A comparison of Drivers in the United States and the United Kingdom || Americans in England
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- Опубликовано: 4 сен 2021
- Matthew compares the drivers, roads, and driving patterns between the US and the UK. What are the differences in the ways that we drive, and where do those differences come from?
Really, this is a video about the differences in the engineering of roads in our countries.
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As a Brit, I’d say this is a very intelligent assessment of the differences.
As a UK driver one is regularly in the position of being in receipt of a courteous gesture from another driver and so we tend to just do the same for other people too. And as you say, there is thought behind it. Consider drivers in a long queue along a road that has priority over a joining road. If there are just a handful of cars waiting to exit the joining road , then every so often someone will allow a joining car to join the main road. But, if the joining road is of similar status to the main road and there is also a significant amount of traffic on that minor road then it'll tend to operate on much closer to a 'one-for-one' operation with one car from the joining road being invited in for every one or two cars on the road with priority.
A lot of the roads follow ancient trails and boundaries, so you drive between hedges on the smaller roads.
We're taught to anticipate and expect other drivers to do "stupid things", we are also taught to look a couple of cars ahead because of this, rather than looking just at the car in front
The system is to try to keep the traffic flowing, which is where roundabouts come in.
You wouldn't normally stop completely to let someone in, but you often slow to give them room to get in to the traffic flow. If you're in a queue, then we often stop to let someone in.
Pretty much agree with your view
I'm British and first time I drove in the USA and was able to turn right on a red light I was convinced I was going to get arrested. I agree the the traffic flows well here, we never wait long at lights or junctions :) thanks for the vid
Hi Matthew, apart from newer built roads in the UK, most of our roads can be traced back to old horse and cart tracks (Bridle ways), hence there so windy, in the distant parts bridle ways would have followed clearings through heavily wooded areas, the old straight roads where those made by the Romans.
I think from a very early age we are taught good manners and respect, and this just carries over into our driving, ‘well for some’. 😀
I don’t know if anybody has already said this but some of our roads are very old and built with different objectives in mind. For example the A5 that runs from Holyhead to London was built with government funding by Thomas Telford more than 200 years ago . Speed was a priority for the fast horse-drawn stage and Mail coaches but they are organic and going up and down would be exhausting for Man and beast so the gradient never exceeds 1in17 (5.9%). Consequently the road has many turns to keep it relatively flat.
The A5 was built by the Romans, it was then called Watling Street.
the Watling street is one of the straightest roads in Britain???
Hi Mathew. I have lived in UK a For 32 years(London) and the USA for 36 years (Los Angeles and San Diego) and I travel back to the UK at least once a year. My observations are based on my experience in two cites of approximate size. LA and London. Drivers in both cities get pissed of if you are an idiot and make an idiot move, jump into ones lane and brake hard, etc. The difference is when someone is courteous to you, Here in California its very rare for someone to thank you for letting them in in front of you, or if you flash your lights at a trucker that he/she can move over. I also notice a difference with pedestrians. in the UK they will slow down frequently to let you cross (no Jaywalking Laws, cross in most places) In the US its not so common. I will add that in parking lots its equal in both countries slow down for a pedestrian. You mentioned cost to building roads, I do not believe that it has any impact in the UK on what size road is needed.
You are correct in the UK I think that the driver has common sense and are able to work out what is the safe procedure. It seems in the US the bigger the space for each vehicle . Some of this born out with traffic accidents and fatalities in each country. Its a appreciably saver to drive in the the UK per capita head or hundred thousand miles driven (Actually most of Europe) than the USA You for got to mention how difficult the English driven test is compared to the USA(I do not know if you were there long enough to have to take one). anyway great chronology of the Difference between the two countries, other than you forgot to mention that some road patterns in the UK are over a thousand years old and thankfully the brits did not demolish things to make your journey quicker. Love both countries, the UK wins on this one,
That was the most insightful comparison I've ever heard. You clearly completely understand how traffic works in the UK. I would say the courteous nature of drivers in the UK is a combination of people just being courteous in public and what you said about basically it's only way you can keep the traffic going. Another thing I could mention is that it's harder to actually get a driving licence in the UK than in most or even all US states. You can't start learning till you're 17. You have to pass a theory test and a hazard perception test before you can take your practical. The practical is rigorous and involves driving in various situations plus manoeuvres like parking etc. I believe only 49% pass on the first attempt.
Definitely Waaay more difficult in the UK than the US.
True that -- I got my driving licence in Poland (right-hand side) and moved to the UK 6 years ago, had a break from driving for a few years and finally decided to have 10-12 with an instructor (good job I did because first thing I did was turning left and landing on the right-hand side of the road :D). It is indeed difficult to drive here -- I can use my Polish licence to drive in the UK, but it took me months of everyday driving with my experienced partner sitting next to me to feel confident enough to drive on my own. That being said, I got used to it so much that I wouldn't drive on the right-hand side anymore, also because of the same mentality differences that were mentioned in the video.
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure, being Curtis is just the way we are unless of course it's bad and you'll get a good old Anglo Saxon dozen words at you , like everyone the first time you get a wave to say thank you you feel good and you quickly do the same.
The old roads generally follow old drovers / Roman etc tracks plus old restrictions placed by the owners of the land hence the bendy bits so their fields don't get cut into smaller pieces .
