An ‘etiquette’ section in the UK driving test would make a good start at least…

Overtaking on the inside, cutting other drivers ‘off’ and hogging the middle lane… All of these bad habits have annoyed UK motorists enough that, in a recent poll, an overwhelming majority said they would support the addition of an ‘etiquette’ section as a component in the practical driving test.

I personally couldn’t agree more - with road rage (be it someone else’s or your own) being one of the things which makes driving often so stressful and frustrating for many, it would surely be of massive benefit to educate and train drivers a little more thoroughly at the early stage of their driving lives, to help minimise this unpleasant aspect of driving.

The whole thing got me thinking about so-called ‘bad habits’ which people develop in their driving that I personally find particularly grating, most of which result from laziness or a lack of confidence. Everyone must have their own similar list, with a few changes here and there… but one things for sure; if the etiquette section can reduce the frequency of these, we’d all gladly support its inclusion. Here’s my top driving frustrations:

- People who park on double yellow lines, especially on tricky bends near busy junctions. They always significantly reduce visibility and contribute to causing accidents - and always emerge blameless every time.
- Relatives and friends who drive in third gear at 50mph (I know quite a few believe it or not), and then complain that their cars really burn through petrol at a scary rate as the engine roars and strains under the groan of motorway driving in 4th…
- Middle lane motorway hogs AND those impatient and dangerous drivers who under-take them to make a point. Basically both categories here contribute to a considerable number of motorway accidents, all because one is too lazy or not confident enough (in which case should not be on the motorway) to change lanes, while the other is too impatient and stressed that they do an even worse manoeuvre just to make a point…

Anyway, the list could go on (roundabout non-indicating, mobile phone use etc etc) - feel free to add your own pet-peeves below: I’ll finish merely by saying that such an ‘etiquette’ section would clearly be very welcome, but it also begs the question of who is making these faux-pas that around 80% of drivers find so annoying? It can surely only be these very same drivers themselves?

Dejan Levi

bad driving habits, Dejan Levi, driving etiquette, UK driving test