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Just a little update on the first clip thanks to one of my viewers who has emailed with this information. The Audi that we first see is a totally different car than the second one that appears. Go and check it out! I actually think that the first one is an A4 and the second one is an A6, but they have a very similar look. Nice one Matthew!!

Imagine undertaking, speeding _and_ slamming into another car and then having the nerve to act like it was the other driver's fault.

I must have shaken my head at every clip, the way people drive is absolutely unbelievable.

The only way the zipper merge has a chance of being accepted is by a major public advertising campaign. Just like there wasn’t for the Highway Code changes 😊.

It's very sad that the van driver pulling into McDonalds doesn't even check to see if the guy is ok.

I'll interpret the "keep safe everyone" at the end as "don't drive on the A1 with your mobility scooter" here

It seems that there are still lots of drivers who incorrectly believe pedestrians must give way to cars at all times. Of course, that doesn't mean pedestrians can ignore their own lights. Absolutely true that the chances of that increase in wet weather.

HOW FAST was that van driver attempting to enter the McDonnalds car park? He must have floored the accelerator!

Almost knocking someone down so you can get in the McDonalds driver through first. What a dope

Get behind the mobility scooter, hazards on, match speed, call the police. Whether he's taken a wrong turn and is terrified and confused, or stubbornly oblivious, he needs help getting to safety, and keeping others safe from his erratic behaviour. Probably the most satisfying job the traffic police will be called to that day. Home in time for Countdown.

9:09 I was revising for my HGV test not too long ago, and you are allowed to ride a mobility scooter on dual carriageways so long as it is fitted with a flashing beacon. Tell you what, it's not like a flashing light would be able to save you in the event of a tyre blowout.

Fiesta has bent a track-rod end due to a collision with pothole or kerb, and trying to get home with the front wheels pointing in slightly different directions. It's called the death wobble. Can also happen if track-rod end left unlocked after a wheel alignment.

4:30 Waggoner’s Roundabout always fills me with dread

Yeah, the differential speed in the merge-in-turn at 2:22 with the queue was a bit on the fast side. When passing any queue I aim to be going slowly enough relative to the queue that I can stop in time if the next car in front of me were to pull out without prior warning. Personally I'd have slotted in behind the white Audi at 2:30; often what makes these merge-in-turn situations become fraught is not taking an easy gap when it presents itself and looking like you're rushing past the queue rather than looking like you're hunting for a safe gap.

1:55 that roundabout in Wigan I know very well and that happens all the time there and its always that left lane that that drivers do that in as well. And its happened to me many times there.

I always find merge in turn in these situations where you have travelled a fair distance, just requires a nice steady decrease to almost walking speed as you near the merge. Vary rarely have i 'triggered' anyone doing it this way. If it does I just let them continue and slot in beind them. Makes little difference to me as I have already made good progress anyway. 🙂

Merging: it would be nice to have some hard rules in place. Something like, if second lane is free, use that lane to prevent long tailbacks leading to disruption on other roads. Where there is traffic in both lanes, neither lane has priority; vehicles from each lane must merge one after the other.

The narrowing of 2 lane’s into 1 should be marked every time with signs saying use both lanes & merge in turn every 150 metres or so. It’s because the outer lane doesn’t get used to its full capacity problems arise people think they are cutting in after queuing like sheep in lane 1 way back.

I'm glad you mentioned the speed for the clip starting at 2:24. 40 mph next to a line of stationary traffic. Not prepared for anything appearing from between vehicles. Driving down the closing lane at too high a speed will also result in more people believing it's solely self-centred intentions behind the move. If you're actually about improving flow, you will match your speed to other traffic where possible, and a 40 mph difference isn't that. Too many take your advice to drive to the front and fixate on that, instead of being prepared for traffic to start moving and looking to match the speed of a gap to slot into before they get there. You can continue to drive in the closing lane until the end, but if you pace a space you will eliminate all possible conflict when you get there, and only that truly improves flow for everyone.

7:19 That's not a national speed limit road Ashley - it's posted later on as a 40, and you can see the faded marks on the road at one point. My guess is that the Fiesta driver is frustrated at the cammer keeping to the speed limit, but rather than the usual tailgating, he's 'warming the tyres' like he is behind the Formula 1 safety car!