Excellent thoughtful vid. It seems to me that driving in the UK involves a lot more thinking. Not least because nearly all UK cars are manual transmission (stick-shift). Then there's the generally chaotic system of roads which means you have to have your wits about you whether in town or country. Also, there is no law against jaywalking and if you injure a pedestrian you will have to prove the pedestrian was being careless or you will be prosecuted. Overall I'd say the UK was not designed for cars but we still manage to get about.
Matthew, Using your phone when driving is ILLEGAL in the UK. If caught you get an instant fine and compulsory points on your driving licence.12 points and you loose your licence for a period.
Lose* not loose! Why do so many people get those confused?
@@fionagregory9376
They are imbeciles
You can use hands-free.
@@fionagregory9376 I have a simple system to remember this
If I tell my other half she will loose
Well I stay alive
Tell her she is lose I don't not lol
On only one of these cases can she loose
6 points not 12
I think as a UK driver you summed it really well in the emphasis on the flow of traffic and a sense of responsibility for that (if you are taught well/ are considerate) you are actively encouraged to alleviate situations where traffic is getting stuck by surrendering your right of way to allow someone else to go . I think you also quickly learn which junctions are harder to navigate/ get out of without someone letting you out so when you get to them you look out to see if someone is relying on you to let them out.
It can be frustrating sometimes and much British ‘roadrage’ is focused on drivers who drive in an inconsiderate fashion-> which can result in stereotypes of people who drive certain makes of cars. There is a general hatred of being stuck not moving that you develop and many peoples nightmares is getting stuck in a traffic jam where you aren’t moving so much so you sometimes pick ridiculous detours that Don’t get you to your destination any quicker but at least you are moving haha
Whats funny is that the other day i was expecting the person in the roundabout to pass in front, but they stopped and waved me by. It makes sense why i was frustrated by the breaking of right
-of-way.
I'm from the UK and have driven in the US when on holiday. The one thing that threw me the first time I came on one was four-way crossings, probably as much as an American using their first roundabout.
Another reason for drivers to be much more aware of the road in the UK is we have no jaywalking laws. Pedestrians can, and do, cross roads when and where they like and with the advent of smart phones often without looking if there is a vehicle approaching (other than motorways where pedestrians are banned but still appear from time to time if they are stupid or drunk). I think we also have a much more rigorous testing procedure for new drivers than the US but am open to correction on that.
Many of our country roads follow ancient trading routes etc, and also have to circumvent the age-old boundaries of private land, which can be very haphazard, hence why our roads are so winding.
UK drivers are the most courteous.
Ronnie Pickering has entered the chat.
I don't think road planners in the UK want to keep roads small, but the amount of protest about building new roads grows more the bigger the road proposals are, and larger roads are more expensive to build because of size and compensation payments to landowners. People don't like larger roads near them (and with a small island roads are always near someone) because of the noise and air pollution. More and bigger roads encourage more traffic and that causes more bottlenecks further along the road network somewhere. Probably the most popular roads are by-passes that allow drivers to avoid towns that are frequently jammed with traffic, but such roads are not popular with everyone - shopkeepers in towns for instance.
Very insightful Matthew, especially on letting other drivers in and the reason for the differences between here and the US. I learnt something!😉 Thank you.
Hi Matthew, this is a great video, well thought out. I think there are a couple of important points to understand that you maybe haven't covered though:
1) The road network in the UK is partially determined by space, but much more so by history. The Romans built roads here nearly 2,000 years ago, and many of our roads still follow those routes because many of the towns the Romans established still exist; most notably London, which means that roads in and out of London have centuries of history.
Also, because our cities are so old, roads grew up as paths between buildings that grew up over centuries without any regard for town planning or a grid system. The roads just had to fit in between as best they could. That was fine when people mostly walked or rode horses, but when those same roads were eventually paved and used for cars it became very tight.
Because most of our towns and cities have that sort of history we find that normal, as do most Europeans, but there are more modern towns (Milton Keynes for example) that have been designed around cars, as many American towns have. Those towns often feel very 'weird' to people from the rest of the UK, and become the butt of jokes very easily, as we regard them to be without the sense of character and history that we expect and admire.
This is not only about towns, farmer's fields may have had the same boundaries for hundreds of years, even over a thousand years. Those boundaries wouldn't be straight, they would be determined by landscape and centuries of fluctuations in politics and land ownership. So, when roads were built in between, they had to follow the boundaries of those fields to avoid just cutting through large areas of one farmer's land.
The original train network caused massive contention because of this (and still does today, see HS2), and so does any newly proposed road; because no matter where you build in the UK, someone owns it. We have have been farming and building here for millennia, so you can't avoid upsetting someone if you build infrastructure, and the best way to make most people happy is to go around things rather than bulldoze your way through.
2) Those centuries of history and ownership also create our politeness. We are a small island with a lot of people, and to live so close to each other we need to define strict rules of how to behave, and what is personal space - otherwise we'd be fighting all the time! Other cultures experience this, such as the Japanese.
Our politeness is therefore a deeply ingrained survival instinct, and our rules of the road were established long before cars came along. For example (although this may be apocryphal) one of the reasons cited for why we drive on the left is because people wore swords on their left, and drew with their right, meaning you would want to make sure people you passed were on your right so you could defend yourself. (Also this is at least a partial reason why we shake hands with our right hand, because it means we're not drawing our sword, hence a gesture of friendship. It's also Biblical due to right hand 'holiness', but that's another topic entirely.)
