To wonder how so many people are comfortable breaking the speed limit?

This thread is amazing. All these posters who throw a shit fit if the in-laws offer their little darling a chocolate biscuit seem to have no issue with regularly breaking the law. 🤣 Absolutely precious.

Speed limits are not a “guide” or “common law” - they are statutory.

Yes, they could do with being overhauled as regards motorway driving especially with improved safety features in modern vehicles. Sadly though the drivers haven’t improved in line with the vehicle safety, especially if they are distracted by tech.

When driving bigger fancier cars people often don’t realise how fast they are actually travelling, this applies in 20, 30 & 40 zones where pedestrians are (they can be distracted by tech too!).

Wonder what these posters would say if it was their kid flattened by an SUV going just a little above the “common law” speed “guide”?

She asked why people are comfortable exceeding the speed limit. The answer is that the limits aren't enforced on main roads andmotorways until you exceed them by quite a margin. I don't know who to atribute the quote to, but someone once said that rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. While horribly sexist, the intent resonates with many.

The law says one thing, the police interpret it another, and most / many align to the police's guidlines. The OP is completely at liberty to drive slower, but unless particularly blinkered can't be surprised that she's getting in peoples way. No one likes a self appointed 'speed monitor' limiting their speed, particularly when the real police aren't bothered.

I think they are perhaps too arrogant to think the law applies to them or that they could hurt themselves or others. Until it happens and then it's too late.

Ok, think about this: you are on a footpath with signs everywhere saying "no sprinting!". OP is jogging along and comes up behind some walkers. She looks behind her, then proceeds to jog around a line of walkers. Whilst passing, a sprinter comes up behind her and is annoyed that they have to slow down to a jog. Outraged, in fact, that she dare pass the walkers when she's not sprinting. Yet the jogger is perfectly correct, and of course the sprinter should slow down because they should never have been sprinting in the first place! The sprinter says the jogger is in the "sprinting lane", which of course doesn't exist, because sprinting isn't allowed.

Most people on this thread are like this sprinter. The jogger is in the right and the jogger should not have to stay behind walkers nor increase to a sprint to pass them - they are doing everything perfectly correctly and pull in in front of the walkers as soon as they've passed the whole line. The sprinter is an idiot who thinks they don't have to comply to any rules and thinks nobody else should either. They also think that because sprinting is allowed on paths in other countries, it should be allowed on this one. But the fact remains: no sprinting!

I can’t believe a lot of these posts but at the same time they make sense based on what I see on the roads! Has no one done speed awareness? How are so many people just happily breaking the speed limit?

The police are absolutely not bothered though, unless speeds exceed their guidelines for a FPN or prosecution. Which answers the OPs question why people are comfortable exceeding the speed limit!!

On the contrary. “The speed limit is the absolute maximum”

https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

I'm with you OP. I hate driving these days as the roads are full of arrogant tests who don't think the rules apply to them. Usually driving the same makes of cars. If it's a 30 I drive at 30 and damn right I'll slow down if someone decides to tail gate me.

The replies on this thread are infuriating. How many posters can't grasp what the OP is actually saying is quite shocking. She's doing nothing wrong here.😅

@CantHoldMeDown So, what happens if you injure or kill someone else due to your over confidence in your abilities?

because their handling skills are on point and every single one of them are one of the best drivers in the world and they REALLY need to show you so you don't think they are just and average joe/joelene

This, their Brian is better than your Brian. 😆😆😆

Because OP judging by the answers on this thread far too many drivers are overconfident in their abilities & aren’t the brightest. Let’s just hope it’s only themselves they hurt in an accident!

Colin McRae who killed himself and three others because of his dangerous manoeuvres in a helicopter?

Sounds about right.

As for the 'I drive appropriately to the variable conditions of the road' crowd, I'll believe that when I see a single driver actually drop from eighty to 50 when requested by gantry signs, or indicated by sudden atrocious weather.

We got caught in a storm once and I was begging DP to slow down, he said it would be dangerous to do so because nobody else had so we all bombed along with severely reduced vision on a busy motorway. Crowd stupidity.

Have you never driven in a motorway in traffic? I regularly drive on a 3 lane motorway with a 100kph speed limit. You can be in the right hand lane doing 100kph slowly overtaking all of the traffic in the middle lane that's doing 90kph for junction after junction, in a long line of traffic doing the same thing. You would only ever be in the left hand lane on that motorway to enter or exit because it's so busy.

Yes, understood. Cars are safe nowadays at faster speeds, it's the motorbikes that need to slow down.

No idea why you've had such a hard time OP, your post was very clear.

The lane assist in my car is downright dangerous. It seems to have trouble with the grass on the dual carriageway central reservation near us, and will move my steering when I'm moving in a straight line in the middle of a wide lane.

On a windy 40mph road near us with narrow (but nothing crazy) lanes, it's downright dangerous. I keep forgetting to turn it off (you have to turn it off at the start of every journey) and nearly crashed the other day. One of the scarier moments I've had behind the wheel.

I’m be never understood this. Presumably if you’re going 70 in the outside lane then everyone else should fuck off and slow down.

It does wrestle in some cars, mine does. So coming up a slip road and there's some tar on the lane it all of a sudden pulls hard even though not changing lane.
And I indicate pulling out but not in always, so it's a pain. I switch it off

Because they don't care about their license and are dim

It's the unanswerable conundrum of driving. Stick to the posted limit and endure beeping, tailgating and obscene gestures or break the law.

My driving instructor couldn't give workable answers to my questions about this and once I passed my test I didn't drive much, now I don't drive at all.

What about all the non - motorway roads that have a 70 mph speed limit ?

What about vans, a lot of them are restricted to a lower speed limit . Should they be excluded from motorways too? ( I know a lot of people will think probably, but that wasn't the original point)

Perhaps the 70 limit is more of an average.

If you get pulled over for speeding I'm not sure the police will be bothered that you feel the law is wrong. Of course you can be passing vehicles at 70, lorries only go 60

Less fatal ones though

Oh go on, I know you know the reason but let's humour you

20/30 mph tend to be residential: Residential areas have:

people turning out of side roads
people parking
people coming out driveways
all the above can have obscured vision by parked cars/hedges/buildings
traffic lights
zebra crossings
people running onto the road
people setting up sat navs at journey start
people finishing checking phones

generally more hazards that motorways don't