Mumsnet Talk

Ok this is a ranty one.

I drive a fiat - like the inbetweeners car. It has an 899cc engine.

When I'm driving along at 60mph - as I did this morning - I always seem t get some utter twat driving up my bum as close as they can as if they assume I'm not driving fast enough in my little car. And several times this week I've had people approach a roundabout behind me, then use the lane to the right tovertake and pull in front of me when going straight ahead!!!! Totally fucked off with it now...!

When I drive my mums larger car I never have this even when driving the same speeds etc.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!

I wish people wouldn't assume my car can't keep up with the speed limits just ebecause its small! More often than not I end up stuck behind the car that overtook me!

I have the same problem when i drive dh's micra, it drives me nuts, people assume 'if you drive a small car, you are a slow driver and they must over take'. I don't have the same problem in our larger car even though the large car is slow.

I drive a micra and don't really get this problem but I suppose a smaller car is easier to overtake than a bigger one? I wouldn't take it personally.

Thanks... Yep that's it. I am 38 wks pregnant and pmt-ish so I am probably more annoyed than normal...! But it is bloody dangerous apart from anything else... You can't judge the speed a car is doing by thinking it has a small engine....had quite a few near misses by people doing it to me and struggling to fit back into the traffic. And what knobhead overtakes on a roundabout???? A busy one at that too!!

Is your speedo bang on accurate though?

In DD's old car her speedo was out by 10% so when it showed she was doing 60mph she was in fact, closer to 55mph so people over took her.

I second the possibility that your speedo is a bit overoptimistic. If you get it checked and it is, how guilty will you feel at all the law abiding citizens who you swore at over the years?

yanbu
i have the opposite problem, drive a massive WAV so people always want to be in front, and will daftly overtake.

Haha I will get the speedo checked and then I may eat my words.... But car has just been MOT'd so don't they do that then??

Maybe I am just an old grump. Its just so annoying esp the roundabout thing... I've also had people cut across me in roundabouts when it should be my turn to go because they assume I can't pull out fast enough (when my car has more bite than my mums larger one !)

I drive a small car (yaris) which has a 'baby on board' sign in the back window.
Yesterday I picked my mate up from the station and drove home. We had to come across two mini-roundabouts. At the first, a motorbike pulled in behind me, a little closer than I would have liked, but as I was driving at the speed limit (30) there was nothing I could do. At the second mini-roundabout I turned left onto my road. The bike used the roundabout to 'slingshot' himself around and past me.
The speed limit on the road we pulled onto? 30.
Twat.

That's a good point, I've had similar speedo issues in old cars in the past. Also with roundabouts etc older or less powerful cars take so long to get up to speed that it can be annoying and even fatiguing for drivers behind.

My general rule of thumb is that if someone has caught me up then they must be going faster than me overall even if not on the straights, and I try to let them past and the next safe opportunity

With having an 899cc engine, it may be that you can do the speed limit, but it doesn't mean you can get to said speed limit quickly. I have a 1.2 and have loads of bigger engines taking over me whilst I am trying to get up to the limit. Maybe the bloke at the roundabout thought ahead for after the roundabout, so, although stupidly, over took so he could zoom off in his bigger car once he had the chance. Nothing to do really with how fast it can go, more to do with how quick it can get to that speed.

Loads of drivers these days are rather impatient buggers.

I would think you are being overtaken because you lack horsepower which can be pita after you slow down and then take a while to reach 60 again. It's not your current speed but the lack of power available at the next junction/hill/roundabout.

So basically it's everyone else that has the problem, not you? I think maybe you're not going as fast as you think if it's happening often

Well certain makes and sizes of car do say 'cautious older driver' to me, but it's also the way they're driven and whether or not I'm in a hurry to get where I'm going. I guess I'm one of those drivers who might overtake you!

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman Sun 03-Jun-12 09:59:37
Is your speedo bang on accurate though?

You've obviously never driven a small car. I very much doubt there is anything wrong the speedo. I'm certain there is either something wrong with the size of the driver behind's penis or they suffer from a lack of regard for why speed limits are there in the first place. Nothing to do with being in a 60 zone where you lack horsepower, as it happens in 20 and 30 zones too, and everything to do with people driving like selfish dickheads with an acute lack of patience.

You can drive a brand new car, with decent horsepower and still have the same problem. It never failed to amaze me, how indignant some people in big cars get when you have the 'audacity' to dare to overtake then on the motorway.

There is definitely a small car/big car mentality that has nothing to do with the ability of the car.

It doesn't happen all the time. Just sometimes. But it annoys me when it does as I'm actually a very nippy driver - even on roundabouts I can get round them faster than most people and am soon up to speed again (usually stuck behind the person that overtook me). So I know its not that I'm some meandering driving miss daisy type.

I really don't think anyone should be overtaking anyone on a roundabout. The point of the second lane / right hand lane is to turn right is it not??
Not to whip round in front of the other person in the left hand lane. People don't signal enough as it is, so why risk causing an accident? I should have to watch out for people cutting in from my right because they can't wait 2 minutes.

*shouldnt not should...

Some people like to drive above the speed limit. They will overtake you to do this. Don't take it personally.

I used to drive a small car with a small engine. I never noticed what you are saying. I now drive a pretty powerful car. The size of the car in front has nothing to do with whether or not I want to overtake it. It's all about whether it is moving more slowly than I would like to.

This happens to me too. I have my first ever small car, after years of driving big 'uns and I get overtaken alot . It is nearly always middle aged men and, as we are rural, often it is in the most dangerous places (on bends, near traffic islands...). I am not a slow driver so it isn't that I am in their way or slowing the flow of traffic. They are just cunts .

It never happens when I am driving my DH's big powerful car at the same speeds .

"I really don't think anyone should be overtaking anyone on a roundabout. The point of the second lane / right hand lane is to turn right is it not??"

It depends on the roundabout. Going straight on from the right hand lane is fairly common

Yes I used to have an old-style mini and people frequently overtook on motorways for no reason, or because I'd overtaken them, then I'd get stuck behind them, or have to overtake again. Since what I did lack was acceleration, so overtaking took more space for me than for others, this did inhibit my progress in a really unnecessarily irritating way.

Mostly twattish pride and racing mentality on the part of other drivers.

Speedos are deliberately set fast so you don't break the speed limit inadvertantly and sue the manufacturer.

eurochink, you're right that some people just like to drive fast but, just because you're reasonable doesn't mean some other drivers are not twats. Unfortunately some do exhibit symptoms of absurd car-based pride and I think they are particularly offended by twee, old or very small-looking cars.

"I would think you are being overtaken because you lack horsepower which can be pita after you slow down and then take a while to reach 60 again. It's not your current speed but the lack of power available at the next junction/hill/roundabout."

This ^. Plus that a car with a slow 0-60 will struggle to pull itself out of danger - this can sometimes be a factor in others' decision to overtake as they'd rather be in front of you if there was an accident than behind you.

NB - most speedos will most likely be out by about 5mph, so if it says 70 you'll be doing 65.

I agree with eurochick

Some people like to drive above the speed limit. They will overtake you to do this. Don't take it personally.