I doubt I’m the only person who finds himself spitting feathers more and more frequently while driving around Kendal.

For some reason a false courtesy is becoming fashionable, where other drivers seem to think it virtuous to disobey road markings and signs in order to appear kind or courteous. The classic example is stopping to let people out of side roads, particularly when there’s no need.

But the scenario that’s most irritating is the railway bridge on Parkside Road, where the traffic coming down the hill should give way to the vehicles going up towards Sedbergh Road.

The signs and road markings clearly state who has priority yet, despite the fact that I have already stopped at the white line to allow the oncoming drivers under the bridge, some drivers feel the need to stop and flash their headlights to let me through first. Why do they do that?

The opposite is also often the case, where other drivers totally ignore the white line and carry on down, under the bridge, as if there were no other vehicles on the road.

The road markings and signs are put there to help all drivers know how all the other drivers around them are likely to behave. Ignoring the markings and signs causes confusion, frustration and chaos.

David Smith

Kendal