The first clip prior to the intro. As well as undertaking, the Audi didn't drive in a consistent manner or at a consistent speed. Initially they were relatively slow and then suddenly sped up considerably. This must have been a factor in catching out the Toyota by surprise. Wonder also what speed the Audi was ultimately doing in relation to the speed limit. Agreed though that the Toyota didn't do the best job either.

Nice selection of learning points this time round and the biggest I can see is to knock a few Mph off the speed when approaching a crossing with a green light. Your cammer stopped in time but with the poor conditions the tyres could’ve easily slipped more than they did, even woth ABS

Very instructive as always!

This reminds me of when I saw someone walking a pram on the single carriageway section of the A1 in Northumberland. They were walking in the same direction as traffic as well.

9:06 Dual carriageways: Narrower, free-for-all motorways with T-junctions for sliproads.

When I was walking with my friend, we did something rlly stupid a few weeks ago. Ran across a 50mph dual carriageway but there were traffic lights and one driver stopped for us (it was green for car traffic and we weren't on the road yet). So as soon as he let us go, we crossed and a lot of cars came and honked and swore at us. I can understand that, but letting me go across a 50mph dual carriageway when its green for car traffic is ridiculous. But I can admit, what I did was not acceptable at all.

The horse traiker clip yep should of waited for longer gap but be aware you cant do 0-60 mph in four secinds with a horse in the back they are not strapped in and do not lock their legs until underway hence give em a chance to pull out safely. When i see this even for hgvs i slow down flashy lights and give ground. Easy as that. Look ahead few hundred feet not just in front of your vehicle . The pedestrian crossing tell tell sign was car on left had not gone when light changed. The driver on the right should ask himself/herself what is going on at this crossing and slowed down to se if it was clear.😊

2:47 merge in turn, yep it was the speed at which the camer came down in the outside lane that helped to trigger the white car, the camer’s body language speed is hinting that he wants to get as far ahead as possible to beat the traffic so to get as far down the queue as possible. The white car was already trying to hog both lanes so he was already giving the message that he had no intention of giving way. So no surprise all round as to what happened next. If the camer had slowly and calmly coasted down in the outside lane I suspect that the white car might have been less aggressive [but he still might not have wanted to give way anyway🤔]

Hi just a quick point on the mobility scooter on the A1. Although it doesn't look to be the case here you can ride a class 3 mobility scooter on the A1 or dual carriage way as long as it has a flashing Amber light. You can also ride pedal powered vehicles unless there is a sign explicitly prohibiting it. Also merging in with cones, got to be a German car owner 😉

The clip at 7:07 was my clip. Thanks for featuring. Just a note he had a woman and a young child in the vehicle. My impression was that the driver was doing it for fun to try and entertain the kid perhaps. If so its still very dangerous. I let them overtake further up, in-case something was happening, but they drove normally for around 15 minutes afterwards, so I think they were just dangerously messing around.

Hi Ashley, another very interesting video, my answer to your question about the speed of that driver is that it was not excessive!, the other traffic was moving slowly and any deviation would have been visible in time to take evasive action, it was however clearly showing some lack of consideration for those other drivers and could have provoked some adverse reaction. It must be noted that calm consideration of other road users is not conditional on their good behaviour, bad behaviour does not justify aggression and is not an excuse for dangerous driving which would have been the case for any car swerving into the path of the passing car. Cheers, Richard.

Re your last clip. Time was when there were traffic lights just north of the Wetherby roundabout on the A! which went to red to allow the farmer to take his herd of cows across the road for milking. Problem was that the lights were just around the left hand bend as you came off the roundabout to go north to Ripon or Darlington. The road surface was not all that clean either, so you had to take care that you left extra space between you and the vehicle in front to account for the "brown lubricant" that almost certainly was on your tyres.

1:32 look how long it takes before the cammer gets passed on the right after breaking. Seems like there was enough room to go around. If only the cammer had anticipated a bit better. Always a good idea to check if there’s space to move over whenever there’s a possibility of joining traffic onto the lane you’re on.

