what bugs me is when people think they are entitled on these narrow roads and when you pull over to one side for them, they don't say thank you. Manners cost nothing to everyone.

One thing if the oncoming driver is reversing for you: Keep a very respectful distance away from them whilst they reverse. This demonstrates to them your patience and appreciation for their reverse and also doesn't put any pressure on them. Bear in mind also if they make a bit of a hash of their reverse (getting too close to a hedge for example), they may need room to move forwards to correct things before reversing again. And it goes without saying to always Thank them for their reverse as you pass by them. I sometimes even wind my window to say Thank You if I see they have their window down.

as someone who lives in the countryside you can tell when people have grown up on the country roads compared to people that have drove on them once or twice

I just passed my test learning on these country roads. An important thing to know is that many people walk on these narrow roads due to no footpaths so going slowly around corners here is essential. Even I've been startled by a family standing around a blind corner before and if I hadn't anticipated this in advance someone could have been hurt.

Living in Cornwall it amazes me how many people barrel their big SUVs down single track roads not only too afraid of scratching their paintwork to get anywhere near the side of the road, but also with a complete inability to reverse it back down to a passing place!

I drive in the Yorkshire Dales a lot, very often on single track roads, and my advice is; 1. Relax. You're not going anywhere quickly so take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery. 2. Look as far ahead as possible. If you spot an oncoming vehicle pull into the first convenient passing place and wait. You won't lose much journey time and rule 1 applies. 3. Be patient. You might get behind slow agricultural vehicles, but they're probably not going far, so again, it's not going to cost you a lot of time, and if you brass the driver off he can go *a lot* more slowly ! 4. Be courteous. Most of the traffic you'll meet is local people going about their business, and if you end up in a ditch you're going to need their help because you're probably a long way from the nearest recovery truck. (Assuming there's even a phone signal so you can call one !) Out in the sticks there isn't a McDonald's just around the corner, so you could end up cold, hungry, and very tired before help arrives.

Having grown up in rural Devon and experiencing tourists from the city, I think rural driving should be mandatory in driver training. It's a completely different game. It's more about give and take, planning early, planning your passing points (as you mentioned) and being hyper-aware of the size of your vehicle.

UK SW - Where I live we have loads of narrow roads. We also have a lot of new builds with a lot of drivers new to country lanes and they are a menace to say least. we now get a lot high speed accidents on norrow roads that were never known 10 years ago. We just had the odd mirror clip and stuck in the mud type problems. It` common to see cars rolled and crashed though hedges, even one 5 ft up in a tree. I often fear for my life when i drive down some of our single track roads, it`s scary stuff

This video is spot on. When you live rurally (as I do) there is a huge mix of road types….You can turn off an A road then be straight into a C road, and not all single track roads have conveniently spaced passing places! Be extra careful in winter…a farmer’s field entrance you use to let an approaching car get past, might turn out to be a bog you can’t drive out of…I know Lol. Locals know how to play the game and courteously giving way is often the ONLY way to progress. Knowing the width of your vehicle is essential as you might be squeezing through (slowly I hope) with barely inches to spare. City drivers are often quite unprepared and do things like hanging out of junctions to force traffic into letting them out - they might get away with is in London where it goes on constantly, but in the countryside no one expects this and they will get hit broadside. Tractors….be afraid, be very afraid Lol…they often don’t indicate, sometimes use arm signals and at speed they kinda bounce about…a lot, they can also be driven (legally) by farm hands who are younger than expected…bonus warning, if following one, you might get huge clumps of mud (or smellier) thrown at you from the wheels. Finally, country people sometimes take horses or horse and buggy onto local roads…and they might be around that next bend! If you see horse poo in the road, that’s a likely indication…..

