Top 10 Worst Driving Habits 

I can’t be the only one who just pretends to play the drums on the steering wheel whilst waiting at a light rather than picking up my phone?😂😂

My pet peeve is the mono-speeders, the drive at 40mph everywhere regardless of whether it is a national speed limit road or 20mph zone outside a school brigade.

"Idiots are better at being idiots than your are, so don't give them a competition cos you're gonna lose" :D

No one is a perfect driver and everyone makes mistakes. I learned years ago that the most useful thing to do is to stay chilled out while driving. The incident that taught me this lesson was being rear ended by someone who was angry with another driver and not looking where he was going. I'd rather be late than dead and getting stressed over someone else's driving just makes your own driving standards worse as you're no longer applying full concentration to your own driving.

In a world where some motorists put ego before safety, this video demonstrates why defensive driving is so important

Why people are incapable of just going round a roundabout again if they're in the wrong lane is beyond me...

OK, hands up, I have done some of those. Flashing to reprimand, closing the gap deliberately on someone who pulls out in front of me. Thanks Ashley I will try and improve!

As for tailgaters, I usually reduce speed steadily (though not enough to cause a dangerous lane to lane difference in speed) when somebody is tailgating, until they back off. This has been 100% effective in my experience.

Green does not mean go. It means proceed if safe to do so. I am also constantly amused by the people who are in such a hurry they need to pass, but then suddenly have all the time in the world to play brakechecking games.

I love nothing more than my phone ringing when I'm driving. Perfect excuse not to answer.

"Expect anyone to go anywhere from any lane"!!!!!!!!!! I've driven countless thousands of UK shitty roads and this is the one thing I tell people when they ask me about driving safer. Drive as if everyone around you is an idiot and expect anything as a result, thus drive accordingly.

My driving zen; give as much space to car in front, timing overtakes, remembering nothings personal on the road!

Also when people indicate into a junction / off a roundabout at the last second so you miss your chance to go.

One thing I really can’t stand on RU-vid is major you tubers with millions of subs, recording themselves with a phone or sometimes an SLR in their hand whilst driving, often looking right at the camera instead of around them. If you want to record whilst driving safely, This channel is the best place to look.

Learnt a lot from your videos even with a licence of 19 years plus. Just wanted to thank you for what you are doing with this series

Thanks for highlighting phones behind the wheel it really is the scourge and a lethal habit for some of our road users.

16:23 "and the blurred shapes around him came suddenly into focus" Comedy gold! 😂😂🤣

This needs to be a slot on prime time TV.

It's not just when you are learning. These examples and commentary can help any driver. Thank you Ashley.

I've only been subscribed for a few days and I've watched so many videos already. Invaluable resource for refreshing pointers on road safety and feel myself already getting back to good habits (though I always try to drive safe, no one is perfect!). Thanks for this channel!

As a professional driver, it took some time for me to gain that patience and to accept that these are the roads we have to share. Sadly not everyone plays fair and it will never change and as such, Ashley takes the best stance by letting those people have their space and then everyone gets on with their day. Admittedly its a skill getting those frustrations to pour like water off a ducks back but in the long run its certainly worth it.

I really don't get using a phone whilst driving. I love the escapism driving gives from everything else.

Thank you for a very professional video on real practical driving. I took my Police Response Driving course in 1997. The best course ever for both Police AND home driving. All your points were superbly evidenced. Every driver should be following these videos. A clam voice and slow speech highlights the examples. Well done. Now subscribed!

Thank you. I had seen a different one of your videos and it was sufficiently good that I now looked for the next one. I wish a lot of people would watch these. It isn't just accidents or "drive carefully". It is WHAT you should do to avoid nasty situations. Something we need a lot more of

Not a bad list, here are a few of mine: - Policing other road users - Don't get involved, don't make the situation worst, don't punish other that are or you think are breaking the rules, do what you can to make the situation a non-issue and leave them to it. This was kind of covered in the lane straddling during zipper merge, inappropriate use of the horn or flashing lights, and getting out the car to intimidate. But I would also include things like winding down the window to berate/educate, just mind your own business. - Sitting in blind spots - Either get on and overtake or tuck in behind, again kind of covered by lane hoggers but I think not explicitly mentioned, and in a similar vein lorries that take several miles to do one overtake.

