I have been driving for almost 40 years - the thing is that these incidents are becoming increasingly common otherwise I would never have raised the issue for discussion here. You are correct, the behaviour of pedestrians has also deteriorated many of them simply walk out in front of traffic even when they have no priority. Some cyclists are also guilty of this. However in these instances it’s they that will generally come off worst in the event of an accident, not innocent members of the public. Whether it is motorists, cyclists or peds these are symptomatic examples of arrogant and presumably stupid people simply refusing to abide by the rules. I seethat a little girl was almost run over in Stranton Cemetery yesterday by some selfish tosser.

I think it’s safe to say driving standards are going down.

My wife raises the question of how many drivers on the road passed their test in this country. Depending on where you are in the UK, I'd give that some validity. As for general road use / treatment it varies greatly. I'm both a cyclist and a driver. On a 10 mile ride recently, I stopped and photographed 1 pothole per mile that posed a danger due to the depth and location. This explains the sudden swerving, particularly on a downhill. That will be one of the reasons why the Highway Code now requires a 1 metre overtaking gap. That said, I've bought myself a helmet mounted camera and this captured the taxi at the roundabout that I was going around. He looked right to make sure he could carry on without stopping but forgot to look straight ahead - where I was. No damage done but plenty scared by that one. Most of my other driving is done on motorways now and I do keep the interest up by driving on the left and moving out to overtake then back. Quite often though, there is less traffic on the inside lane and I will absolutely undertake especially on 4 lane sections with an idiot in lane 3 and 2 empty lanes inside them. Having driven in the US quite a bit, all lane overtaking is fine by me. I think it is too late to do it now but when the population decreases it may happen. Of course by then, we'll have self-driving cars anyway so it won't be an issue.

For trips to Pools - I let the train take the strain and enjoy some beers on the GC back to Kings Cross.

Highway code says you're allowed to undertake if the average speed on an inside lane is greater than the lane outside. Did it myself the other week coming back up the A1M from Leicester. Bloke in the middle lane finally moved over after 3 cars went past him on the inside

Another thing that affects traffic flow is the selfish ones who belt down the outside lane of 3 or even 4 until they're less than half a mile from their turn off. They then cut across causing every lane to slow down and I've even seen all lanes stopping.

A1M from Leicester….. ……better off going up the M1 and joining the A1M.

thats because drivers think as long as they are not breaking the speed limit, sober and not on their phones anything goes. its just that those three offences are banged on about time after time and nothing else gets much of a mention. then there is the attitude of the young where they say when i pass my test rather than if i pass my test as if its some sort of right.