Living on a farm in rural Devon, I'm well versed in driving on single track roads like those you feature. Heavy vehicles do use them-milk tankers visiting farms, delivery vehicles and even low loaders carrying plant. One just learns to be very good at quick and accurate reversing. One also has the problem with stand-offs: people who can't reverse often will just stop facing you and wait for you to reverse. When two 'non-reversers' meet, stand-offs can last for minutes. On one occasion I even offered to reverse the other car for the driver, in order to break the log jam (I had a queue behind me). I have even had to reverse 50 yards into a passing place when pulling a large trailer. Townies don't know what they're missing. ;-)

Had my worst experience of country lane driving a couple of weeks ago when a road closure sent all the main road traffic down a lane narrower than the ones in your video. Too few passing points and too many cars meant at one point I had to scrape along the nearside hedge to allow an oncoming van, who wasn't going to stop, pass me with literally an inch to spare. Luckily just slight scratches but to my freshly ceramic coated 2 month old pride and joy. I wasn't a happy bunny. I'm in the south east and try to avoid the country lanes as the locals in their knackered cars and 4x4s are almost always travelling way too fast, familiarity breeds contempt. Another thing to add is that the shadows, quite evident in your videos, sometimes hide walkers, cyclists or even horses so another reason to drive extra cautiously in country lanes.

I knew a guy a few years ago who had no vision in one eye and reduced vision in the other. He still had a driving licence. He lived in a small village that was accessible by twisting, single-lane roads. He told us he drove along these at 150 Kmph. When he was asked if he didn't think this was dangerous, his reply was "I know the roads". You can't fix stupid.

I have been a HGV driver for 7 years, and my father (who was a road traffic police officer for 25 years) taught me how to drive initially. I have to say, Ashley, that your videos are highly informative and of excellent quality. The fact that you're raising awareness of common misunderstandings and frequent issues on UK roads is commendable. Subscribed!

As a german viewer, these types of seemingly common rural roads in the UK are more daunting to me than driving on the left. By watching your videos I have somewhat gotten used to the "mirrored" effect. But having so many roads like this, that aren't wide enough for two cars much less heavier vehicles, but are however two way roads, seems way more challenging than having to learn to drive on the other side, I think. We do have roads like that here in Germany of course, but they are seemingly less common, usually don't have hedges really close to the road either side and often are one-way or restricted to locals, forestry or farmer's access only and almost always easily detoured around by main roads. It seems that is different in the UK, from what I gather. Add to that that cars are getting larger - particularly wider - and that people in bigger cars tend to be less considerate and aware, makes this situation worse.

I'm based in very rural Worcestershire, and there are many roads like that around. I don't drive, myself, however as a cyclist, I do experience the utter incompetence of other road users who clearly have no experience of country roads - trying to pass on a narrow section, etc etc. Very irritating at times!

There was a rural road I lived near years ago where every week there would be a new overturned car as some 17/18 year old passed their test and decided to test their skill and came a cropper through a hedge or down a bank into a field.

My parents live in an area similar to this with very narrow two-lane roads and several single-track ones and when driving to visit them, the most important lesson I learned was to be ready to put yourself in a ditch to avoid a head-on collision. Someone came around a corner completely on my side of the road not too long ago and I would have been killed or seriously injured had I not dived straight into the soft verge (which I barely managed to get out of), and they didn't even slow down. The point especially hit home when I was recently told someone else driving down the same road experienced a similar situation and couldn't react fast enough to the car on his side of the road. He was removed from his small SUV and airlifted to hospital and in critical condition for several days. The other driver walked away from his LHD sports car with no injuries. No matter who has priority, or who is in the wrong, getting out of the way is your best weapon on roads like these, because quite often you'll meet people who just don't care.

Ranger Rovers often seem to be the ones speeding down these roads in my experience. Could be selective memory. Note how the small yellow car after it was going at a sensible speed.

This is a good video for those who are not use to country lanes, and as a reminder to those of us who use them regularly. 1 thing I think you completely missed is country traffic - farm vehicles on single track roads, especially around late summer and harvest time. As well as bikes, wildlife (escaped sheep / cows, etc) and horse riders. I am from the Romney Marsh, down in Kent and my daughters both ride horses, and the number of people who don't know how to pass them safely is quite astounding. And the amount of grief farmers get for driving tractors around, trying to get to and from their fields, is also shocking. I try and drive such that I can stop in 1/2 the distance I can see, so if something appears around the corner, I know I can pull up. Wider roads give people a sense of safety, and they go faster, without considering what is around the bend (pedestrian / horse / cow / tractor / etc), and then they look all offended when they nearly run into you

Attitude counts for a lot on these roads. When I first started driving on these roads I was naturally cautious, but had an "ex passanger" who would mock me for not going "fast like experienced drivers like me" and who thought that tailgating drivers were in the right because i was too slow when not flooring it around bends . I'm much more comfortable now with these roads and think all the points in the video are apot on.