*You’re four times* It’s hard to *more likely to* concentrate on *have a crash* two things *when you’re on* at the same time. *a mobile phone.* Don’t interact with your phone in any way whilst operating a motor vehicle. It’s lethal.

'...expect anyone to go anywhere from any lane...' How true of roundabout behaviour Ashley, although failing to signal is by far the most consistent omission and the most annoying. Great channel mate. Gordon

Just found your chanel. Great video. I have been driving for years and have held a PSV in the past - but it is really good to just re-educate one's self every now and then. Look forward to watching more of your videos.

The gap closers really grind my gears. I'll never understand it.

Whenever at a crossroads my instructor would always tell me to look both ways even if it's green for me. Just so happens that people do like to barge through even if it's red. He also joked that people who jump red lights are bank robbers

Great examples for learning, Ashley. What I commonly experience also is drivers "cutting" corners on tight, blind junctions to turn more quickly and then causing near accidents to the vehicle parked at the junction and to themselves by then running wide into their lefthand curb. I make a safety habit of turning after the centre road marking at the junction to avoid speeding brakers approaching the junction! Great teaching. Thank you.

I've only just discovered this channel, but I'm so glad I did. You cover my pet hates down to a tee, glad you manage to keep such a cool demeanour, I get a lump in my chest half the time watching people who dont have a clue.

I've been driving since 1967 but I still learnt how to be a better, safer driver from this video. Thanks Ashley.

The selfish people on the roads with these habits will never watch this video because in their brain there are no bad driving habits.

Such a relaxing and informative video, very well done!

Excellent video Ashley, so much to learn from your videos, highly appreciate the effort that you are putting in to teach the right methods, rules, and strategies which in turn is keeping everyone safe on the road - a great fan of yours, especially of your sunglasses and watches!

Cutting corners/junctions seems to becoming far more prolific, some people are just too lazy to turn the steering wheel properly

When I was boy racer people often drove too close in front of me, now I'm an old bloke they drive too close behind me.

Well presented… and useful as well! I feel like as time goes by after passing your test, you begin to get a bit more relaxed and cavalier with time, improvement, and better cars; speed limits are there for a reason, and you really shouldn’t undertake. But it becomes easier to allow yourself to do it more often. Videos like this help people’s perceptions of the dangers and are a good refresher every now and then. Well, for me at least

Many thanks for your videos. They have helped me to improve my driving even after 40 years.

My biggest pet peeve is the "but I was indicating!" brigade. For some reason they think that just because they're indicating (e.g. to change lanes or merge from a slip road) this automatically means they have right of way. And they then proceed to cut up any unfortunate soul who happens to be in their way. They don't seem to grasp that the lane markers are give way lines.

This is a good list and they're all things I see day in day out as a delivery driver. I could rant all day but two of my main pet hates are drivers who park on zigzags at crossings and drivers who park against the flow of traffic at night with their headlights on.

Closing spaces down is frequently a necessity if you are the driver of a large vehicle. If that large vehicle is approaching a relatively small roundabout with say 2 lanes on approach. The last thing that driver needs is someone squeezing down the side of you. Again, say at a junction that large vehicle is wanting to go straight ahead, but the other side of the junction narrows or is dog legged, the lorry driver probably needs to take the full width of the road in order to protect himself from vehicles trying to pass him on the junction. It's called 'creating a safe space'

Anyone else find Ashley voice super calming. Love your channel Ashely, and thank you for your help to keep our road safe. Thanks.

