A potentially very informative article in the Leighton Buzzard Observer is marred by stupid comments by someone who likes to think they have authority. They don’t.

The article starts out with some statistics, showing how compliance with urban speed limits is improving and pedestrian fatalities are falling (data covering 2003-present). So far, so good.

But then, IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) gets involved and the focus shifts somewhat.

Bearing in mind that the statistics show that fatalities are falling, IAM says:

In the UK, between two-thirds and three-quarters of fatalities occur on rural roads, yet driving on rural roads still isn’t a mandatory part of the basic driving test.

Most young drivers get plenty of exposure to urban hazards but often their first experience of a rural road comes after the test when they are on their own. This is unacceptable.

It doesn’t matter if 10,000 people are killed, or only 10. Three quarters remains three quarters as a statistic, and it reflects the relative safety of rural roads. Nothing will alter the fact that rural roads contain more hazards – other than filling them all in, or converting them all to A roads and straightening them.

And as for rural roads being mandatory on the test… how? Many test centres and cities have no rural routes within 40 minutes’ drive, so how would they do it?

I’m not saying rural roads shouldn’t be covered where possible (and some Nottingham routes do contain such roads), but demanding that they be mandatory? Someone is out of touch with reality again.

And certainly not when it comes to driving abroad!

We love to whinge and whine about all those Johnny Foreigners on our roads, and how bad they are compared to us. Particularly strong feelings (coupled with limited intelligence) might be shown by also flying a Union Jack or George Cross outside their houses.

But… and this might just come as a bit of surprise to many… the Europeans see us and rubbish drivers when we’re in their countries.

This survey by AXA suggests that around 7 million British drivers will head abroad with their cars and caravans this summer. However, according to the Europeans (that is the wording of the article – I consider myself to be “European”, so let’s just take this as a collective phrase), only 20% drive carefully and only 25% understand local laws.

Main complaints about us were:

• confusion at roundabouts
• confusion at junctions
• driving too slowly
• driving on the wrong side
• driving too fast

The article says 2 million Brits have had driving accidents abroad. British drivers were ranked 7th out of 11 European countries. Germans were voted best, and Greeks the worst.

Before I continue, if you looked at a list of what annoys British drivers about… well, British drivers, the list would be almost identical, wouldn’t it?

Well, AXA approached it from that angle and their survey reveals that 27% don’t know if a GB sticker is needed, and 21% think it isn’t. Or in other words, 48% haven’t got a clue. Furthermore, 33% didn’t know if their insurance covered them, and 66% of those thought that it did!

When asked to identify 6 Eurpean road signs, the average correct answer was 28% – so 72% were clueless there. In fact, the lowest result from these six signs suggested 85% were clueless.

I’m amazed that 51% didn’t know that their headlight beams need correcting for places where you drive on the right hand side of the road. I’ve known that since I was ten!

The article stopped short of reporting what people thought of these Johnny Foreigners daring to have different rules to us. It’s pretty clear, though: we’re not as good as we think we are – at home, or abroad.

This story is doing the rounds at the moment – every version stems from some “research” by confused.com. Translated into English, that means they asked a few people what annoyed them most and then put the answers into a spreadsheet. It’s hardly “research”, but it still makes interesting reading. I’ll link to a blogged version, because all the others appear to be insurance companies trying to get in on the act.

In a nutshell, 60% of those questioned said slow drivers were the biggest cause of stress on the roads, and 45% of those admitted to dangerously attempting to overtake to get past them.

Department of Transport data show that 143 accidents a year are directly caused by slow drivers. Of course, those are the tip of the iceberg – how many more near misses occur due to the same cause?

There are now calls for “slow speed cameras” to be installed, or even slow lanes for these people.

There are plans for £100 spot fines for careless driving, including driving too slowly, to be introduced this year. Minimum speed limits already exist on some motorways.

Personally, I’d welcome it. However, the problems are much bigger than just making it an offence – there’s no point forcing people who can’t drive properly to drive faster. They’re bad enough as it is.

In my opinion, if someone is pulled over for driving too slowly then they should have their licence suspended and forced to take a driving improvement course of some kind.

I just saw this story on the BBC website. Susan Duke, 41, suffered serious head injuries after she was hit by the car being driven by her 17-year old daughter, Lauren.

Details aren’t yet clear, but it is thought Mrs Duke was teaching her daughter at the time.

The accident happened on Monday in the car park of Cuxton Social Club near Rochester, Kent. Mrs Duke died on Wednesday of her injuries.

EDIT: The newsfeed has just told me the story is reported in The Sun. According to this article, the car involved was a Ford Ka, and Mrs Duke was outside guiding her daughter into a parking space whilst reversing.

You really have to read some of the comments people have left at the bottom of this story to realise what scum live in this country. People trying to be clever.

Even on a certain forum, one poster has said:

They look like chavs. It may be quite sad that a girl’s mother has died, but it was the mother’s fault! Who would anyone stand behind a reversing car, especially a learner. It doesn’t surprise me. With names such as ‘Brogan’ and ‘Wayne’, they aren’t the most intelligent people. And they have very common faces.

Why aren’t these people standing next to you when they come out with stuff like this?