Given that, according to the stats, you are more than 50% more likely to be involved in a car accident when driving in canada than in the UK, the question has to be asked...are canadians worse drivers or are they perhaps just more full of rage?
I don't drive so much over here (we can only afford the one car which the wife needs every school day) and my (canadian)wife didn't do too much driving when she was over in the UK, but it seems to me that she gets involved in far more road rage type incidents over here than anything I can remember back in the UK (no jokes please about her driving skills ) So the question remains...are canadians just worse drivers, or are they just filled with rage? Probably a bit of both from my perspective. Any other ideas?

hmm, tough to say... road rage is definately a possibility.. but another thought.. road conditions maybe? we do have a lot to deal with.. last week when toronto got dumped on , there were 600 reported accidents that day.. I think that some could have been avoided by smart driving.. people are dumb... plain and simple.. I drive like a granny and have a clean record. why the heck are these people barreling along on black ice? like hello... slow down already....

Having just been back to Canada, I agree that there seem to be more bad drivers. But, I wondered if it has to do with having a lot more space to drive - less distracting and you need to be a lot less focused on a big highway and/or big street than city driving over here. I also think that because driving is the main form of transport there is likely to be more accidents.

It also could be that like many individuals, Canadians are nice on the outside of the car and arrogant, frustrated and impatient on the inside!

You know what they say about lies, damn lies and statistics!

I expect that the rather harsh winter has a lot to do with this. There are times here when accidents are simply unavoidable no matter how well you drive. Freezing rain, blowing snow, 12 inches of snow slab falling off the top of the truck in front of you all contribute.

Second factor is that in Canada pretty much everyone has a car, and that includes a lot of kids who couldnt afford to in the UK. As any insurance broker will tell you, kids and cars are not a good combination.
Of course, there are dangerous and aggressive drivers out there, but where I live most are courteous, and will leave a gap in a queue for you to pull into, rather than pull up to the bumper of the car in front to keep you out of their way as seemed the norm in the UK last time I was there.

Iain

Just for reference, these are the stats for the last available year (figures from the OECD).
http://www.bast.de/htdocs/fachthemen...glish/we2.html

You'll notice that in both the numbers of people killed per 100000, and for number of kilometres driven, canadian roads are significantly more dangerous than UK roads...

From Nova Scotian experience - far worse. Always driving whilst on the cell phone and generally pay less attention. Probably because half have so much bigger cars they think they will be ok in an accident. And then they whinge about high insurance prices!!!

Also, whats the deal with taking a test in a automatic and being able to drive a manual the next day?

My spin on this..

Mainly its the winter road conditions,

However I do find as a 'standard' driver that people rely on the fact that most people drive automatics and as a result drive far too close to each other..

Also a few speed cameras might slow down some of the hero's out there..

even in the summer they still drive too close, and if you leave a safety gap someone dives in it. they seem to drive up as fast as they can to the car in front of them then slam their brakes on. these arnt boy racers, but the most inoffensive sorts, you know, middleaged women with purple rinses,young mums with kids in their vans etc

driving is my ONLY gripe about canada

As conditioned automatic drivers they rely on the brake lights in the car in front to indicate the drivers intentions.

You start using engine braking or gearing down or even just using the clutch to slow down, and you'll send the poor sods into a panic.

fun thou...

yep, i drive a manual too.

He. He, you too, this is my favourite trick!

Have you noticed the way they use or dont use lanes too?
If they drove in the UK they would be dead, they overtake, undertake, switch lanes erratically, they cut 3 lanes across you to exit the highway, they even wont let you into their lane then when you do finally manage to get in they friggin well turn off or change lane again anyway.......Grrrrrrrrr!!!

Signs and junctions are designed without enough standardization in mind. So often
enough you learn as you go and try to make sense afterwards.
That is the reason for more accidents in my view.

I have been driving for 3 years in Canada accident-free.
Thank God. I know what you mean about drivers here sometimes coming across as
hm.....macho airheads? Usually you can tell from the car. The bigger the wheels the
smaller the brain!

I ma now in BC and drive loads of miles every day round Vancouver. And must
commend BC driver as being slightly ahead of Alberta in road dexterity. I had a funny
episode in Calgary once in my 1 month from U.K. I unwittingly ended up on a slip
road leaving a motoroway with a guy in the middle lane round my left black
spot.Tried slowing down to let him pass to get into his lane.
He slowed down with me. I then accelerated only too watch him do the same. We did
the same a couple of time until I came close to a concrete barrier where I had to
choose and,......I just slowed down to a halt. But so did he! still in my blind spot as if
to prevent me from staying on the motorway. I ended up getting out of the car and
speaking my mind a bit! And you know what? I though I would find some juvenile
behind a wheel. But this was a man in his fifties, shirt an tie with his well dressed
wife beside him all looking as if nothing happened. Weird eh?

Being a Canadian and having lived in the UK for the past 6 years, I have to say that the Canadian (Calgarian at least) drivers are just plain bad. It's no wonder the car insurance is so high here, its idiotic drivers who cut in front of you on a icy highway just cause you are being considerate leaving a 3 sec gap between you and the car in front of you.

I think with the smaller, narrower and busier roads, Brits have to pay a lot more attention while driving compared to all the people in their big ass trucks and SUVs who think they are invincible. The other day when it was -40C, there were loads of accidents on the highway to work and guess what, they were all trucks and SUVs hahahha.

My take on this - bad driving, really really crap driving!



Clare

Hear, hear!