Most people feel that there are far too many cars on Britain’s roads today and indeed, if you look at the figures, there are. In a study carried out by the World Health Organization in 1996, we had 408 vehicles per 1000 of population, Spain had 488 and France had 524. America was very high at 787 per 1000 of population but then it is a country of 3.537 million square miles compared with the UK, which has 90,504 square miles. In general the countries that have a large number of vehicles per capita are much larger countries than Britain.

Fortunately those figures are from across the world and when comparing serious accident in this country with other countries it shows that our roads are very safe indeed. As a contract hire company we see very few cars written off in serious accidents.

It seems that what motorists worry most about, is their children’s safety, when driving, rather than their own. Whilst there are some increased risks for younger drivers, particularly young men, there concerns appear disproportionate. On the whole most seem to worry about other forms of accidents, that in practice are far less likely to happen; driving to the airport to go on holiday has its risks, whilst the actual flight has virtually no risks and yet many will think nothing of the drive to the airport but are terrified of getting on a plane.

It is claimed that to be statistically certain of dying in an air accident you would need to fly non stop, day and night, for twenty years. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of driving on the road but nevertheless most people feel much safer behind the wheel.

Traffic congestion is something that people do feel is particularly bad in Britain although it is pretty much a problem throughout most of the world and some countries suffer worse than the UK; Cities in the United States are very congested; according to The Texas Transportation Institute, drivers in Los Angeles spend an average of 82 hours a year sitting in traffic jams.

A large number of the increasing number of cars that are on the roads are owned by those who work, so it follows that are large proportion will be driven during peak hours on the road. It was estimated that Britain’s cars would increase in number by 40% over the 35 year period from 1990 to 2025. In a country the size of the UK it is difficult to see where they will all go.

A major cause of frustration used to be missing and incorrect road signs, less so nowadays as more motorists have satellite navigation. Most countries seem to have poor road signs, particularly in towns where the problem seems to be that as the locals never use them, nobody notices that they are incorrect or missing. Some European countries are worse than others; anyone who has tried to navigate the complex ring road system around Madrid will know that often the only way to stop driving around in circles for hours, is to enter the city and find a taxi that will lead you to the correct exit.

Cyclists in Wales became concerned when in 2006 a road sign said in English that they should dismount at the road works between Penarth and Cardiff but worryingly in the Welsh version advised them that bladder disease had returned.

After years of under funding our roads are in very poor shape compared with many European countries, road closures and uncoordinated road repairs are a major cause of traffic delays. Although we are not alone, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $1.6 billion is required just to bring America’s roads up to a reasonable standard. A massive sum of money indeed, although still rather less the US currently spends on occupation of Iraq each year.

Sadly Britain appears to lead the world when it comes to road rage; Gallup carried out a poll and apparently an extraordinary number of motorists in the UK have been on the receiving end of road rage, more than 80%. They did class verbal abuse and various hand gestures also as road rage but nevertheless 1 in 7 had been subject to physical or verbal abuse. What is difficult to know is how much of a contributory factor was the driving or behaviour of the victim; aggressive driving often provokes an aggressive reaction. Gallup said that just under 60% of the attackers were driving what they classed as standard cars. One could conclude from that statistic that drivers of standard cars are more aggressive, perhaps jealous of other road users but it may be no more that the fact that there are more “standard cars” on the road.

Certainly in many countries violent road rage is almost non-existent, with road rage being no more that gesticulating and occasionally shouting abuse. The level of violence seen in the UK does seem to be quite unique. There was a case reported in the press a few years ago of a driver who one Sunday, having objected to another motorist’s driving habits decided to stop him and drag him out of the car. It turned out that his victim was his new boss recently arrived from Switzerland, due to start his first day at work the following day. Not only was the driver prosecuted, he lost his job, his company car, which he was driving at the time, and all his other company benefits. The Gallup poll said only 14% of road rage aggressors regretted their actions; this may have been one of those cases.

Cars in Britain are very expensive to buy compared with many countries, however contract hire and leasing rtes are extremely low and nowadays a high proportion of the cars on the road are either on contract hire or personal contract hire. Most importantly we are extremely safe on our roads, apart from the behaviour of a very small minority, drivers are generally courteous and considerate and they don’t drive at speed, two metres behind the car in front, which is a major cause of accidents in many continental countries.

Sometimes when driving it is difficult to find somewhere to turn around, so it is best to continue until you can see somewhere suitable. This is the conclusion that 81 year old Martha Harwood came to once she realized she was driving the wrong way down the outside lane of the M65, cars were crashing into each other as they swerved to avoid her. She continued for 15 miles before police managed to stop her. Apart from these odd occasions our motorways are amongst the safest in the world.