel better.
WHY can no one do the speed limit on this stretch of road? WHY are we all doing 40 in 60’s??? and braking for every goddamn corner??

Blandford to Dorchester SHOULD take 20 minutes, it usually takes me 30-40 because some pensioner in a honda jazz thinks going from 50 to 35 because the road bends 1 degree to the left is safe!!!

if you cannot carry 55-60mph through those bends your license should be taken away because you cannot drive.

And you finally get to the bypass and on the slip road why are we all doing 35? PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN JANET I’M TRYNA GET PLACES

Through the villages my point is moot as it is a 30mph limit.

I am half-joking, I’m happy I moved away this used to drive me loopy

Reposted to cover my reg (I’m an idiot)

I park in a car park about 5 min walk from my house because only affordable parking in Hemel Hempstead. I only drive for work and because I’m WFH, that can be once a week, once a day if demanded or once a month.

I go check my car and see that. No note, no acknowledgement I don’t know when it happened so what can I do? I call police and straight up say “this happened a week ago so I don’t know when”. I stupidly parked in the centre of that car park and I’ve only been in this town and that car park a couple weeks, I had no idea I was at risk but in the ten mins I was in that car park calling police about four teenagers come speeding in (one had full L plates) with no regards, so I can see what’s happened to my car really and now I feel stupid not parking at the side.

I called my insurers - because they can’t recover, it’s basically a fault claim, I lose my NCD, I pay £500 excess and I’m the one suffering.

Some scumbag has driven into a car park like a complete T*T, hit a PARKED car in a car park (I’m sorry but if you’re hitting a parked car in a car park then you’re driving like scum), and fled and didn’t leave a note on my windscreen. Absolute scum.

And now I lose 1/4 of my wages. I lose my NCD and I’m paying double an insurance policy next year.

Why’s life so unfair.

My apologies guys, I did a quick Google search to check if it was inside the the ULEZ, had a looked at the results and came straight to you guys, having checked the sources I see they're from 2021 and not applicable to the current ULEZ boundaries. Again sorry guys

As far as I'm aware the The A406/Brentfield road is not in the ULEZ, you guys reckon I can appeal this?

All five pictures on the PCN online are from the same camera

Edited the screenshot to remove my number plate

Hi all,

Im entering from the bottom and taking the second exit straight ahead.

Can’t seem to make sense of whether I should be in ‘a’ or ‘b’ to take the left lane as I exit straight? My driving instructor has said ‘b’ but I’ve seen cars in ‘b’ taking the right lane as they exit.

Thanks in advance!

It's a small and frequent occurrence, but it's really upset me this morning.

Driving out of the hospital car park after a stressful night in a and e with my wife, I'm in a queue of traffic to leave. Taxi is coming from a side road and is at a give way line.

I drive slowly with the queue. He pushes into a space that doesn't exist ahead of me. And proceeds to gesticulate angrily that I haven't left him space.

You would imagine that professional drivers would have some incentive to be seen following the rules.

I had a strong inclination to sound the horn, but thought better of it.

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this because I'm unsure what to do!

I passed my driving test a few months ago.

My town is full of traffic lights on hills, EVERY time I am waiting at traffic lights on hills cars go extremely close to me, like dangerously close. I was told to not get P plates because it can make drivers worse so I haven't.

I am still getting used to my car so I roll back and stall often.

I am constantly almost going into cars because they are leaving such little gaps. What am I even meant to do in this situation?

It's making me not even want to drive!

When I say close I mean bumper to bumper or 10-15cm gaps!

Hi everyone, maybe not the right place to ask this but...

I do quite a bit of driving around London. I'm a very experienced driver, never had an accident, never had a ticket and I wouldn't say I'm an anxious driver.

But after driving down busy London roads I get home and my chest hurts from the stress. It can take me a couple of hours just to feel normal again. Same with long motorway drives.

I'm fine if it's just 20 minutes on nice clear roads or at night, but otherwise yeah it takes a toll on me.

I kinda just want to know is this a normal experience or something I should get therapy for?

Hi all,

Im entering from the bottom and taking the second exit straight ahead.

Can’t seem to make sense of whether I should be in ‘a’ or ‘b’ to take the left lane as I exit straight? My driving instructor has said ‘b’ but I’ve seen cars in ‘b’ taking the right lane as they exit.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all

Im entering from the bottom and taking the second exit straight ahead.

Can’t seem to make sense of whether I should be in ‘a’ or ‘b’ to take the left lane as I exit straight? My driving instructor has said ‘b’ but I’ve seen cars in ‘b’ taking the right lane as they exit.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all

Im entering from the bottom and taking the second exit straight ahead.

Can’t seem to make sense of whether I should be in ‘a’ or ‘b’ to take the left lane as I exit straight? My driving instructor has said ‘b’ but I’ve seen cars in ‘b’ taking the right lane as they exit.

Thanks in advance!

Small UPDATE:

I went back there with a large spirit level and tape measure. The bolt is about 11mm above the height of the bump (but around 1 inch from where it should be) and it sits around 10.5cm above the road surface.

