People who drive 40 everywhere

Haha, oh that is fantastic!

Oh, that's nothing, this is a 60mph limit road near me, note the sign helpfully saying "Unsuitable for motor vehicles beyond this point" right before the national speed limit sign.

Absolutely agree!!!!

It astounds me as 40mph isn't even an unmanageable speed 🙄 they're not having to drift round corners, burning rubber and leaning on two wheels. It's a straight road with a few large wide bends (that can easily be taken at 60mph, that was the previous limit for the road). My 20 minute journey can take 35 minutes in the morning. I dread it!

Everyone knows that. It's obvious. Today is bright, sunny, dry and warm. Would I drive the same way today as I would on a dark, wet and icy day in January? Of course not. Most drivers have common sense and drive to the conditions.

This whole thread is about drivers who do NOT adjust their driving speed to the conditions or speed limits, but just have 35-38 mph as their default setting.

Strange, even the slowest small cars I’ve driven can manage more than 40mph up a motorway slip road if you accelerate hard through the gears.

I think it's only you and me who are able to drive properly, and I'm not even sure about you sometimes 🤣🤣🤣

There are roads round here that are NSL (because that’s the default) where driving anywhere close to 60 would be suicidal. Just because a road doesn’t have a lower speed limit doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive faster.

Are you sure you should be driving?

It's concerning that you have major reactions to driving and your solution to it is to buy a 'tank'.

If you are getting bullied on the roads so much that you feel you need a huge, heavy car, it would be wise to ask yourself why this is happening and to consciously change your driving. If this isn't possible, I'd be looking at different modes of transport.

Not only does it hold people up, but not being confident behind a wheel to begin with is a safety aspect. Add in a tank to the equation, if anything happened that required you to speed up, you could end up causing a major accident and hurting someone.

If you look in your mirrors and there is a big stream of traffic behind you and it's clear in front of you, you are holding up the flow of traffic. Pull in.

In a few US states this is 'unlawful'. In Idaho at least, if there are three cars being held up behind you, you must pull in to let them pass.

It's easier for everyone if you drive a little faster though. If there's a bend in the road, then slow down for that by all means, but otherwise step on that accelerator of yours.

If you're too nervous to drive - don't.
If you look in your mirrors and there is a big stream of traffic behind you and it's clear infront of you, you are holding up the flow of traffic. Pull in, or better yet, don't drive.

Agree with all of that. But the nervous and/or slow drivers don't do this. They huff and puff and come out with things like why is everyone in such a rush, boy racers, it's a limit not a target, THEY are the safe drivers, everyone else has the problem, it's impatient drivers who cause the accidents, nobody is so important they can't be 5 minutes later and so on.

Nobody ever just owns it and admits they're a crap driver.

I have a love/hate relationship with driving. I do genuinely love it. Apart from between the hours of 7.30am and 9.30am. I drive a relatively straight A road to get to work that is mostly 40mph with two areas that drop to 30mph. Why retired people feel the need to come out at 8am at rush hour to drive 15/20mph under the speed limit, to stand and wait outside a shop for 30 mins until it opens, I do not know. It is every morning. There are very limited over taking options as I am driving away from the city, it's busy on the other side with commuters driving into the city.

I understand that everyone is allowed to drive whenever they like, but please, please, keep up to the speed limit! It infuriates me when I have to be at work and get stuck in a big line behind a car going 20mph.

If you're too nervous to drive - don't.

If you look in your mirrors and there is a big stream of traffic behind you and it's clear infront of you, you are holding up the flow of traffic. Pull in, or better yet, don't drive.

pelotonaddiction · Yesterday 20:23

^There's a road near me that's 40mph, and fine to drive at that speed
Every single day people crawl along it at 25mph. Why??! Then it changes to 30 and they speed up.^

You're not in North Tyneside, are you? I've posted the exact same thing a few times!

@Shade17 I do. I even texted my old instructor to ask if I was doing something wrong when I first got the car. He laughed and said it's just the car, and I'd have to live with it. I change gears a lot compared to other drivers I know - you have to in a rollerskate, but it just has no oomph. It wasn't a problem in the 1.4 courtesy car.

