DRIVING into town early on Saturday morning to drop my wife off at the station, we had to steer around the debris from an accident which looked as though someone had emerged from a petrol station exit and been smacked by a car on the main road.

Going back in the evening to pick the missus up, I was driving across Dentons Green when I was forced to slam on for dear life when a car came over the junction from Kiln Lane direction and instead of stopping at the halt lines, cut right in front of me.

The woman in the passenger seat knew just how close she was to a serious injury as she threw her hands up in horror.

Five minutes later, having recovered from this episode, I got cut up at the island at the top of Robins Lane by White Van man who glowered at me as if to say 'what are you going to do about it mate?'

And to cap it all as I was heading back to Windle Island, a pensioner emerged from Bleak Hill Road (again without the right of way) and drove right into my path.

That was three potentially serious accidents all within the space of 15 minutes on a quiet Saturday evening.

Luckily for me on all these occasions I was observing the speed limit. If I had not been, the outcome would certainly have been different in all three near-misses

Am I the only driver to notice that while standards of driving have been slipping for years, they are now at an all-time low?

Bemused (name and address supplied)