This is my new latest driving gripe. At this moment in time it's even annoying me more than people who drive with their fog lights on all the time (especially those people who seem to think that sidelights plus fog lights is a legitimate alternative to just having your main beam headlights on.. but don't get me started...)

Anyway.. why are so many people seemingly incapable of keeping to their own side of the road these days? It's starting to feel like every time I approach a left-hander in particular there's always somebody a good few feet over the centre line coming the other way.

And the less said about the country lanes near me with no road markings down the middle at all the better. Even on a completely straight road I'm seeing more and more people either suddenly swerving over at the last minute as they realise they're about to hit an oncoming car, or worse they seem to be expecting me, who is already clipping the kerb and/or hedge on the passenger side, to somehow find another couple of feet to move even further over.. Surely common sense tells these people they are closer to the hedge on the drivers side than they are on the passenger side?!

Seriously, is this a new phenomenon or am I just either a) getting less patient as I get older or b) starting to notice it more just lately? Or is it just that the standard of driving around North Staffordshire/South Cheshire is considerably worse than everywhere else in the country?

ARGGHHHHH! (and breathe...)

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. The car was that far over on my side, he hit my wing mirror I couldn't have got any closer to the hedge on my side, yet the knobhead still managed to hit me
We were both doing around 50/60mph, so there was hell of a bang when the mirrors hit, but luckily, the Coupes mirror withstood the impact

When driving home at midnight, I use a dark country lane and I do drive in the middle of it, just in case there happens to be a pedestrian on the side, but I do slow down and move over when I see another car approaching.
I also turn my main beam off, which is often something the other driver fails to do

Lack of indicator use annoys me the most, both as a driver and pedestrian.
Everyone moans about the lack of indicator use, but nobody uses them
For those that do use indicators, what is it with indicating left at roundabouts when you intend to go straight on ffs. Don't f**king indicate when going straight across!

While I'm here ranting, my neighbours and their visitors! They park over or partially over my dropped kerb all the time.
I feel like leaving the car running in the middle of the road, knocking their door and telling them to try parking my car on my drive and seeing if they can do it without hitting theirs I've always stated how much I hate most of my neighbours, but my hatred is getting worse

Maybe it's just me getting older and less tolerant, but it's like nobody gives a shit about anyone else these days and the days of any consideration has gone, whether that's in a vehicle or just in life itself.

I was driving to Millom in cumbria, the roads are very narrow that way on to the point of needing traffic lights at some parts.
But like you say people insist on encroaching the centre lines.
I was managing really well to keep to my half of the road. Unfortunately for the lazy few who had to shift back over to their side pretty rapid as my truck is over 8ft wide.

We get the middle-of-the road stuff over here, too, in the very estate I live on. Don't they know who I am!?

My impression is that many drivers around here are simply unable to gauge the width of their vehicle, so err on the 'safe' side by keeping to the middle. In country lanes, that is compounded by the desire not to scratch their paintwork.

It's a source of constant incredulity that these people managed to pass their driving tests.

Theresa - I do hope your pet spider survived the knock!!

Yes i see so many bad habits as a frquent road user of dark country lanes duel's and city centres

I drive a company van so am not scared to stick to the very left side of the road i was unfortunate enough to be driving along just grazing the hedge the other week that had cunningly disguised a tree branch as a hedge so passenger side mirror casing is now missing but the amount of crumbling road edges and potholes at the edge of the roads is getting worst so that could be it! but i honestly think we just see more crap drivers on the roads now compared to 10 odd years ago plus christ knows how many are pissed up

The other thing that annoys me is indicators the old joke that they are an optional extra certainly seems to ring true more and more now! and im with you on the roundabout thing Theresa, which brings me on to another rant

Im now getting really annoyed about roundabouts! a roundabout with two perfectly sized junctions, "i know lets make it into 3 lanes just at the last 4-5 metres, without making it any wider or change the markings or signage" they all seem to be like this in Corby nobody knows where to go anymore! and then they paint lines all the way around roundabouts that seem to be more of a suggestion than anything else "here's a suggestion sir, you could use this lane that will force you to collide with the car next to you, if you both foolishly choose to follow the lines! whoops!"
Anyway that my moan of the day!

Round here Hampshire county council has bought much too much white road marking paint: They are painting out slip lanes and lanes entering roundabouts just to use it up.

They have even painted out nearly a mile of lane 2 of a dual carriageway section of the A30 going west from Blackwater as well as half a mile of the A287 near Odiham.

They are currently spending 46 weeks (!) putting an extra lane and traffic lights on the A325 Queens Roundabout in Farnbourough. Bet they paint it out in 2016.