UK's most dangerous roads

Most urban roads will be much quiter and probably safer now that the school holidays have started!
Thankfully, mum and her people-carrier/4×4 has disappeared from outside my house for a few weeks, too. I shall be able to get into my driveway much more easily now:D

Sad but true RH. We were only talking about this very subject at YAM over lunch on Sunday, after all having close calls with suicide jockeys on motorbikes on our respective journeys there. I think the sunny weather encourages them to leave their brains in the garage too…

I also think so.

All of these things I DID learn – albeit for the motorway part, we just have the Edinburgh City Bypass. Not quite the same, but it does give a feel for motorway driving.

I DID take years to pass my test, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying! I eventually got a good, patient and reliable instructor who got me through my test. See my previous comments.

AND my instructor was a woman! :p

My driving lessons, and the test itself, were fine in themselves. I think the problem is the numpties whose egos overtake their abilities. What was it James Tolkan said in Top Gun?? “Son, your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash!”

On this score I agree with the way they do it in Germany. Once the test is passed there is more compulsory instruction in night and motorway driving. I consider this essential to teach the new driver the fact that they need to be reading the road much further ahead at motorway speeds and the different impression of speed you get at night.

There is no cofusion at all. You just keep going till you come to a give way line, if there’s no conflicting traffic you carry on. If you go through it correctly there is no problems or confusion.
I remember when it was a single roundabout but that was a long time ago and a single roundabout would not cope with the modern volume of traffic especially during peak periods.
If we were talking about roads in Scotland as well I would say the A9 becomes a candidate for the list.

That’s fine if you know where you are going.
I can see it now. Glance up, see the roundabout sign, thinks…
“so, I want the third exit on the fourth roundabout”.
That thought will last until the first give way line. After which I’ve not only forgotten which roundabout I want, but I’m now uncertain which roundabout I’m currently on. Then there’s the problem of trying to anticipate being in the correct lane, the fact there are probably no directions on the exits, and now everyone is cutting you up because you don’t know where you are going.

The main problem as I see it is that driving lessons and the test itself is not good enough. How do you learn to use motorways properly when learner drivers are not allowed on them, or never getting to drive small back roads or driving in extreme weather conditions. When I did my lessons and test I never went outside an urban area!!

I had lessons in icy conditions, heavy rain, on country roads, & non-motorway dual carriageways.

The country road was amusing. My instructor suddenly looked at me and said “You know this road!”. He noticed that I was judging the bends too well for someone who’d never been there before. He was right: I’d cycled along it many times. 😀 When I told him that, he swore, & said that negated his purpose in taking me along it. Then he questioned me about how much cycling I did on country roads, & decided that there weren’t any within reach I didn’t know, but I did so much I probably already had a good idea of how to cope with them.

The ice was scary. At one point I found myself going sideways while taking a corner. The instructor said “Don’t brake!”, & carefully talked me through how to deal with it. Then got me to describe what I’d done, & why, & told me to remember it.

I asked him if it was worth having a motorway lesson after I got my licence, but he reckoned that the dual carriageway driving I’d done in my lessons with him was enough. He just told me to ease into it carefully at first. I’ve never had any problems.

Last I heard, my instructor had moved on to teaching driving instructors.

I don’t see a problem with the test, but I reckon there might be problems with some instructors, who see no reason to do more than the minimum.

BTW, if you think our test is bad, look up what some other countries have. The Indian driving test is a joke, & some US states have very low requirements. The Japanese test is quite stiff, but learning is done mostly off-road, so new drivers are unused to traffic. Etc.

Most late at night, some I hear the tyres then the crunch. I always report them to the Police. It is quite dangerous out there!

Not forgetting the recent fatal with that young lad going through the Cornish stone wall just down the road from you.

Anyway, my vote for the worlds most dangerous road must go to any road that Pagan or his old man happen to be driving on at the time 😀

And while we’re on the subject…

I know ambulance drivers have a job to do – y’know, the whole saving lives bit – but the one I encountered yesterday could have done with checking his Highway code again. As it happens, it’s a good thing my brakes were working properly…. :rolleyes:

The main problem as I see it is that driving lessons and the test itself is not good enough. How do you learn to use motorways properly when learner drivers are not allowed on them, or never getting to drive small back roads.

All of these things I DID learn – albeit for the motorway part, we just have the Edinburgh City Bypass. Not quite the same, but it does give a feel for motorway driving.

IMO the whole way of teaching people how to drive should be changed, it should take years to get a full licence not months and it should cover as much as possible.

I DID take years to pass my test, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying! I eventually got a good, patient and reliable instructor who got me through my test. See my previous comments.