I do deliveries in rural Shropshire on roads like these all the time. Reversing onto a driveway entrance like you did is a big no no for us (company policy), and i've heard of a driver from a different area getting sacked for doing such after someone sent in doorbell footage. So it's important for people to be patient and prepared to reverse, because not all vehicles have the same options available. The same goes for passing places, the amount of cars that drive right up to my bumper and expect me to reverse into a spot filled with 3 inches of thick mud that I will get stuck in is crazy.

Rural delivery driver here, The use of the whole road cannot be understated here. The improved view of the upcoming road allows improved planning and creates a better flow. Also the use of reflections in buildings/parked vehicles is an excellent way to improve your view and anticipation of other vehicles. Which then also leads me onto my next point that you should drive with your headlights on regardless of when you are driving. The contrast of the bright lights makes your vehicle 10x more visible in reflections (those horrible junction mirrors) or shaded areas. And a final tip I have found invaluable is to roll your windows down and listen for vehicles when you are pulling out of a road where there is poor visibility of oncoming vehicles, you'd be surprised how much information you can get from your ears.

Thanks Ashley, as a relatively new driver myself, I’ve been nervous about narrow lane driving. Kent is notorious for narrow lanes around farmland/rural ares, yet people drive through the lanes like they’re driving on a motorway. It’s very nerve racking. The best policy - in my opinion, and how I’ve been taught by my instructor - is anticipate anything, prepare for everything. Appropriately paced driving whilst being aware of potential hazards and passing points is the best policy. Thanks again for your really helpful videos 🙏

Also, I noticed a lot of hand up to say thank you in this video. I would say that putting hand up that way rather than thumb up is a more polite way of showing thanks because I see a thumb up just means well done. Anyway, we've already had this conversation............ Nice driving and excellent commentary.

I live in a rural area in South Wales with lots of single track roads. The number of drivers that can’t reverse is astounding. Many times there is a passing place just behind them yet I have to reverse a hundred yards to another as they just sit there because they can’t reverse.

Thought you were going to say the view was absolutely awesome 😊

Wales is fully of these kinds of roads. Did a week long long bikepacking trip this summer. They are quiet and hardly any cars then with little warning a local can come bombing round. So have to watch speeds at all times. Especially on the bike as it's very hilly and tempting to let off the brakes a little on the downhills. But you have to think what could be round each corner and taper speed a lot. Ans position as Ash said to be seen early, as can quickly pull in. Enjoyed my trip, nice challenge getting up those hills and such peace/scenery.

50% plus of my lessons were conducted on country roads, rural areas and in Upper Tees Dale and Upper Wear Dale, County Durham and for those who aren’t familiar with were County Durham is its in Northeast England. I definitely found the Locals had the tendency to drive a little too fast.

It's always worth remembering on those roads, some large vehicles have exemptions from weight limits. You tend to drive quicker on roads you know. The locals would have been brought up on these roads and will have acquired skills you may not have. I was in Cornwall on a very single track road (about 70% of the one in the video lined with stone walls) and came head to head with three cars with a woman of about 80 behind me. I had to reverse for about 300 yards in the dusk around blind corners thinking there wasn't the width for my front end swing. My thought was it's going to take a while with the old lady behind. I could see she wasn't keen on the reverse. Boy was I wrong, she drove backwards like a stunt driver and was in a driveway waiting to give me a piece of her mind. Told me if I able to driving on "her road" I should take an alternative route. It was a humbling experience.

I live on single track road & drive a lot on these roads. The only time I didn't like them (Luckily I wasn't driving at the time) was going through Noss Mayo as you can't go anyway because of the houses/buildings & their were cars in front & behind. It was really tight at times.

At around 2:16 re "Where was the last passing place?" That's exactly what I do on these narrow roads. It's a vital piece of information and keeps you alert and thinking. An add on with this: If I see an oncoming vehicle in the distance across the hedgerows and I am approaching a passing place, I will stop at that passing place if I don't know there will be another passing place before the two of us meet. I do this even if the oncoming vehicle is still some distance away, within reason of course.

Not only is this a great video but the viewer comments here are of a very high standard and quite educational in themselves. It's a testiment to the high quality of Ashley's channel.

