I’ve just got back from a few weeks in and around the med – and a few things dawned on me.

1)The roads (quality of surface) are pretty poor, terrible in many places.

2) There are almost no road markings, period.

3) Crash barriers, central reservations are unheard of.

4) People APPEAR to drive like mad people —-

and yet despite all of this i never saw any accidents, no road rage, no stupid maneuvers – it all just seemed to work. At first I couldn’t work out why it all worked so well when compared to the UK. The UK invests in lots of road safety – crossings, lane markings to show when to overtake and when not to, speed cameras, hatchings etc etc etc – all there to make the roads apparently safer – not to mention the general driving standard APPEARING to be higher in the UK – and yet within one morning back here I have seen a cyclist get carted, a 4×4 almost run several cars off the road, and one really pissed off white van man.

I’ve pondered this and have come to the conclusion that most of the problems we have in relation to roads here in the UK are down to the fact that people here believe they are in constant competition with every other road user – and giving any kind of ground is perceived to be a victory for the other and a loss for the driver. Where as abroad, people seem to appear to just SHARE the road. People still need to get to where they are going, times etc all still important, but drivers seem to just accept that they are sharing the road with other people.

I wonder if there is a way of showing people that they are sharing the road, and don’t own it.

before anyone comes back with the death numbers, the uk does look good, but is it actually the result of cyclists and pedestrians being forced from the roads? Is it actually nothing to do with road safety improvements?

yeah thats kind of my point –

investing loads of money in road safety will have a minimal effect if people continue to believe that everyone else has to get out of their way. Road safety measures would not really be needed if people adopted an attitude where by they believed they were a guest on the road (along with everyone else), and that we were all sharing it

I drive 3000 miles in Europe every summer. In my view we have BY FAR the worst road manner, standard of driving and without doubt the rudest and most selfish drivers. Even more so than the Serbs who are pretty hairy behind a wheel.
I always cry a bit inside when I first get back on the A2

It’s more about the nature of the British than it is about road safety though

Its more to do with the UKs traffic problems and everyone seems to be in a rush.

The standard of UK drivers are far worst than some of our EU friends, but at the same time some of them are a lot worst too…!!

Have you tried Spain. I probably see the results of accidents 3 times per week. Selfish, dangerous and idiotic is how i’d describe the driving.