Merge in turn - cammer did seem to be going a bit quicker than was possibly ideal.

The mobility scooter is permitted on A1 as long as they keep left and only stay on for less than 2 junctions

That last clip with the mobility scooter on the A1! Not sure of the specifics but I know some categories of these scooters are road legal. HOWEVER - Even if legal in this case, highly dangerous! I wonder if this is a regular route for that person! And I'm waiting for someone to comment they should be riding facing against the traffic as it's "safer"! This clip also highlights the importance of realising that dual carriageways have additional dangers to motorways even though the speed limits are often the same.

correction at 7:05, it was a 40mph road. Still not the best idea to do that, but y'know.

When I was a kid back in the 70s there used to be public information films on tv. Many would be motoring related. They'd tell people how to use box junctions, how to negotiate roundabouts and how to read road signs etc. I think they are desperately needed today because a huge percentage of drivers are utterly clueless.

7:02 "they're warming the tyres up in their fiesta" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Preparing for an overtake 😂😂😂

8:50 I'm pretty sure this was just straight-up attempted murder.

Had something very similar to the last clip (also on the A1!). A cyclist, in black with no lights at around 9pm. Some people can be quite dense.

This has got to be the craziest collection of clips so far. There was a fella doing 100mph on Richard Kelly drive yesterday, overtaking into oncoming traffic... He was still taking more care than some of these nutters.

There are some situations a mobility scooter would be on a dual carriageway. Maybe a video showing these or talking about it and what the mobility scooter user should be doing. Just to give viewers warning of what to expect (amber flashing light, positioning etc) Thanks for all the work you do. Once my wheelchairs dash cam is in place and I have some driving fails (daily) I will send them in 😅

The thing about merging late to increase flow is obviously that people think you're just impatient, so I always slow down much earlier I think it's similar here in the Netherlands... a difference of 25 mph would be considered safe for an emergency vehicle driving on the hard shoulder here, so if the rest is standing still (like quite a few in the video here 2:24 ) then the limit should be 25 (and not 40) mph. Driving past with a 25 mph difference right before having to merge comes across as wanting to cut in line, so instead I would lightly press the brake till the difference in speed is at most 25 mph and then not press the pedals (except for the clutch if needed) till the speed difference is like 3 mph, waiting to find a gap near the end but not all the way at the end. (There were 2 viable gaps at 2:28 and 2:31 . If you read the script, the ones in front from there don't want our viewer to merge and the one in between would only have allowed it if our viewer had promptly merged) I think my method does increase flow and safety as it allows for others behind me to slow gradually and follow me finding a gap cleanly. However, I do occasionally get someone moving as to say "stay back, you're cutting in line"... and I also find that some people are so impatient that they accelerate sharply once I'm halfway done merging only to cause a fuss when they merge 50-100 yards later or even crossing the markings on the road. Most do find a spot behind me in a controlled manner and most do appreciate me not whizzing past like quite a few others would

With the Ford Fiesta and the dodgy steering, I took my car to the garage on Friday and quite frankly I'm glad I did. On the way there I was fighting with the steering and it was becoming very difficult to keep it centred on the road. I later was informed that the lower control arm bushings had deteriorated and were most likely the cause of the issue. Though now the part has been replaced I'm not completely convinced it was all that was wrong. I reckon it was exaggerating another issue somewhere else since the problem has improved but not completely gone away. All I can say is it's not fighting me. I'll drive it on a long journey on Friday and then I'll be coming back with a total of 214 mile trip. I'll know by the end I'll know whether the problem has sorted itself out or not.