3) Because our system was not designed with cars in mind, but also people and livestock, you are much more likely to experience people or livestock in the road.
Hazard perception is part of our driving test, we have a virtual simulation of hazards that we have to spot before we are allowed to take a test driving and actual car.
People may be in the road at any point as we don't have the crime of jaywalking here, because cars are meant to serve people, not the other way around. In America the car is king, and when I lived there I was disturbed by not having pavements, street lights or crossings. I remember wanting to walk to the Lincoln memorial, and realising there was no physical way to get there, and so I had to run across six lanes of traffic! That seems crazy to me, that the car is prioritised over the person!
4) Due to the previously mentioned factors, we have had plenty of time to create laws for pretty much anything, and we're also pretty tight on health and safety. Things are very regulated in the UK. The system we have actually incorporates a lot of the edge cases you mentioned, which might look like people flaunting the system, but is actually perfectly legal. What is illegal is almost anything that might reduce the driver's attention or ability to spot hazards, the point you made about personal responsibility is very perceptive.
This extends to safety. We have long regarded wearing a seatbelt as a matter of safety and personal responsibility, and our advertising reinforces that. You should RUclips 'British road safety ads', but make sure you're sitting down and your children aren't present! I showed some to Americans while I was there, and they were traumatised!
In comparison, American seatbelt ads don't emphasise the safety aspect, they emphasise police fines. That means in the American psyche wearing a seatbelt is a legal issue, and not wearing one is only a problem if you get caught. So many Americans I knew didn't wear seatbelts, but would sling it over their shoulder if a police car came past. To my UK brain that again is madness, it would be like if all your anti-smoking campaigns just warned you about being caught by your parents - that's not really the main issue is it?
Thanks again for a well thought-out video. As a British pastor I also really liked your video comparing churches, although again I have some extensive notes!
If you'd ever like to do a video collaboration or even come and visit, please let me know. I love hosting Americans!
Great reply to a good video. It comprehensively covered everything i was thinking while watching the video. By far, my greatest irritation while in the States, was the constant stop signs. The frustration of having to come to a complete stop, even when there wasn't another car in sight, used to drive me nuts.
Another small point for keeping traffic flowing, however slowly, is fuel consumption. It takes less fuel to come up to speed, when you're already moving.
@@archereegmb8032 Thank you, and yes the fuel consumption is an excellent point.
Fuel consumption is another reason we drive manual cars, and smaller cars. Automatic cars have traditionally been less fuel-efficient, and large cars obviously consume more fuel.
We have long been careful of fuel efficiency, as fuel is subject to tax in the UK, which inflates the prices far above the US. Although it is less of a disparity than you might think given that we walk more, drive shorter distances, and have more fuel efficient cars.
Again, I remember Americans 'boasting' that their car got up to 15 MPG. That's right - fifteen. By contrast, in the UK 30 MPG or more is pretty standard.
The car is much more of a status symbol.in the US, and so a big deal is made about having a huge engine. V8, V12 etc is standard there, whereas in the UK we wouldn't even consider that for a 'normal' car as the cost to run it would be prohibitive, and there is little need for that sort of engine in everyday life.
In comparison, a 1 litre engine is pretty normal here, as it's enough to get you around and we don't consider it a problem from a status point of view. Small cars are available in the states, but an overly machismo culture means people are ridiculed for buying them, or any car that promotes fuel efficiency! Just look at all the hatred directed towards Prius or Tesla owners for example, again that's incomprehensible in the UK where we just see those cars as a smart buying decision.
Another thing that happens in the Uk including places like London. Is that if travelling in a place where there are more than one lane, if you need to change lanes, if you indicate to change, normally most drivers to the side will drop back to let you in. I used to drive through London quite often and rarely had a problem changing lanes.
Some other countries I have driven in does not seem as easy to drive through because other drivers don’t like to loose their place so they get as close as they can to the car in front to not let me in, I then have to slow and try to get in behind them if lucky enough to find a gap on courteous driver.
So true. One word - Singapore! They point blank refuse to let you in to change lane and on one memorable day I was actually in tears, missing my turn over and over again cos no-one would move.
We are densely populated and live on a small island. Our whole culture is built on fairness and we have to adapt with limited space. More people live in West London than New Zealand.
Matthew. Very good video and your observations and assessment of driving and understanding of the UK and US system was spot on.
Thanks Kevin! I really appreciate it!
I'm glad you described the 'letting out' culture. It changes a little in London, where drivers become more defensive and pull out to block a junction. And it's odd to see this driving style in rural England. I like your conclusion of flow being the reason. You are correct that when I have driven in Europe, USA, UAE that it's 'easy'. And if I did let someone out when it was green or my priority, then clearly it would confuse or upset other drivers. Nice conclusion.
I would say London and the surrounding areas
In south London near Sutton and Kingston it’s ok
Nice shots from the Vito! Thanks for the video Matthew
Brings back memories!
Matthew,
I think the British, in common with most of North-west Europe, are generally courteous even when we're not in cars. It's inate. This transfers naturally to the way we drive. If I'm stuck in a slow-moving queue of traffic and I see someone ahead who is trying to turn left to join said queue, my thought process would be something like "If the person in front of me doesn't let them in, then I will". If the traffic is moving at speed, though, I would not stop as this would be dangerous. You can't be sure that the person behind is paying attention. Likewise, unless the traffic on both sides of the road is moving very slowly or the contra lane is empty, I am unlikely to stop if the person is trying to turn right, as them successfully transitioning across my lane into the contra lane would depend on the traffic in that lane also stopping to let them in and I can't guarantee that that will happen.
