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AIBU?

Slow Motorway Driving

166 replies

allmycats · 22/04/2014 14:23

AIBU to think that if you are driving on the motorway and you are passed by me towing our caravan - bearing in mind that whilst towing said caravan I am restricted to 60mph then you are going too slow. I am getting truly cross with the number of people driving in the slow lane at speeds of circa 50mph - whilst I appreciate that speed limits are not target speeds you need to drive in a manner that is safe and going too slow is just as bad as going too fast. me and my caravan do not like being in the middle lane, causing inconvenience for those behind me when you are simply driving like a tosser in the inside lane at 45-50mph - Rant Over !!

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 22/04/2014 14:29

You'd have loved the lady in the blue Yaris doing 25 mph (I kid you not)

The traffic was tailing back, until they overtook, then once I got past the car in question......she was casually pedalling along Shock honestly she'd have been quicker walking.
(I did wonder if her car was on the blink but she made no attempt to get off the motorway)

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Thomyorke · 22/04/2014 14:31

That if you can get in the middle lane, once I am down to below 40 my little car has not got the power to get into the middle lane with enough pull off power to be safe so I am sat behind them also looking like a tosser or a tosser making a car in the middle lane brake. Luckily do not use motorway often hence little car or I use DPs.

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Sunshineonsea · 22/04/2014 14:33

Oh this drives me insane! Along with people who stay in the middle lane when there is space for them to move in to inside lane, more often than not you see a dozen or so cars in the outside lane trying
To get past said car and there's usually some idiot who can't wait an is up everyone's arses

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SomethingAboutNothing · 22/04/2014 14:36

YANBU driving that slowly is more dangerous than speeding at 80mph in my opinion.

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Sunshineonsea · 22/04/2014 14:36

Also can you tell I hate motorway drivers when you are in inside lane and are approaching a slower vehicle, you look to pull out and person in middle lane just stays there instead of moving to outside lane so that I can safely move past slow moving vehicle
I've got the rage now!

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yoshipoppet · 22/04/2014 14:36

Speeds of about 50 mph - some vehicles cannot go much faster than that. Some have limiters on them to prevent them going faster.

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craftynclothy · 22/04/2014 14:36

Yanbu. This bank holiday I have got so fed up of stupid drivers. There was the stupid man doing 50mph in the middle lane of the motorway Shock and the man who decided to join a 60mph road by going down the slip road at 25mph and never getting above 50mph once on the road. Not to mention the bloke who pulled in front of me without indicating, the guy who swung his van into a 40mph road while trying to re park and the person who drove so slowly between 2 roundabouts on dual carriageway that I didn't get above 3rd gear.

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Sunshineonsea · 22/04/2014 14:37

Oh and YA definitely NBU

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LadyVetinari · 22/04/2014 14:37

I've always thought of 55/56 as the minimum appropriate speed for the left-hand lane in normal conditions, and it never bothers me when people drive at around that speed. Lorries are limited to 56, and inexperienced or under-confident motorway drivers may well be safer "convoying" with them than trying to overtake, at least until their skills are stronger.

Do you think that's still too slow?

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PansBigChainring · 22/04/2014 14:38

I drive about 50mph on inside lane, usually. If you want to overtake me, the Highways Agency have provided such a lane for you.

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BitOutOfPractice · 22/04/2014 14:38

YANBU I feel ragey just thinking about it

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allmycats · 22/04/2014 14:39

Yes Yoshipoppet I know that some vehicles have restricters on them, usually great huge lorries restricted to 56mph - I am talking about ordinary cars.

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MelonadeAgain · 22/04/2014 14:43

YANBU. I drive a horsebox electronically limited to 56mph. Its noticeable that when driving it on a Sunday I have to overtake quite a few really slow moving cars. Going noticeably slower than 56mph. I would estimate 45-50mph. On the motorway. When I glance across at them, the driver is invariably texting, or elderly and confused looking, or elderly and gossiping animatedly with front seat passenger.

I honestly would rather not overtake at all. Especially if its windy. And it also holds up other vehicles. But when a car is going so slowly, I'm not going to sit and follow it while it drifts about randomly between 45 and 55mph.

Worse still are the ones who wake up when they realise they are being overtaken by a horsebox and then speed up so as to undertake you, before you complete your overtaking manoeuvure.

