I heard a sensible explanation for why UK roads might be getting worse from another driving channel called Conquer Driving, and it's two fold. If you have an international license, you can drive for the duration of the license (a full year) even if you fail the UK license test. Additionally, you can drive once you have a license for however long it lasts even if a long period of time elapses from when you first get your license to when you actually drive, because if you do not regularly practice, those skills will atrophy somewhat, and with car ownership becoming much less common among younger people, it's hardly surprising fewer and fewer can regularly practice driving. People in either group find they can sort of kind of drive, but not necessarily to UK standards, and then you get what appears to be really atrocious behavior. Of course, humans also tend to occasionally make mistakes even when they normally drive well, which makes everything even worse.
@@mda5003 Unfortunately, that won't change much. It might filter out some people that are just not good enough, but the vast majority would still pass their test. They'd just drive normally on the test and get right back to not caring.
Agreed, no shortage of poor drivers. Also there are unfortunately plenty of IG accounts advertising "legitimate" UK driving licenses without passing either theory or driving test for a fee which could lead to some very dangerous drivers being put on our roads! 😬
I never use the phone in my car now - I used to, and found it too much of a distraction. Also got fed up of constantly losing signal……..rather let people leave a voicemail, for me to ring them back when I’m stopped somewhere. Half the time, the call is useless anyway for my work, because I often need to refer to emails or documents.
I've found it highly depends on the quality of the gear at both ends. I used to get calls from my previous boss about technical stuff while I was out on (non work) trips, and it was way less distracting when I had a good dedicated hands-free kit with an external microphone and speaker, AND when she (the boss) was using her Jabra headset at her end... It was like talking to someone in the car. But with Bluetooth built into stereos, I find it much harder to concentrate on the driving while still processing the conversation. The quality is horrible, and you both end up yelling to try and talk over the road noise. I've had times where it's been so bad that I've disconnected the Bluetooth and put my phone on speaker sitting in the door grab handle (not the one that opens the door, the chunkier part you pull it closed with) and got better results that way.
@@tin2001 100% you need the right gear, and if you're driving as part of your job then its necessary. unfortunately car companies just cheap out and put the lowest expense gear they can get away with in the car and consumers are never informed enough to know what's up
Hi Ashley, I have been driving for 31 years driving both cars and 7.5 trucks, no points and no accidents in this time, but your videos have taught me that I am not too old to learn coming up to my 65th birthday. Good grief! Your videos are so very well presented, and informative. If only more people watched this channel, the standards on our roads would be so much better and safer. Thank you for teaching this old dog new tricks!
Here in Slovenia, during rain I would say atleast 1 in 5 people are running the brilliant "daylight running lights" that only shine on the front, the rears are off. It becomes even better when the car is dark silver and it completely blends into the rain and water droplets coming from the wheels, you can literally watch it dissapear when it passes by. During these times I tend to just find a well lit car or truck and just camp behind at a safe distance, so I always know an unlit car won't randomly appear in front of me
Maybe. But I’ve had old Japanese cars for years with digital dashes that always light up and it doesn’t stop me putting my lights on. I think it’s more that we were taught ‘see and be seen’ but people now don’t care as long as they can see
I always forget my lights once a year at the same time and it's after a service because whoever does it always seems to turn the dial from auto to off.
I think for some people they have been driving for so long, especially on motorways, that when it turns dark they just forget because they are on autopilot.
A retired Motorway Police Patrol Officer gave the best advice I had heard. You can just switch on your headlight if you have to use your windscreen wipers in the rain.
I mean it may not be as cost-effective (bulbs will burn out) but I just use my dipped beam all day all night. My car doesn't have DRLs (daytime running lights) so I just use dipped beam for the most part. I don't drive a lot either, so the bulbs should last longer than I'll keep the car. In some countries it is even required to run your dipped lights at all times unless you have DRLs and its not a problem. In daytime, the lights aren't going to be blinding anyone, but make you way more visible, whether its sunny or overcast.
I reprogrammed my cars auto lights to trick it into thinking there was a fault by turning off the light sensor. That way I still keep the auto wipers 👍 That’s an 07 Vectra VXR
@@Oligodendrocyte139 oh no see where your coming from, well its part of the in built fail safe that's just been activated. Since its proven to be safer to drive with all lights on they would have to really be anal to find that and also go though each module with Tech 2 and have to know what the factory settings are which are not shown 😫
In the US, a lot of states actually have a ‘lights on-wipers on’ law. So when it’s raining to the point where continuous wipers are needed, lights MUST be on.
IMHO the light thing has always existed. So many people in fog or other poor light conditions are too self centred and figure they can see everyone else and that’s all that matters.
tbh, my old Toyota Auris hybrid had habbit of forgetting to turn lights on, normally dash lights are linked to when lights are on, but in the Auris, dash is always light, only way to tell if have them on is 1 icon.
I see the opposite problem: too many people using fog lights when they're not needed. Some people clearly think that the merest hint of fog merits fog lights, instead of actually making an assessment based on prevailing visibility. Also, why do so many people leave their rear fog lights on when the following driver could quite obviously see them without? I suspect that many people just apply automatic responses to many driving situations. I'm sure they're the same people learn "Mirror, signal, manoeuvre" by rote, then apply it without any thought for why they're signalling.
In Sweden it did not exist until we changed our laws. Before, any car had to have automatic headlights that turns on when you start the car. Any vehicle sold had to have that feature. But then EU changed their rules from no lights during day to at least DLR which added safety in the rest of Europe but not in Sweden where it now wasn't mandatory with rear lights which meant that some people are not used to turn on their lights automatically (and the automatic function either does not work in rain, or they have set it to 0 instead of AUTO), or they think that they never have to have rear lights. Since then you see it quite often, and I sometimes wonder how people does not notice thay they can't see anythng because its pitch black and they only have DLR.
Tailgating is a pet peeve of mine. The worst thing is, I’m regularly tailgated while doing the actual speed limit, and the tailgaters get angry about it. Leave home earlier if you’re running late. I don’t give a monkeys if you, a complete stranger, are running late. I’m getting on with my own life.
Here in Malta, lots of motorists drive without lights, even at the dead of night. More than one local has, totally seriously, explained to me: "It wastes electricity."
At around 7:36 re hitting flood water. Yes I've had that too and agree it can be very scary. A few techniques I use for driving in heavy rain: 1. Use other traffic a good distance ahead to "discover" deep water for me 2. Make sure I have both hands firmly on the wheel but not too tight 3. Invest in good quality tyres and replace them when they are at 3 mm and not the minimum legal 1.6 mm 4. Take very seriously those warning signs that say "Risk of flooding" 5. Keep speed down 6. At least double the 2 second following distance that applies in the dry
A risk of flooding sign has appeared on the A3 northbound at Guildford, between the Cathedral and Guildford exits. I thought it was odd as the road is elevated there and never floods. Turns out the sign is for the adjacent footpath below and to 20th he side of the road! Why they put large road signs up on the A3 itself I don't know.
Some good points there. I'm astounded that during torrential rain I see drivers still inches apart from each other doing 70+ on the motorway. The no light brigade are almost as bad as the "lets dazzle everyone with the rear fog lights" in the wet brigade. On tyres, I always fit cross climate/all season tyres now, they work perfectly well in the summer months, but here in the UK the temperature is ideal for them, they provide much better grip in the wet and in the snow are excellent. I drive 20k miles a year and they last as well.
@@paulsengupta971 Interesting to hear. On a somewhat similar topic, there are sections of A2 dual carriageway around the outer edges of south London that have a 50 mph speed limit. There's at least one slip road coming off the A2 that have signs for 30 mph. If you weren't thinking and because of the placement of the signs close to the main carriageway, you could mistake those 30 mph signs for the A2 itself. I know sometimes on motorways, the slip road can show a different speed limit to the main carriageway but those tend to be much more obvious. Interestingly, sometimes the slip road has a higher limit than the main carriageway. It's basically where a temporary lower limit still applies due to a hazard ahead on the main carriageway but the slip road is clear.
@@paulsengupta971 How are you finding the infamous M25 / A3 junction and the roadworks? Also, I know there have been M25 full closures around there with diversions.
Traffic police (CMPG) have been running a operation to book tailgaters on the M6, it's a bravo from me on that. "A total of 36 vehicles were stopped for tailgating and 101 were stopped for lane hogging or bad lane discipline."
1:50. You mentioned you had already spotted the issue with the lorry needing to pull out, This was the moment when I would have signalled and moved out the the 3rd lane, The outside 4th lane was clear so the car behind in the 3rd lane still had room to safely pull out and pass me. [if the 4th lane had been busy then I would have stayed in the 2nd lane and backed off to let the truck out]. By waiting longer you committed yourself into having a conflict over the road space with the truck and also the car behind with no escape route, so had to then back off for everyone’s safety.
This is something that cruise control also teaches you. Drivers naturally slow down when conflict arises, cruise control (unless it's adaptive) doesn't. So using CC forces you to observe ahead and allow for these situations - claiming the lane absolutely, in this instance.
I think some of the worst conditions I've driven in in recent times was a 3 hour trip from Leicester to Sheffield (it's typically a 1.5 hour journey). My most distinct memory of that journey was sitting in the inside lane at about 55/60mph for a few miles, about 10 seconds behind a lorry (which I could just barely make out through the heavy spray) and about 10 seconds in front of another lorry (which I again could just barely make out through the spray). In other words, technically more than enough space for people to use the gaps in front and behind, yet not a single person did even though it was in fairly heavy traffic - not that I minded, I was quite glad of having that much space! Just earlier today driving down the m1, in thankfully good conditions, there were 2 people middle lane hogging in a 4 lane section in such a fashion that it required going from lane 1 to lane 4 to get past them - one of them being in lane 2, the other in lane 3, close enough together that there was slightly under a car length gap separating them in the separate lanes. I think the one in lane 2 even eventually undertook the one in lane 3.
The van tailgating reminds me of a lorry doing it to me years ago where I didn’t slow becuase the driver was tailgating, I slowed as traffic in the lane next to me was almost stationary so despite the 40mph signs on the gantry I reduced to ~25mph Anyway, the lorry used the hard shoulder to pass me to then be politely asked by the police to use the hard shoulder for a quiet chat
At 3:22, a Birmingham motorway with the hard shoulder as a running lane. Quite a rare sight in my opinion. Every time mum and I head up to the NEC, in my experience I very rarely see the hard shoulder being used as a running lane, despite very heavy afternoon rush hour traffic and no broken down vehicles. Mind you, when the hard shoulder is open as a running lane, there are signs saying it's only if you intend to take the next exit. Of course, some drivers will use it as a "cheat lane" for carrying straight on.
At around 13:15 re "The closer you get, the slower I go". Absolute kudos to you for that Ash. I know you've mentioned that before and I do the same. To increase safety margin in front, though I have to admit, the icing on the cake is that it slows the impatient the tailgater down. 😊
I agree with slowing down to improve safety, and with Ashley's advice to try not to feel pressured, though the latter can be hard, especially for nervous or inexperienced drivers. Ash is hugely experienced, but just look at how much of his attention is directed toward the tailgater. Tailgating is more common than speeding on my daily commute. I'd estimate that less than 5% of the drivers I encounter maintain a 2-second gap. And an unnervingly large percentage of the tailgaters are also obviously distracted: eyes down, instead of up; or eating/drinking; fiddling with hair or make-up.