If I'm on a one-way street, I always assume someone will come the wrong way 😂

Just a side-note. The Sponsor made me think of this, but I bought a used SAAB 93 a few years ago. it had 80k on the clock and looked in great condition. So, I grabbed it. I love SAAB and always wanted one, and yeah I know its basically a Vectra, but so what? Anyway, the dealer would only give me a 30 day warranty and on day 33 ( 3 days AFTER the warranty ran out ) it jumped into limp mode... After a lot of messing about , I got a emchanic mate to check it out and as it turns out the entire top end of the engine had to be rebuilt. He had hell tryign to get the sludge out of the engine, the swirl flaps and the ECG and the XYZ and whatever the hell else it had on it, all had to be replaced, the head had to be replaced and so much bits that he was actually telling me that I would be better off just dumping it and getting a different car. The thing is, that I had just paid £5K for this thing and I loved it. So, as I also had the wifes 206SW I was ok for a car and he took his time and rebuilt it for me... I have had many years of great driving since then and I have no intention of selling it and I will drive it until its dead. It has just done 230K and the engine is still as smooth as silk. I do however wish I had somehting like that Car Vertical as the car did in the end cost me more than it was worth, and the dealer had clearly lied to me on the sale, as they so often do! - He told me that it had had a full service and check over... it obviously did not. My friend said that the oil must have not been changed for years!

So for the clip starting at 2:23- yes, I think 40mph was a little too fast to be zipping past in lane 2. But on the positive, having got to the front of the queue, the cammer didn't insist on or bully a 1:1 merge- s/he was ok with 3 or 4 cars going by before merging themselves, so I say fair play.

7:40 might be having steering issues, or bored. I'll do a short little wiggle sometimes to test the handling. Not to warm up my tires though 🤣

I wonder if that car going into the no entry saw the pedestrian's reaction had a rant about "entitled pedestrians" and the Highway code changes with absolutely no self awareness. I had something similar when I was a passenger in a car and a pedestrian walked out at a junction. My mate had a rant like that afterwards and I just had to reply "I just think he wasn't expecting you not to stop at the Stop sign". Needless to say I've politely declined further lifts from him 😂 On the subject of bad weather, if I'm out jogging I will never wear a hood. Hat, fine. Hood, never. It just restricts view way too much for crossing roads.

The clip with the Fiesta warming the tyres up, the road is 40mph and you can see the painted speed limit on the road with a sign in the hedge at around the 7:18 mark It looks like suspension failure of some sort. Not sure if it is the way the video is playing for me but the rear nearside looks to be wobbling a bit. At a guess I would say shock mount failure (not nice at 64mph on a dual carriageway…trust me!) or control arm bush failure. Either way they were driving too fast for that if they are taking it to the garage. If it isn’t and they are “testing” or messing about then they are doing a poor job by going into the hedge like that

when I'm passing a long queue I seriously mitigate my speed. amazing how many folks forget that we're supposed to use all the room available then politely merge at the end.

Some of these mobility vehicles are like mini cars. The other day I was out walking and one of them shot around the corner and I had to dive out of its way.

We need one big blast for one week where all police are sent out on traffic duty and all traffic lights are fitted with charging cameras. Ages ago I saw a video on Australian police riding around on motorcycles who drove up beside people on their phones and gave them an instant ticket. Why can't we do that?

I think that there needs to be advisory adverts on TV, Explaining that merging in turn is what you are meant to do. I honestly think that many drivers don't understand this and just think that the car in the closing lane is taking liberties. Once when me and a friend were driving back to work from Portsmouth we found our way blocked by a yacht on its side. It was blocking all 3 lanes of the motorway. I wish I had a dash cam.

On my way to didcot back last year on the a32 we saw a guy going down there on a mobility scooter and pulled over by the police

9:10 yep, legally you need a flashing amber light to use a class 3 mobility scooter on a dual-carriageway. I always use a bright flashing light when cycling on one too (although not a legal requirement).

The clip with the boat was super. Smashing. Great. Look what they could've won 🎯

That Mc Donald's in Headingly Leeds, i don't know if it's the residents around there but so few people check the very active footpath before just barreling into that Mc Donald's and you get a lot of people walking round there it's quite close to a lot of houses and an office industrial estate

Barging up the inside. It should be a no, no. As a young man I was not the best driver but never did that. Audi seemed to think nothing wrong with that, We all have our individual weak points though - and should try to find and focus on them - rather than feeling sanctimonious watching others. Ash has helped me do that.

the only reason i would ever rag my car around like that fiesta is if I'm testing something after fixing up my car. Even then, I wouldn't do it as extreme as the fiesta, and I would do it in a safe location, away from everyone. Not right next to oncoming cars

Happens Regularly on the A180 just coming into Grimsby lots of Cycles too it can be a VERY dangerous with all the HGV traffic on there

There's a major road sign just through the lights after the bus shelter it's quite possible the Toyota was reacting to that and making due progress for the speed limit such that they weren't expecting any one to be coming up on their left and certainly not gaining on them at any great speed.

