I have no idea if Manchester is the worst after London for driving but I have a feeling it is. However, I brought my car up again and realised the problems I have with driving here so I am collating a few tips:

• If you receive a red light, you still have 3-4 seconds to go through the lights, amber is considered as a complete green.
• Road markings are only advice, pick any lane you would like.
• Yellow lines/double yellow lines are welcome to all.
• Bus lanes are just "fast lanes"
• Over taking is required on inner city single lane roads if driver is doing under 32mph.
• If you're pulling up to a junction and the car infront isn't going at full speed to the queue of cars, over take and slam on your brakes.
• If you're a bus driver, overtake bikes passing bus stop them slam on brakes causing your passenger's discomfort and forcing the cyclist to nearly smack into the back of the bus.
• Never give anybody an inch, they may try to take a yard and you don't want that do you.
• Your horn should be used as frequently as indicators (not that often but still fairly often albeit always at the wrong time).
• Right turn filters can't be believed.
• If somebody is obviously stuck in the middle of a junction trying to turn right, you're allowed to go up to 10 seconds after the light has turned red for you, forcing them to go through a proper red light to clear themselves. This is also funniest if there's a police car and van waiting to come past the person stuck there who trying to get out of the way floors it without realising 2 cop cars are there.
• Yellow lined boxes are indications that you should drive into it even if you can't leave to help slow everything down.
• Residential speed limit is 55mph.
• Single lane roads can often be considered double.

I hate ****ing driving in Manchester!

Sounds fun - not. I am taking the 'bus' down to The Royal Albert Hall next Saturday morning, for the day. I am driving, with 4 other people in the car - should be an experience?!!

you forgot "watch out for flying cyclists"

Ill give you a tip when driving round manchester......get the bus!

Yeah...amen to that!

Theres a reasonably good public transport system in Manc for a reason! It's major aggro' driving!

Driving in North London, Northwest London, West London, aint that bad. aint had that much experience in North East I dont think.

BUT South London and all the others Londons that begin with south HAHAHA thats like a different country.

I find Kent is a really relaxing place to drive and Nottingham I even see the Police Booting around in a 5 Series Estate just for fun while I was up there, musta bin doin about 60 + in a 30. no lights and the passenger police man was holding the cileing handle for his life but he had the biggest smile on his face

Good stuff

Everytime i get on a bus in manchester i get some chav asking me for money. Then cause i say no generally gets abusive.

Rather take my car but i can understand completely what its like driving round manchester still take my car everytime i go into town though.

My mate however is one of those drivers you pretty much described he pisses me off when im in the car with him basically cause he drives like a frigging idiot. seen him do 90 through an estate before.

constantly brakes really hard always thrashes his car and he wonders why its not feeling the same anymore. :/

But hey he drives a rover 25 so hopefully once he's thrashed it enough he will have to get a decent car.

LOL Paul

I was scarred of London Driving till I went to Brooklands and South London last weekend – I was Impressed – Give way to a bus and they are courteous – Unlike Manchester – they its their right to pull out, so very few bother to acknowledge you.

You also forgot to mention the lack of signposts in Manchester – you try finding Salford from Manchester City Centre.

There is an art to holding the road around Manchester. I raillery use my horn around Manchester for fear of my life

You live near Rusholme – The Curry Mile – they built a central reservation all the way along to stop the random U terns. Driving through Rusholme is always interesting LOL. Nice food too.

I've only been to manchester once, it didn't seem too bad to me but I didn't see much of it... having done Birmingham and London several times it's always a bit of a nightmare, most of it is ok but when you get to real central London in the west end etc it is dreadful. Only because it's all so congested though and there are so many things to look at, signs, turns, lanes, markings etc not because people are rubbish drivers as such.

It's just that when it's busy people are more likely to make mistakes, even if they are a good driver

Sign posts are a thing of the past with sat nav Previously whenever I wanted to get home (rely on friends to get me there) i just headed for that big tower with red lights at the top, once there I am closish to the uni and know my way back lol. It's all confusing to a "newbie" here.

Driving in Manchester is a totally different story from anywhere I have ever driven before, it's all so selfish. I am not saying Nottm drivers at perfect but 90% of them seem to be a lot less selfish than here...

I barely ever drive down OXford road, always Upper brook/anson since i cycle it everyday so I know everything about it.Oxford road also scares me since there's so many people around you never know what anybody will do at any point.

I do agree about the sign posting too, once we went to find the lowry, got a big sign for it, great we thought, then signs stopped....seriously! So we had to turn back. We now know a way however

best tip for driving round manchester learn where all the little cruddy backstreets go can avoid the 1 way system and all the traffic generally.

used to drive down oxford road everyday to go to uni live in prestwich used to go to manchester met although recently left and moved to bolton to try another course hopefully 3rd one will be what i wanna do and it is murder down oxford road.

taken the car out when i have gone clubbing a few times to 5th ave always fun driving home afterwards. i drive a bleeding clio and i can honestly say some drunk tries to get in the car every single time.

The Negotiator said:

…i just headed for that big tower with red lights at the top …

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Ah The CIS Tower I used to work in there – 3 rd floor – I never went up top – those earthquakes put me off. Nice Staff canteen – all you can eat – free.

