To think driving 20 miles under the speed limit is really dangerous?

[Subtext]

There's a long stretch of B road near my parents' place where the speed limit is 60 mph.

I can't tell you how many times I've been stuck behind someone pootling along at 40mph. It happened again today and this time the person I was stuck behind was indicating right for the whole length of the two mile stretch. Ie shit driver.

It's so annoying. And apart from anything else it's really dangerous to drive too slowly. Really boils my piss.

AIBU to think if the speed limit is 60 you should more or less attempt to drive at 60?

[thedancingbear]

yabu. why is it dangerous? who does it endanger? why should an older person, or someone who has just passed their test, drive faster than they feel comfortable with, just so that you arrive five minutes earlier?

If you're stuck behind someone doing 40 in a 60 zone for two miles, you have lost (by my sums) 40 seconds. So what?

[bigdog888]

Yep if conditions allow you should be aiming for 60 and would likely fail a driving test if you sat at 40. Unfortunately there's a big rise in the 40 everywhere brigade who sit at 40 through 60 limits and then continue into 30 limits. I can only assume that these are the kind of people who have no interest in driving whatsoever and would rather be concentrating on anything but. These are the sort of people who kill by failing to concentrate properly on the job in hand.

[Nomama]

Not really. I live in B road country and most of them are not safe for 60. Those that are often have 40mph ers. Doesn't bother me, it doesn't really add any time to my journey, and who really needs the extra 60 seconds you might have gained?

Then again some bits are. The indicator light would have irritated me though!

The ones that are utterly beyond comprehension are the ones who drive at 40mph down the 2 - 3 miles of dual carriageway in the lefthand lane cos they are turning right at the end... now they really should be hung, drawn and quartered.

[VacantExpression]

What bigdog said. I was taught to drive as near to the speed limit as is safe? I too drive in B road country a lot and the 40mph brigade give me the rage.

[bigdog888]

Well dancingbear if you're incapable of driving close to 60 where the conditions are appropriate then you probably shouldn't have a licence. Your sums are incorrect BTW the difference is 60 seconds.

[hiddenhome]

I agree. It's really poor driving and leads to frustration for other drivers which can lead to them taking risks by overtaking.

If they can't keep up, they shouldn't be driving.

[TurtleyAmazing]

I failed my first driving test for doing 40 on a 60 road. I had never known anybody to fail for driving too slowly before.

[flowery]

YANBU. If this was perfectly safe and acceptable it wouldn't be a failing offence in a driving test.

[Xcountry]

Yes its dangerous. people should drive at the bloody speed limit on all roads and if they are not capable then go drive somewhere else.

[Shakirasma]

YANBU. I still remember my driving instructor teaching me that driving too slowly is dangerous as you cause other road users to become frustrated which, as per human nature, can cause them to make rash decisions.

That was about 20 years ago.

[passmethewineplease]

YANBU providing the conditions are good.

I'm currently learning and I drive the limit, less if it's raining heavily or visibility is poor obviously.

I think some people consider 40 as a safe universal speed!

What I don't get is why people overtake me when I'm going bang on the limit, police are never there to fine the fuckers either.

[RoseberryTopping]

Yanbu, they should at least be attempting 50 if they feel uncomfortable.
I was also taught that it's dangerous to drive slowly.

[PixieofCatan]

Ya massively unreasonable. The limiting on most country roads is 60 as standard, not because it's been deemed safe to drive at 60. You drive at a speed that is safe and appropriate to road conditions. Unless I was there I, nor could anybody else here, be able to agree or disagree with you.

[Wabbitty]

YANBU. I see it all the time on roads around where I live. Add to that mix those drivers who brake because they are going around a corner (or even worse when the road just curves a little) or because they are going down a hill (and then struggle to go up the other side cos they have lost all momentum) or brake because there is a car coming in the opposite direction......

[hiddenhome]

Me and dh call it Zombie Driving when we see this behaviour.