@@weevilinabox You mentioned a very good point when dealing with tailgaters. Namely to be careful not to keep an excessive amount of attention to them. Of course "keep an eye" on them but also be mindful of everything else going on around you.
This is true, but look at Ashley's eyes, the number of times he's looking behind, regardless of how experienced you are it does take your attention away unnecessarily from where it should be. At best it's dangerous driving.
@@grahambonner508 I was tailgated by a big lorry cab for about twenty minutes on some dark stormy back roads in Wicklow, its presence so imposing and threatening I found myself struggling to keep my eyes forward. After a few minutes I just turned the rearview away from me, since it was useless anyway with him behind, and let me say it *immediately* relieved the mental stress, and allowed me to focus on my own journey at my own pace.
HGV driver here - I usually go for the largest open or opening space in situations like this. People that leave a decent sized gap in slow or stationary traffic then to be better drivers and more aware of what's going on around them compared to those who stop bumper to bumper to get 10 yards closer to their destination. This allows me to get off the slip road and onto the main carriageway quickly and safely, allowing for traffic to flow as smoothly as possible. Going to the end of the slip road may mean having to stop (and all of the traffic behind having to stop) and wait for the 3 cars along side to move forward and hoping the ones behind in lane 1 are considerate enough to allow you to merge, but unfortunately that kind of consideration for other road users is getting less and less common
Yes, they are using the available space on the slip road. But shouldn't they also match the speed of the vehicles in lane 1, to merge safely? They are just speeding past lane 1 to beat them to the merge point.
I get quite nervous with tailgaters (especially if it’s a massive van that blocks out my entire rear window). I’ll take my foot off the gas to slow down (I don’t generally use the brake pedal to do this). They do get pissed off and I always wonder why they don’t just overtake. I think some people are just angry all the time.
I used to do that. Now I get out of their way as soon as possible - if I’m on a lane, I’ll find a pull in and let them go by. I don’t find that driving intentionally slowly, or brake checking is a great idea with many drivers these days. I’m nearly always right behind them at the next set of lights or junction.
@@BanjoPixelSnack The sort of people who tailgate are also the sort of people who don't know what to do if they haven't got another vehicle to blindly follow (into disaster as often as not).
It does feel dangerous to have someone right on your tail. Naturally slowing down in the face of danger is often a good move, as crashes will be less bad as lower speed. The trouble with these people is it just usually winds them up further making them get closer.
At around 1:43, depending on the situation in this type of scenario, I sometimes move out to the next lane to my right early, in order to "claim my space" and avoid either getting boxed in or having to slow considerably and wait. I only do this if the vehicle that's catching up behind is a safe distance away and has another free lane to its right to move into. I guess you could say I caused another driver to change course but if you were to follow that principle to the letter, you'd never drive on public roads!
if possible, I will also accelerate to match speed with the faster traffic so as to minimize my impact on them, even if it is higher than my intended cruising speed. - and conversely, If a "heavy" needs to pass and can't accelerate to the lane speed, I try to be patient with them. it's the ones that have the capacity to match speed, but not the courtesy, that I get annoyed at.
I was not surprised to see the tailgating van indicate and go into Knutsford services, he was in a hurry for coffee 😂 I always try to do the same with people who wish to attach themselves to the rear of my car, I leave twice as much space so you have room for them to stop, manoeuvre, as well.
The unfortunate thing is tailgating is getting worse on all roads now simply due to the standard people are able to fall to with the lack of traffic police around. No lane discipline, not indicating, tailgating, speeding, and much more, all learned behaviour and impatience because nobody in authority is there to issue fixed penalties and hand out points. I remember back in the 80's and 90's the traffic police would issue penalties for not indicating. When was the last time you heard of someone getting a ticket for not indicating !!!!.
With tailgating drivers behind I was always told to just tap your rear view mirror a couple of times, basically acts as an 'I see what you're doing' and the majority of the time they do end up dropping back. Think it was a speed awareness course where I was taught it many years back.
I still remember an old RAC or AA advert back in the 90's. "If you need your camera flash to take the photo, you need you're headlights on". I had a smart fortwo! Probably the same model as that one. You know how they're usually two toned? Apparently the panels were designed by Swatch with the intention to be swappable! You're also surrounded by a huge metal frame. Honestly fun little cars! That is until you have to change a light bulb (unless you have the mkiii with the mitsubushi engine).
Yeah. I remember wondering how the colour swap panels would work here in Australia where your registration shows the colour of the vehicle... I don't think you're allowed to write "depends what colour shirt I put on".
Yup. I'm always looking at my headlights' reflections in the back of other vehicles every so often to check "Can I still see both headlights reflecting properly?". If no, then it's time to take a look at the lights proper. It's usually so obvious when one isn't working too, let alone to see neither is currently on whether that's because they're faulty or not turned on.. I don't understand how people are so incompetent they can't even see the headlight reflection in front of them.
Absolutely. I’ll admit, this has happened, but when my car had its MOT done the lights were not set back to automatic again. Driving home from work, it was getting dark, I was at a set of lights and somebody in the next lane to my right was waving at me and said that my lights are not on. That’s when the penny dropped. Once it’s set to automatic, we do tend to just forget about it and not worry about it. My daytime running lights were bright enough I thought they were on 😮
there was a certain age where cars were made with a manually selected automatic mode for headlights. most of what I've driven with automatic lights had to be manually overridden after the car was started and would reset when the car was turned off.
At around 11:24, I'm quite religious about checking my car before any long journey as well as if it's not been used for a little while. Lights, tyre pressures and tyre condition, all fluid levels etc. Plus I carry spare bulbs for every outside light function and found out how to change them. Even downloaded YT How To videos for my model of car and saved offline for easy reference. I also take every opportunity to check the reflection of my lights on other vehicles when in traffic.
Wow, that's direction to the cause! I wonder how hard it is to access bulbs in your vehicle. The owner's manual for my car includes removal of the wheel arch liner in order to access the headlight bulbs!
I've always religiously carried a full spare set of lamps in all my previous vehicles, even on motorbikes. My current car has LED lamps that are a proper workshop job to replace, not 5 minutes at the side of the road, and I have to say I don't the feeling of not being prepared. Remember gentlemen and ladies, Proper Planning Prevents P*** Poor Performance.
@@weevilinabox I recently helped a friend change the headlight in a car that required opening a hand hole in the wheel arch liner, and then reaching half your arm inside to push a latch down, and by "push a latch down" I mean the other down, because the youtube guy messed up his cardinal directions and published it anyway. and then use a wrench to take out bolts buried a foot deep inside the assembly. and that's not the worst I've heard of. my sister in law had a car where the service manual said, "if you're going to change a headlight bulb, you might as well change all the bulbs, because you have to remove the entire front end of the car to get at them." meanwhile in my daily, you unlatch two pins, and lift them out, and the the entire headlight assembly is out in your hand for easy access to the bulbs.
The one thing i love despite the videos is how you appreciate that category cars can be repaired properly. Most people who are sponsored by car vertical tell people strictly to avoid buying a category car. And from somebody who has worked alongside people repairing category cars i think they can be no worse than any other car. Yes there are plenty of poorly repaired cars but they are always worth checking out as if you are not a car enthusiast just an a to b person you could grab yourself a more modern car with more modern tech for less price tag
If there is a risk of aquaplaning I sometimes drive slightly off centre of the lane. Helps to avoid any troughs in the road caused by traffic wear to the surface.
That's a more important thing to do than I think a lot of people realise. Even in the dry it's a good idea to place yourself a little off line to avoid those troughs and the "tramlining" they can cause. On a road that gets a lot of HGV traffic, and consequent road wear, they can be really bad at forcing a car to go in the direction of the tramlines rather than where you're trying to point it.
Hi Ashley, I'm conflicted and somehwat confused on this at 10:20, but wasn't the Volkwagen and the Audi just continuing to the end and then merging in turn, as you frequently advocate, and the truck and other vehicles were merging too soon? I might have done the same myself (but slower) not with the intent of beating the queue, but just to 'merge in turn'. What the difference here?
I don't think it's just that the cars don't have automatic lights - it's also that they don't also activate where you think they should. I have manually turned on the lights in my Tesla in foggy conditions cos it didn't seem to notice. This is why we have mandatory Daytime Running Lights here in scandinavia of course. But we also have an additional challenge with DRLs - because they are on the instrument panel in the car lights up, so in urban areas with street lights it is very easy to not notice that you don't have main lights on, and drive around with no rear lights on at all. I see this a lot in winter.
In addition to this, by default DRL's are ONLY headlights. Most cars can enable rear lights when DRL's are active, but this has to be done in the settings and the knowledge of where to find said setting isn't exactly common. People also very often seem to forget (or don't care) to switch off highbeams, swap to parking lights when parked (and indicating to even further show they're parked) and the fairly common "I indicated so I'm going" mindset. An arguably bigger issue these days would be that people genuinely have no clue how cars work or what their own or other vehicles are capable of, especially in non-optimal conditions. And by "no clue how cars work", I'm not talking about how to change an engine, brakes etc. I'm talking about the most basic of knowledge; such as how fast an airbag deploys, why repeated aggressive braking is a bad idea, how lights work and where to turn them on/off, the significant difference between cars depending on propulsion method (EV, fossil fuel etc), how to corner properly, understanding perspective, estimating distances, why doing 70mph is a questionable choice, and of course how most people seem to forget just how much a car weights. I could go on and on about "common knowledge" that seems to have been forgotten, but most drivers there days can be described with "At least I'll get to my destination", whether that be the 'obnoxious speedy' ones, or the 'sunday-cruise in the passing lane' ones.
It was nice to see the van driver appreciate your gesture, got tailgated for miles because I was doing 50 on the motorway, it was horrendous the rain, I could hardly see, and yet some seem to think they are safe driving at speed in the pouring rain, I no have we weather tyres. always an Audi
Surely if you were in lane 1 they had at least one other lane they could use to get past? My theory is that they didn't even realise they were doing it. Such people do exist. Maybe they didn't want to overtake as they were trying for a steady 56 to save fuel. 50 would save even more! Was this an indicated 50 or an actual 50?
@@paulsengupta971 about 50 ish, just slow, I was concentrating on trying to see, Oh and I was defiantly on the inside lane, the scary thing was a lot of them were trucks, only ever knew rain like that (constantly anyway) twice before, it was brutal
Great video ash. I had a journey like this the other day when i had to go up to Bristol for a job and it amazed me how much i caught in one journey. Keep up the great work :)
The 'overtake and then slow down' behaviour happens surprisingly often, I use cruise on motorways and people will often overtake and then slow down below your speed. Very odd. I'm not famous, so it's not my registration plate that's causing it 😀 BTW, the general 'keep it calm' vibe on this channel is a great aim for all drivers IMO
2:05 Why not put on your indicator here as an “ask” signal? If the silver one moves over happy days, if they don’t then it’s the same scenario as this. Of course, as it needed up doing anyway it makes it more likely that the van will pull out, so I guess you’d have to be ready for it pulling out earlier.