That last clip is my neck of the woods - the Coddington junction's only a couple of miles from my house. If there's going to be a mobility scooter on the A1 anywhere, of course it's going to be Newark.

Never had an issue going right up to a merge in turn at a sensible speed. That being said, I've never bolted at high speed up to the cones. Maybe people think that if you're going at a slower speed you're not trying to push in.

I have to ask, why the aireal view of the Broadway roundabouts? I grew up exactly one mile away and went to the library every Saturday morning. I passed my motorcycle test in Crosby in June and my car test in November 1981. I started the IAM course the following year but didn't complete it as I passed my advanced driving course with the ambulance service. The police instructors who both examined for the IAM told me that I was at a higher standard after passing the course. Since then, notwithstanding the changes to the L test. I have noticed a serious decline in driving standards. Standards have dropped alongside the decline in numbers of traffic police officers. Where I currently live is a huge force area with only six traffic officers. The force probably issues far more speeding tickets per head of population than most but it uses cameras and they hide, they film across fields. Traffic police srrved multiple functions but their key one was correcting driving before an accident. Most people who are pulled over are more likely to change their behaviour if spoken to and corrected rather than prosecuted. Of course there are incidents that go to far and prosecution is the only course. That does not correct actions unless a mandatory extended test is ordered. We need to bring back effective traffic policing units in both marked and unmarked cars.

At around 8:39 I have a question about this. It's in regards to the zig zag lines on approach to these pedestrian controlled lights. As is the case with zebra crossings, no overtaking the lead vehicle on the approach to a crossing, right? So what happens in a scenario where it's a light controlled crossing such as this and the light is green. How to handle in respect of that no overtaking rule? To me it would make sense to abide by that. But what if the left hand lane is stationary and your lane on the right is clear? Would it then be acceptable to initially drive up to the crossing point and either stop or slow to a crawl, check for pedestrians crossing against their red light and if clear, continue, even if this involves overtaking the lead vehicle in the other lane that in the meantime can't go anywhere?

7:55 recognise St Ives anywhere. Taking my Model S through that town was a fun experience! :)

Thanks

Love seeing my own city with standard driving ability on display in the first 30 seconds

40 mph approaching a merge in turn is reasonable,even past stationary traffic. However, I usually come completely off of the accelerator about 200m before the merge point to very gradually decelerate to crawling about 50m prior to the merge. This allows me to line up a gap early and allow the other drivers to make space.

The boat one was interesting.. It'd be worth doing a video on towing as there's lots of critical advice people don't know about..

At around 6:24, pretty obvious that the right turn there was banned as per the No Entry signs, No Entry words on the road plus the double dotted Give Way lines across the entire width of the junction. On that last point though, I know of some (admittedly narrow) side streets that have the same double dotted Give Way lines across their entire width but are in fact two way. Obviously, those don't have any No Entry signs but it seems a bit of an anomaly to me in terms of road markings. I guess it's done because those types of junctions are narrow and putting the Give Way lines just half way across an already narrow road might seem a bit meaningless?

4:45 There's a real issue among careless drivers, which can be classified as 'follow the leader' - the car in front goes ahead (at a roundabout as above, turning right without a filter arrow, or overtaking a stopped bus or slower vehicle, such as a tractor) and the careless driver just follows on without checking, on the assumption that they're pretty close behind the car in front, and it was safe for them to go...

7:45 maybe the fiesta driver’s favourite song came on the radio 😂

In parts of Nottinghamshire it can be very difficult to get from A to B without using sections of Dual-Carriageway or major A roads, detours to avoid them can be very lengthy due to there being very limited places to cross the River Trent (though that's not the case in this area just outside Newark) so I can only assume that the person on the Mobility Scooter is used to driving in the area and they are taking the only route they know (though they definitely should have had their orange light on)

#2 clip looks like a rental - probably a holidaymaker from a left-hand-drive country who forgot what side of the road they were supposed to be on.

