To wonder why we bother having speed limits?

[Haggyoldclothbatspus]

OK. Ive done a lot of driving recently for work. This week for instance, 637 miles in 5 days.
Most of that has been on A road dual carriage ways. Now, the speed limits for dual carriage ways is: 70 for cars. 60 for vehicles that are towing, buses and vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, and 50 for vehicles over 7.5 tonnes.
In one morning, I saw a transit van towing at 85, a horse trailer being towed at 75, several huge artics doing more than 70, (one which carried labels saying "limited to 50" lorries playing chicken at 70, and was sworn at for overtaking, In the overtaking lane because I wasnt doing 90, and was in the way of a Jaguar in a hurry! Now im not a jobsworth, really Im not, and I do go faster than 70, but its the total disregard for the rules and safety and the contempt for other drivers that upsets me.

[Pendeen]

I bet they all slow down for speed cameras thought!

I freely admit I am no angel when it comes to speeding but I do think that towing a horse box at 75 is dangerous in the extreme.

Two half-tonne horses plus a tonne of horsebox is a potential huge pendulum to be swaying around.

[lassylass]

Are you one of those drivers who accelerates up to 71mph to overtake a middle-lane hogger doing 70, then kills the outside lane for everyone else as you creep past 'within the law'?

If so YABU. You put overtake in italics, so effing well overtake.

Otherwise YANBU. There isnt much consideration shown on the roads nowadays. Perhaps you arent driving angry enough?

[Haggyoldclothbatspus]

No. Im not. I admit, I do exceed the limit on motorways and dual carriageways sometimes.quite often.
I dont drive angry, but I try to drive safe. Its not the cars so much that bother me, though I do get really hacked off at having a BMW up my arse flashing me, when Im doing 80! But, as I said myself, it is the overtaking lane, so I move over.
Its the other vehicles that get me. Like I said, the artics, and the people towing. These vehicles are huge. Their stopping distances are immense, towing vehicles can be quite unstable.
Out of interest, we staged an experiment a couple of years back. Went to Scotland, one car driving normally, the other staying below 56MPH/2000RPM for optimum fuel efficiency. Guess who got there first?

[Red2011]

I hear ya! I have only just passed my driving test and it infuriates me how people flout the legal limits. I have a short drive to college and back 3 days a week, which includes residential areas, speed restricted areas and A-roads.
You can guarantee that on at least 5 of my 6 journeys that I will have someone doing what I call a 'boot audit' as I drive within the speed limit that they are so keen to exceed.
The reason I am so pernickerty (spelling?) about this is that I have a very young daughter and therefore am paranoid if I am making any journeys with her in the car, and secondly that an aquaintance's partner was killed on the road outside our house a few years ago.

I do my best not to irritate other drivers who do wish to go past me, where the road permits I keep well to the left so that they can overtake, and I do my utmost to keep to the slow lane as far as reasonably possible (my journey on the A-road is basically between 2 exits so unless there is a high volume of slow-moving traffic it honestly isn't worth moving over).

[AKMD]

YANBU. I got forced off the road at 3am once because I was doing 30mph in a residential area. I'm one of those goody-two-shoes who keeps the speed limit and is smug when they catch up with the BMW who nearly had a head-on collision overtaking on a two-lane road at the traffic lights.

[Andrewofgg]

I've been speeded past by a hearse with a passenger IYKWIM. I don't suppose the passenger complained . . .

But I have also seen the hoot-their-way-past artist down the road stopped by the rozzers and PMSL.

[MrSpoc]

Sorry Op but YABY. You cannot say you speed. then deny everyone else.

I agree it is dangerous for evryone to speed but dont worry about what everyone else is doing and concentrate on what you are doing.

Also both the middle and outside lanes are meant just for over taking. Legally everyone should be in the inside lane unless overtaking. (obvisouly this is very hard to do in heavy traffic).

[MrBloomsNursery]

Well the othe night, it was about 12am, DH and I were coming back from a friend's party and DH was driving within the speed limit on a long residential road...a guy comes up behind and starts flashing lights and then puts his beam on full!! DH carries on driving at the limit. Man follows us with beams on upto the end of the road and then overtakes us on the main road and starts crawling his car at 10mph, so we're stuck behind him. I couldn't believe it. It was like road rage at 12am...made no sense. DH just kept well back, and I was really really scared. I felt like he was going to stop his car and start smashing our windows for going at the speed limit.

Some people are just arseholes on the road, but I still believe some speed limits on roads are pointless. In our city, we have a main road leading to the city centre that is 20mph! And there's bus lanes and everything - 20mph!! Ridiculous.

[Andrewofgg]

And then there's the road near me which has a 40 limit, could safely be 50 but not 91 which is the speed at which a car was clocked at two a.m. by the boys in blue who eventually brought it to a halt when the boy racer got out . . . cunningly disguised as a lady of 83.

"I'm so sorry, officer, was I going a little too fast?".

Banned for fourteen days and then until she passes a driving test. And her daughter, present in court, said "No way - she's giving up her car".

[TurkeyBurgerThing]

Motorbikes are the worst. I FUCKING HATE motorbikes. I live near a busy main road and I constantly see them speeding along sometimes doing almost twice what the other cars are doing.

[AKMD]

Yes Turkey but when a rider does eventually get knocked off I can guarantee you that that road will be creaking under the avalanche of 'Think Bike' signs that get put up.

My best friend's BIL was killed on his motorbike while speeding and not wearing a helmet. He rode straight under a lorry and the lorry driver saw the whole thing. I know who I felt more sympathy for.

[Sirzy]

As most Hgvs are limited so they can't physically go over 56mph so I find it hard to believe you saw several doing over 70!

If you admit to speeding yourself then how can you get on your high horse about others doing it?

[BeyondLimitsOfTheLivingDead]

What bothers me the most...

"stupid speed cameras caught me again"

umm, and how did they do that of you weren't speeding...? [hhmm]

[loveglove]

recently I was driving along doing 30 in a 30 zone, and had a guy behind me flash, honk and swerve around (like you get on the MW). He had a small child as a front seat passenger too.

You're prob thinking - "he must have been hurrying for a reason, to the hospital perchance!"

Nope, screeched left into a residential housing estate at a roundabout honking at me some more. I came back around the roundabout and went into the estate to have words. Nowhere to be seen. I concluded they had an underground batcave.

[CherylWillBounceBack]

@TurkeyBurgerThing

Don't tar all us motorcyclists with the same brush. I NEVER speed in towns or villages and frequently have some idiotic car driver right up my chuff trying to goad me into breaking the 30 or 40 limit. A lot of us are extremely responsible and in fact far, far more conscientious than those in cars. Motorbiking also makes you a much better car driver as observation is so important.

[BoozeDilemma]

Since I wrote off my car (not speeding!), I have been really careful about fuel economy and safer driving. And have found that my motorway journeys take almost exactly the same amount of time as they used to, even though I rarely go above 65mph now. In fact, I quite often sit in the left lane with the cruise control on 62mph and let everything pass me, it's so relaxing! And I am so much more aware of things ahead and can react a lot better and a lot faster than when I was doing 75 and constantly battling with the speeders in the right hand lane.

If you have cruise control, try using it! It's great for maintaining a legal speed and gives your right foot a rest