If we do manage to overtake, the zombie driver is invariably either a middle aged bloke or an elderly person. They clutch the steering wheel with a grip that could crush rock and stare straight ahead with a vacant, doomed expression

I hope I never become like this.

[GreenCurlyTeeth]

On Monday I was behind someone doing 40 on the slip road who then slowed right down to 20 before getting on the motorway

(Sorry, slightly off subject but I can't stop thinking about it)!

[OldLadyKnowsSomething]

I'm in B road country, and wouldn't drive at 60 for most of it. My local roads are narrow, bounded by high hedges, they twist and bend, are full of potholes and there's the ever-present risk of stray animals; horses, cattle, sheep. I happily pull over if I'm holding someone up, but I'm not risking my life/suspension for the sake of some boyracer, who'll probably end up in a field, car on it's roof, two miles down the road.

[squatcher]

YANBU - I live in B-road country too and it leads to queues of traffic behind said 40mph-ers and other drivers taking stupid risks to overtake.

I think also, just as worryingly, it is a symptom of a dangerous mindset in that the 40mph-er will be doing that speed and driving how he/she wishes whatever the conditions, whatever the road, and whatever is going on around them. Very often I find they stick to 40mph even when they hit a 30mph zone. Scary.

[prettybird]

The indicator would have irritated me, but I would reigned in my rage. The speed limit is just that: a limit not a target.

For all you know, there may have been a problem with the car, which they were nursing home.

There is a different sign in the Highway Code for when there is a minimum speed. You might want to refresh yourself as to the difference between the signs.

BTW: I am not a pootler and do usually drive at the speed limit (and have in the past been done for speeding, including once at 100.3mph but I'm very good now ) - but I recognise that any irritation that I might feel at encountering slow drivers especially when I am late for my Pilates class and it's a windy country road is my problem, not theirs.

[Subtext]

This particular bit of road has long sweeping bends so you can never see far enough ahead to overtake, but you can drive at speed.

I always thought it was dangerous because if someone's driving at the speed limit and they come up behind you doing 20mph faster than you, then depending on the conditions and visibility, they could slam right up the back of you. Or at least have to brake dangerously themselves.

You can imagine it on a motorway; someone driving at 50 the whole way. Really stupid.

[mollypup]

YADNBU - This isn't the two mile stretch in Wigan by any chance is it?! If so I have many time been stuck behind some twerp doing 30 down there!

thedancingbear you clearly aren't a very good driver if you can only consider doing 40 on a road that has been categorised as safe for driving at 60!

This along with my other pet peeveS of people who indicate whilst passing every bloody car to no benefit of anyone else and people who park a foot away from the curb thus creating a massive obstruction are the bane's of my life! LEARN TO DRIVE PROPERLY, THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE BEING A NUISANCE TO EVERYONE SODDING ELSE!

[wobblyweebles]

You would be pulled over here (US) for driving at 20mph below the limit.

[magpiegin]

YANBU when conditions and road allow people shouldn't be going 20mph under the limit. What really pisses me off are people who drive 40mph whatever the limit, 30, 50 or 60 they go 40!!!

[CinnabarRed]

The B road on which I live used to be national speed limit, but it truly wasn't safe to drive the vast majority of it at 60 mph. The speed limit on it has just been reduced to 40 mph, and that feels right to me.

[wightjellybaby]

Where I used to live we had a lot of tourists theyd regularly drive down roads that were 60 limit at crazy slow speeds of around 20/30 its dangerous we often went round a corner to find an almost stionary car on the road once or twice they were going that slow on a relatively straight bit of road and need to slam on the brakes to avoid the car.

One time thus happened and we were in a queue of traffic aand a police car joined the queue behind us I couldnt believe they just followed us for 45mins (there was about 6cars in front of us) and did nothing aboit the lead car doing 25 in a 60 I fail my driving test if I spent the whole time doing that in a 30 never mind the 60 limit on this occasion

If you dont feel safe driving in the region of the limit maybe you should reconcider driving at all