I think there are a number of reasons people drive without headlights on in adverse weather conditions are ones you mentioned Ashley. But there is another that always comes to mind is, “I can see perfectly well, so why do I need my lights on.” As regards looking after their vehicles. I personally know, of at least 6 people who never get their car services and usually kick off if it falls it’s MOT or Brakes Down and the cost of getting it repaired.
Out of context for the video, but credit to you and your videos! I consider myself quite a decent driver but having watched a lot of your videos, mainly the drive like a driving instructor. I've picked up on so many different tips and lessons that I've noticed I've really brushed up on since watching them and when I'm kind of critiquing myself when driving.
Regarding the first set of clips to do with no lights; I'm totally with you. Not sure how you can not realise that you've got no lights on, and like you said, how can you even see?! It's like people who "forget" their indicator is on, or who drive without their mirrors out. Just how?
Ashley - you are spot on 'no one cares anymore'. 'If you can't beat them, join them' syndrome is very prevalent on our roads now. Isn't it strange that you have to have stringent training, attitude evaluations, medical assessments and a fair bit of intelligence to be ALLOWED to fly aircraft, become surgeons etc but anyone with even half a brain cell is allowed to drive 1 ton killing machines in public after comparatively very basic training.
At around 7:24 it's good you checked to your right, including an over the shoulder blind spot check when joining the motorway, even though the slip road you are on becomes Lane 1. I'm sure many drivers don't bother with such checks just because its a lane addition and as such, they have no idea of the traffic pattern alongside them as they join.
Tailgating to get someone to go faster never works yet these people still do it. As you say, the closer you get, the slower I go. I have been doing that for years just so I can ensure they don't go into the back of me. I had someone behind me on the M25 in traffic who kept talking to their passenger whilst looking at them and not the road. They were doing this whilst tailgating me. 4 times they nearly went into the back of me, but thankfully because I was slowing smoothly and early, they didnt. My car definitely would have been hit if I didn't adjust my driving for how close they were.
Great video as always! I did wonder if putting the right indicator on could have prompted the sliver car to move over? Ashley anticipated the whole situation way in advance which was excellent. And I can see that just slowing down to let the other out solved it with minimal fuss. So it's a minor point I am making. I am thinking it was my instinct was to put the right turn on, see if he moves over. If not, I would then slow down as Ash did. All helps if anticipate it way in advance. Slowing down a little to avoid issues is good driving! I totally agree that just pulling out assuming the silver car would see us and also move over - would be a poor move.Dangerous due to the speed differences. Some drivers are on their phone etc. The main thing is to stay safe, slowing down a little at times often keeps us that way.
4:57 I used to drive for a steel stockholder and we would often have beams 6 feet out the front, and up to 10 feet out the back of the truck. The back ones were the bigger problem, especially if turning at a junction, I would have to position myself on the left of the road if turning right, just to stop cars pulling alongside the beams and right in the "swing zone" The projection to the front was far less of a worry, as I could at least see that, and would make sure it never protruded over the carriageway I was entering, until it was safe for me to entry.
I always have my lights on. There are so many lighting conditions in which it helps you to at least be seen. In bright conditions your car can be hidden when going through shadowed areas, etc. It can never be too bright on dipped lights because in bright conditions, the lights don't appear too bright because of pupils of eyes narrowing to adapt to sunlight.
Many, many moons ago, I bought a Mini (when they really were mini) in Neon Blue. Unless the sun was Mediterranean bright, the car was actually tarmac grey. After three near misses in less than a year, I realised I wasn't being seen even with headlights, got scared and sold it. Since then, I've always had red or yellow cars and still always turn on dipped headlights.
I've seen a number of cars, relatively new that have no lights on but when you go to past they seem to have dipped headlights on and not DRLs. Flash them a few times, some react and put them on but some do not. And this has been level of light that you would surely know if you had no lights on. Lights not only help you see where you are going but also allows other people to see you which sometimes is jus as important if not more so, some people forget that especially those on 2 wheels it seems to me.
7:19 I kinda love aquaplane moments ngl :) I love the thrill of it, and driving in the wet in general. Even more fun on semi slicks... :P On the point though, assuming you have road tyres in good condition, it's likely not true aquaplaning in the sense the tyre fully loses contact with the road surface. You should still have some grip even though it pulls the steering, it's just displacing a lot of water in the tyre grooves, so you lose say 70% of grip, but you still have some degree of control by holding the steering tight lol, just got to make sure you keep a good grip of the steering wheel and not let it take you by surprise too much, part of the thrill of wet driving hahaha
I agree Ash. Even before in my 15 minute drive through rush hour, the amount of people on their phones as soon as the traffic stops or just driving without seemingly any clue on lanes or how to use indicators infuriates me
I see a lot of this - drivers without lights on at night, in overcast or rainy conditions. I call them No-light Numpties. I also see a lot of one-eyed jacks as well - those that cannot be bothered to replace that one bulb that has probably been out for a while. Then you have cars with lights that will scorch your retinas, and others that have the lumens of the remants of a candle.
One of my pet dislikes is, on a motorway or dual carriageway, when a vehicle passes me, then moves back into the same lane as me, but so close that I’m effectively tailgating them and have to slow down to make room. When I overtake another vehicle, I wait until I’m well past before moving back to their lane.
Some years ago I had a lad, Graham, who worked for me and who had been with the British Army in Bosnia. He used to call vehicles with one working headlight "Bosnian Motorcycles" because of how they appear at night, and the commonness of it in Bosnia at the time. I still use the phrase to this day.
I think it's actually less common now than it used to be; it's just that small bunch of stubborn hold-outs who still insist that switching lights on puts you at risk of attack by the Luftwaffe, and that one 2W sidelight behind brown plastic is perfectly adequate - and they _always_ drive black cars. You still see the DRL-only at twilight mob, dazzling those in front and invisible from behind. It should be a requirement that DRLs illuminate the rear lights too. I'm of the wipers on = lights on mindset (as a bare minimum), although my car has DRLs for those times that headlights are not needed, and will switch the lights on with the wipers. I'm also constantly checking that they are actually on, both on the dashboard and by reflections. At least we no longer get the constant and often aggressive flashing by other drivers if you did put your lights on in anything other than Stygian gloom. As someone who would have dipped lights on a lot of the time back in the early 70s, I'm glad that irritation has gone.
I think rear running lights should be as much of a thing as front running lights. - and I also agree that switching the lights on with the wipers should be an automatic thing.
@@kenbrown2808 The EU requirement for all cars to be fitted with DRLs only specified front DRLs and I do think that was a mistake. Some brands that were fitting DRLs _before_ the directive did both front and rear (BWM were one) and that means that you can see examples of both while you're driving around. It's clear to me from observation that having both ends lit with DRLs is clearly superior. Also the permitting combined DRLs and indicators, where the DRL on that side goes off while the indicator is on seems like a serious error to me too - as one glances around one can see cars with one DRL on, and the other off on the 'off' phase of the flashing indicator and it definitely makes them harder to spot and harder to localise on the road.
Yes. Worked in retail security many years ago. Normally we’d be required to wait until shoplifters the store to detain them, but in one store we had an agreement with local police (& presumably cps/magistrates) we could detain just within the store as security staff were often set upon by local “barrow boys” working in the street market outside when they tried to detain thieves outside.
What's your problem at with the cars using lane 1 at about 10:30 Ashley? I'd have thought you'd be fine with this, use all of the road rather than merging at the first opportunity and lengthening the queue? If they were moving out of lane 2 to undertake I'd be a bit more annoyed, but they were already in that lane, used all of the lane, and merged when they needed to, I don't think they did anything wrong,
You'd think that, right? I tried to do precisely that on a motorway journey about 5 weeks ago. The driver in the lane I was moving into saw what was coming and, as I was about to perform the maneuvre (having checked they were still well enough back), put their horn on and blasted on their accelerator, forcing me to apply brakes and abandon the maneuvre as they sped off ahead. Now, as well as thinking more about my own speed in these situations, I think the same as Ashley: "I'm not going to trust the person behind to be as thoughtful as I am".
I think the thing with the lights, especially with the Ford at 8:10 (as I used to drive one and it was the first car I drove where I noticed it) is that with a lot of modern cars, the interior lighting behind the switches and dials is always on so there are less obvious clues inside the car telling you that your lights are on or off than there used to be. Not an excuse because it's poor whichever way you slice it, but I often wonder if that is the reason why people forget to switch them on.
Well this was a well-timed video! A few weeks ago I had to do an EV training course in Salford, I live on the Welsh side of Chester, so that meant 3 days driving there and back, I covered about 300 miles on the M53, M56, M6, M62 and M602, all of which in similar conditions to the ones shown in your video with heavy traffic, accidents, poor weather etc. This was my first long solo motorway trip since passing my test in 2020, and I think I did fairly well except for a few minor issues, which were mostly down to not knowing the roads, worn markings etc. But some of the stunts I saw other drivers involved in were terrifying, they were enough to make me think twice about using these roads again unless I really have to! At one point I was overtaking a truck on the M56 and as I was alongside they decided to change lanes, fortunately there was nothing to the right of me, but still, I was in a big white van, how did they miss it?! The other one was coming onto the M53 there was a car on the slip road doing 30mph, I ended up having to overtake as joining a live carriageway at that speed would have been lethal, but as I went past them, keep in mind it was a 2-lane slip road, they veered over into my lane, good job there was a hatched area I could use to avoid them!
Both routes that you have driven in this video were my past and now my current commute to work. Unfortunately, this is all too common and is a normal occurrence daily. Luckily I had the joy of driving to and from work at the early hours of the morning/late nights but even then there are still a few about!
In addition to drivers not turning lights on, I've also encountered the opposite issue on motorways. Namely, oncoming drivers in the opposite carriageway using high beam at night...and not dipping them when you come into their view. I guess they figure that due to the width of the carriageway and the multiple lanes, that their high beams won't dazzle you. This seems to be a growing trend.
I bet you were glad to get home after that journey Ash. I know what it's like to do a long motorway journey in less than ideal conditions, after dark, in heavy rain and heavy traffic. I'm always glad to get home after all that, or even the hotel room if its the outbound journey. Whereapon I then think of the journey home!
Question: How is the slip road event "queue jumping" and not "using the full road space to merge in turn"? I don't really see a distinction and would appreciate it explained.
Regarding the failure to turn on lights... I see that far too often. While they might not need the lights to see where they are going, they need the lights to be SEEN by others on the road. One of the worst examples of this happened several years ago. I was driving home after work, around midnight, in winter, while it was snowing. It was pitch black until suddenly I see these brake lights come on less than 20 feet in front of me. Until that moment, I did not know there was anyone else on the road -- they had no lights on at all ! As for tailgaters... I do the same as Ashley -- I slow and allow the space in front of me to grow. This does two things -- (1) shows the tailgater I won't be pressured to go faster than I am comfortable going; and (2) allows me the time and space to react slower thereby minimizing the chances of being rear-ended by a less-than-attentive driver behind. More than once I have experienced a tailgater following so close I could not see their front grill. I was already going more than the posted legal limit (110 km/h in a 100km/h zone), so I wasn't going to go any faster just to make them happy -- they can overtake if they wish. In many cases, there was no chance for me to safely change lanes to allow them past. In other cases, the traffic ahead was already slowing, so it would have been useless to accelerated only to have to slow down 10 seconds later. Sometimes, I am sure they give out driving licenses like prizes in boxes of Cracker Jacks !