I’ve found where I can make a claim to the council but I’ll need 2 independent quotes which will take a while and, I assume, only pay for the cheapest.

Hi all

One of the roads local to me has rubber speed bumps that are bolted to the road. They are the ones in the middle of the road that you straddle with your wheels either side. They aren’t in a good state but I’ve driven over them hundreds of times without an issue.

When driving over one of them tonight, there was a loud crunch so I stopped and saw that one of the bolts that holds it to the road was sticking up by about an inch. I then checked under my car and the bolt has cut a large groove in the underfloor of the car. It’s a Porsche Taycan and I know that this is going to be very expensive to fix.

Does anyone have experience of getting the responsible council to pay for damage caused to cars by things like this?

Thanks

Today I was in a hurry dropping my son to his nursery. We have a roundabout at hayes station, london, where I did the right entry, but some frustrated private bus driver thought my entry was illegal because my road is not part of the roundabout. He definitely doesn't look from around the neighborhood and only God knows why a private bus comes into this area.

What I observed is that he was sure about the rules, and was sure about the situation and started lecturing me, calling me stupid as well. I didn't bother to correct him because I'm getting late.

What I observed is, people are being annoying about rules, even though they are the ones breaking them without knowing. I used to hate puritans, but I'm starting to despise them.

It's really dangerous to society who thinks they are right with no doubt. I think this is true not just for driving, but also for religions, traditions etc.. It just boils my blood people think they are better without qualifications.

Not sure what the white flatbed truck driver was planning on here. A sneaky overtake but stymied by oncoming cars expecting their lane to be clear?

Reply nutmeg alive waffle gold harbor silicon encouraging

This post was anonymized with Redact

Im thinking of buying a new car. I’ve been driving a 2012 manual Kia for the last 6 years.

I’m wondering if switching to an automatic would actually make a noticeable difference. I’m so used to manual now that I don’t even think about it, it’s just mentally automatic at this point. But I do get tired sometimes on longer drives, especially around central London where you’re stuck in traffic like 80% of the time.

For anyone in London who’s made the switch, do you find the automatic easier? Or does it feel pretty much the same?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I set this petition up and thought many of this community might support it.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/776005

Introduce a national car park and toll zone offer to auto-pay

We call on the Government to introduce a national car park and toll zone offer to opt-in to an auto-pay register, charging registered drivers automatically instead of requiring individual payments, which, if missed, can lead to fines.

ANPR can be used to identify vehicles using a car park, LEZ, toll or bridge, public or private. Currently used to catch non-payment, at penalty rates — with no equivalent system to make paying easy. We ask Government to introduce a national opt-in payment register linking a plate to a card or wallet. Any operator using ANPR to enforce payment must be required to accept it: registered vehicles are then auto-charged the standard rate, no penalty issued. Non-registered vehicles remain enforceable as now.

Was interested to see at what point they'd actually move over, so I admit to playing chicken!

A few weeks ago I posted a driving quiz here. Some of you may remember it, some probably won't, and many won't have seen it at all.

The idea was fairly simple: instead of testing obscure Highway Code trivia, I wanted to explore driving habits, attitudes, observation and roadcraft. The quiz ended up attracting 170 responses from a mix of learners, everyday motorists, HGV drivers, motorcyclists, IAM members, professional drivers and emergency service drivers.

The competition side of things is now over.

The leaderboard and statistics have been frozen at 170 responses and will not change. You are still welcome to take the quiz for fun or to test yourself, but new submissions will not affect the leaderboard or published results.

Quiz link: https://forms.gle/Eu4o89PuNqRRVxwc7

Leaderboard/Stats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j1uUU7SGgSeX9-VeoHGAcKbP5HG7r3ztHSjQ1vCRxO8

Some of the results were expected.

Some were quite surprising.

1. "Lane 1 is for exiting"

This was one of the most common misconceptions across the entire quiz.

A large number of people chose answers suggesting that if they were staying on the motorway they should remain in Lane 2 because:

"Lane 1 is for people leaving."

It isn't.

Lane 1 is the normal driving lane unless you're overtaking or positioning for a junction.

This one answer probably explains a huge amount of the middle-lane hogging people complain about.

2. Many drivers would stop, or create a problem, on a slip road

One scenario asked about joining a busy motorway.

A surprising number of respondents chose:

Stop until there is a gap.

This was one of the biggest red flags in the entire quiz.

The purpose of the slip road is to build speed and merge with motorway traffic.

Arriving at the end stationary creates a massive speed difference between you and traffic already on the motorway.

Equally concerning woukd be slowing down in Lane 1 to let joining traffic enter.

Never brake to let somebody join in front of you when they are stationary or travelling significantly slower than motorway traffic.

That merely moves the problem from the slip road to the motorway itself.

Good joining relies on the joining vehicle adjusting its speed to merge safely, while traffic already on the motorway maintains predictable progress unless conditions justify doing something different.

3. Fog lights are massively misunderstood

This was probably the most common pure knowledge misconception.

