How safe are we on our roads?

I don't enjoy driving. I've seen some hair raising antics by drivers taking huge risks. I do wonder if some are on drugs.
I have seen a woman applying lipstick as she was driving while staring into a mirror.

Woman doing her mascara at the lights yesterday 😳had to pip her to tell her to go

I was waiting to cross a busy road recently, when a huge articulated lorry went by. The driver was drinking from a take-away cup at the time.

From what I've read, some drivers have been found to have recreational drugs in their system.

Really scary.

Was this the operation in South Yorkshire?

This was a five day under cover operation on the M1, M18 and A1. There will have been hundreds of thousands if not millions of journeys made. Police stopped only 200 vehicles.

162 of those stopped were driving HGVs and LGVs. Presumably they will prosecuted and risk losing their licences and their jobs.

Of course, it only takes one bad driver to cause a fatal accident but important to keep things in perspective and not be scared off the roads.

I think eating, smoking ( I don’t know if it does) but I think people should be done for that.
I remember years ago, someone flicked a cigarette end out of their window, it landed on my back seat & burnt a blinking hole in my seat.

Now and then I watch Police Interceptors in the afternoon (needs no concentrations while I’m knitting 🙂) and SO many people drive without any or all of insurance/road tax/a valid driving licence!

My father always said that we should treat every other driver on the road as an idiot.

Things have definitely got worse. It would be good to see more police on the roads.

A woman I worked with smoked when driving. One day, theb cigarette she was smoking fell onto her leg (she was wearing shorts) and she was so shocked by the burn that she drove straight into the rear of the car in front. There was a surprising amount of damage to both cars, and the drivers both had whiplash.
To my horror, she still continued to smoke while driving.
I too think that this should be an offence.

What really should be an offence around here is the state of the roads. You could be forgiven for thinking the driver in front of you is drunk as he weaves his way around the enormous dips in the roads. We have to MOT our cars to ensure they are roadworthy pity the same cannot be said for the appalling state of the highways.

PaynesGrey
No not Yorkshire -Norfolk. no motorways here although we do have a few miles of duel carriageways here and there.

I often wonder how some people actually pass their driving test! The standard of driving these days is appalling and many have no common sense, or consideration for other road users and pedestrians! Drivers are supposed to give way when a pedestrian is already crossing at a junction……….not around here, the pedestrians have to get out of the way fast or get run down! And don’t get me started the idiots who reverse out of side roads, junctions and driveways 😡😡

There is no deterrent for people without insurance, tax, MOT or already disqualified from driving or those under the influence of drink and/or drugs. If they get to court they are handed down some paltry punishment that teaches them nothing. Seize their vehicles and get them crushed. Far too much traffic these days anyway. Start weeding out these individuals and the remainder of us would benefit.

Ladyleftfieldlover

My father always said that we should treat every other driver on the road as an idiot.

A wise man Ladyleftfieldlover.

With your list PamelJ1 only those on their phone or playing Pokémon would have made me feel unsafe, if I’d known about it. Someone with no insurance doesn’t make me at risk of any danger, neither does a person not wearing a seatbelt - they are at risk of injury or worse.
In my experience driving 40 odd years ago was riskier, MOT tests are more stringent, we have ANPR to check documentation, fatality numbers have reduced.

Not only are the roads unsafe but the pavements are equally potentially lethal due to those sodding electric scooters and e-bikes.
I just cannot see any advantages to the evil things!

I find E bikes absolutely fine they don't tend to dawdle like some cyclists. The worse menace around here are disability scooter riders some have no sense at all !

Some disability scooter riders in my town can't see people walking directly in front of them it seems to me.
Really I think you should at least have an eye test!

Roads are more dangerous, and what frightens me is the amount of drug drivers caught and they are not youngsters. What with drink drugs and speed there’s definitely a problem. E bikes haven’t been a nuisance to myself ,but I have been reversed into on a pavement by a mobility scooter on more than one occasion. I had to yell at one woman as I couldn’t get out of her way quick enough. Unperturbed she carried on not a word of apology. The sooner cars do the driving for you the better. What do others think?

TheatreLover

I was waiting to cross a busy road recently, when a huge articulated lorry went by. The driver was drinking from a take-away cup at the time.

From what I've read, some drivers have been found to have recreational drugs in their system.

Really scary.

A woman pedestrian was badly injured near here by a driver who was exceeding the speed limit in the early morning - and even at that time, he had been taking drugs.

Jaxjacky

With your list PamelJ1 only those on their phone or playing Pokémon would have made me feel unsafe, if I’d known about it. Someone with no insurance doesn’t make me at risk of any danger, neither does a person not wearing a seatbelt - they are at risk of injury or worse.
In my experience driving 40 odd years ago was riskier, MOT tests are more stringent, we have ANPR to check documentation, fatality numbers have reduced.

Drivers without insurance, tax or sear belts have a higher accident rate and are more likely to be young drivers and are more likely to be disqualified than average. So,yes, someone driving without insurance does place you at risk

Was the police team checking people randomly, or on the lookout for specific types of vehicles/drivers to check?

It is cause for concern either way, but it doesn't really surprise me.

It always amazes me that so many of the drivers you see on
programmes like Police Interceptors is that so many of the drivers they stop for having no insurance turn out to have no licence and a car full of drugs or stolen goods. If you are dealing in drugs or carrying out robberies why draw attention to yourself by having no insurance? Don't they realise how easily these things can be checked?

Why do most cars have cupholders? Surely that encourages people to drive while they drive.