The Negotiator said:

…I do agree about the sign posting too, once we went to find the lowry, got a big sign for it, great we thought, then signs stopped....seriously! So we had to turn back. We now know a way however

Click to expand...

Exactly – you won’t be selling the sat nav will you.

LOL will it work off a pushbike Dynamo?

wozza said:

taken the car out when i have gone clubbing a few times to 5th ave always fun driving home afterwards. i drive a bleeding clio and i can honestly say some drunk tries to get in the car every single time.

Click to expand...

Upper Brook Street after dark is mental! Driving through is like doge the drunk all night. LOL especially when 5th Avenue kicks out.

A Good warning – drive with all the doors locked!

Some Skally tried hijacking me on my way home from work one afternoon. Tried telling me there was an emergency – he needed a lift to the hospital – and swore to god he would pay me. Then made a beeline for the passenger door. I’d shot off sharpish - the guy looked OK to me

Oh lock your boot too – there was a spate of car booting a bit back. - As you sit at traffic lights a skally runs up, empties your boot and runs off.

Make your self an easy target and you all to easily become one.

Yeah 5th ave is rather fun at night driving back usually park right at the side of it next to the garrett just trying to get through the crowd is fun. Used to be at 5th ave every week. hardly go now although was there twice last weekend for foam party and meeting some people night before.

And yeah some guy walked up to me near teasers the other day im sat at the traffic lights few mates in the car comes right up to my drivers door just sat there looking at him and he goes to open my door. just sat staring at him some strange people round manchester.

and big building with red lights...wouldnt that be the portland tower?

the idea with the boot thing normally is they have a couple of them one opens the boot then you get out another jumps in your car bye bye car. To be honest dont think id mind if they stole mine could get somethign better with insurance money haha.

i just have to find the name of the street in manchester when im lost and i use my a to z its loads cheaper than sat nav and i am getting quite good at it now.

driving in manchester isn't bad...

there are SOME problem area's... namely Rusholme's Curry mile where people stop in the middle of the road... grrr..

even oxford road isn't that bad.. just lacks lane discipline... which isn't helped by the quality of the road surface!

You're just used to it, that's all Redsei!

All Curry miles are bad. The ones in Leicester, Sheffield and Huddersfield are terrible for traffic, driving and road layout too. At one point on the curry mile in hudderfield, you are on a dual carridgeway up to a crossroads and there are to straight on lanes but only one lane to fight for on the other side of the junction! WTF!!!

According to stats from last year, the 2nd worst city to drive in due to conjestion, average speed possible and journey times is Leicester. I challenge anybody here to get from J21 to Leicester City Centre in less than 45 mins in rush hour. Early Sunday morning, this can be done in 15-20 mins easily without breaking limits.

grrr it makes me cringe just thinking about driving into manchester - i avoid it as much as i can, i remember when i first met paul and went to pick him up, the rd i needed was closed the diversion made no sense and took me two hours to get ti him hmmph :bang:

Although you did meet Mr right on the way

I have just about had my fill of it, I popped to asda, there was a micra infront of me going down the same aisle I usually park down, he pulled into one and i pulled into the place next to it, on the left. I let the woman get out first, as you do, it took a few seconds, she then opened the door straight onto my car, i wsn't parked close, I was dead centre and their car was slightly to the right, she was a big woman but not that big....

So I immediately got out and said: (baring in mind she was quite a big lady on her mobile phone swearing about something and the driver was about a 6ft5" black guy...bit stupid of me)

"Why did you do that?"
"what?"
"open your door onto mine?"
"oh that, well you got plastic bits it don't matter"

I then closed the door and looked for damage (to be honest she didn't hit it hard I don't think but since I was in the car, I didn't know what it hitting hard/softly would sound like). Sure enough there wasn't any damage, I felt a little happier, I stood up and they were already walking off about 5-10 metres away so I stood up, looked in their direction at least expecting a sorry and nothing, nothing at all.

I honestly felt upset that somebody would do that to something I own infront of my face and not even apologise, I seriously considered doing the same back, however, you know me, I couldn't.

Shallow people with that attitude really do my head in.

Like last Thursday, I was the guy on returns desk at B&Q (requires a temporary personality and sense of humour transplant). Some guy brought back a sander, looked like it had had some serious usage. He returns it because some thingimiebob has fell off it. No receipt, no packaging adn expects a full refund. He has no proof he bought it from B&Q and we couldn't now way sell it off or get money from C&Ding for it. He could not understand why I wouldn't give him a refund or exchange so he wanted a second opinion. Fair enough. I got the guy off tools. He took the same angle at this as me so the guy decided he was going to swing at us, call us stubborn bastards and inform us that next time he sees either of us in the street, he is going to knock the **** out of us. I get a similar scenario every day there. Like on Sunday, we open 1/2 hr early for browsing. We cannot process transactions til 10. Tis the law. Some bloke would not accept this so he dropped his stuff on the floor on my feet and stormed out screaming he was going to homebase. P**s off then as far as i'm concerned.

I just can't believe the attitude and lack of respect a scarily large amount of people have to other members of public. It upsets me too and also makes me angry.