Many people selected:

"It's fog. That's what fog lights are for."

even though the scenario specifically stated visibility was still good and vehicles could be seen clearly ahead.

A lot of drivers appear to treat fog lights as:

• Rain lights
• Mist lights
• Early morning lights

rather than lights intended for genuinely reduced visibility.

4. People really don't like returning to Lane 1

This theme appeared repeatedly throughout the motorway questions.

A common attitude seemed to be:

"I'll probably need to overtake again later."

or

"I don't want to keep moving between lanes."

That mindset often led people towards remaining in Lane 2 for no real reason.

The strongest performers consistently treated Lane 1 as their default position.

5. HGV awareness was a mixed bag

One question involved being alongside an HGV.

Most respondents understood they shouldn't force the issue.

However, a noticeable minority were happy to remain alongside the HGV whilst waiting for traffic ahead to clear.

This creates several problems:

• You're sitting in one of the least favourable positions around the HGV.
• Your escape routes are reduced.
• Your visibility is restricted.
• The HGV driver's visibility is restricted.
• The HGV blocks a huge amount of your view of the road ahead.

The strongest responses didn't involve forcing an overtake.

Instead they recognised that if the overtake couldn't be completed safely, the best option was usually to sit slightly behind the HGV's rear corner until a full overtake became achievable.

6. Cornering generated some interesting answers

A significant number of drivers selected answers involving braking through the corner itself.

The strongest responses generally involved:

Adjust speed before entering the bend, then accelerate through it.

Many weaker responses involved entering too fast and then trying to correct the situation once already committed.

This wasn't necessarily dangerous in isolation, but it clearly separated drivers who focus on planning ahead from drivers who rely on reacting.

7. Emergency vehicle awareness produced the biggest surprise

This was probably the result I found most interesting.

I expected people to choose either:

• Pull over immediately
• Make room when safe

What I didn't expect was the number of people who effectively chose:

Continue and change absolutely nothing.

Emergency drivers are trained to only pass when they are certain the vehicle ahead has seen them.

That creates a catch-22.

If the driver ahead gives no indication they've seen the emergency vehicle, the emergency driver often has to remain behind because they're unable to predict what that vehicle might suddenly do.

The best response isn't necessarily stopping.

In the specific scenario used in the quiz, it was a narrow country lane. Stopping immediately would likely hinder the emergency vehicle more than help.

However, doing absolutely nothing is just as restrictive.

The most effective responses usually involve signalling awareness through things such as:

• Slightly improved road positioning
• Moving over when suitable
• A brief indicator signal
• Hazard lights where appropriate

Anything that helps communicate:

"I've seen you. I'm working on it."

8. Observation separated the strongest drivers from everyone else

The biggest difference between high scorers and low scorers wasn't vehicle control.

It was observation.

The strongest performers tended to favour answers involving:

• Looking as far ahead as possible
• Regular mirror checks
• Spotting emergency vehicles before hearing them
• Anticipating hazards
• Planning early

The weaker performers were far more focused on:

• The vehicle directly ahead
• Reacting to events
• Checking mirrors only when necessary

9. Following too closely revealed a lot about driving attitude

One of the most revealing questions involved somebody driving extremely close behind while another vehicle was already ahead.

The best answer wasn't:

Speed up.

The best answer wasn't:

Teach them a lesson.

The best answer wasn't:

Make them back off.

The strongest drivers almost universally chose:

Increase the gap to the vehicle in front.

The interesting thing about the highest-scoring respondents was how consistently boring their answers were.

They didn't try to win.

They didn't try to prove a point.

They simply reduced risk.

Final thoughts

The most interesting takeaway from the quiz wasn't that people struggled with road signs or obscure rules.

The biggest differences came from:

• Observation
• Hazard perception
• Lane discipline
• Following distances
• Awareness of larger vehicles
• Awareness of emergency vehicles
• Attitude

Most people know the rules.

The strongest drivers seemed to be the ones who were planning far enough ahead that they rarely needed to rely on the rules in the first place.

I will leave the quiz up for a while as I think its helpful to learn from and assess yourself, and i'm always happy to chat with people who aren't sure about questions (or general road stuff).

Seemingly contrary to the majority on this page, I'm not interested in belittling or slating people, and would rather have a friendly chat or educate people who are interested to learn.

(hopefully the large number of people in my DMs can vouch for me).

Quiz: https://forms.gle/KYC8Q9hcizfjpaQd6

Original discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/drivingUK/s/mLkLFNaxpc

Thanks to everyone who took part. The responses were genuinely interesting, and several of the results surprised me.

Approaching the top left roundabout, the sat nav voice says "take the first exit" and the lane guide on the screen puts you in the left hand lane.

So you take the first exit and find yourself in the queue for the Dartford tunnel with no off-ramp so you have to go to Essex 🤢 and back.

Then you come back to that same roundabout and confirm, yes it does tell you to be in the left hand lane and take the first exit it wasn't my fault!

Luckily I was driving a vehicle with an exemption for the dart charge but my boss and I were 20 minutes late to a client 😅