There used to be a gent who took his Sinclair C5 up and down the A303 dual carriageway between Wincanton and Zeals but he did have an orange flashing light but much braver than I an ADI with 30 years experience now

that 2nd clip wow, would not have expected that, scary, your viewer did a great job avoiding that

I'm flabbergasted at these clips.

7:02 - This is a more extreme version of what I probably look like on my way to work, dodging all of the craters and sunken drains on the poorly maintained roads lol

If it’s slow in the left lane and clear in the merge lane I don’t really go much faster than the slow traffic as you can get people pulling out without looking

I do very often see, at a local major roundabout, people in the lane for "Government offices, Semiconductor factory" who aren't going to either. Sometimes they duly go up the lane and go round, quite a few actually change lane at the last minute!

Years ago, I was driving along what was then a dual carriageway in the dark towards Defford, near Pershore, Worcestershire; in the outside lane - to stay clear of the pub car park exit; there is a bridge over the railway line to a village on the other side, where the dual carriageway ended, and the speed drops to 40 MPH. Anyway, 70mph, in the dark, came over the brow of the bridge and there is a similar guy on a mobility scooter IN the outside lane. . . To this day, I do not know how I missed him; or why he thought being there was a good idea.

i assume horses and bikes are allowed on the A1 as well as mobility scooters, and perhaps pedestrians pushing prams. Maybe there are restrictions in place. it's obviously not a bright idea for any of the aforementioned to exercise their right on a section of a1 like that, but it is sometimes an issue with these motorway type roads that are not motorway that there is not always an alternative route.

6:09, cars have an important role to play in keeping vulnerable road users safe, however that pedestrian did not give a shit at all, and was just going to walk out regardless and needs to perhaps take a look at themselves too.

That blue fiesta wobbling around, could be they recentlyish passed, just had new tyres fitted but they’re used to motorbike and think they have to give the tyres a good scrubbing lol, or maybe a mechanic taking it for a test drive to determine where some noise is coming from?

Nice clips Ashley! Inparticular the gentlemen crossing the road in McDonald's. Still a lot of road users are completely unaware of the new rules. Personally I would have perhaps crossed 10 yds further into the car park where there are very faint zebra crossing markings (not that clear) in the car park.

In the second clip I remember thinking, why is the driver going so fast. You have to be able to stop in the distance you can see. The van shouldn't be there but you need to slow down, especially in the wet.

At 8:34 isn't it illegal to pass the car nearest the crossing? Am I misinterpreting the Highway code Rule 191 and the The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997 Regulation 24?

In the days before dash cameras or even phone cameras I saw someone weaving like that Fiesta, I overtook and glanced over to see the driver eating corn on the cob.

Count see can't hear can't react. the mobility Scooter, pure gold.

I wonder how far the person on the mobility scooter will get up the A1 before the battery dies

A point to remember about the mobility scooter on the A1 is that he has a perfect right in law to be there, as do tractors, horse and carts , bicycles and pedestrians. The clip simply highlights the very poor design of the UK roads system with regard to non standard traffic.

Curious to know where the "boat" clip was from at around 6:00. Obviously either USA or Canada but where? 🇨🇦🇺🇲

If I'm in an open lane alongside a full lane, i try to moderate my speed left someone pop out suddenly.

A general UK driving query: Can someone tell me why when I'm driving near Manchester/ Liverpool on the motorway, SO many people just sit in the middle lane, no traffic in slow lane, even when hardly any traffic around?? This winds me up to no end and seems completely unnecessary. Am I missing something here?

Hi Ashley, I need your advise on the clip starting at 8:24 regarding passing the nearest vehicle to the pedestrian crossing. Is it still illegal to pass/overtake the leading vehicle even if the lights are green. Looking at the Gov law, it says you must not pass in the controlled area.

I totally agree with merge in turn. The biggest problem is people have to get past the extra car. The one before the sponsor advert, why didn't he fall in behind the white Audi, in front of the Nissan?