Originally Posted by
bibbju
I agree, especially in London. There are flashes of politeness/consideration but generally I find that you have no choice but to drive quite aggressively or you will be waiting forever. However, there are some drivers who take aggressiveness/selfishness to an unbelievable level. I can guarantee that on 1 out of 2 journeys I will come across a car coming out of a side road that will be blocking an entire lane of traffic....they seem to have no issue bringing 2 lanes of traffic to a standstill just so they can turn onto the road even though they don't have right of way. It happens so frequently.....yesterday I came across this 5 times during my 15 min commute to work.
That's because it's often the only way you are ever going to get out into the main road. If you were to wait until the road were clear in both directions you'd be there until well after the end of the evening rush hour. Londoners have mostly learnt to deal with the extra traffic we have on our roads and this is one example. It's not necessarily how the highway code suggests it should be done but it's typically the only way. Of course, there's a right and a wrong way to do it. Forcing someone to brake heavily is not the right way. Backing off the gas if you see someone ahead trying to pull into traffic is the right way. It's common sense really and unfortunately there are still some drivers who can't work that out.
Tailgating and passing on the inside is still wrong, but is usually caused by people lane-hogging. If you're not overtaking, you should be in the inside lane.
Having said all that, I rarely drive in London. We've got decent public transport and I'd rather walk for distances under two miles.
I think the thing that confuses foreigners the most (other the us driving on the correct side of the road :-) ) is the fact that we're the only place I know of where we put an extra set of traffic lights at the far side of junctions. This is obviously to allow those at the front to see the lights (there's a post there already so why not use it?). I've seen foreigners on many occasions turn left or right, see a red light meant for the road they've just turned into, and decide to stop across the junction in a state of confusion.
I think all countries should have leaflets on border entries (ferries, service areas, car rental desks) showing the quirks of that country (e.g. stop signs actually meaning stop, even if there's nobody around).