Years ago - 1970s/80s - in some areas it was common practice, and legally acceptable, to run with no lights in urban areas with streetlamps on. Even worse with dark coloured paintwork under the old style sodium yellow lighting.
It’s amazing having grown up with and formulated my driving behaviour around your videos and a desire to be smart and safe, that when I enter normal society on the motorways I just get absolutely stunned by the lack of thought or any care for driving standards or safety by the majority of the population. I forget that we are exemplary because we should be the norm
I've seen it everywhere i go. Been watching Ashley's videos for a few years now and at least a few times a day i see an idiot on the road. I walk passed parked cars and sometimes i see tyres balder than Gandhi's noggin. Lights that are dim or just the one and so many bad habits.
went on the motoway for the first time during the weekend (got the car 2 weeks ago, passed 2 momths ago) not as scary as my parents made it out to be. Just the getting on at slip roads is the real pain. Got on, got of at the services, Got back on, Spun around on at the next junction and did the same thing at the services southbound. Brought my cousin with me so he could guide me. For the entirety of it I suck in the left lane 4 sec gap from the guy infront (dry conditions)
It’s not just the automatic lights. Instrument panels are always illuminated so the driver doesn’t get the trigger that things are a bit dark. On older cars the dashboard lights only came on when you turned the lights on.
I remember a Swedish report from the 80s that found that vehicles having their lights on 24/7 prevented more accidents than enforcing speed restrictions. For that reason since about 2006 when I bought my first vehicle that automatically turned the lights of when the ignition went off, I have always left my lights on. Because daylight running lamps don't engage the rear lights I do not rely just these and auto turns the lights on too late, especially when it is foggy.
The light issue happens more often for various reasons. First driver inattention. Then depending on the car, auto lights, permanently illuminated instruments, some with small lights on indicator. Daytime running lights that are bright and mostly front only! Lights not working and the driver either not noticing or waiting until it can be fixed. Some designs make bulb replacement difficult!
I drive with dipped beam lights on all the time. Even at work the company policy is to drive with them on, though we can use the automatic headlights should we wish to on the enviro 400mmc buses. I still tend to turn the dipped beam on on those as I don't have to think about them later on to m make sure the bus is actually turning the lights on. they still automatically change the way the lights are lit up when It gets dark though which I find weird. When it comes to checking, I always check my car headlights at least weekly. And even then if I don't notice because they've just stopped working them my friends will tell me because they know I don't like driving without all my lights working. I'm a little obsessive over keeping my car in operational working order. I saw a BMW driving like an idiot but had already got a dent in the bumper and it's a 24 plate BMW
11:44 You can see the headlights are working, because they flashed to signal ahead. Still, it's appalling that anyone would drive like that under such conditions.
I think many people don’t realise their headlamps are not on due to modern vehicles having the Speedo illuminate when ignition is on. Old cars the clocks would be black without the lights being on. Even worse with most vehicle now using bright lcd screens. USA 🇺🇸 have law in most states. If wipers are on headlamp must also be on. This feature is automatic as the BCU can be flashed to make this happen. Most Canadian vehicle you can’t turn off the headlamps. Always on like motorcycles are here. I see so many drivers only using their day time running lights, when it’s night. They see light out the front and presume it’s headlamps. But have zero rear lights on. Some vehicles have rear DRL like Landrover but most don’t. I think so many people drive in a zombie like auto state. Not concentrating on the very thing they should be driving the vehicle in this moment.
I have been driving for 45 years now and in my experience, throughout all that time, there have been people driving without lights under poor visibility conditions.
As a new driver who learned how and when to use the lights after I took my driver licence i would like to point out that the only thing my instructor said to me about headlights was dont stress about those as they are automatic. Didnt touch them, didnt use them and after learning how to drive in a 2021-2022 car i jumped straight to a 2008 car where most of it is manual. Same thing goes for hand break and wipers.
It should be law to have yer lights on like sweden. First thing they ask if you have an RTI is did you have your lights on in a claim. There was a survey years ago where people were concerned on wearing the lamps out. But nowadays people just dont care zoned out when they get in a car zoned out while driving 😊
If they are in front of me with no lights, I find a few flashes of the high beam lights often gets the message across. Its often the super bright DRLs that make them think they have their lights on.
I think part of the issue with lights is” I can see ok” also with DLR a lot of cars have a light on the dash telling them lights are on. As an ex 65,000 mile a year engineer, The road around me s like a 360 degree pop up book, I’m always looking for the next thing to happen. But the” I can use any lane including the the slip road/ hard shoulder to get where i want to go” seems to be becoming more prevalent since the use of marked police cars gets less and less. There was a time where you would as many as dozen separate police vehicles on a long journey, now you go for days without seeing one. No doubt there are loads of unmarked ones.
I have a fantastic little gadget in my car for tailgaters, it's labelled as 'cruise control' but if you turn it on then lower the speed by 1mph every now and then it works wonders at effortlessly annoying tailgaters. Especially where I live, a lot of the main roads are 40mph with some 30mph sections thrown in occasionally for busy junctions, knowing when the 30 zones are coming up means I let off the speed a few hundred yards before any signage starts, usually not a problem but great for annoying those tailgaters that don't know the speed limit is about to lower.
I remember when after passing my car test in 1983, I loved driving! This shows everything why I now hate it. Be glad when I no longer have too. To many cars and to many idiots.
call me confused but in the scenario @around 10:30 what's the difference between people using the full length of the left hand line before joining and staying in the right lane as long as possible before a merge in turn? Surely its the people joining the main carriageway earlier than needed are causing the problem here?
The problem is not with people legitimately using the full length of the slip road, but with people moving _from_ lane 1 of the main carriageway into the slip road in order to gain a few places. Ash states that the white VW and dark Audi both do this. I don't think we can see the move from lane 1 by the VW, because it's obscured by the lorry, but the Audi driver is clearly guilty.
It's a good point about lights coming on automatically, you do get used to it. I was dubious about the automatic dip on my wife's car, but it works flawlessly and you get used to that very quickly indeed. Then suddenly you have to start dipping again, in a different vehicle.
As a British soldier, I learned to drive in Germany and the Netherlands, taking a Durch Driving Test. On my first trip back home, in about 1966, whilst driving in patchy fog, quite thick in places, I was pulled over by a police patrol, the policeman said „did you know that you have your lights on!“ Had it been in Germany, I would have earned a fine if they had not been on.
I have auto lights on my car and they are never used. I have my lights on regardless of the weather and that is habitual from doing many miles along different road types - country lanes in the summer can cause problems around trees so having lights on makes it easier to be spotting as others flick between shade and bright sunshine. Along motorways the sun glare off other vehicles and road glare fatigue can sometimes make you hard to spot so having the lights on can sometimes make you seen better from behind The only auto technology I have on is auto wiper when it is raining but not hard enough for continuous wipe. And that is only becuase the Ford Focus doesn’t have intermittent wipe but instead is auto wipe
In many European countries you are legally required to have headlights on at all times when driving, even during sunny days, even if you have daylight running lights
Girl at work passed her test recently and bought a Corsa. She was complaining that the headlights were rubbish. Turns out the car she learnt in had auto-lights and she just assumed all cars were the same, so was just driving with DRLs at night. She seemed completely shocked that she has to turn her own lights on! I can only assume she was taught how to pass a test, not how to drive. I've also found that the majority of people who don't spend a penny on car maintenance, driving with blown headlight bulbs, bald or very cheap branded tyres are the same people who spend obscene amounts of money on material objects, needlessly expensive phones, clothes, etc.
Nice video (as usual) and you caught some interesting things. If you want more content, you should do a trip in the Netherlands. Drivers here are worse, you’d he shocked. Signaling is rarely done correctly and keeping the distance between cars is something unheard of. If they can squeeze their car between yours and the one in front of you and there are three feet remaining between them, then they will go for it. And this happens so so often, I see it at least 10 times in a 20 minutes drive. Shocking how big of a difference it can be between German and Dutch drivers, for example.
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I don't get why people leave it to the last second to move out to overtake when they have ample opportunity to do it 100 metres before hand.
I heard a sensible explanation for why UK roads might be getting worse from another driving channel called Conquer Driving, and it's two fold. If you have an international license, you can drive for the duration of the license (a full year) even if you fail the UK license test. Additionally, you can drive once you have a license for however long it lasts even if a long period of time elapses from when you first get your license to when you actually drive, because if you do not regularly practice, those skills will atrophy somewhat, and with car ownership becoming much less common among younger people, it's hardly surprising fewer and fewer can regularly practice driving. People in either group find they can sort of kind of drive, but not necessarily to UK standards, and then you get what appears to be really atrocious behavior. Of course, humans also tend to occasionally make mistakes even when they normally drive well, which makes everything even worse.
I think it's fair to say that as long as people are still allowed driver's licenses, Ashley won't run out of content for this channel.
It seems half the drivers on the roads today don't deserve to even have a driver's licence. My suggestion would be stiffer tests.
People will always behave as people have always behaved….
@@mda5003 Unfortunately, that won't change much. It might filter out some people that are just not good enough, but the vast majority would still pass their test. They'd just drive normally on the test and get right back to not caring.
Agreed, no shortage of poor drivers. Also there are unfortunately plenty of IG accounts advertising "legitimate" UK driving licenses without passing either theory or driving test for a fee which could lead to some very dangerous drivers being put on our roads! 😬
Driving licence in the UK.
I really like that she identified that you needed your mind 100% on the road and ended the phone call. Perfect!
I never use the phone in my car now - I used to, and found it too much of a distraction. Also got fed up of constantly losing signal……..rather let people leave a voicemail, for me to ring them back when I’m stopped somewhere. Half the time, the call is useless anyway for my work, because I often need to refer to emails or documents.
I noticed that too. Well done Liz.
I've found it highly depends on the quality of the gear at both ends. I used to get calls from my previous boss about technical stuff while I was out on (non work) trips, and it was way less distracting when I had a good dedicated hands-free kit with an external microphone and speaker, AND when she (the boss) was using her Jabra headset at her end... It was like talking to someone in the car.
But with Bluetooth built into stereos, I find it much harder to concentrate on the driving while still processing the conversation. The quality is horrible, and you both end up yelling to try and talk over the road noise.
I've had times where it's been so bad that I've disconnected the Bluetooth and put my phone on speaker sitting in the door grab handle (not the one that opens the door, the chunkier part you pull it closed with) and got better results that way.
@@tin2001 100% you need the right gear, and if you're driving as part of your job then its necessary.
unfortunately car companies just cheap out and put the lowest expense gear they can get away with in the car and consumers are never informed enough to know what's up
I used to refer to my ex wife as "hun".... not in a romantic way, more in association to Atilla!
Hi Ashley, I have been driving for 31 years driving both cars and 7.5 trucks, no points and no accidents in this time, but your videos have taught me that I am not too old to learn coming up to my 65th birthday. Good grief! Your videos are so very well presented, and informative. If only more people watched this channel, the standards on our roads would be so much better and safer. Thank you for teaching this old dog new tricks!
