I spent a week driving around central Florida recently and a thoroughly relaxing experience it was too. There were no hurricanes and not once did I have to sound the horn, angrily shake my fist or brake suddenly.

Within half an hour of leaving Gatwick Airport on my return home, I lost my temper twice heading south on the M23 towards Brighton because of kamikaze tailgaters invading my personal space. Yes, I knew I was back in Britain.

I may well have been calmer in the Sunshine State because I was on vacation and it's always a pleasure to drive on the wide open highways, interstates and turnpikes rather than being driven to distraction on the clogged roads around here. But there has to be more to it that that.

I leave for work at 6am each day, which is a blessed relief. But the rest of the time I suffer with everyone else.

Our suburbs are facing a bleak future blighted by rising traffic levels. Elsewhere in today's paper you may have read comments from the boss of Yellow Buses about the problems caused by the constant programme of roadworks.

The queues are getting longer and they're spread across a greater length of time. We're choking ourselves to death and meanwhile our driving is getting worse and less considerate - although I don't include myself in that sweeping statement.

Let me offer a couple of examples. I always do other motorists the courtesy of letting them emerge from side roads - sometimes I can go the entire length of Barrack or Castle Lane doing this at every single junction, normally without interrupting the flow of traffic. But what is it with so many other people? Why do I have to wait, more often than not for 20-25 cars to pass by without anyone extending the same courtesy? Do they know me or something? Trying to get on Castle Lane is one of the most frustrating experiences.

And what is it with motorists who object to you filtering in from the right-hand lane (as the road markings clearly indicate you can) just past the railway bridge on Barrack Road in the direction of Iford? Why do these people speed up from behind and try to force you onto the opposite carriageway?

One lorry (operated by a local firm whose transport manager later apologised) even mounted the pavement in his determination to squeeze me out. Then a few days later a female motorist came roaring up on the inside pushing me towards the bollards. I challenged her later and she aggressively responded she knew what she was doing because she was a bus driver by profession.

Then there are the kamikaze motorcylists who drive at speed right behind you and weave in and out, the motorists who block side roads while they are queueing and those who simply ignore the yellow hatched boxes designed to keep gaps in the traffic so it can flow.

We're all going to have to learn to be a bit more tolerant and considerate because the conditions ain't gonna get any better, even when the roadworks are over.

So if you fit into any of the above categories please sort it out.

Or leave the roads to those of us who know what we're doing.