Back seat drivers

What drives you mad!

A survey by the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign has identified the motoring bad habits that apparently drive us mad the most. If you agree or disagree we’d love to hear from you.

Drivers throwing litter from the window 80%

Using a mobile phone while driving 69%

Spitting out of the window 68%

Women who do their make-up in the rear-view mirror 51%

People who drive too quickly 48%

Drivers who pick their noses 39%

Drivers who hog the middle lane 32%

People who drive too slowly 26%

What drives me mad!
If you want to sound off about other road users, please go ahead! We’ll publish the best gripes here. Everyone gets frustrated with other drivers from time to time.

Name:

Email:

What drives me mad and why:

Please note the opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those held by duck2water Insurance.

These things are sent to try us...
A survey has identified the motoring bad habits that drive us mad, but Roland White of The Sunday Times has his own hate list:

It’s a marvellous summer evening and the motorway stretches out invitingly in front of you. Not that you care. You are perfectly happy tootling along at 50mph in the middle lane and listening to My Top 10 TV Tunes at full volume.

That is until you toss your cigarette out of the window to free your hands for a few mobile phone calls before — pausing only to pick your nose — you roar up to the car in front and sit on its tail for a couple of miles.

Congratulations! You have just become the most irritating driver in Britain .

Every so often, somebody decides to ask drivers what they find most annoying about other people on the road. Then they wish they hadn’t. I mean, where do we start? People who stick rigidly to the speed limit? Or people who race past you on the motorway doing about 115mph? Do you hate traffic wardens, or people who park inconsiderately? And that’s just skimming the surface of the issue.

A survey recently identified throwing litter from the window as the behaviour that most irritated other motorists. Nearly 80% of drivers disliked this habit. You might be surprised that this came top until you discover who organised the survey. It was done by the people who run the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

Other behaviour that enraged tidy motorists was: using a mobile phone while driving (mentioned by 69%), spitting out of the window (68%), women who do their make-up in the rear-view mirror (51%), drivers who pick their noses (39%) and drivers who hog the middle lane (32%). Similarly, we hate people who drive too quickly (48%) and people who drive too slowly (26%).

Naturally, readers of The Sunday Times are careful drivers who do not tailgate, make single-finger gestures or break wind at the wheel. But others are not so considerate. So what most annoys you about driving? The most recent survey on this subject uses the latest one-to-one research technique — I asked myself. And this, in no particular order, is what I came up with:

People who push in at roadworks
When the road narrows because a lane is missing, sensible drivers slow down and leave plenty of space so that people can slot in neatly and keep the traffic flowing. But there are always — always — drivers who race to the front and try to push in. That’s why most traffic queues at roadworks are stationary.

“Baby on board” stickers
“Look at us,” these stickers boast, “we’ve done it.”

Smart cars
Smug cars more like. The motoring equivalent of those bicycles you lie down to cycle on.

Bossy controls
My own car is a Peugeot 206CC, and I’ve never driven anything more bossy: it’s like Margaret Thatcher on wheels. If you forget to put your seatbelt on, it bleeps at you. If you take the key out of the ignition and the lights are still on, it bleeps at you.

Of course, the reason you’d forgotten about the lights being on was that you didn’t turn them on in the first place: the car did because it decided that the road was a bit dark. Look, I want to yell, I’ve been driving for more than 25 years: I can tell when it’s getting dark.

Personalised numberplates
Come on, chaps, this is just showing off. You know it and I know it. It’s not as though they are even funny. I’ve only ever seen one that was vaguely amusing. It was a Mercedes with the numberplate PMT 1. Now that’s a driver you want to avoid.

People who stop for no reason, without indicating
My village in Somerset is particularly prone to this. It’s a one-street sort of a place, and people will often pull up at the side of the road in front of you for no apparent reason.

Stretch limos
People inside stretch limos want you to think they are glamorous celebrities hiding from the pointy finger of public recognition. But we know the car’s probably full of accounts clerks out on a hen night.

Chav cars
Every chav wants a high-performance sports car so as to impress chavettes. However, all they can afford is an ancient Ford Orion. To get around this they modify or “Barry up” their motor, and the result is a car that although only one step away from the scrapheap boasts alloy wheels, plastic body kits, illegal numberplates and a sound system that shakes the foundations of nearby houses.

Badly adjusted headlights
I do a lot of night driving and am often dazzled by cars coming the opposite way. Occasionally, in fury, I flash my lights at them only to be blinded as they switch to full beam.

Yugo drivers
Full stop

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