Here in Slovenia, during rain I would say atleast 1 in 5 people are running the brilliant "daylight running lights" that only shine on the front, the rears are off. It becomes even better when the car is dark silver and it completely blends into the rain and water droplets coming from the wheels, you can literally watch it dissapear when it passes by.
During these times I tend to just find a well lit car or truck and just camp behind at a safe distance, so I always know an unlit car won't randomly appear in front of me
Same here in Finland but now imagine the rain is snow blowing in the wind and the car without lights is white :)
The reason so many forget lights is due to the modern digital dashes that are always illuminated.
Maybe. But I’ve had old Japanese cars for years with digital dashes that always light up and it doesn’t stop me putting my lights on. I think it’s more that we were taught ‘see and be seen’ but people now don’t care as long as they can see
I always forget my lights once a year at the same time and it's after a service because whoever does it always seems to turn the dial from auto to off.
@@iamaduckquack that’ll be mechanics like me after your MoT 😬 I do try and remember to put them back to auto 😊
@@iamaduckquack I had a Nova with a GTE digital dash and I always ran my sidelights (to be cool) 🫣
I think for some people they have been driving for so long, especially on motorways, that when it turns dark they just forget because they are on autopilot.
A retired Motorway Police Patrol Officer gave the best advice I had heard. You can just switch on your headlight if you have to use your windscreen wipers in the rain.
I mean it may not be as cost-effective (bulbs will burn out) but I just use my dipped beam all day all night. My car doesn't have DRLs (daytime running lights) so I just use dipped beam for the most part. I don't drive a lot either, so the bulbs should last longer than I'll keep the car.
In some countries it is even required to run your dipped lights at all times unless you have DRLs and its not a problem. In daytime, the lights aren't going to be blinding anyone, but make you way more visible, whether its sunny or overcast.
I reprogrammed my cars auto lights to trick it into thinking there was a fault by turning off the light sensor. That way I still keep the auto wipers 👍
That’s an 07 Vectra VXR
@stever456 Would that count as an insurance-invalidating unapproved modification though?
@@Oligodendrocyte139 oh no see where your coming from, well its part of the in built fail safe that's just been activated. Since its proven to be safer to drive with all lights on they would have to really be anal to find that and also go though each module with Tech 2 and have to know what the factory settings are which are not shown 😫
In the US, a lot of states actually have a ‘lights on-wipers on’ law. So when it’s raining to the point where continuous wipers are needed, lights MUST be on.
2:39 As a lorry driver the thumbs up is everything. 10/10
IMHO the light thing has always existed. So many people in fog or other poor light conditions are too self centred and figure they can see everyone else and that’s all that matters.
tbh, my old Toyota Auris hybrid had habbit of forgetting to turn lights on, normally dash lights are linked to when lights are on, but in the Auris, dash is always light, only way to tell if have them on is 1 icon.
I see the opposite problem: too many people using fog lights when they're not needed. Some people clearly think that the merest hint of fog merits fog lights, instead of actually making an assessment based on prevailing visibility.
Also, why do so many people leave their rear fog lights on when the following driver could quite obviously see them without?
I suspect that many people just apply automatic responses to many driving situations. I'm sure they're the same people learn "Mirror, signal, manoeuvre" by rote, then apply it without any thought for why they're signalling.
I have exactly the same opinion, the definition of a tory, "I'm alright Jack" mentality
In Sweden it did not exist until we changed our laws. Before, any car had to have automatic headlights that turns on when you start the car. Any vehicle sold had to have that feature. But then EU changed their rules from no lights during day to at least DLR which added safety in the rest of Europe but not in Sweden where it now wasn't mandatory with rear lights which meant that some people are not used to turn on their lights automatically (and the automatic function either does not work in rain, or they have set it to 0 instead of AUTO), or they think that they never have to have rear lights.
Since then you see it quite often, and I sometimes wonder how people does not notice thay they can't see anythng because its pitch black and they only have DLR.
Or they turn their foglights on at the merest hint of mist and leave them on for the next 6 months.
Tailgating is a pet peeve of mine. The worst thing is, I’m regularly tailgated while doing the actual speed limit, and the tailgaters get angry about it.
Leave home earlier if you’re running late. I don’t give a monkeys if you, a complete stranger, are running late. I’m getting on with my own life.
too true. Too many treat the communute like it's a bloody grand prix!
Let me guess you're sat in the middle lane. Just because your speedo says 70 your more likely doing 66.
@@nodwaa9227 No, I’m doing 30 in a 30 in a village. No middle lanes there. Nice try. Obviously a tailgater, aren’t you?
@@bestintheworld568 tailgater absolutely not. I'd have just gone past you.
@@bestintheworld568 and like I said. Just because your speedo says 30. It doesn't mean you're going 30.
Here in Malta, lots of motorists drive without lights, even at the dead of night. More than one local has, totally seriously, explained to me: "It wastes electricity."
When the car's engine automatically generates it via the alternator.....
Saves fuel from running the alternator harder 👍
@@smilerbob Not driving also saves fuel
@@jaskajokunen3716 Very true 👍
@@davidty2006 Not free though.
At around 7:36 re hitting flood water. Yes I've had that too and agree it can be very scary. A few techniques I use for driving in heavy rain:
1. Use other traffic a good distance ahead to "discover" deep water for me
2. Make sure I have both hands firmly on the wheel but not too tight
3. Invest in good quality tyres and replace them when they are at 3 mm and not the minimum legal 1.6 mm
4. Take very seriously those warning signs that say "Risk of flooding"
5. Keep speed down
6. At least double the 2 second following distance that applies in the dry
A risk of flooding sign has appeared on the A3 northbound at Guildford, between the Cathedral and Guildford exits. I thought it was odd as the road is elevated there and never floods. Turns out the sign is for the adjacent footpath below and to 20th he side of the road! Why they put large road signs up on the A3 itself I don't know.
Some good points there. I'm astounded that during torrential rain I see drivers still inches apart from each other doing 70+ on the motorway. The no light brigade are almost as bad as the "lets dazzle everyone with the rear fog lights" in the wet brigade. On tyres, I always fit cross climate/all season tyres now, they work perfectly well in the summer months, but here in the UK the temperature is ideal for them, they provide much better grip in the wet and in the snow are excellent. I drive 20k miles a year and they last as well.
@@paulsengupta971 Interesting to hear. On a somewhat similar topic, there are sections of A2 dual carriageway around the outer edges of south London that have a 50 mph speed limit. There's at least one slip road coming off the A2 that have signs for 30 mph. If you weren't thinking and because of the placement of the signs close to the main carriageway, you could mistake those 30 mph signs for the A2 itself. I know sometimes on motorways, the slip road can show a different speed limit to the main carriageway but those tend to be much more obvious. Interestingly, sometimes the slip road has a higher limit than the main carriageway. It's basically where a temporary lower limit still applies due to a hazard ahead on the main carriageway but the slip road is clear.
@@paulsengupta971 How are you finding the infamous M25 / A3 junction and the roadworks? Also, I know there have been M25 full closures around there with diversions.
I will replace tires early if they are getting marginal, coming into the rainy season.
Traffic police (CMPG) have been running a operation to book tailgaters on the M6, it's a bravo from me on that. "A total of 36 vehicles were stopped for tailgating and 101 were stopped for lane hogging or bad lane discipline."
1:50. You mentioned you had already spotted the issue with the lorry needing to pull out, This was the moment when I would have signalled and moved out the the 3rd lane,
The outside 4th lane was clear so the car behind in the 3rd lane still had room to safely pull out and pass me.
[if the 4th lane had been busy then I would have stayed in the 2nd lane and backed off to let the truck out].
By waiting longer you committed yourself into having a conflict over the road space with the truck and also the car behind with no escape route, so had to then back off for everyone’s safety.
This is something that cruise control also teaches you. Drivers naturally slow down when conflict arises, cruise control (unless it's adaptive) doesn't. So using CC forces you to observe ahead and allow for these situations - claiming the lane absolutely, in this instance.
I think some of the worst conditions I've driven in in recent times was a 3 hour trip from Leicester to Sheffield (it's typically a 1.5 hour journey). My most distinct memory of that journey was sitting in the inside lane at about 55/60mph for a few miles, about 10 seconds behind a lorry (which I could just barely make out through the heavy spray) and about 10 seconds in front of another lorry (which I again could just barely make out through the spray). In other words, technically more than enough space for people to use the gaps in front and behind, yet not a single person did even though it was in fairly heavy traffic - not that I minded, I was quite glad of having that much space!
Just earlier today driving down the m1, in thankfully good conditions, there were 2 people middle lane hogging in a 4 lane section in such a fashion that it required going from lane 1 to lane 4 to get past them - one of them being in lane 2, the other in lane 3, close enough together that there was slightly under a car length gap separating them in the separate lanes. I think the one in lane 2 even eventually undertook the one in lane 3.
Crazy number of in incidents happening on a single trip! Thanks as always for the great content!
The van tailgating reminds me of a lorry doing it to me years ago where I didn’t slow becuase the driver was tailgating, I slowed as traffic in the lane next to me was almost stationary so despite the 40mph signs on the gantry I reduced to ~25mph
Anyway, the lorry used the hard shoulder to pass me to then be politely asked by the police to use the hard shoulder for a quiet chat
We love to see it.
I just get out of their way. I can always go behind them as they tailgate the person in front, maybe helping my lane move faster.
At 3:22, a Birmingham motorway with the hard shoulder as a running lane. Quite a rare sight in my opinion. Every time mum and I head up to the NEC, in my experience I very rarely see the hard shoulder being used as a running lane, despite very heavy afternoon rush hour traffic and no broken down vehicles. Mind you, when the hard shoulder is open as a running lane, there are signs saying it's only if you intend to take the next exit. Of course, some drivers will use it as a "cheat lane" for carrying straight on.
At around 13:15 re "The closer you get, the slower I go". Absolute kudos to you for that Ash. I know you've mentioned that before and I do the same. To increase safety margin in front, though I have to admit, the icing on the cake is that it slows the impatient the tailgater down. 😊
I agree with slowing down to improve safety, and with Ashley's advice to try not to feel pressured, though the latter can be hard, especially for nervous or inexperienced drivers. Ash is hugely experienced, but just look at how much of his attention is directed toward the tailgater.
Tailgating is more common than speeding on my daily commute. I'd estimate that less than 5% of the drivers I encounter maintain a 2-second gap. And an unnervingly large percentage of the tailgaters are also obviously distracted: eyes down, instead of up; or eating/drinking; fiddling with hair or make-up.
@@weevilinabox You mentioned a very good point when dealing with tailgaters. Namely to be careful not to keep an excessive amount of attention to them. Of course "keep an eye" on them but also be mindful of everything else going on around you.
This is true, but look at Ashley's eyes, the number of times he's looking behind, regardless of how experienced you are it does take your attention away unnecessarily from where it should be. At best it's dangerous driving.
@@grahambonner508 I was tailgated by a big lorry cab for about twenty minutes on some dark stormy back roads in Wicklow, its presence so imposing and threatening I found myself struggling to keep my eyes forward. After a few minutes I just turned the rearview away from me, since it was useless anyway with him behind, and let me say it *immediately* relieved the mental stress, and allowed me to focus on my own journey at my own pace.