I live in the North East and regullely tow a caravan with my transporter in the lake district. You soon pick up those skills when put under pressure on tight lakeland roads. Good video.

Something I learned in advanced is always stop within half the distance you see to be clear and anticipate/plan for the other driver not doing the same

Nice video today Ashley and a good reminder that the speed limit is just that, a limit and not a target. As someone who grew up in rural areas you quickly leanred that the written priority means nothing and the only priority out there is politeness on the road and who has the easiest move to clear the issue I had one recently where the vehicle coming the other way was closest to a passing point but as they were towing a trailer it was easier for me to reverse an extra 100 yards. Problem sorted and on our way

The joys of quiet rural lanes. Spot on.👍

Pro tip from a lane traveler in rural North Devon. Stop trying to reverse into field entrances & tiny passing places, just reverse past then pull in forward.

I live in an area like this in Kent. It's a lot easier to deal with at night time because you can see headlights coming around the corner. Unless you're driving through a village or a blind bend because then you *really* need to slow down because a lot of the lanes near me have no pavements and you get people walking their dogs or cycling and at night time its lethal if you go round a corner fast without seeing what is behind it.

There aren’t many roads like this in my country. Whenever I do drive on one, I really enjoy the challenge of it. The joy of driving and the beautiful countryside. I could do it all day! Good point about talking while driving. Most times I drive alone, so I got used to a driving style that suits my limits when I’m alone in the car and able to fully focus on driving. When I have a passenger on board, I do sometimes notice that it’s hard to focus on the conversation as I’m driving in the way that I’m used to. Nothing wrong with consciously slowing it down a bit. I will try to take this into concideration more. Cheers!

I'm in Devon. We're surrounded by roads like these. The issue I sometimes notice is people who are just not comfortable reversing long distances or people who refuse to back up even if the nearest pass point is just behind them. Keeping an eye out for pedestrians/dog walkers is important, as they can be easily hidden by these roads as you approach them.

Your videos are improving me as a driver. I live in the countryside but I haven’t always, so this is a good learning point for me.

Thanks for all the informative videos Ashley

A great example of what should happen. There’s a lot of roads round where I live (Surrey/Hampshire/Berkshire), that I have to drive on from time to time. Unfortunately I’ve had reverse a lot further than the oncoming vehicle, would have to because they can’t reverse well enough. No problems obviously. I’m normally driving a stretched limo though, because it’s work that takes me down these kind of roads. Love your point about moving to the right of the road to see, as I do this (at massively reduced speeds).

I live in rural East Yorkshire and I encounter these type of roads on a regular basis, I do tend to drive slow because of farm vehicles and other vehicles going far to fast for the roads. I've lived here nearly 6 years but I don't think I've become complacent it's far to dangerous to do so.

Great video, and some very good points. Having grown up and lived on roads like those all my life I wish more people drove like you. Its especially challenging to drive large vehicles down roads like that when its necessary for access.

Awesome video Ashley. Love your videos they are all awesome

Great video. I echo what you say. When I am having a conversation with my passengers I *never* take my eyes of the road and I don't take my hands off the wheel to gesticulate either. Those are the rules!

Glad this came out when it did. I'm away to Exmoor soon and imagine the roads round there could be similar to what you've shown here. Nice to get some advice and a refresher on best practice! Though there is also a very narrow country lane near me that I use when I have to and some of the locals drive down it way too fast.

I think your best comment there was can you talk and drive. I think you will see a lot of local cars that go faster but because they're more than happy to jump on the verge and they're extremely used to dealing with the passing spaces. I don't think in all cases its that they're driving "too fast", they're just driving to their knowledge / ability. That's where the talk and drive comes in. If you're driving faster than your brain can deal with anything else, you're driving too fast.

Got to make sure you drive safe, especially if someone did came around a corner, you always have to be prepared

I live in Dorset and there are some very scary single track roads with blind bends. I go really slowly and beep my horn at the total blind bends. It certainly makes my heart go faster. When you meet someone coming the other way, they are invariably going way too fast for the roads, and/or tractors that move all over the place. Happy Christmas to you, I really enjoy your videos.

