R.I.P Driving Etiquette

I've always held off posting about this, but today was just the last straw.

Aren't driving standards just getting worse and worse. Not just that, but there is a general lack of common courtesy in driving nowadays as well. Take the example that annoyed me this morning. I was in a queue of traffic waiting to turn right at a roundabout. I eventually get to the front, but due to the amount of traffic coming round there I had to sit there for a minute to wait for a gap. In the meantime I car pulls up on my left without his indicators on (usually a sign they are going straight across).

I bet you can guess what happens next. Yep, as soon as there is a gap he shoots off, immediately crossing over infront of me as he actually wants to turn right like the rest of us. The fact he did it almost immedaitely means he knows where he is going. I sort of knew it was going to happen as well. I see it everyday at junctions and roundabouts, that there is just some sort of inevitability about it now.

We would never tollerate somebody queue jumping in a bank or a post office and I suspect most people wouldn't even consider it! So why do people think it's acceptable practice as soon as they get behind the wheel of a car. Are manners an "optional extra" with cars nowadays. And don't get me started on the use of indicators. They've been "optional extras" for what seems like ages now.

What scares me the most is I'm seeing more stuff which I would call downright dangerous. I recognise that mistakes can happen. I myself am not immune, but you can sometimes see it in what I like to call "driving body language" what people intend to do. It'd be interesting if somebody could come up with some sort of figures on this sort of thing (impossible I know).

I reckon the decline in diving standards would possibly occur around the sametime as the introduction of the speed camera and the reduction of traffic officers.

Thought for The Day:

What is Simplification? This definition is brought to you by the government's "Better Regulation Executive" (and copied exactly by the way):-

"Simplification means reviewing, reducing and removing regulatory burdens for the public, private and voluntary sectors, either through merging regulations in to a more manageableform or removing inconsistency within or between regulations. The aim of simplification is to reduce regulatory burdens wherever possible but without removing the necessary protections regulation provides, for the environment or workers, for example. An important part of the simplification process is to gather practical suggestions from those being regulated - businesses, voluntary and public sector organisations and individuals - that can inform government thinking on how to simplify regulation."

Simple eh?