You could of course slow down and edge out to,the right forcing the traffic to,slow to your speed and allow the driver trying to get over to the right out. Often happens in London and South East cannot speak for the rest. May be with heavier traffic flows the traffic is slower in general and it may be you trying change lanes.
Well analyzed. Having driven in both countries, I've often thought driving is more than a matter of which side of the road is being used; you've given me some real underpinnings for that belief. Another reason for the twisty UK roads is that, very often, they're built to avoid things--like churches and other historical buildings--that existed for a thousand years before the road was planned. Also, of course, many, many roads were built before the automobile was invented.
I did forget to mention that many roads have been around for so much longer in the UK than the US. The road is based on (in some places) roads that have been in place for centuries before the automobile.
Some of the old Roman road routes are still in use, as they always have been. Notable for being straight, the Romans didn't care if something was in the way.
@@thefogboundfan8314 Even some of them had the occasional bend, marching an army up a steep hill was too tiring on the troops and horses so they did go around some. Troops had to be in fighting condition after a march, at 5 mph, 30 mile in a day, unless went well into the night when could be further. Centurions cared for their horses welfare more than the troops, they could be replaced easily, horses less so and native heavy horses and ponies, few Arabians unless a wealthy officer who could ship it. They were also built quickly, but well, so major earth works were avoided by building the straightest roads possible between garrison towns. Some towns still show the signs of being Roman towns, Bath and Colchester and the City of London, with straight and fairly wide, for horse drawn traffic, roads but many just grew naturally with roads for pedestrians and ridden horses.
@@thefogboundfan8314 Easy for them to say!
Anyone knows that.
This is an amazing analysis! I had a driving culture shock when I visited California. But I realised driving is so much less stressful there due to multiple bigger lanes, higher speeds, left-turn waiting lanes and intersections. Also parking is something you don't have to think about as every small establishment has a dedicated parking lot. Life is built with convenience in mind, and that is something which the UK lacks.
A very good talk, we drive with care and wave thanks for any help and it seems virtually everyone does it, it's nice to be thanked, it makes driving pleasant and can really make your day when a driver goes out of his/her way to help make your journey easier and less road rage and accidents, so it's a win win situation❤
UK drivers tend to think about "priority" whereas if you think about "Right of Way" there is a much higher political thought about your right being absolute and you must not lose it. In many situations in the UK system priorities can be equal e.g. if there is a vehicle parked on the left you need to give way as the oncoming driver has priority. If they have a parked vehicle on their left they need to give way to you. If there are vehicles parked both sides you both need to give way therefore depending on how much central road space remains you might not fit two vehicles through simultaneously. It may be possible for both to continue at a slow speed sometimes considerably slowed down otherwise one or other will need to stop whilst the other comes through giving a cheery wave to the courteous driver who has given way.
To let someone into your lane, you check your mirror to ensure that there is nobody too close to you, you slow down (don't slam on the brakes & come to a full stop), check your mirror again to make sure no-one is overtaking you, flash your headlights to inform the other driver that you are letting them out.
You only come to a full stop if you're coming up to a set of traffic lights on red & you are allowing the other driver into the space between you & the car in front.
Brilliant analysis
The reason our roads are windier isn't just the topography. Often it's because the road has to avoid people's property. Land ownership, historically, has been more fragmented than it is now, and fields were smaller. A road might go (in medieval times) between two fields and come up to a boundary, where it has to zigzag. This is why double bends and S-bends are a "thing" in the UK.
Good assessment I learned something from this
I'm an American from Boston (I know, that's a double whammy)... I am a very cautious, safe, and considerate driver. If I see that someone needs to turn at an intersection and no one is letting them in, I will stop and flash my lights so they can turn. That is good "car"ma for me and oftentimes I will be repaid in kind when I need to turn at an intersection. Also, in a merge or on-ramp / off-ramp situation in high traffic, I will always let people in if I'm on the highway or I will slowly merge in with a turn signal to get onto the highway, saying to myself "like a zipper people, like a zipper"! I used to love driving, but now people are usually so angry or in a hurry that it's not a joy like it used to be. But, it's a necessary evil and you gotta do what you gotta do. 🚗
Hope you're family are well 🙏 have a great Xmas and New year 😊
I can’t comment on driving in USA, but driving here,yes, I think most are courteous. It’s a reciprocity thing, someone does it for you, you do it for someone else. We’ve all been stuck waiting to pull out so can empathise. I do think your point about the systems is relevant though & something I hadn’t considered. I can see that if the aim in US is speed then people are less likely to slow down & let someone in. As you pointed out very well, here we try to keep moving, letting someone in helps achieve that. Thanks, very fair, informative & made me think, which I like :)
Some good observations, about using a phone, you can’t have a *handheld* phone, but hands-free you can, most newer cars have a factory fitted system using Bluetooth, mics are in the headlining, your contacts are stored by Bluetooth in the car, name and number show in the car if your called, some cars dial out by voice command.