But I know it and allow for it where I can.

I had a guy ranting and gesturing behind me on a slip road
It's uphill, I'm in a 1.2l polo with my foot to the floor in third gear
By the time I hit the motorway I was at 60mph but I genuinely can't accelerate any faster

Just how early are you changing gear? You need to be using the whole rev range

You are not safe on the road and should not be driving.

I am flabbergasted that the solution you and your DH have agreed on to your psychological issues preventing you from being a safe and confident driver is to put you at the wheel of the largest, heaviest vehicle you could find.

Some of us have cars that take a really, really long time to speed up. I have a 1.2 and there are motorway slip roads I just can't/wont take because it's literally not possible to get up above 40 in my car by the time I hit the motorway. I had no idea of the limitations of a tiny car full of heavy people!

(In the same vein, I can only overtake on motorways on the flat or downhill - seriously. So I allow for that and just don't do it!)

@Carnewb I did the same thing (passed last year in my 40s). Took the new car to a nearby business park to practice. I did the same thing a few weeks ago with a courtesy car.

I was terrified my first couple of months after my test because I'm hyper vigilant, plus I had my kids in the car. But I avoided the busy roads on days when I wasn't confident, and I made a point of pulling over to let the parade past whenever needed!

These days I don't mind a slow car with L or P plates, nor if I can see a bunch of kids in the back (because I appreciate the kids may be distracting and not all are controllable), but I fucking loathe it when people block you from overtaking them or don't pull over to let you past.

Tbh I don't think you should be driving at all if you can't go above 45.

Well, if someone rear ends a car in a situation like that, then they are at fault.

I agree it’s irritating when someone is doing 40 on a road that has a 60 speed limit (assuming it’s safe to go 60) but it will happen. For example, where I live, all new drivers are limited by law to 45 for a year after they get their licence.

It's a real issue round here too. I live on the edge of Glasgow - go to the end of my street and turn right and it's a 30 zone. Half a mile further on it turns into a 40, and at the net roundabout it's 60. On a clear day like today with good visibility and dry roads it's perfectly safe to drive 50-60 miles per hour. Yet the people who are driving at 30/40 leaving the city and heading for Loch Lomond or Aberfoyle do not adjust their driving, tootle along still doing 32 or 35 mph, totally oblivious to the people behind them.

And don't get me started about the people who slow to a crawl over the Queen's View to look at the scenery when there;s a massive fuck off car park where they are stop and look at the view as much as they like.

You sound like my DS when he had a black box fitted to his car. The stats said his speed was faster than the average traffic for the area. His response - the drivers around here drive so slowly and below the speed limit, that of course, he's driving faster!
I will add that he's been driving for 8 years now and has never had a speeding ticket.

@Popetthetreehugger

With kindness, you really shouldn’t be driving on the roads with that fear. An inability to adhere to the speed limit means others may make risky choices and if there’s a situation that requires you to drive faster (to avoid collision etc) you would be trapped by fear, putting more lives in danger.

If you stated this to your driving instructor when you sat your test, that you can’t go above 45, you would be failed.

You shouldn’t be on the road until you can drive safely and confidently. You are relying on driving larger and larger cars when you don’t have the skill set- that’s frightening

To those saying why are you in a rush, leave more time for your journey etc…. Most of us have jobs, kids, busy lives. We’re often rushing from one place to the next with little contingency forced by the situation rather than lack of organisation e.g. picking one child up from a club and rushing to a party for another, dropping off at school then driving to work.

There’s a long straight road near me heading out of town but it’s still residential with houses and pavements both sides. The amount of people who drive it at 40 without consideration for the fact a child could run out or pedestrian stumble off the pavement and then continue at 40 when the limit changes to 50. And the fact these drivers need to continue at 40 in a 50 suggests to me they would be some of the least capable to do an emergency stop should a child run out in the 30.

As an aside, I have a small city car, the type often associated with old ladies or new drivers. I frequently drive the 30 stretch at 30 with a large car up my bottom. I love speeding away from them as it hits 50 and challenging the stereotype of my car.