There has to be more recognition that motorways are for fast driving and you need to be aware that other drivers will be going fast. I had to sit a test to drive my horsebox, why not make everyone driving on a motorway sit a test before doing so, so we don't have to put up with this idiocy?

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MrsCakesPremonition · 22/04/2014 14:44

I don't mind people driving a bit slower than the limit, very slow can be scary as I can't help wondering what other exceptional behaviour they might have.

But my absolute pet hate is a lorry who is travelling at 56mph deciding that he must overtake the lorry travelling at 55.5mph - causing them both to block two lanes for mile after mile while the marginally faster lorry slowly crawls past the slower lorry. Worthy of a ban IMO.

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RCheshire · 22/04/2014 14:45

I failed my first driving test attempt for doing 38mph in a 50.

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Wabbitty · 22/04/2014 14:46

Lorries above 7.5 tonnes are limited to 60.
50 is a ridiculous speed for cars to be doing on a motorway.

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PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 22/04/2014 14:46

I've been wondering where to vent my motorway rage so I may as well do it here.

Over the weekend we had someone try to undertake us instead of just moving to the outside lane to get around us. The reason we were in the middle lane was because we were passing lorries so there really wasn't room to undertake. Lo and behold they ran out of room so they just moved out into the middle lane which forced us to slow down or be run off the road.

Then on the way home, on a motorway with only two lanes and again we were passing lorries. When we managed to move over again the twat who had been tailgating us immediately also moved over and braked, causing us to brake sharply too. Luckily dh anticipated what he would do and managed to break early.

But still, why do people feel it's ok to literally try and cause a crash and intimidate people? My 3 year old was in the car both times. Why would they want to do that to someone? We weren't doing 50 and holding everyone up, we were doing the speed limit. It just clearly wasn't fast enough for some who decided attempting to kill us is the better option.

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Nowitscleanugobshite · 22/04/2014 14:47

My daughter has no choice! We live in NI and for the first year after passing the driving test an R (restricted) plate must be displayed. Maximum speed is 45mph. She needs to drive on a very busy motorway (at one point its actually 2 motorways running side by side) to get to/from uni and it's a scary thought!!

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MelonadeAgain · 22/04/2014 14:50

Pourquoi were you moving back into the left hand lane after overtaking the lorries, or staying in the middle lane because there was another lorry somewhere in the distance? If it keeps happening to you, its possible that your observation and lane awareness are at fault.

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PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 22/04/2014 14:55

We were moving back when there was room to move back without immediately having to go from 70 to 50 only to have to move back out again within seconds.

I still don't understand how that is an excuse for someone to attempt to cause us to crash.

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angelos02 · 22/04/2014 14:56

melonadeagain I was thinking that. If Pourqui was overtaking a lorry immediately to her left, it wouldn't be possible for a car to undertake.

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PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 22/04/2014 14:57

It wasn't possible for him to undertake, that's why he pulled out to force us to move over and slow down or he would have hit the side of our car.

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wowfudge · 22/04/2014 14:58

I know - it's annoying isn't it? My bugbear is the dozy sod in the middle lane, when there is no one in lane one, apart from me and I'm driving faster than Middle Lane Charlie. So I indicate to change lanes, moving behind MLC then I indicate to pull into the inside lane and, as I am overtaking, MLC suddenly discovers the accelerator. But still doesn't move into lane 1. My observation is that 9 times out of 10 it seems MLCs are male drivers who don't want to be overtaken by a woman.

I've often thought that the gantry signs on motorways should have some sort of message about lane discipline/moving over if you are not overtaking. When they are not being used to tell you about an incident up ahead, etc. of course.

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SuddenlySqueamish · 22/04/2014 14:58

I don't drive often, but when I do, I opt for economy not speed. Studies have shown that going a slower, steady speed is much better for fuel economy, emissions, and also for reducing congestion. If everybody went slower, there wouldn't be so much of the bunching up that causes traffic jams.

Completely agree with Pans - you've been kindly provided with two over-taking lanes if you wish to go faster than the person in front.

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PansBigChainring · 22/04/2014 15:00

Same reasons as me Suddenly - I can happily drive at 70, and sometimes a bit more...but usually not so. 50'ish is fine for all your good reasons.

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