So agree and very well noticed and articulated. When I was taught to drive I was taught you had to let people in. Be polite and the white line is only a guide as long as you went left when another car approached
The reason many roads in Britain are not straight is because the route could date back 2000 years or more. When that route was first created it would take the easiest route but would often skirt tribal lands or in later years would skirt the boundaries of manors. Communities would gradually be built along those routes as a way of catching passing trade. As those communities got bigger it became more difficult to change the route of the road. Many roads in Britain still follow the route of Roman roads from 2000 years ago.
Today I was driving on a country lane that is mostly not quite wide enough for two cars to pass in opposite directions. In such a case, which is quite common in rural areas, drivers will look for a possible passing place like a gateway or a level verge and whoever finds one will pull over to let oncoming vehicles through. In such cases courteous driving is the only way to get anywhere.
Driving while on the phone is illegal in the U.K. You can lose your licence. Seriously!
Also so many of our roads were in place hundreds if not thousands of years before motor cars. They go round existing property and if you want to ride roughshod over existing property, you are faced with public enquiries and a lot of paperwork and delay.
We are courteous because we know if someone is pigheaded, there is likely to be gridlock and nobody can get anywhere.
There is a noticeable difference between those of us who drive country roads all the time, and visitors who don't know how wide their car is, and whose anticipation is lacking! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
It is illegal in most places in the States as well, but the rule is hard to enforce. I don't know that you'll lose your license here, but you could earn heavy fines.
That is a huge part of the roads as well - in the UK they aren't recently designed. Many of them are built on very old existing roads.
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure What makes us safer on UK motorways is that it is an offence to undertake, although many idiots do
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure It is difficult to prove that a driver is using their mobile 'phone so in the UK the offence is 'holding a mobile device', even when stationary in traffic! Equally, whilst distracting, it is difficult to prove that a driver was using a hands-free 'phone. Drivers have been prosecuted for eating, drinking (a soft drink) etc., maybe smoking, consulting a map, delivery instructions or even reading a book.
the main reason for the Uk having lots of narrow roads , is due to who owns the land each side of the road , many of the two or three line motorways are built on land that the government has bought from land owners . Our country lanes are narrow and bendy due to the fact that they skirt around the borders of owners land ,in fact ,apart from the roads built by the romans , most of the rural raods started life as farmers tracks as shared access
A lot of British roads are small because they were dirt tracks, built for horse and carts, when houses were built each side we were stuck with it so yes it's partly about space but also about history. 😊
I was always told by my dad, 1 for 1, if you're at a T-Junction etc, for every 1 that goes by you let one out, everyone moves, everyone gets home.
Just caught this , not just the system but as you know how to be polite is often the first lessons we get as kids and to say sorry for everything of course ,so this characteristic sticks with us on the road I think.
I also think a big difference in the way we drive is the more complex and rigorous driving test we have to do in the UK.
Another side note. It is illegal to use your mobile phone in the uk unless it is on hands free.
using your phone while driving in the UK is illegal, you can get into trouble even if its just in your hand, however i drive to university everyday which is around 20 miles away and i always see people on their phone, especially when driving fast and it’s because theres not really alot of police cars around, just mostly cameras for speeding
I noticed the same attitute coming to a big city like Hamburg. If there is much traffic and you are not going that fast anyway, you stop to let people from the sideroads in. Fine thing to have a community feeling. When a population in a big city addapt this attitude, everyone can move more freely. You, yourself, will soon be waiting on a sideroad and happy that someone stops. An opposit place I know is Paris, where they let absolutely noone in. Even when you try to get on a slow moving motorway. They'd rather scratch their car than letting someone in in front of them.
A lot of Scottish Roads follow old Cattle Tracks. And I believe there is a reason for even Motorways not being being built straight and that is to keep the driver awake.
I wouldn't expect people to "slam on their brakes" to let someone out. Maybe if traffic is moving slowly you might let one or two cars out of a side road, but in free flowing traffic suddenly braking to let someone out isn't normal.
Some roads built for two way traffic are now difficult to drive down in the UK now that people are buying inappropriately large cars for cities.
The reason you don't see people using mobile phones in vehicles in the UK is because it is illegal to use a hand held one while driving. So, American drivers coming to drive here, please note!
Somebody else has probably mentioned it, but in the UK you should not be slamming on your brakes to let somebody exit a junction as this would be highly dangerous, but letting other cars in when in slow moving traffic (~5mph) is very common. Please don't slam on your brakes to let another car in if you're driving at the normal road speed and have other cars behind you, as you will cause a accident.
You didn’t mention the difference in age of the two countries. Britains roads were created a long long time before the motor car was even dreamt of. Not so in the States. Also long before the mechanical digger therefore roads follow old horse and cart tracks, which in turn followed land contours. Not so in the States.
I once worked on Stane Street in West Sussex and, for some reason, those using satnav often had difficulty in finding our office. They often asked whether Stane Street was a new road and therefore no recognized by the satnav software. It always amused me when I explained that, being a Roman road, Stane Street was the best part of 2,000 years old. Something hard to imagine in The States I guess.
british roads as you say follow old routes but in north america they came after surveying was developed by the army in britain in the 17th century. Ontario in Canada was surveyed as people arrived after the conquest of French Canada then spread across the continent and around the world.
@@richardmeech7422 They do recognise finishing a sentence with “ I guess” though. 😀
Quite !
@@richardmeech7422 ‘ For sure!’