Good tips. Living in Cornwall we have a variety of country lanes, single track, etc. Issues that I see with road users (especially during holiday season) are: 1. Too fast for the road & conditions 2. Too slow for the road & conditions 3. Sudden braking and/or change of direction and little or no indication when (presumably) searching for their campsite/cottage/turn 4. Speeding through 30 MPH villages (often at 40MPH) then dawdling through the national speed limit area (often at 40MPH) - only to then accelerate up to 60MPH when we reach a stretch of road with a crawler lane. 5. Lack of awareness of the size of their vehicle. 6. Over reliance on sensors when reversing, rather than using their mirrors and eyes. 7. Inability to reverse to the passing place immediately behind their vehicle. 9. Using passing places as parking bays. 10. Tailgating - then pulling out to overtake with zero visibility. 11. Not accelerating to a speed suitable to perform the overtake. 12. Impatience. 13. Fear of hedgerows/ferns etc. touching their (shiny) car when needing to move over to allow passing at the passing place. 15. Sudden braking whenever there's an oncoming vehicle in the oncoming lane!? 16. Excessive braking/riding the brakes on down hill stretches. 17. Clutch burnout due to inability when reversing up a hill, and/or hillstarts. 18. Lack of awareness of the size of their vehicle with regards to width restrictions.... then getting stuck... and having to be towed out from between buildings by a tractor... Edit: Bonus points I remembered after pressing save: 19. Not using their lights/fog lights appropriately (so many people drive through thick seamist/fog without any lights at all - they're practically invisible). 20. Pedestrians - wearing dark clothing, in the dark, on an unlit lane/road, that is without a footpath.

I live in Somerset and regularly used to drive over The Quantocks to take my son to/from college. It’s amazing how quickly you get used to these roads and memorise the twists and bends. You can tell who doesn’t typically drive these routes and it’s easy to allow them space while they figure it out. I would also encounter horses. Some people were impatient idiots and would just vroom by where I was always much slower while passing horses. Their riders certainly appreciated it.

Great explanation of how the limit point is constantly moving in and out. So many people drive without the slightest awareness of it.

Brilliant commentary on this one Ashley and I like your pace - I think I'd have felt very reassured as a passenger. I lived in rural Devon for eight years and still go back there to see my dad - the roads do take some adapting to compared with the more open type of roads in Bedfordshire. Having solid banks on the side of the road rather than a verge makes quite a difference! Next time I'm there I will think about this video and my speed. Many thanks as always.

I had a very near miss a few years ago: a country road, not narrow, with green hedges and trees high on either side. A farm vehicle came towards me that had flashing amber lights to denote a wide vehicle, the exact same shade of green as the hedges. It wasn't until the last second that I properly saw that the edges of the wide vehicle were actually beyond where the flashing lights were. I literally couldn't see them! Fortunately for me I wasn't driving so fast that I couldn't slow down and move slightly, but whose idea was it to paint the damn thing the same colour as the surroundings? Surely a wide vehicle should be painted a colour so that it is impossible to be camouflaged?

Brilliant video Ashley. I have been waiting a long time for one on this subject and it is spot on. Many roads just like this in Essex. Yes Essex. Most think of the county as an urban conurbation but there is a lot of countryside there too. A lot of the roads are just like the ones you drove in this video. Not wide enough for two vehicles, inconsistent widths, and with absolutely catastrophic jagged edges for ripping tires to shreds. Such an occurrence happened to me on the road near RHS Hyde Hall. I was probably going a bit too fast but I had to avoid the m*ppet coming in the opposite direction that was going outrageously fast and not slowing down at all. A loss of the tire was better than a loss of the whole car or worse. The council would not compensate me though for the poor state of their road edging.

Great video Ashley. Living in rural Suffolk most of our roads are insufficiently wide enough for agricultural machinery and huge lorries - which accounts for about 50% of the traffic during harvest time. This is evidenced by the dash cam video I sent you, showing a combine harvester severely damaging our small VW Polo, because the road was far too narrow for him to pass safely.

Thanks for this video Ashley, as a relatively new driver I'm always worried if I'm going 'too slow' on country roads, but better to be safe than sorry. Went on a trip to Cornwall recently and dealt with many roads like this - I was more confident when I realised that they're not all that different to driving on the narrow streets of the Bristol suburbs, just instead of parked cars either side of the road, it's bushes and trees.