If you were the lorry at 10:10 would you have used the full length of the slip road and joined further down?
Yes!
If I was a lorry I would be upset at no longer being human 😁
HGV driver here - I usually go for the largest open or opening space in situations like this. People that leave a decent sized gap in slow or stationary traffic then to be better drivers and more aware of what's going on around them compared to those who stop bumper to bumper to get 10 yards closer to their destination. This allows me to get off the slip road and onto the main carriageway quickly and safely, allowing for traffic to flow as smoothly as possible.
Going to the end of the slip road may mean having to stop (and all of the traffic behind having to stop) and wait for the 3 cars along side to move forward and hoping the ones behind in lane 1 are considerate enough to allow you to merge, but unfortunately that kind of consideration for other road users is getting less and less common
@@ashley_nealAre the white SUV and the Audi not just saving road space and shortening the queue by using all the available space 😜
Yes, they are using the available space on the slip road.
But shouldn't they also match the speed of the vehicles in lane 1, to merge safely? They are just speeding past lane 1 to beat them to the merge point.
I do love me a long motorway journey Ash! Hope you got to enjoy the trip down to Worcester and back!
I always slow down for tailgaters it's amazing how unintentionally I end up winding them up and they get the red mist syndrome
I get quite nervous with tailgaters (especially if it’s a massive van that blocks out my entire rear window). I’ll take my foot off the gas to slow down (I don’t generally use the brake pedal to do this). They do get pissed off and I always wonder why they don’t just overtake. I think some people are just angry all the time.
I used to do that. Now I get out of their way as soon as possible - if I’m on a lane, I’ll find a pull in and let them go by. I don’t find that driving intentionally slowly, or brake checking is a great idea with many drivers these days. I’m nearly always right behind them at the next set of lights or junction.
@@BanjoPixelSnack The sort of people who tailgate are also the sort of people who don't know what to do if they haven't got another vehicle to blindly follow (into disaster as often as not).
It does feel dangerous to have someone right on your tail. Naturally slowing down in the face of danger is often a good move, as crashes will be less bad as lower speed. The trouble with these people is it just usually winds them up further making them get closer.
@@ianmason. You should be on stage if you can read other peoples minds. Safer than you being on the road, anyway
Too many people think the sole purpose of lights is to help them see, and overlook the fact that it also helps them to be seen.
But Ashley saw the cars without their lights on...
@Chomp-Rock so?
@@Train-life-class-323 so you could argue that having their lights on wasn't necessary for them to be seen. I thought that was implied by my comment.
At around 1:43, depending on the situation in this type of scenario, I sometimes move out to the next lane to my right early, in order to "claim my space" and avoid either getting boxed in or having to slow considerably and wait. I only do this if the vehicle that's catching up behind is a safe distance away and has another free lane to its right to move into. I guess you could say I caused another driver to change course but if you were to follow that principle to the letter, you'd never drive on public roads!
if possible, I will also accelerate to match speed with the faster traffic so as to minimize my impact on them, even if it is higher than my intended cruising speed. - and conversely, If a "heavy" needs to pass and can't accelerate to the lane speed, I try to be patient with them. it's the ones that have the capacity to match speed, but not the courtesy, that I get annoyed at.
I see this as good planning ahead, not getting in the way! Keeps the flow of traffic moving
I was not surprised to see the tailgating van indicate and go into Knutsford services, he was in a hurry for coffee 😂 I always try to do the same with people who wish to attach themselves to the rear of my car, I leave twice as much space so you have room for them to stop, manoeuvre, as well.
Maybe he was touching cloth. I get the impression delivery drivers don't get many opportunities to off-load on their daily rounds.
The unfortunate thing is tailgating is getting worse on all roads now simply due to the standard people are able to fall to with the lack of traffic police around. No lane discipline, not indicating, tailgating, speeding, and much more, all learned behaviour and impatience because nobody in authority is there to issue fixed penalties and hand out points. I remember back in the 80's and 90's the traffic police would issue penalties for not indicating. When was the last time you heard of someone getting a ticket for not indicating !!!!.
With tailgating drivers behind I was always told to just tap your rear view mirror a couple of times, basically acts as an 'I see what you're doing' and the majority of the time they do end up dropping back.
Think it was a speed awareness course where I was taught it many years back.
I still remember an old RAC or AA advert back in the 90's. "If you need your camera flash to take the photo, you need you're headlights on".
I had a smart fortwo! Probably the same model as that one. You know how they're usually two toned? Apparently the panels were designed by Swatch with the intention to be swappable! You're also surrounded by a huge metal frame. Honestly fun little cars! That is until you have to change a light bulb (unless you have the mkiii with the mitsubushi engine).
Yeah. I remember wondering how the colour swap panels would work here in Australia where your registration shows the colour of the vehicle... I don't think you're allowed to write "depends what colour shirt I put on".
@@tin2001 oh you undoubtedly had to tell the DVLA if you change the panel colours.
11:54 Even if you did not check before the trip. That should be noticeable while driving. Especially on an unlit highway.
Yup. I'm always looking at my headlights' reflections in the back of other vehicles every so often to check "Can I still see both headlights reflecting properly?". If no, then it's time to take a look at the lights proper.
It's usually so obvious when one isn't working too, let alone to see neither is currently on whether that's because they're faulty or not turned on..
I don't understand how people are so incompetent they can't even see the headlight reflection in front of them.
Absolutely. I’ll admit, this has happened, but when my car had its MOT done the lights were not set back to automatic again. Driving home from work, it was getting dark, I was at a set of lights and somebody in the next lane to my right was waving at me and said that my lights are not on. That’s when the penny dropped. Once it’s set to automatic, we do tend to just forget about it and not worry about it. My daytime running lights were bright enough I thought they were on 😮
Good shout. I've been caught out by that too. Garages tend to turn them off so it doesn't drain the battery whilst the car is inside the workshop.
DRLs are way too bright
there was a certain age where cars were made with a manually selected automatic mode for headlights. most of what I've driven with automatic lights had to be manually overridden after the car was started and would reset when the car was turned off.
@@kenbrown2808 that sounds unusual. What cars were they?
@@howarddavies136 the one I specifically remember was a Chevy. the headlight control had an off position and an auto position.
It never ceases to amaze me people who drive in rain without lights .
At around 11:24, I'm quite religious about checking my car before any long journey as well as if it's not been used for a little while. Lights, tyre pressures and tyre condition, all fluid levels etc. Plus I carry spare bulbs for every outside light function and found out how to change them. Even downloaded YT How To videos for my model of car and saved offline for easy reference. I also take every opportunity to check the reflection of my lights on other vehicles when in traffic.
Wow, that's direction to the cause!
I wonder how hard it is to access bulbs in your vehicle. The owner's manual for my car includes removal of the wheel arch liner in order to access the headlight bulbs!
I've always religiously carried a full spare set of lamps in all my previous vehicles, even on motorbikes. My current car has LED lamps that are a proper workshop job to replace, not 5 minutes at the side of the road, and I have to say I don't the feeling of not being prepared. Remember gentlemen and ladies, Proper Planning Prevents P*** Poor Performance.
@@weevilinabox I recently helped a friend change the headlight in a car that required opening a hand hole in the wheel arch liner, and then reaching half your arm inside to push a latch down, and by "push a latch down" I mean the other down, because the youtube guy messed up his cardinal directions and published it anyway. and then use a wrench to take out bolts buried a foot deep inside the assembly. and that's not the worst I've heard of. my sister in law had a car where the service manual said, "if you're going to change a headlight bulb, you might as well change all the bulbs, because you have to remove the entire front end of the car to get at them."
meanwhile in my daily, you unlatch two pins, and lift them out, and the the entire headlight assembly is out in your hand for easy access to the bulbs.
The one thing i love despite the videos is how you appreciate that category cars can be repaired properly. Most people who are sponsored by car vertical tell people strictly to avoid buying a category car. And from somebody who has worked alongside people repairing category cars i think they can be no worse than any other car. Yes there are plenty of poorly repaired cars but they are always worth checking out as if you are not a car enthusiast just an a to b person you could grab yourself a more modern car with more modern tech for less price tag
10:45 guess you could say they're using all the space like you would in a merge in turn situation.
If there is a risk of aquaplaning I sometimes drive slightly off centre of the lane. Helps to avoid any troughs in the road caused by traffic wear to the surface.
That's a more important thing to do than I think a lot of people realise. Even in the dry it's a good idea to place yourself a little off line to avoid those troughs and the "tramlining" they can cause. On a road that gets a lot of HGV traffic, and consequent road wear, they can be really bad at forcing a car to go in the direction of the tramlines rather than where you're trying to point it.
Hi Ashley, I'm conflicted and somehwat confused on this at 10:20, but wasn't the Volkwagen and the Audi just continuing to the end and then merging in turn, as you frequently advocate, and the truck and other vehicles were merging too soon? I might have done the same myself (but slower) not with the intent of beating the queue, but just to 'merge in turn'. What the difference here?
pulling an all-nighter at 5 am and I see you post a video, have to take a break to watch it.
I don't think it's just that the cars don't have automatic lights - it's also that they don't also activate where you think they should. I have manually turned on the lights in my Tesla in foggy conditions cos it didn't seem to notice. This is why we have mandatory Daytime Running Lights here in scandinavia of course. But we also have an additional challenge with DRLs - because they are on the instrument panel in the car lights up, so in urban areas with street lights it is very easy to not notice that you don't have main lights on, and drive around with no rear lights on at all. I see this a lot in winter.
Teslas are shit, that's why. Of all the LED headlights out there, they are literally the most obnoxiously bright, definition of American shite.
In addition to this, by default DRL's are ONLY headlights. Most cars can enable rear lights when DRL's are active, but this has to be done in the settings and the knowledge of where to find said setting isn't exactly common. People also very often seem to forget (or don't care) to switch off highbeams, swap to parking lights when parked (and indicating to even further show they're parked) and the fairly common "I indicated so I'm going" mindset.
An arguably bigger issue these days would be that people genuinely have no clue how cars work or what their own or other vehicles are capable of, especially in non-optimal conditions.
And by "no clue how cars work", I'm not talking about how to change an engine, brakes etc. I'm talking about the most basic of knowledge; such as how fast an airbag deploys, why repeated aggressive braking is a bad idea, how lights work and where to turn them on/off, the significant difference between cars depending on propulsion method (EV, fossil fuel etc), how to corner properly, understanding perspective, estimating distances, why doing 70mph is a questionable choice, and of course how most people seem to forget just how much a car weights.
I could go on and on about "common knowledge" that seems to have been forgotten, but most drivers there days can be described with "At least I'll get to my destination", whether that be the 'obnoxious speedy' ones, or the 'sunday-cruise in the passing lane' ones.
It was nice to see the van driver appreciate your gesture, got tailgated for miles because I was doing 50 on the motorway, it was horrendous the rain, I could hardly see, and yet some seem to think they are safe driving at speed in the pouring rain, I no have we weather tyres. always an Audi
Surely if you were in lane 1 they had at least one other lane they could use to get past? My theory is that they didn't even realise they were doing it. Such people do exist. Maybe they didn't want to overtake as they were trying for a steady 56 to save fuel. 50 would save even more! Was this an indicated 50 or an actual 50?