Spot on pal!
Thanks!
I really enjoy your informative videos Mathew and you're right about UK driving "making it work" with traffic flow etc.
The UK & Sweden officially have the safest roads and drivers in the developed world (World Health Organisation) with 2.8 deaths per 100,000 population. Figures for the USA show 16 fatalities per 100,000 population!
There is an emphasise on individual responsibility and decision making with Driving in the UK. Drivers are also required by law to drive with "due care and attention" and it is an offence not to do so. However whilst many do, there are still enough that don't!
Phone use is treated as a serious driving offence, with six penalty points on you're licence, a large fine and big impact on you're insurance costs.
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You also don't hear carhorns blaring in the UK, they are for emergency use not to sit outside someone's house hon blaring to let them know you have arrived to pick them up.
I think this is right (I can't remember where I saw it) but UK motorways were designed to have curves so you can see further ahead. On a straight motorway you can only see the car or lorry in front of you.
Huh, that is really interesting! I hadn't heard that, but I like the idea.
All the good points of driving in the UK don't apply in London.
Is this one of the last Shaefer Family last videos. The last thing I had was around 2 yrs ago.
I think this is fairly well observed, in South London, you have to constantly pull aside or wait to allow oncoming traffic where a street narrows with parked cars. Most drivers do this and the oncoming cards flash their lights or wave their hands to say thank you. My partner gets annoyed when other drivers do not wave thankyou!
But also there are a minority of people who are arseholes. Like when you pull aside to allow oncoming traffic, and someone behind you sees this as an opportunity and jumps in. I think that the US and the UK have the same proportion of arsehole drivers. Its just the systems force different behaviours on people. British roads are safer, because the are designed so that high speed crashes are less likely. You just dont get so many large cross road intersections in the UK which are notoriously dangerous. UK planners would offset the junction with merging lanes or drop in a roundabout.
There is a lot more to the narrower roads than just "needing less space". The US (and Canada) almost exclusively think, that making roads and streets as wide as possible makes them safer. However in reality drivers compensate for this by driving *way* faster than allowed all the time - completely ignoring the (also quite randomly set and barely enforced) speed limits. So driving with 50 mph past a school. If you try this anywhere else, you'll very crash into an _intentionally_ places obstacle, which requires everybody to slow down.
Distracted driving because the road "feels safe" and because you spend so much time driving every day and the extremely low level of driver education (basically none in most states) make things even worse. Because of this American roads are so extremely dangerous for everybody outside of a car and car buyers have this arms race of "buying the biggest tank possible".
I would hate the 4-way stops on major highways. It's asking for trouble. On a UK motorway access and exit is achieved with separate lanes, and bridges for changing the side of the road. So if you want the head right at the next junction, you get into the left lane, up the slip road to the roundabout at the top, and turn right across the overpass. Exceptionally it might be an underpass, depending on the lie of the land. But nobody needs to stop to let you in or out. I can't help feeling that those four-way stops must be at least part of the reason for the huge number of road trafi deaths in the US, combined with teenage drivers and the absence at the national level of anything like our annual mandatory testing for all vehicles more than 3 years old.
You say a lot about allowing cars to join from junctions. However another common situation (for a single lane each way) is allowing cars attempting to turn right across oncoming traffic. In the UK one such car can seriously clog up the road behind it. So often an approaching car will slow and flash its lights to allow the turning car to do so, thus freeing up the cars trapped behind it. Strictly speaking this is not actually legal but most UK drivers do it anyway as it 'lubricates' the traffic flow to the general benefit of other drivers. Being courteous today we hope to receive a similar level of courtesy tomorrow. Doesn't work in London, where the level of driving is more cut-throat.
Matthew, we don't SLAM on our brakes, per se, unless to avoid an accident. We observe the road ahead AND behind us (hopefully) and if it's safe to do so, dab the brakes to slow down enough to let another car exit from a side road. The same method that is used on the roundabouts. Also, being on a mobile phone while driving is against the law. Nothing should be distracting the driver.
Certainly, I suppose I exaggerated the word "slam" for effect. I suppose what I mean is that, the actions taken in the UK in cars would be unexpected and potentially dangerous in the US.
Mobile phone usage is against the law in most parts of the US as well. But...people still do it in both places, sometimes.
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure One of the driving skills taught to learner drivers is anticipation of what could happen in the road in front of you. So instead of driving around like a robot because the system allows you to, the vast majority of drivers are concentrating on the road ahead. This allows you the opportunity of letting someone in because the guy behind is also anticipating the road ahead so if you do slow down its not entirely unexpected.
Someone tell the kids that! Even worse since they have to be strapped in.
In the UK it is illegal to have your phone in your hand while you drive and frowned upon if anyone see`s you holding one - most Brits plug their phones into their cars when they get in and go hands free
It's funny that people don't know why the roads built in the 50s and 60s are the way they are. Back then there was an idea that discouraging overtaking was a good idea, so the curves are spaced and pitched so that at 50mph it's very hard to overtake. But as cars became faster these roads became dangerous because they were just about straight enough to allow overtaking. The US goes for simplicity, straight lines are easy to follow, they require less driver involvement. People driving in the UK tend to pay attention more. A good example is when lights change, in the US the person at the front slowly takes their foot off the brake and transfers it to the gas and then wanders off, followed by the next person. In the UK everyone is paying attention and most are using manual transmission, so they have the clutch just below the bite point and are holding the car on the hand brake, because they were taught to do hill starts properly. When the light changes they all start moving, because they were all watching. When I return to the UK I have to up my game and pay a lot more attention. People in the UK don't usually just stop either, not when the traffic is moving fast.