Rural Shropshire is the same but much hillier. I think a key thing to mention is whatever allowances you make for wet and icy conditions on normal roads you need to double again on these sorts of roads. Ive been on a single track road in the snow and the stopping distance is the bottom of the hill, if you're going uphill get ready to put it in reverse at any point 😂

We used to have a passing point outside our gate, or should say we owned a passing point outside our gate since there was nowhere else to pass on our road being single track. Our neighbour down the road blocked his drive so no one could pass using his drive because people kept knocking his gate posts down. That put extra load on our drive we were then getting our wall knocked down or run into every few weeks. We put some huge rocks just in front the gates and solved the problem overnight. You could still pass using our drive if you were careful, however there was a huge increase in cars around us with indentations in the rear bumpers matching our rocks.

Good stuff here Ash. I used to drum it into learners heads and when doing fleet work the importance concerning the limit point, not only on country lanes but in general. I think it’s one of the most important safety advice you can give, plenty of country lanes where I live and on test routes in Lichfield where most of my learners went on test!

If your staying in a property Ashley that does not have a vision splay that is safe remind the owners that they should follow the latest planning regs for vision splays from a driveway. I have mentioned this before in one of your videos when an emerging car either nearly crashed or did crash because they cannot see emerging or passing cars cannot see them emerging. These rules are for safety and differ for when the driveway emerges onto a path, road, or verge first.

Excellent video, just a thought for people, remember an empty passing point can become full in seconds (like a vehicle coming out of a field or a car out of a drive), so stop and take your time don't rush if reversing into one, especially on dark nights. Also the road maybe unsuitable for HGVs, but there's always Fire engines, Fuel delivery trucks, Telephone pole handlers etc etc in rural areas that have to use the roads.

Welcome to Essex. Very useful video thank you. I often electronically turn in my wing mirrors when driving along these lanes. It’s a cool £1000 if another vehicle smashes my wing mirror off. Thanks Ashley!

I'm a delivery driver. I drive a Luton van quite often I go down roads like this and worse with tight blind bends. the speed of people coming towards me around them is crazy I quite often use my horn multiple times on approach. and it's funny how they look at me like I've doing something wrong when they panic break because how fast they're going. most of the points Ashley makes to me is just common sense. but people just drive in their own bubble

Not really much to add. I live in SW Birmingham, a city not really known for single track rural roads. But I do drive to Redditch quite often to visit my mom. I alternate between the main, most direct route (depending on roadworks) and the more pleasant country route, littered with narrow roads (past the Birmingham City training ground). Experience has taught me to watch out for pedestrians walking in the road (no footpaths), cyclists and tractors. There's one particular stretch of very narrow road with an awkward junction where tractors sometimes want to pull out. Because I know it's there, I'm ready to pull into a decent widening up to 100m away to let him out and pass me or, if he's coming in the opposite direction, stop and wait before the junction. This is one instance I'm happy to flash my headlights and switch on my hazards to warn anyone who might come from behind me that there's a reason why I stopped in the middle of the road. One warning sign I look out for is fresh manure on the road. When I see that, I expect to see the culprits that deposited it... horses.😂

Coming out of the property entrance I would have opened the front windows to use my hearing as an extra useful sense on whether vehicles could be approaching. Even EVs make a bit of road noise.

Thanks for doing a video on this, very good advice

I've often said I had two initial phases of learning to drive. My lessons with an instructor gave me the basics of handling a car and adjusting to conditions over a few months in the outer suburbs of London. Sharing the driving as a supervised learner on a two-week holiday between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, was like starting all over agaim. I passed my test in Oxford and for ten years after that would only drive borrowed cars, but was always quite happy to explore single-track country lanes and sacrifice speed for enjoyment thanks to that hoilday experience.

Two other things that could be utilised for country driving - • The horn. When approaching a blind corner, some people give a short bip on the horn to let cars, who may be on approach from the other direction, know that you are there. • The newspaper. A woman who lived locally, driving a Range Rover, would refuse to give way, reverse to an appropriate spot, or move her car over in case she scratched her paintwork. She was renowned for driving close to the centre if narrow roads, and forcing everyone to move for her She drove as if she had priority of any road she was on. A friend of mine got his FWD car stuck in a soft verge, from moving to allow her 4WD to pass. For several months, she expected everyone to move for her... until one day my friend snapped. They came face-to-face on a narrow road. He didn't want to relent, if only this one time. She wouldn't relent. After 1 minute of stalemate, he turned off the ignition, pulled out his paper, and started to read. She backed down after 30 seconds. This was not me, by the way. Also... don't do this!