AND my instructor was a woman! :p

My driving lessons, and the test itself, were fine in themselves. I think the problem is the numpties whose egos overtake their abilities. What was it James Tolkan said in Top Gun?? “Son, your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash!”

who remembers the JCB claiming 5 lives when the jib swung out, just up the road from me?

Ambulance head-on killing 3 lads in a small hatch just down the road.

Several major accidents on Spitfire Corner including several fatals, all motor bikes.

Recent biker colliding with Buzzard. (fatal)

Woman hit tree behind my gaff (fatal)

Woman clipped verge and rolled behind my gaff (seriously injured)

All on rural roads.

Most late at night, some I hear the tyres then the crunch. I always report them to the Police. It is quite dangerous out there!

You’re a jinx!

I agree about the A9. In the days when I was a frequent user of it I lost count of the number of idiots chancing their luck – and mine!!

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon is a good contender for confusion if not danger.

There is no cofusion at all. You just keep going till you come to a give way line, if there’s no conflicting traffic you carry on. If you go through it correctly there is no problems or confusion.
I remember when it was a single roundabout but that was a long time ago and a single roundabout would not cope with the modern volume of traffic especially during peak periods.
If we were talking about roads in Scotland as well I would say the A9 becomes a candidate for the list.

The main problem as I see it is that driving lessons and the test itself is not good enough. How do you learn to use motorways properly when learner drivers are not allowed on them, or never getting to drive small back roads or driving in extreme weather conditions. When I did my lessons and test I never went outside an urban area!!

Then when I was let loose on my own for the first time it was one of the most scary experiences ever!! Here I was thinking i knew how to drive and learnt very quickly that experience is everything (i have never had an accident)

IMO the whole way of teaching people how to drive should be changed, it should take years to get a full licence not months and it should cover as much as possible. I know we don’t get a lot of snow in this country but there are snow making machines and plenty of empty airfields that would be fine to use in winter. The same airfields could be used to teach motorway driving and controlling a car in dangerous situations.

Dont forget Hemel Hemsteads version, been about longer than Sadlers Farm or Swindons one I think…

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But none of these are dangerous to use though, I have never seen a problem on any multi roundabout system whenever I have used them.
More chance of getting mown down in a supermarket car park:).

Just had a look at the Sadlers farm roundabout, here http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.566777,0.542069&spn=0.001877,0.004823&t=k&z=18

Blimey, what a nightmare! Look at it carefully and the Sadlers Farm has two-way traffic all round, a sort of mini ring road, while the Swindon junction has one-way traffic but anticlockwise. No point in blaming the highways engineer, I reckon, as he’s probably been in a straightjacket in a darkened room for years now:diablo:

Look at the Sadlers Farm roundabout on A13 and A130 near Canvey Island, Essex, very similar!

I had to Google that to see if it was real, or a fake. Never heard or seen it before. Who thought that up, and do they still have a job? 🙂

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon is a good contender for confusion if not danger.

who remembers the JCB claiming 5 lives when the jib swung out, just up the road from me?

Ambulance head-on killing 3 lads in a small hatch just down the road.

Several major accidents on Spitfire Corner including several fatals, all motor bikes.

Recent biker colliding with Buzzard. (fatal)

Woman hit tree behind my gaff (fatal)

Woman clipped verge and rolled behind my gaff (seriously injured)

All on rural roads.

Most late at night, some I hear the tyres then the crunch. I always report them to the Police. It is quite dangerous out there!

I do notice that most country roads and lanes are becoming more dangerous by the year. I have always told my kids that when driving on such roads they should always expect the unexpected.

The standard of driving has dropped considerably, and I find that the main culprit is the average mum with a people carrier or a large 4X4 on the school run. Anyone who dares to share a road with her on her mission to get to the school gates on time runs the risk of being sent into the hedgerow! These are the very people who now inhabit the villages with no consideration of the speed limits, townies who have moved for the better life.
No respect for other road users, no consideration for larger farm vehicles who dare to encroach by a few inches into their side of the road. And lastly, no respect for their own young strapped inside wifeys runabout..usually a Range Rover sport or a BMW X5.
Rant over

Heathrows perimeter road must be one of the worst roads to drive on, I drive to work down the M25, on the worst stretch of it as well betwwen Chertsey and Heathrow, and despite its bad reputation its not overly dangerous just congested sometimes.
But as soon as i hit the perimieter road people just turn into lunatics, from the lorry drivers to the people collecting/dropping off passengers who dont know where they are going and make sudden turns with no warning or without looking.
Also the southern perimeter road has some very bad grooves worn into it through years of car and cargo carrying lorry use, it can send your car moving from left to right with no warning…