0:20 Using your phone 2:25 Indicators 4:01 Lane Hogging 6:06 Speeding 7:37 Using the horn/Flashing your lights 9:34 Jumping red lights 10:41 Queuing 13:15 Space closers 16:05 Roundabouts 17:29 Tailgating

Ashley needs to be a voice for audio books. Such calm voice 😊

I’m a new subscriber and really enjoyed watching your channel, I’m one of the slight older generation that was brought up on the “only a fool breaks the two second rule “ and the “slow to go” . over my 30+ years of driving has seen a lot of people doing silly things (this includes me).at roundabout and junctions. These days I drive more aware of the other road users, after all we all want get somewhere in one piece without confrontation with (possibly aggressive)drivers. Thanks for showing us what typical encounters we might see one day.

Indication fails and sudden lane swap/lane discipline fails is my biggest bug bear. However I do recognise a couple of your points that I routinely practise. I must try harder to be a better driver. your video's are helping me (and others) be better road users thank you Ashley.

I can't even walk straight when looking at my phone...

Part of my job is helping those with complex tauma to find imaginative neutral 'reasons' for what they perceive as bad behaviour and it translates quite well into driving. So, if someone is badly tailgating, I imagine that the fellow has his knob caught in his zip and can't concentrate on anything else. If someone is hogging the right lane, I imagine they've just had an ice-cream and it's frozen half their brain. It doesn't stop them but it gives me a giggle.

Great video Ashley as usual. One thing I find most strange is why so many people don't signal when coming out of a slip road into lane one, but then signal to go into lane two. I don't know why they think lane one is different to lane two. Also people signal to turn right on a roundabout but leave their right indicator on when they exit the roundabout. Keep up the good work 👍

A really enjoyable watch the effort put into the making of this video is clear to see I was enthralled thanks Haley Star

One thing I'd like to add about trying to enter a directional lane with queuing traffic (I. E. leaving a motorway jn) is that you may be unfamiliar with the road layout and not realise the queuing traffic is in the lane you require until you've overshot the rear of it. I tend to find directional lanes in urban areas rarely provide visible road markings or signage far back enough and therefore when you are unfamiliar with the road layout you find yourself in the wrong lane with the daunting task of trying to merge. It's not pushing in, it's not being aware of which lane goes where until its much later down the road.

Always good advice from this chap.... Sadly, bad drivers are very unlikely to have an interest in these videos, because they are in too much of a hurry to get somewhere.

ive been driving 30+ yrs and i still learn something new when i watch your videos...thanks

Excellent advices...thankyou for safe driving

"Idiots are better at being idiots than you are, so don't give them a competition, because you'll lose"......not sure if that's original or copied from somewhere else, but love it & I'm stealing it for the future, cheers!

One of my biggest annoyances at the moment is people who don't read the road markings and nearly send themselves ploughing into the people who are proceeding as directed

Thanks Ashley. Great video as always

These videos (all of them on your channel) are fantastic. Ashley. We all have room for improvement and it’s a good way of viewing bad driving with good reasoning and balance. My driving could definitely improve. It’s easy to get frustrated when driving, particularly while in a rush. Best to dial it in a bit and go more carefully. The example with someone driving fast to sit at a traffic light longer is a great example. Merge in turn is definitely one of the ones which triggers me. I leave it late to merge and just about every time I do, I have problems getting in.

Took it all onboard, thanks. My problem is Horn and Flashing. I will stop that behaviour.

I know Ashley has a bee in his bonnet about “merge in turn”, and many people clearly don’t know what to do in that situation, but that’s not helped by very unclear advice in the Highway Code, which only tells us to: A) Use your mirrors and get into the correct lane for your vehicle in good time and as signs direct. (Rule 288), and B) You should follow the signs and road markings and get into the lane as directed. In congested road conditions do not change lanes unnecessarily. Merging in turn is recommended but only if safe and appropriate when vehicles are travelling at a very low speed, e.g. when approaching road works or a road traffic incident. It is not recommended at high speed. (Rule 134) The Code does not tell us the correct procedure for how to merge in turn, nor does it specify where to do it. There’s no mention of “using all the road” or “getting right up to the cones”, as this video suggests. In fact, Rule 288 suggests to me that getting right up to the cones is NOT recommended. A video demonstrating how to do it safely, courteously and co-operatively would be of great interest.