Herefordshire. Most roads are like this! I drive exactly as you do except I keep to the left always. Ready to stop and even find reverse quickly [always aware of any other vehicle in the mirror], but you meet fuel oil lorries, stock lorries, and mad folk in large SUVs. Its the SUVs that speed and where being ready for reverse is quite the thing. Love your videos. Best wishes from George

Grew up in Cornwall, now live (and learned to drive) in Devon. There's definitely a skill to going down the lanes, which on average in the Westcountry are, if anything, worse than shown here (and often with far fewer passing places). As you say at the end of the day it's mostly just patience, sensible speed and anticipation - specifically assuming that there's a tractor around each and every corner.

Great advice Ash. Especially re remembering last seen passing places. It gets tricky sometimes when you know the road and know the car coming the other way has just passed one but they might not have remembered or noticed and you have to go back a lot further ... I have had to reverse someone else's car for them once too! Slightly concerning ... !

Top tip for your blind corner Ashley as you pulled out, open your window and listen. I live and grew up in rural England and have driven on these roads all my life and seen it all. Also, when these rural roads develop centre broken markings, really often a good idea to get out the gutter and straddle it, especially when there are no cats eyes. Saves car wear and gives you the line around left turns. To tuck back in takes about 10 metres.

0:50 - crack the window open and listen as well as look! 4:30/5:30 Watch the verges - often they can be a lot less sold than they look. Those are great roads - come to Somerset/Devon/Dorset - there are plenty as narrow with high hedges!

When I first pass my test in a Morris 1000 traveller , I deliberately went round all the local country roads to practice ,only going into town every now and then to build up confidence.

My local roads are all like this, you mentioned the region in the video. I do make a verbal note of the last passing place. I don't see that it is any less focus orientated than city driving. yes theres less cyclists and pedestrians but many more objects to avoid such as pot holes (I drive round them waiting for vehicles to pass if necesarry), Animals (horse riders, livestock hearders) and pets that succeed in the great escape. Local drivers become complacent (through confirmation bias of driving fast and getting away with it) but that bag of luck runs out fast sometimes without the bag of experience getting a look in). Tractors and combine harvesters are known to hide round blind bends too so you're always at the mercy of blocking vehicles or high speed vehicles. I tend to drive on the outside of the corners to increase the line of sight and buy a little more time to react, even as it gets to sections with separator lines. I sometimes think that my driving would get me pulled over and breathalysed because of the lines you need to take to avoid potholes (I keep going on about these as I recently spent £1000 fixing my suspension). A point I'd like to add to your video is that these roads are less used so theres less validation of the junctions on sat nav. I'd say remember to rely on your eyes before your iPhones because the junctions and priorities (shudder) are not necesarrily correct, likik at what you can see rather than what sat nav tells you as it would be easy to go across a give way junction if Sat Nav has the wrong priorities. I think "slow it down" is a good motto for everyone in their local area to avoid the complacency. Even the red arrows only allow pilots to fly for them for a maximum of 3 years and then you're done (to avoid complacency)

A nice thumbs up or raise of the hand to say thanks goes a long way.

In 48 years of driving I've never encountered roads in such an atrocious condition,especially last Sunday while on a classic MG club run on my local East Sussex country roads, with really deep potholes(which are not always seen due to glare from the Sun)missing top dressing etc, my lovely MGB GT and other members cars took some big hits,but fortunately there appears to be no damage done, although I have an advantage of having a smaller car from yesteryear on some of the narrow lanes. Thanks for the video, I take into account a lot of what's practiced in your clip.

Good video. Even reading about how to deal with single track roads before my visit to the UK (from US) they were sometimes terrifying. Worst was going up a steep hill in the Lake District with a double width tractor coming downhill and not giving way. I thought that was going to be the end of us!

Two days ago I kept footage to send to you navigating the lanes of Wales! Now you release this 😁 I'll send it anyway, as I have a few to send now. I wonder how close to he principles laid out here do you think I kept to? 🤔 Take care, drive safe everybody!

