You make a good point Laurie about the increase in traffic compared to years ago.  With that in mind it is difficult to accurately assess if in fact standards have dropped.  There is plenty of evidence of bad driving which we all see on a daily basis with our own eyes and plenty of evidence on here from the in car camera threads but as for it being more or less than years ago there is no real way of knowing.  There is no way we can rely on stats that are fed to us as the saying goes "there are lies, damn lies and statistics"!

 

As a way of showing that statistics can be and are slewed your example of A and E waiting times.  You will be seen by a Nurse who will check your pulse and probably blood pressure before you are seen by a Doctor.  Therefore you are shown as being seen in the target time but NOT by a Doctor.  If they said x% are seen by a Doctor within a set time it would be different but of course they don't.

 

Back to the OP there would appear to be an increase in speed traps today as I was checked going into Grimsby from Louth and back out on two different routes.  First time I was flashed by a passing motorist to warn me which used to happen a lot but doesn't now.  In fact out of the dozen or so that I passed only the one flashed.  On this occasion it was a Traffic Officer with a patrol car and a hand held radar at the side of the road in a 30.  On the way back in the NSL it was a van but as the back of them are marked up like a monkey with piles it was fairly easy to spot.  In any event my speed was well within limits on both occasions but not because of the warning at the top of this thread.

Re driving standards. I've been during since the early 70's and can categorically say IMHO driving standards are a lot worse , personally I feel some of this is down to cars getting easier to drive and safer. I cut my teeth on motorcycles and old fords will solid rear axles and cart springs and they would fall off the road at very low speeds and to push on you needed some basic talent and to be honest looking back a youthful lack of fear.

Cars now have loads of driver aids, even something as simple as abs and traction control are godsends . Most people who crash seem to survive or have less injurys . I started on a bike and didn't need a skid lid , the car had no seat belts, but I leart errors hurt

Edited 17 August, 201510 yr by Stuart_J

Fully agree Stuart.   As teenagers growing up in the late '60's, the older lads had Ford Consuls, Vauxhall Viva's or Corsairs (if they could afford 'em) as their first car.   Us Devonshire village lot used to pack in   (I think the record was 10 of us in a Consul) to go to Woolacombe Beach to play football and lark about on a summer afternoon - of course, with no disc brakes, very woolly suspension and all the handling characteristics of a pregnant porpoise, and the fact that the local policeman (P C Dangerfield) knew all of us (and, more importantly, our mums and dads!), the drivers took extra special care to get us there and back safely.

 

Although cars are safer, people are under more stress today - they are packing more and more into their increasingly busy lives and having to join queues everywhere for far longer than we ever did years ago.   There are three times as many private cars on the roads now as there were in 1970, and with shops open for longer hours and with Sunday trading, Heavy Goods Vehicles pound our roads 24/7 - we hardly used to see any at weekends!

 

I think stress and frustration is responsible for the worse driving standards,   In the 1970's, we used to accept it when another driver made a mistake and forgive him, now we have this "road rage" phenomenon fuelled by intolerance. 

Edited 17 August, 201510 yr by bealine

You make a good point Laurie about the increase in traffic compared to years ago.  With that in mind it is difficult to accurately assess if in fact standards have dropped.  There is plenty of evidence of bad driving which we all see on a daily basis with our own eyes and plenty of evidence on here from the in car camera threads but as for it being more or less than years ago there is no real way of knowing.  There is no way we can rely on stats that are fed to us as the saying goes "there are lies, damn lies and statistics"!

 

As a way of showing that statistics can be and are slewed your example of A and E waiting times.  You will be seen by a Nurse who will check your pulse and probably blood pressure before you are seen by a Doctor.  Therefore you are shown as being seen in the target time but NOT by a Doctor.  If they said x% are seen by a Doctor within a set time it would be different but of course they don't.

 

Back to the OP there would appear to be an increase in speed traps today as I was checked going into Grimsby from Louth and back out on two different routes.  First time I was flashed by a passing motorist to warn me which used to happen a lot but doesn't now.  In fact out of the dozen or so that I passed only the one flashed.  On this occasion it was a Traffic Officer with a patrol car and a hand held radar at the side of the road in a 30.  On the way back in the NSL it was a van but as the back of them are marked up like a monkey with piles it was fairly easy to spot.  In any event my speed was well within limits on both occasions but not because of the warning at the top of this thread.

Worth mentioning cambs police have taken to using a dark blue transit so you can't see the camera hatch as easy. No markings above the swage line to increase profits.

Sneaky sods Steve!

Worth mentioning cambs police have taken to using a dark blue transit so you can't see the camera hatch as easy. No markings above the swage line to increase profits.

They're also using motorcycle cops with both speed guns and to spot check locations as to whether a van presence is necessary.

This has lead to a few new locations for their new dark vans - especially along the A14 & M11