Cool video! You really spotted several important points that I’ll try to keep an eye for in my driving. Thanks! ‘An idiot is better than you in being stupid’ golden! Very well put!

As a 20 year taxi driver I find observing the vehicle rather than the driver of the other vehicle has 2 benefits, I don’t react to rude hand gestures, for perceived mistakes, as I haven’t seen them & I get a better indication of the driver’s next move than if I had been watching the driver. One of the biggest mistakes most drivers make is looking at the person they are talking to rather than keeping their eyes focused on the road ahead as they talk

Since most of my car driving is on motorways the lane hoggers are my biggest annoyance by far. Roundabouts aren't an issue at all for me in the Netherlands, I think because we don't really do multilane ones except with ridges between the lanes. It is quite shocking how many drivers I can see using their phone when I'm taking the bus. It makes me even happier with how many segregated cyclelanes there are.

For tailgaters they simply don’t have safe enough distance so i tell my students to slow down until the distance between us and tailgater is compatible with the speed we are going, most of the time it’s sufficient to have the tailgater back up a bit, and if he has the occasion, he’ll overpass us and go tailgating someone else. I’ll try to avoid putting myself out of his way, because this will act as a reinforcement for him to tailgate more.

I drive a patient transport ambulance. Fantastic advice we all need reminding of. I will take this with me driving both inside and outside of work. Great, thoughtful video, thanks

Looking cool, summer is coming, time to get the shades out again! 😎

This video is excellent. Spot on with all the common problems on our roads today. I’m a driving instructor in Australia, Melbourne, and we face these common problems too. Very interesting video. Thanks for uploading!

Usually when I'm tailgated, I put on my hazard lights and pull over, then continue. Some people's impatience is honestly shocking, makes me wonder what's the point when I catch up with them at traffic lights!

Brilliant video comments are 100% spot-on, not that I expect anything else from you.

Your presentation is a rollercoaster of emotions 😉

I hate the people who drive 30 in a 50 and then in a 30 they will be speeding, like whats the point

Sadly recognisable, and extremely important. Thank you for reminding everyone, although I have a feeling that the drivers who need to listen to this most, also couldn’t care less. Which is why these problems are there in the first place.

Great video and I say that as I think I’m guilty of a couple of those at times and it’s made me more conscious of it now.

I once saw a Jaguar driver in a suit on the M40, middle lane, 65 mph, with a laptop on the dashboard. He was typing a report or something with both hands.

i know a few people who's worst habit would be crashing...

While not dangerous like some from your list, something that gets to me is people waiting to make a right turn into a busy road from a one way street, but doing so from the left hand side. So anyone behind them wanting to turn left is stuck until the road clears in both directions. This might just be because I live in a one way street and experience this most times I leave the house though.

Love the slow super cool commentary. Great advice. Lets all calm down.

Another great video.. every day is a school day.. even after years behind the wheel

The best one I've had so far was before I took my test: I was making good progress along a local uphill stretch (about 28) when someone overtook and the cut sharply in front of me, only to then park up to answer their phone. I guess at least he didn't answer his phone while driving 🙂

Isn't it just great when people don't indicate and you're expected to know what their plans are

I really enjoyed this video keep up the good work

Great video, Ashley! My biggest pet peeve is tailgating.

I'm probably considered a bit of a phone addict, always scrolling aimlessly through Facebook, mostly habitually. I never touch my phone while I'm driving though, not even stopped at traffic lights. Situations can change in a tiny fraction of a second, and it's just not worth it

Literally almost everyone I see is distracted with a mobile, whether they are driving or on foot.