Great advice. One other thing is that, if following someone else, don’t follow too closely or it can cause chaos if passing spots are only big enough for one car. That’s also good advice in built up areas but there are a lot of numptys who just follow blindly.

These types of road are my daily drive Ashley, and teaching learners how to deal with them is a key part of my lessons. The issue of positioning right on left bends can be useful for experienced drivers, but for new drivers, if they do see something in time, the reaction is usally to 'dive' into the hedge or just stop dead! For these new or nervous drivers, I caution against this, as many of the worst drivers on these rural roads are locals that do drive way too fast, and being on the offside time is asking for trouble. Looking through hedges and over headlands is another good habit to spot vehicles in good time.

as a city girl, much respect to you peeps who can drive thru single track roads easy peasy (they scare the shit out of me)

I live in Kent and around here "unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles" apparently means 40-seat coaches and large removal vans are fine. Also I've encountered situations where the aforementioned have had a number of vehicles behind them because they can't navigate such narrow, bendy roads very well. But all perfectly legal, apparently.

Ashley, your video fully resonates with me, although the lanes do seem quite 'wide' 😜. Living close to rural Hampshire, I frequently encounter such lanes, and drivers who do not seem to appreciate the world outside their own little box. That said, having just a week ago returned from 10 days in south Devon/Dartmoor, there I did encounter truly narrow lanes; 7' wide was commonplace and no verges, just a 6' high stone wall. You certainly do need to have an awareness for the location of passing places and the need to reverse perhaps 500m or more now and again. The torrential rains of storm Babet just added to the situation. Most are courteous on such roads, but some of the locals did proceed with a degree of disregard due to familiarity.

I live in rural Pembrokeshire, a problem we have in tourist season, is people not used to these roads cant judge the nearside of their car, so they will be a foit out from the side, making it harder to pass.

Ashley, thank you for clarifying what you are doing when you look towards the onside mirror, that you are not looking at the camera but at the mirror.

Whenever I’ve driven on the country roads I always slow down quite considerably even if the road might be a 40mph or national speed road. However, often I will have someone barrelling down the road or just behind and they expect you to drive the speed limit - even though that might not be safe. This is on roads that are just about wide for 2 cars - not as narrow as the one Ashley was driving on in this video but I think the lesson should remain the same.

On our rural S.Devon roads, I have to say "passing space" out loud as it's the only way I remember if I've recently passed one! 😆

On KZfaq, I follow Trucker James from Devon who has to frequently go down narrow country roads in Devon and Cornwall . In his last video, a car driver kindly reversed quite a bit to let him pass. Another time , he had to walk along a longish dirt track to his destination then back to his truck to make sure that his truck would be good to go and no damage to his truck would come his way. But it WOULD have been really awkward if he had encountered an oncoming vehicle,as there were no passing places.

Thanks 🙏 for this.

Loads of these near me, often overgrown too. It's part of the reason why I drive an old silver polo because I dont have to worry about scratching it up on the hedges.

Plenty of these in rural Dorset, though not usually as narrow as those in parts of south Devon! One of my favourites is the narrow rat-run that winds its way south from Milborne St Andrew to Crossways via Affpuddle! Narrow most of the way, with several tight blind bends, but very picturesque for the passengers!

Reminds me of driving in Scotland where you have pullouts every few hundred meters or so. Once, one of the main roads was closed due to an accident and we were all rerouted via one of these narrow rural roads at dusk. It was hell, multiple cars trying to squeeze into a pullout at once, reversing in the fading light and having to rely on others to read the situation and do the same.

These sorts of roads are a real nightmare in the dark and snow. In some places like Cornwall, the hedges on the sides often cover dry stone walls.

Another big thing to bear in mind is that the condition of rural roads like this can vary enormously compared to main routes. Expect them covered in mud and gravel during and after heavy rainfall, expect them to drain much slower than main roads and have large, deep puddles. Expect them icy and ungritted in the winter, and don't expect leaves and debris to be swept!

I regularly walk on country lanes like those and the general rule seems to be- the bigger the vehicle, the faster they drive. The vast majority of ordinary cars are fine, Range Rovers & SUVs less so, works vans and lorries often homicidal.

I was always taught to sound the horn on the approach to blind bends like this, where you can't clearly see if anyone might be coming in the opposite direction.