Having driven in quite a few countries I would say their are subtle differences , however not being biased I'd say "yes" the Brits are more courteous , they have to be in many ways I suppose, more crowded roads, smaller roads etc , I think this to a certain extent is what makes Americans not the best drivers in the world as they don't really go in for anything worldwide car related , they dabble but usually quit after a while
A bit late to the party on this video but I think a very interesting point in comparing the two country's driving styles is the legal side.
In the US, you're legally required to do some actions.
In the UK 'Highway Code' (Our driving laws), things are worded as 'should', which means 'suggested'. Only some things are worded as 'shall'. (Not sure if I'm using the exact words here but I think my point comes across)
Many things in the UK Highway Code are also basically 'use common sense', if you think you should or shouldn't do something is up to you and the current situation you're in.
You know when traffic lights are out in the US how it becomes an all-way stop? Well, in the UK, an 'uncontrolled junction' is hillarious from a legal perspective. Whatever direction feels like it has right of way has right of way, there's no legality to it at all, just 'figure it out yourself'.
I think this system makes drivers, like you said, much more focused on their driving and how their decisions affect other drivers. :)
As others have said. In the UK you cannot hold or operate a mobile phone handset while driving, including when stopped in stationary traffic. Except if you need to call 999 in an emergency and it's unsafe or impractical to stop. You are, however, allowed to use a hands-free headset or voice command. Depending on the severity and danger factor of handset usage. The penalty varies from £200 up to £1,000 if you're driving a car or bike. And up to £2,500 if you're driving a truck or a bus. And from 6 penalty points on your licence up to a full driving ban for a certain period. If a driver injures or kills someone whilst driving using a phone. They will almost certainly be sent to prison, for months or years.
These are very severe penalties. That also significantly increase a driver's insurance premium. It's also well advertised through all forms of media in the UK how dangerous it is to hold a phone while driving. So most UK drivers rightfully just don't take the risk.
It's also easier to get caught using your phone while driving in the UK. Many UK drivers have front & rear-facing dash cameras. And many of them will often send recorded footage of other drivers using phones to the Traffic Police. Who then use that footage to identify and prosecute the offending driver. Some Motorway and highway surveillance cameras also record drivers using phones. And the Traffic Police conduct regular surveillance and patrols of major routes. Including using covert unmarked trucks, to drive alongside and record drivers who are secretly using their phones out of normal sight beneath the steering wheel.
Love our curvy roads, especially on a motorbike, they are curvy because the were buildings and farmland there long before car were invented and the road were built arond them.
The roads were built before cars were blooming invented!
The traffic in the first clip looks to be travelling very close together.
The reason our roads are so narrow is not because of space but because most of them where built long before cars were invented. They were ancient tracks and paths which where over the centuries upgraded to horse and cart and then cars. Some of the roads will be old Roman roads.
I have to disagree about driving on motorways/highways is similar in the US and UK. In the EU and UK Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) are limited to 90 Kph (56 mph) maybe due to their longer stopping distances and as an environmental measure. This produces a dangerous speed differential with cars and small vans travelling at the national speed limit of 70 mph - actually, in most UK counties you can get away with the speed limit + 10% + 2mph and many do plus a few travelling at much higher speeds. BTW, most speedometers underread by two or three mph so when your speedo reads 70 mph your sat-nav will indicate 67 to 68 mph.
The most frustrating situation as a car/van driver is when all the HGVs are travelling at 55 mph in the inside lane on a slight upgrade and one decides that he can overtake at 55.5 mph. Having lost the advantage of slipstreaming the HGV that he was following at less than a car's length he will spend the next three miles or more unable to overtake with a long queue of smaller vehicles behind him. That is not best traffic flow!
The rules/laws on American highways and UK motorways, or any dual carriageway road, are similar. The outer lanes are for overtaking. In the US drivers seem to pick a lane, set their cruise control and stay in that lane regardless. Admittedly there are numerous examples of poor lane discipline in the UK such as the 'middle lane hoggers' and those driving at 70 mph (even 50 mph) in the outside lane with all the lanes to their left clear of traffic. On German Autobahns where there is no proscribed speed limit and in Italy where the speed limits are rarely observed I have driven my little Renault Clio (max speed 108 mph) at 90 mph. Frequently seeing a vehicle in my LH mirror approaching at 120 or 150 mph. Their lane discipline is excellent!
Try commenting on walking in the Countryside
Show us some videos of your new house.
I thought there was a blanket 55mph speed limit in the US. Whatever happened to it?
It was repealed in 1995.
If that's you driving at 10:12 you drove as if there was no roundabout. Instead of just turning right you should have gone round the roundabout. O.K there was no other traffic around at the time, but if there had been I hope you'd know that.
What I don't like is when drivers in the UK slow down and flash their lights to let someone cross the road and then get impatient or frustrated when the person doesn't immediately cross. Pedestrians have to be sure there is no traffic in both directions before they cross the road, and drivers being courteous in this way often don't take account of that, so they can be leading someone into danger if they are then stuck in the middle of the road.
