While in conversation recently with an experienced lady driver I was surprised when she told me that she never drives on motorways, and not just because she happens to live in a county which doesn't have any. She was telling me that, even when she drives long distances, she will drive miles out of the way on A roads to avoid having to venture onto the motorway.
If it was for purely aesthetic reasons or to enjoy a flowing drive through some open roads, I could understand anyone choosing a good A road over a motorway when time wasn't the decisive factor on the journey. To make it a general policy to not use motorways seems, though, to be a step too far.
Probing further, I was told, "It's the speed, you get cars flying past on this side and cars flying past on the other side and you have to drive faster than you want to in order to keep up."
Mmm, now we appear to be getting somewhere. Clearly, here is an example of a combination of a lack of confidence and, I think, a lack of understanding of how best to use the road and to deal with the other motorists on it. Some time spent developing my friend's driving ability would lead directly to a growth in confidence and, since the relationship between ability and confidence tends to be circular, we'd have her journeys reduced in time and distance in no time.
Of course, if she wanted to stop for a nice meal en route maybe she'd want to slip back onto the A roads...