@@paulsengupta971 about 50 ish, just slow, I was concentrating on trying to see, Oh and I was defiantly on the inside lane, the scary thing was a lot of them were trucks, only ever knew rain like that (constantly anyway) twice before, it was brutal
Great video ash. I had a journey like this the other day when i had to go up to Bristol for a job and it amazed me how much i caught in one journey. Keep up the great work :)
I do now more understand why my dad always uses manual lights even when the car has autos
The 'overtake and then slow down' behaviour happens surprisingly often, I use cruise on motorways and people will often overtake and then slow down below your speed. Very odd. I'm not famous, so it's not my registration plate that's causing it 😀 BTW, the general 'keep it calm' vibe on this channel is a great aim for all drivers IMO
2:05 Why not put on your indicator here as an “ask” signal? If the silver one moves over happy days, if they don’t then it’s the same scenario as this. Of course, as it needed up doing anyway it makes it more likely that the van will pull out, so I guess you’d have to be ready for it pulling out earlier.
I wondered that, too. I think it would have been worth a try
I think there are a number of reasons people drive without headlights on in adverse weather conditions are ones you mentioned Ashley. But there is another that always comes to mind is, “I can see perfectly well, so why do I need my lights on.”
As regards looking after their vehicles. I personally know, of at least 6 people who never get their car services and usually kick off if it falls it’s MOT or Brakes Down and the cost of getting it repaired.
Out of context for the video, but credit to you and your videos! I consider myself quite a decent driver but having watched a lot of your videos, mainly the drive like a driving instructor. I've picked up on so many different tips and lessons that I've noticed I've really brushed up on since watching them and when I'm kind of critiquing myself when driving.
Regarding the first set of clips to do with no lights; I'm totally with you. Not sure how you can not realise that you've got no lights on, and like you said, how can you even see?! It's like people who "forget" their indicator is on, or who drive without their mirrors out. Just how?
Ashley - you are spot on 'no one cares anymore'. 'If you can't beat them, join them' syndrome is very prevalent on our roads now. Isn't it strange that you have to have stringent training, attitude evaluations, medical assessments and a fair bit of intelligence to be ALLOWED to fly aircraft, become surgeons etc but anyone with even half a brain cell is allowed to drive 1 ton killing machines in public after comparatively very basic training.
At around 7:24 it's good you checked to your right, including an over the shoulder blind spot check when joining the motorway, even though the slip road you are on becomes Lane 1. I'm sure many drivers don't bother with such checks just because its a lane addition and as such, they have no idea of the traffic pattern alongside them as they join.
Agreed Ashley. As soon as someone sits up my chuff then I'm off the gas and slow right down.
I absolutely cannot stand tailgating.
Tailgating to get someone to go faster never works yet these people still do it. As you say, the closer you get, the slower I go. I have been doing that for years just so I can ensure they don't go into the back of me.
I had someone behind me on the M25 in traffic who kept talking to their passenger whilst looking at them and not the road. They were doing this whilst tailgating me. 4 times they nearly went into the back of me, but thankfully because I was slowing smoothly and early, they didnt. My car definitely would have been hit if I didn't adjust my driving for how close they were.
Great video as always! I did wonder if putting the right indicator on could have prompted the sliver car to move over? Ashley anticipated the whole situation way in advance which was excellent. And I can see that just slowing down to let the other out solved it with minimal fuss. So it's a minor point I am making. I am thinking it was my instinct was to put the right turn on, see if he moves over. If not, I would then slow down as Ash did. All helps if anticipate it way in advance. Slowing down a little to avoid issues is good driving! I totally agree that just pulling out assuming the silver car would see us and also move over - would be a poor move.Dangerous due to the speed differences. Some drivers are on their phone etc. The main thing is to stay safe, slowing down a little at times often keeps us that way.
4:57 I used to drive for a steel stockholder and we would often have beams 6 feet out the front, and up to 10 feet out the back of the truck. The back ones were the bigger problem, especially if turning at a junction, I would have to position myself on the left of the road if turning right, just to stop cars pulling alongside the beams and right in the "swing zone"
The projection to the front was far less of a worry, as I could at least see that, and would make sure it never protruded over the carriageway I was entering, until it was safe for me to entry.
I always have my lights on. There are so many lighting conditions in which it helps you to at least be seen. In bright conditions your car can be hidden when going through shadowed areas, etc. It can never be too bright on dipped lights because in bright conditions, the lights don't appear too bright because of pupils of eyes narrowing to adapt to sunlight.
Totally agree 100%. It's always dipped headlights for me at all times.
Many, many moons ago, I bought a Mini (when they really were mini) in Neon Blue. Unless the sun was Mediterranean bright, the car was actually tarmac grey. After three near misses in less than a year, I realised I wasn't being seen even with headlights, got scared and sold it. Since then, I've always had red or yellow cars and still always turn on dipped headlights.
@@hilarywhipp2185 Interesting to hear. My mum has a 1978 Mini Clubman, owned from new. Hers is white.
I think some people don't even realise that they've got into the habit of tailgating! But I do exactly what you have suggested, lay off the gas
I've seen a number of cars, relatively new that have no lights on but when you go to past they seem to have dipped headlights on and not DRLs. Flash them a few times, some react and put them on but some do not. And this has been level of light that you would surely know if you had no lights on. Lights not only help you see where you are going but also allows other people to see you which sometimes is jus as important if not more so, some people forget that especially those on 2 wheels it seems to me.
7:19 I kinda love aquaplane moments ngl :) I love the thrill of it, and driving in the wet in general. Even more fun on semi slicks... :P
On the point though, assuming you have road tyres in good condition, it's likely not true aquaplaning in the sense the tyre fully loses contact with the road surface. You should still have some grip even though it pulls the steering, it's just displacing a lot of water in the tyre grooves, so you lose say 70% of grip, but you still have some degree of control by holding the steering tight lol, just got to make sure you keep a good grip of the steering wheel and not let it take you by surprise too much, part of the thrill of wet driving hahaha
I agree Ash. Even before in my 15 minute drive through rush hour, the amount of people on their phones as soon as the traffic stops or just driving without seemingly any clue on lanes or how to use indicators infuriates me
I see a lot of this - drivers without lights on at night, in overcast or rainy conditions. I call them No-light Numpties. I also see a lot of one-eyed jacks as well - those that cannot be bothered to replace that one bulb that has probably been out for a while. Then you have cars with lights that will scorch your retinas, and others that have the lumens of the remants of a candle.
One of my pet dislikes is, on a motorway or dual carriageway, when a vehicle passes me, then moves back into the same lane as me, but so close that I’m effectively tailgating them and have to slow down to make room. When I overtake another vehicle, I wait until I’m well past before moving back to their lane.
Some years ago I had a lad, Graham, who worked for me and who had been with the British Army in Bosnia. He used to call vehicles with one working headlight "Bosnian Motorcycles" because of how they appear at night, and the commonness of it in Bosnia at the time. I still use the phrase to this day.
I think it's actually less common now than it used to be; it's just that small bunch of stubborn hold-outs who still insist that switching lights on puts you at risk of attack by the Luftwaffe, and that one 2W sidelight behind brown plastic is perfectly adequate - and they _always_ drive black cars. You still see the DRL-only at twilight mob, dazzling those in front and invisible from behind. It should be a requirement that DRLs illuminate the rear lights too.
I'm of the wipers on = lights on mindset (as a bare minimum), although my car has DRLs for those times that headlights are not needed, and will switch the lights on with the wipers. I'm also constantly checking that they are actually on, both on the dashboard and by reflections.
At least we no longer get the constant and often aggressive flashing by other drivers if you did put your lights on in anything other than Stygian gloom. As someone who would have dipped lights on a lot of the time back in the early 70s, I'm glad that irritation has gone.
your comments never fail to make me chuckle! The Luftwaffe! 😂😂
s/Luftwaffe/Audis/
I think rear running lights should be as much of a thing as front running lights. - and I also agree that switching the lights on with the wipers should be an automatic thing.
@@kenbrown2808 The EU requirement for all cars to be fitted with DRLs only specified front DRLs and I do think that was a mistake. Some brands that were fitting DRLs _before_ the directive did both front and rear (BWM were one) and that means that you can see examples of both while you're driving around. It's clear to me from observation that having both ends lit with DRLs is clearly superior.
Also the permitting combined DRLs and indicators, where the DRL on that side goes off while the indicator is on seems like a serious error to me too - as one glances around one can see cars with one DRL on, and the other off on the 'off' phase of the flashing indicator and it definitely makes them harder to spot and harder to localise on the road.
@@ianmason. I agree that having the DRL shut down for the indicator seems like a bad idea.
Yes. Worked in retail security many years ago. Normally we’d be required to wait until shoplifters the store to detain them, but in one store we had an agreement with local police (& presumably cps/magistrates) we could detain just within the store as security staff were often set upon by local “barrow boys” working in the street market outside when they tried to detain thieves outside.
What's your problem at with the cars using lane 1 at about 10:30 Ashley? I'd have thought you'd be fine with this, use all of the road rather than merging at the first opportunity and lengthening the queue?
If they were moving out of lane 2 to undertake I'd be a bit more annoyed, but they were already in that lane, used all of the lane, and merged when they needed to, I don't think they did anything wrong,
01:43 I'd have moved into lane three, about now. The silver car's way behind and there's a fourth lane it can use.
You'd think that, right? I tried to do precisely that on a motorway journey about 5 weeks ago. The driver in the lane I was moving into saw what was coming and, as I was about to perform the maneuvre (having checked they were still well enough back), put their horn on and blasted on their accelerator, forcing me to apply brakes and abandon the maneuvre as they sped off ahead. Now, as well as thinking more about my own speed in these situations, I think the same as Ashley: "I'm not going to trust the person behind to be as thoughtful as I am".
With a mentality like that you would make a good trucker sir!
@@eddyrourke5514
Yay, too kind, thank you. :)
@@broshmosh
That was tough, sorry to hear that.
@@broshmosh Did you check the lane they had to move into was clear?
10:25 How can you listen to that noise (adverts) on the radio, Ashley..?! I can't stand it, I always mute them 😋
I think the thing with the lights, especially with the Ford at 8:10 (as I used to drive one and it was the first car I drove where I noticed it) is that with a lot of modern cars, the interior lighting behind the switches and dials is always on so there are less obvious clues inside the car telling you that your lights are on or off than there used to be. Not an excuse because it's poor whichever way you slice it, but I often wonder if that is the reason why people forget to switch them on.
Well this was a well-timed video! A few weeks ago I had to do an EV training course in Salford, I live on the Welsh side of Chester, so that meant 3 days driving there and back, I covered about 300 miles on the M53, M56, M6, M62 and M602, all of which in similar conditions to the ones shown in your video with heavy traffic, accidents, poor weather etc. This was my first long solo motorway trip since passing my test in 2020, and I think I did fairly well except for a few minor issues, which were mostly down to not knowing the roads, worn markings etc. But some of the stunts I saw other drivers involved in were terrifying, they were enough to make me think twice about using these roads again unless I really have to! At one point I was overtaking a truck on the M56 and as I was alongside they decided to change lanes, fortunately there was nothing to the right of me, but still, I was in a big white van, how did they miss it?! The other one was coming onto the M53 there was a car on the slip road doing 30mph, I ended up having to overtake as joining a live carriageway at that speed would have been lethal, but as I went past them, keep in mind it was a 2-lane slip road, they veered over into my lane, good job there was a hatched area I could use to avoid them!