As a dual citizen living in the US for 22 years, I agree with your assessment. It constantly annoys me that American drivers pay much less attention to driving and rarely acknowledge when you make space for them. They also run red lights all the time.
You must not use your phone wile driving in the UK.
Totally agree. You shouldn't use your phone in the US either....but.....people do it. To be fair, some people use them in the UK too, but it isn't as common.
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure it's more than just not , it's illegal ,a new driver in the first 2 years can 6 points and fine even when stationary for using thier phone ,which if they are caught the licence is revoked , this will mean reapplying with a provisional licence , redoing the theory test / hazard perception video assessment then booking another driving test
@@DC3Refom
That's a good thing. They have no one else to blame.
America has forgotten that people came first not the car
You can always tell a democracy from an autocracy by the straightness of their roads......
The U.S.A. is around 40 times larger than the U.K. with around 5 times the population. In other words the U.K. is way overcrowded by comparison and that´s why driving is such a frustrating nightmare in many places particulaly in the South East and Midlands. When I lived in California some years ago (when cellphones were rare) I thought the drivers were more considerate than in the U.K. but maybe things are different now.
Cause America is bigger
It's not correct that the population density of the US is higher: in fact it's much lower. Average UK density is 725/sq.mi., average US density is 96/sq.mi.
A driver using is phone while driving is against the law - big fine!
You miss out history the roads where built 2000 years ago by the romans or 1000 years ago by the normans motorways are new the rest very old and updated !.
Using a mobile phone whilst driving in the UK is (very!) Illegal.
Well we have way better driving skills , hazard perception , situational awareness , we don't get our licences in cereal boxes ,we have to earn them with proving competency and anticipation skills . Yeah most of the time I would say we are more curtious.
I think it’s just what you said because Americans seem polite and obviously more polite in hospitality 🤣
I bet we swear more at other drivers here in the UK.
No, USA is good at that, but yours are probably more colourful.
Alot of the roads used to be footpaths some dated back to the stone age with few roman ones thrown in
As an American, I hate our car culture, systems, and lack of driving etiquette. It epitomizes the obnoxious individualistic belief system we have.
I use taxis instead.
Come to Ireland you will meet decent drivers
I will not move Matthew, you’ll have to go around.
I watched a RUclips video earlier about why the US has so
Few roundabouts. And it made me realise I’m a lot happier driving in the UK 😂. As someone commented ‘ im
Scared im going to miss the exit.’
Well pal, I’m scared of you being on the road 😂
No
Attitudes to road laws is also different, running a stop sign is high on the agenda in the US often with a fatal outcome, but running a red light in the UK is serious less so a " Halt at Major Road" sign. My bugbear is the compulsory wearing of seatbelts, if someone wishes to be seriously injured or killed in an RTC that is their choice, not the Governments, just don't have an RTC. Even if caused by another driver, just stay alert for danger and hazards.
I learnt to drive a Hi-Lux in the fields (Danish, so the road are on the wrong side..), I feel your thought on the choice element but why I think it is acceptable for .Gov on this one (for me at least) is that it isn't just the dead tit who didn't use their belt/didn't pay attention but the passengers, maybe kids and other driver(s) who have now been involved in an avoidably messy/fatal accident, possibly injured or crushed by the human-shrapnel - the psychological impact goes way beyond the individual making the choice. If a professional driver (lorry, emergency services, public transport etc.) is forced out of work for a longer time or permanently because of psychological issues coming from an easily preventable occurrence but for someone's ""free choice" - then there's a financial cost and burden to that family, their family too and since they don't take financial responsibility for that, they don't get to drive without a belt.. Similar to car insurance - it's the potential liability to others. I say this even though my Dad, back in the 70s, was thrown from a car (no belt) and impaled on a tree, only survivor in a crash that killed 2 of his harness-wearing friends. I'd imagine with a £50m Life Insurance plan or similar amounts in the bank that we would indeed have the freedom to drive without a belt, since we could financially compensate the eventualities, though another zero may be required. Don't think most road laws were made for the most astute or aware but to the lowest common denominator, the Sunday driver as it were.
Edit: My go-to "Timmy" was a bit too close to Tony and didn't want it to seem like I was making it personal - yeah yeah I'm half-English, leave me be lol
When I was 12 or 13. a class mate was not wearing a seatbelt and went through the windscreen. Cut her face to ribbons and she even had stitches in her eyelids. I appreciate she had dumb parents but they are an example of why we now have compulsory seatbelts.
The US is ~40x the land area for ~5x the population. Land isn't anywhere as much of a premium there. Everyone driving a car MUST understand that they're in charge of a two tonne killing machine. Everyone needs to be attentive and courteous. Given that America has large and straight roads, it's most odd that about 3x as many people are killed pro rata in the US (40,000 in US to 2,500 in the UK) and even if you take miles driven into account the US kills twice as many people. It's crazy. Slow down. Never insist on priority even if it's clear in law that you have it. No point arguing you had priority from a hospital bed...
ENGLISH people apologise for everything.
I don’t think our roads are smaller mainly to save space. Our motorways are 70mph where it tends to be less in the US 55mph
Reading down the comments here, and people still don't know the correct use of
There
Their
And they're
It's really not hard.
We're courteous?! Where the f did you drive? LMAO obviously not London
Yeah, everywhere but London!
America is much larger than the UK so don't compare uk to America