>>I have never been caught 'speeding' in 60 years driving -

Same here!

I learned a lot when I started with a brother's cast off scooter, a 250cc Triumph.

Even in the early 60s and comparatively empty roads you had to keep your eyes on the look out. Teaches you a lot, I can assure you.

Clean driving licence all my life, zero points - so far.

Never claimed on my insurer when the scrape, ding etc was my fault - paid that out of my pocket.

I have had the odd parking ticket, 1984 was the last one (£6).

My wife passed her test in 1969, clean licence, no claims other than against 3 or 4 against the 3rd party and has not even had a parking ticket! As she reminds me from time to time!

Consider contacting your local Institute of Advanced Motorists group to improve your skills.
Most groups will give you a free assessment of your driving standard with an observer, in your own car and highlight areas which need improvement.
Find your local group here:-
www.iamroadsmart.com/membership/local-groups

I also endorse the advanced driver assessment and tuition from a local group.

I expect the suggestion will be frowned upon from certain quarters as it's a far from cool thing to do. But speaking from personal experience (which may or may not count for much) I can say that when I undertook the courses and tests I was in my teens and I feel sure it prevented me from driving like a lunatic and having a string of crashes and collecting fines for this or that.. I'll admit I have had accidents in 55 years of driving and I'll own up to confessing some were my fault but I still say the extra instruction and assessments during that vulnerable period got me off to a better start than would otherwise have been the case.

I'll further admit that I no longer take refresher tests and am sure my driving could be criticized but I stand by the principle that if you did get assessed and received extra tuition and passed the advanced test you would have achieved something to be proud of and are likely to experience increased self confidence.

One other thing that I personally find helpful is to have a sat-nav on the windscreen at all times. My one happens to have a dashcam built in and might one day settle an argument or be useful to someone else but the digital readout of your speed is more accurate and much easier to recognize than the old style speedo that I would otherwise rely on - plus it turns red when you exceed the limit and it gives you warning of speed cameras etc etc..

>>I have never been caught 'speeding' in 60 years driving -

The word is caught. You have just been extremely lucky or where you live might be a factor. A lady in the Welsh town where I live has been fined for doing 24 in a 20 speed camera. It is all about revenue when you drive today so relax and take it on the chin.

No, I disagree that I have been 'extremely' lucky, perhaps just a bit lucky. I try to stay aware of the speed zone I am in (that gets harder all the time) and drive within the +10% margin I believe the law and my speedo allow me. Occasionally I have realised after a few seconds that the limit has dropped, and slow down accordingly. And the times when I have exceeded the M'way limit must be in single figures - partly because I avoid them whenever a decent alternative is available.

The Welsh lady you refer to was probably driving with a speedo indication of 26-27 when she was caught, so she should have known. And 'all about revenue' is a little bit snide. It is certainly true in some places (Wales especially), but if the cameras help to persuade drivers to slow down where they need to, so much the better.

I passed my test at 17 in 1977. Got to be OK locally in the Leeds area where we lived and round and about mostly in my Mum's Mini.

By the time I could afford a car of my own I was 22 and living with friends in a shared house in Golders Green while working in central London. Even then, 41 years ago, I found driving in London pretty daunting. And that was long before multiple cameras, bus lanes and Low Emission Zones.

Two thoughts.

Firstly, I found, without going down the whole course>test route, that reading the (then) IAM guides to both ordinary and motorway driving was a massive education. You need to be looking well ahead and all around. Somebody quite recently wrote about how fighter pilots look all around; that was an education.

Secondly, at traffic lights Amber means STOP. If the light is Green then there's only one aspect that comes next...

Difference from Red is that there are defences for passing the stop line on Amber. Passing on Red is an absolute offence. From a purely practical point of view around avoiding accidents the overlap time where all lights are Red can be between nil and nanoseconds. Junction locally where traffic off the M1 and A43 meets the ring road has zero overlap; collisions between 'Amber Gamblers' is a serious risk...

Red lights you just get used to. I think they're on amber for four seconds. It's called the 'dilemma time' and is, apparently, just the right amount of time for you to be able to accurately decide whether to stop or go.

And don't forget to avoid staying alongside trucks too long, when overtaking on dual carriages and motorways try and get completely past the things, if you can't because of traffic stay back until you can get fully past then do so smartly.

Some misguided people do try and tangle with trucks, but as any copper will tell you when a truck and car/van collide there's only one winner.

I remember hearing about a friend (I didn't witness it) chewing through his pipe stem while driving in Europe ....

What happened to the bowl? Did it drop in his lap and give him more than the traffic to worry about?