Both routes that you have driven in this video were my past and now my current commute to work. Unfortunately, this is all too common and is a normal occurrence daily. Luckily I had the joy of driving to and from work at the early hours of the morning/late nights but even then there are still a few about!
In addition to drivers not turning lights on, I've also encountered the opposite issue on motorways. Namely, oncoming drivers in the opposite carriageway using high beam at night...and not dipping them when you come into their view. I guess they figure that due to the width of the carriageway and the multiple lanes, that their high beams won't dazzle you. This seems to be a growing trend.
I bet you were glad to get home after that journey Ash. I know what it's like to do a long motorway journey in less than ideal conditions, after dark, in heavy rain and heavy traffic. I'm always glad to get home after all that, or even the hotel room if its the outbound journey. Whereapon I then think of the journey home!
Re the lorry with the over hanging scaffolding.
Never mind another lorry passing imagine a coach or a double decker bus.
Scary
Question: How is the slip road event "queue jumping" and not "using the full road space to merge in turn"? I don't really see a distinction and would appreciate it explained.
4:07 can somebody explain why did Ashley use his arm instead of the indicator?
Regarding the failure to turn on lights... I see that far too often. While they might not need the lights to see where they are going, they need the lights to be SEEN by others on the road.
One of the worst examples of this happened several years ago. I was driving home after work, around midnight, in winter, while it was snowing. It was pitch black until suddenly I see these brake lights come on less than 20 feet in front of me. Until that moment, I did not know there was anyone else on the road -- they had no lights on at all !
As for tailgaters... I do the same as Ashley -- I slow and allow the space in front of me to grow. This does two things -- (1) shows the tailgater I won't be pressured to go faster than I am comfortable going; and (2) allows me the time and space to react slower thereby minimizing the chances of being rear-ended by a less-than-attentive driver behind.
More than once I have experienced a tailgater following so close I could not see their front grill. I was already going more than the posted legal limit (110 km/h in a 100km/h zone), so I wasn't going to go any faster just to make them happy -- they can overtake if they wish. In many cases, there was no chance for me to safely change lanes to allow them past. In other cases, the traffic ahead was already slowing, so it would have been useless to accelerated only to have to slow down 10 seconds later.
Sometimes, I am sure they give out driving licenses like prizes in boxes of Cracker Jacks !
Years ago - 1970s/80s - in some areas it was common practice, and legally acceptable, to run with no lights in urban areas with streetlamps on. Even worse with dark coloured paintwork under the old style sodium yellow lighting.
So you're criticizing another driver when you were 10km/h over the limit!
It’s amazing having grown up with and formulated my driving behaviour around your videos and a desire to be smart and safe, that when I enter normal society on the motorways I just get absolutely stunned by the lack of thought or any care for driving standards or safety by the majority of the population. I forget that we are exemplary because we should be the norm
I've seen it everywhere i go. Been watching Ashley's videos for a few years now and at least a few times a day i see an idiot on the road. I walk passed parked cars and sometimes i see tyres balder than Gandhi's noggin. Lights that are dim or just the one and so many bad habits.
went on the motoway for the first time during the weekend (got the car 2 weeks ago, passed 2 momths ago)
not as scary as my parents made it out to be. Just the getting on at slip roads is the real pain.
Got on, got of at the services, Got back on, Spun around on at the next junction and did the same thing at the services southbound.
Brought my cousin with me so he could guide me. For the entirety of it I suck in the left lane 4 sec gap from the guy infront (dry conditions)
It’s not just the automatic lights. Instrument panels are always illuminated so the driver doesn’t get the trigger that things are a bit dark.
On older cars the dashboard lights only came on when you turned the lights on.
I remember a Swedish report from the 80s that found that vehicles having their lights on 24/7 prevented more accidents than enforcing speed restrictions. For that reason since about 2006 when I bought my first vehicle that automatically turned the lights of when the ignition went off, I have always left my lights on. Because daylight running lamps don't engage the rear lights I do not rely just these and auto turns the lights on too late, especially when it is foggy.
The light issue happens more often for various reasons. First driver inattention. Then depending on the car, auto lights, permanently illuminated instruments, some with small lights on indicator. Daytime running lights that are bright and mostly front only! Lights not working and the driver either not noticing or waiting until it can be fixed. Some designs make bulb replacement difficult!
That looked like a long day. Four seasons in one day.
8am - 4pm
That's typical UK weather for you! 😂
I drive with dipped beam lights on all the time. Even at work the company policy is to drive with them on, though we can use the automatic headlights should we wish to on the enviro 400mmc buses. I still tend to turn the dipped beam on on those as I don't have to think about them later on to m make sure the bus is actually turning the lights on. they still automatically change the way the lights are lit up when It gets dark though which I find weird.
When it comes to checking, I always check my car headlights at least weekly. And even then if I don't notice because they've just stopped working them my friends will tell me because they know I don't like driving without all my lights working. I'm a little obsessive over keeping my car in operational working order.
I saw a BMW driving like an idiot but had already got a dent in the bumper and it's a 24 plate BMW
11:44
You can see the headlights are working, because they flashed to signal ahead. Still, it's appalling that anyone would drive like that under such conditions.
I think many people don’t realise their headlamps are not on due to modern vehicles having the Speedo illuminate when ignition is on. Old cars the clocks would be black without the lights being on. Even worse with most vehicle now using bright lcd screens.
USA 🇺🇸 have law in most states. If wipers are on headlamp must also be on. This feature is automatic as the BCU can be flashed to make this happen. Most Canadian vehicle you can’t turn off the headlamps. Always on like motorcycles are here.
I see so many drivers only using their day time running lights, when it’s night. They see light out the front and presume it’s headlamps. But have zero rear lights on. Some vehicles have rear DRL like Landrover but most don’t.
I think so many people drive in a zombie like auto state. Not concentrating on the very thing they should be driving the vehicle in this moment.
Never fails to amaze me the number of people not using lights in bad weather
I have been driving for 45 years now and in my experience, throughout all that time, there have been people driving without lights under poor visibility conditions.
As a new driver who learned how and when to use the lights after I took my driver licence i would like to point out that the only thing my instructor said to me about headlights was dont stress about those as they are automatic. Didnt touch them, didnt use them and after learning how to drive in a 2021-2022 car i jumped straight to a 2008 car where most of it is manual. Same thing goes for hand break and wipers.
Sounds like the kind of thing American instructors would say lol
It should be law to have yer lights on like sweden. First thing they ask if you have an RTI is did you have your lights on in a claim. There was a survey years ago where people were concerned on wearing the lamps out. But nowadays people just dont care zoned out when they get in a car zoned out while driving 😊
If they are in front of me with no lights, I find a few flashes of the high beam lights often gets the message across.
Its often the super bright DRLs that make them think they have their lights on.
I think part of the issue with lights is” I can see ok” also with DLR a lot of cars have a light on the dash telling them lights are on.
As an ex 65,000 mile a year engineer, The road around me s like a 360 degree pop up book, I’m always looking for the next thing to happen. But the” I can use any lane including the the slip road/ hard shoulder to get where i want to go” seems to be becoming more prevalent since the use of marked police cars gets less and less. There was a time where you would as many as dozen separate police vehicles on a long journey, now you go for days without seeing one. No doubt there are loads of unmarked ones.
I have a fantastic little gadget in my car for tailgaters, it's labelled as 'cruise control' but if you turn it on then lower the speed by 1mph every now and then it works wonders at effortlessly annoying tailgaters.
Especially where I live, a lot of the main roads are 40mph with some 30mph sections thrown in occasionally for busy junctions, knowing when the 30 zones are coming up means I let off the speed a few hundred yards before any signage starts, usually not a problem but great for annoying those tailgaters that don't know the speed limit is about to lower.
I remember when after passing my car test in 1983, I loved driving! This shows everything why I now hate it. Be glad when I no longer have too. To many cars and to many idiots.
call me confused but in the scenario @around 10:30 what's the difference between people using the full length of the left hand line before joining and staying in the right lane as long as possible before a merge in turn?
Surely its the people joining the main carriageway earlier than needed are causing the problem here?
The problem is not with people legitimately using the full length of the slip road, but with people moving _from_ lane 1 of the main carriageway into the slip road in order to gain a few places.
Ash states that the white VW and dark Audi both do this. I don't think we can see the move from lane 1 by the VW, because it's obscured by the lorry, but the Audi driver is clearly guilty.
It's a good point about lights coming on automatically, you do get used to it. I was dubious about the automatic dip on my wife's car, but it works flawlessly and you get used to that very quickly indeed. Then suddenly you have to start dipping again, in a different vehicle.
8:45. You look to be maintaining a 2 second gap, Is it not recommended to increase the distance to 3second gap or more in these conditions ?
As a British soldier, I learned to drive in Germany and the Netherlands, taking a Durch Driving Test. On my first trip back home, in about 1966, whilst driving in patchy fog, quite thick in places, I was pulled over by a police patrol, the policeman said „did you know that you have your lights on!“ Had it been in Germany, I would have earned a fine if they had not been on.
I have auto lights on my car and they are never used. I have my lights on regardless of the weather and that is habitual from doing many miles along different road types - country lanes in the summer can cause problems around trees so having lights on makes it easier to be spotting as others flick between shade and bright sunshine. Along motorways the sun glare off other vehicles and road glare fatigue can sometimes make you hard to spot so having the lights on can sometimes make you seen better from behind
The only auto technology I have on is auto wiper when it is raining but not hard enough for continuous wipe. And that is only becuase the Ford Focus doesn’t have intermittent wipe but instead is auto wipe
In many European countries you are legally required to have headlights on at all times when driving, even during sunny days, even if you have daylight running lights
Girl at work passed her test recently and bought a Corsa. She was complaining that the headlights were rubbish. Turns out the car she learnt in had auto-lights and she just assumed all cars were the same, so was just driving with DRLs at night. She seemed completely shocked that she has to turn her own lights on! I can only assume she was taught how to pass a test, not how to drive.
I've also found that the majority of people who don't spend a penny on car maintenance, driving with blown headlight bulbs, bald or very cheap branded tyres are the same people who spend obscene amounts of money on material objects, needlessly expensive phones, clothes, etc.
Nice video (as usual) and you caught some interesting things.
If you want more content, you should do a trip in the Netherlands. Drivers here are worse, you’d he shocked. Signaling is rarely done correctly and keeping the distance between cars is something unheard of. If they can squeeze their car between yours and the one in front of you and there are three feet remaining between them, then they will go for it. And this happens so so often, I see it at least 10 times in a 20 minutes drive.
Shocking how big of a difference it can be between German and Dutch drivers, for example.
Felt as if i was there with you ash..Great video and thank you.
That sure was an eventful trip and what a range of weather, have enjoyed this video