Wikipedia is wrong. The data it cites for the UK does not accord with the underlying sources it quotes (nor, for that matter, eurostat statistics). For instance, the figure for road fatalities per 100 000 population for the UK for 2012 is 2.8, not 3.5.

I have recently moved from Camden to Ickenham in the suburbs and I haven noted a marked difference in the quality of driving in the Hillingdon area versus central London.

You have to be on the ball and drive defensively in London, pedestrians will walk out in front of you, turning vehicles can reverse out of driveways and cyclists will over / undertake in slow moving traffic. But generally, drivers know the score and 'it works'.

In Hillingdon it is a free for all, I live in a quite residential area, mainly cul-de-sacs. These residential areas feel like race tracks; people routinely do 50mph in 30 zones, speeding down the middle of roads with cars parked on both sides, no consideration to who may have right of way.

On the A40 you either get nutters tailgating anyone doing less than 100 and middle lane hoggers that barely hit 40, there doesn't appear to be much in between.

Maybe it has something to do with the horrendous traffic in the area at rush hour which while traffic in London generally moves albeit slowly, in Hillingdon it is normally grid lock during commute times on all of the main roads and ancillary roads which join them together, Long Lane for example.

I suspect that most of the drivers in this area rarely go in to central London thinking it would be 10 times worse, ironically, its the opposite.

Spot on - Hillingdon is awful. Agree on all points

Sounds horrendous.

Come down to Surbiton, it's much more civilised. And only 15 minutes to Waterloo by train! :D

Agree about central London vs suburbia. Living in central London, you learn to have your wits about you, but everyone knows the score and we all work together to make sure that everyone gets through as fast as possible (with the notable exception of drivers of BMW tanks). In the suburbs, there are too many people who drive way too slowly and too many who drive way too quickly without regard for others. Just my observation.

I guess I'm guilty of some of the things mentioned on the first page of this thread, sometimes.

On roundabouts, if someone is coming from my right, but there is enough time for me to go, I will go, otherwise I will stop. Other drivers do the same to me. I've never experienced not being able to get onto a roundabout (mini- or normal-sized) because of 'through traffic', when I have right of way.

With regards to queueing for slip roads etc. If there are 2 lanes, then use them. I have no time for people who queue needlessly, when there is space for more vehicles. All it does is leave less space for people behind you to move forward. If someone zooms past me onto the small left lane just before a traffic light, where they then need to merge right about 10 metres afterwards, I let them go, especially if their car is more powerful. Sometimes I do it too. (I drive the smallest possible car which still has 5 seats and 4 doors.)

The past 4 months I had a horrible commute from NW to S London, while waiting for my new build to be finished (whether it was a worthwhile purchase is for another forum). However, with my fuel-efficient car, which I would have had anyway, the daily cost of fuel is about £5. The daily Oyster cap is £11. Public transport takes 2 hours, has 4 changes, and is mostly standing all the way.

The thing I don't understand is, my drive took only 100 minutes in summer, yet once daylight saving ended, it started taking 140 minutes, so I decided to take the train after 2 weeks of that. The extra 40 minutes is spent just trying to get onto the A40. It really takes half an hour just to move 1 mile from my house at 7am in November, yet it never took this long in August, and it isn't a one-off. I didn't notice the population of my local area increasing by 50%, nor has the number of jobs increased. Do that many more people drive to work during winter?

Also, from Ruislip to Perivale, the fastest moving lane on the A40 in the morning is the leftmost!

One other thing I don't understand is why huge trucks decide to clog up the roads between 0700 and 0900. There is an industrial area at Greenford on the bottleneck approaching the A40, and it is always blocked by trucks trying to turn out. If more of the trucks departed an hour earlier the roads would be far less congested.

In August my suburb turns into a ghost town and suddenly there is no one on the roads. My theory is that everyone with kids is forced to take their vacation at the same time due to the school holidays.

Also the lack of school run. Don't underestimate the congestion it causes!

But it's noticeable on my train to work, too - I often get a double seat in August; I was on the luggage rack today...

Ask me how much I miss my rail commute :D Most of the time I could only dream about getting a seat.

Similar result is commuters departed their homes an hour earlier ...

It's something I tried, and the clear(ish) run was a joy: 40 minutes' earlier start and I was well over an hour earlier in my office, and conscience-free in setting off home earlier. But, yes, I know that won't work for everybody!

Yeah, I know I'm lucky on my line that you get a seat nearly every time...

I did have the joy of having to make the journey from central London to my house by car, in pre-peak hour traffic. It took 3h! Give me a luggage rack and a train going at 100 MPH any day...

That is incredibly painful to contemplate.

I'd rather not endure again the journey from Liverpool Street Station to Stansted Airport yesterday evening standing all the way with my face only a few inches from someone's armpit.
Fortunately I'd had an exceptionally long and liquid lunch so the pain was somewhat dulled.

Moved up north last year after 7 years in London. Still can't get used to how slow people drive. Very often I am behind someone doing no more than 40mph in a 60mph road, or 25 in 30. To the point I start to wonder if they are deliberately winding me up or if they would start moving backwards when they reach 20mph zone (which of course they drop their speed to about 15). In their eyes I am probably one of the most aggressive drivers they've ever come across and I am nowhere as bad as some drivers you get in London. Very polite bunch of drivers, just SLOW.

+1

Ha ha so true! I grew up in the North and when I go back to visit family and friends, they are usually appalled by what they consider to be my aggressive London driving style. I find it painful and like I'm driving in slow motion up there.