An unfortunate change in the driving culture (London)

 

A lot of the drivers in Singapore during my growing up years were very impatient, some even aggressive and overbearing.

    If the first driver didn’t charge off as soon as the traffic lights turned green, the other drivers would immediately sound their horns.  And not a little polite “hoot hoot” reminder either, but a loud “Come on, come on, get going, dopey!!” kind of blare.  One had to get into the first gear while waiting at the red lights, foot on the accelerator — rather like athletes at the starting line listening out for the starter pistol.

    If a person crossing the road didn’t speed up when a car was approaching, the driver would sound his/her car horn at the pedestrian to clear the way, as if s/he (the driver) were the only one to have the right to use the road.  Some of them would even shout out of the window, “你找死啊，沒看到車來嗎 / 你找死啊，没看到车来吗 / Are you looking to die?  Didn’t you see a car coming?!?”

    I used to think that it was the hot and humid weather making people easily irritated.

    One of my first impressions of London in my first few years here was how laid-back drivers were.  No honking and no shouting at people.  I’d even, on more than one occasion, witnessed the first driver starting to get into first gear ONLY AFTER the lights had turned green, with everyone else behind patiently and quietly waiting.

    Not anymore, it seems.

    I live close to Seven Sisters Road in north London, a big road with three lanes on each side.  Of late (the last few months only, I think), I’d begun to hear a lot of honking.  “A lot” as in “frequently throughout the day, even at night”, not “all in one go” which could be just one incident with perhaps one particular driver doing something to annoy the rest of the drivers at the time.

    It seems to be the fashion now, for drivers (in the section of Seven Sisters Road near me, anyway, if not the rest of London) to have a short fuse, using their car horns to shout at other drivers.

    What’s happened to the equable British spirit?  Have British drivers now imported the Singapore driving style?  Maybe Singaporean drivers have lost their impatient and aggressive driving manner, and it’s migrated to London?

(London, 1977 / 2025)