Awesome video! Thank you!

These are very good tips and reminders for all drivers no matter how long you've been driving

Just reminded me of a very old quote "I've never had an accident, I've seen a lot but never had one myself"................

To me me standard of driving these days is terribly shocking. There's so much anger, impatience, impatience, impatience, impatience, impatience, oh and impatience. So much speeding, tailgating and risky behaviour. Sick of it.

Spotted a coach driver on his phone driving in Central London. Thanks for the videos Ashley.

Excellent video, my advice when behind someone at a roundabout is don't keep looking to see when the guy in front "should" go but just keep staring at his boot until he's gone, people don't always drive as you do and they can also stall and you can run into the back of them in your impatience.

My pet hate is drivers who swing left to make a right hand turn.

The two worst sorts of driving are the idiots driving too close behind me and the idiots driving too slowly in front of me. 🙂

Newly subscribed, love the channel. In the section regarding red light jumpers, proceeding at a green light with caution is also necessary due to emergency vehicles, not just regular drivers.

You mentioned about tailgating and going around a roundabout so he/she is in front of you out of the way instead of behind you - genius! I'm not a fan of turning right at busy road junctions so if there is a roundabout nearby turning left I will turn left and go around the roundabout to go in the right direction, a bit longer but safer for me in general.

I don't mind speeding on it's own, I separate speeding from acting reckless. You can easily do either one without the other. I speed regularly - or I did at least before COVID. keeping with the flow 75-80-85 on the motorway, pushing to 90, or even 100 when it's empty, dry and well lit. There's a 50 limit road near here that EVERYONE does 60 on, it used to be 60, but was lowered to 50 because half a dozen kids, doing close to 100 mph crammed in an un-roadworthy ricer car failed to negotiate a mild curve and went into one of those big stone "welcome to ___" things some places have which had been there for as long as I remember... Killed all of them. Including a young (12~14 or something) girl. The press took the death of the young girl, and the young age of all involved (driver was only just 18, not long since passed) as a sign no one can talk ill of any of the kids, and it was a tragic accident and of course it was the 'fast' 60 mph road and the placement of the plinth that was mostly to blame -_- The space closers, I wonder how many of them even know what they just did. The grey golf example, the driver doesn't even seem to look over to the slip road, makes no gesture or sign they've seen the cam car even as it pulls in front of them. Bizzare way to drive... head straight forward staring into one spot. Perhaps it's a theory that if I just drive where I want to go and just go and ignore everyone it will be okay. I'm also going to play devils advocate on the mobile phone front. phones don't automatically distract attention from the road. Rather than phones specifically I think the bigger issue is generally distracted driving. Like the woman you show behind you, who looked away from the road and seemed to instantly go into a world of her own, bollocks to the driving. And the taxi who almost rear ends you is appalling! Why would you move forward without even looking... he saw you start to go, counted 1..2..3.. 'must be clear by now' and went! Doesn't matter if it was his phone, GPS, stereo, bit of blue tac, coins, jerking one out, picking his nose...etc... I find it's not justifiable to say just because someone has a phone in their hand that they are distracted - The police should not be prosecuting simply for holding one, but actually watch what they are doing and it should become an aggravating factor when bad driving is observed, just like anything else should be.

Being on the phone makes my blood boil. Every day I see mothers on the school run texting even when going 20 outside the school at home time

only recently found this channel, excellent stuff. Totally agree with comment about roundabouts, when I was doing a motorcycle test lesson we stopped at several roundabouts and the testers question was "where do you think they might be going?" Baffling, some had no idea at all , others following satnav suddenly serving off........................

I like your relaxed attitude and the "don't try to beat an idiot" advice. My only problem is that it means that the bullies can keep doing what they're doing because the decent drivers give them space to protect themselves. There are times when it pisses me off no end when I'm in that queue and I see one entitled f***er after another, often in an Audi or Range Rover, abuse filter lanes, bus lanes etc to get ahead.