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Original poster

To think if you can’t drive to speed limits you shouldn’t be on the road?

111 replies

TheTruthAboutLove · 11/12/2019 21:48

I know, I know that a speed limit is a limit, not a target.

However I’m talking about the ones who go much much slower than the speed limit on roads - which in my eyes is just as dangerous as people going over speed limits.

Tonight on my 30minute commute home I was behind;

A taxi which couldn’t decide what lane to be in so straddled both, doing 25mph in a 40mph limit

A car doing 30mph on a 60mph limit

On a motorway, and behind a car doing 50mph

Surely people need to realise this is just as dangerous as driving fast? I don’t tailgate, I stay the correct distances away from other cars so there isn’t any pressure, but these cars slowing right down are creating huge tails of traffic behind them which is horrific in rush hour!

OP posts:
Winterdaysarehere · 11/12/2019 21:51

I actually failed a driving test for lack of progress and hesitancy... 50 in a 60 in pouring rain on a back road.
In general conditions I hate sight seeing bloody drivers also op!!
Once(last year I think) an mner admitted she drove slow to admire the scenery!! Buy a friggin bus ticket you knob!!

Jupiters · 11/12/2019 22:31

This always annoys me!
I often drive to work at 0545... And get stuck behind people doing 30 in a 60. It's a decent bit of road, not twisty or anything, no reason not to be near the speed limit. I always wonder where they could possibly be going that is important enough for them to be out at that time in the morning but not important enough to bother going any faster than half the speed limit.

chomalungma · 11/12/2019 22:51

On a motorway, and behind a car doing 50mph

Couldn't you overtake?

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Driving & parking
CactusAndCacti · 11/12/2019 22:55

They always pull out right in front of me. I was behind one today - doing 40 in a 60. In turns into a 30 limit for a very short stretch, but as there is also a school it drops to 20 at school times - they still did 40.

The worse are those that pull back on a slip road and then try to join the busy dual carriageway at a crawl.

Nishky · 11/12/2019 22:55

I agree with pp. why was a car doing 50 a problem on a raid with THREE lanes

Nishky · 11/12/2019 22:55

*road even

ClientListQueen · 11/12/2019 22:58

I followed one the other day all the way almost to work Angry
20mph zone - they did 25 mph
30mph zone - they did 25mph
40mph zone - you guessed it
I lost the will to live after a few miles but couldn't overtake due to the road

LolaSmiles · 11/12/2019 22:58

It's annoying and generally a pain in the arse when people don't drive appropriately for the conditions.

But be warned, there's one of these threads every couple of weeks and there'll be dozens of posters ready to tell you that you're impatient, must live for speed, must be an aggressive tailgater and the people who either are really just safe and cautious drivers who you should be inspired by. There's bonus points if someone tells a story about how they love being overtaken by someone and then seeing them at lights later on.

KatnissNeverdone · 11/12/2019 22:59

I find that if you're behind someone doing 50 on the motorway, particularly when it's busy, you get trapped because of all the other cars pulling out to overtake you first. You have to wait for quite a gap to pull out and then speed up to match the surrounding traffic.

chomalungma · 11/12/2019 23:00

There's bonus points if someone tells a story about how they love being overtaken by someone and then seeing them at lights later on

It is funny though.

Slow and steady can win the day.
People desperate to gain a few seconds only to hit more traffic,

Waves at Lola....

Nishky · 11/12/2019 23:01

@KatnissNeverdone. Only if you leave it too late to overtake

Thehagonthehillwithtinsel · 11/12/2019 23:03

The ones I hate are those that over take then slam their brakes on when they realise there is a reason I was going slow.
Thick fog is a main one, it's easy to follow harder to lead,or overtakes on windy roads so they go and pull in immediately Infront of you so you have to brake hard .
4 lane motorways are my pet hate as so many people doing 60 in lane 3,mainly because of the danger caused by undertaking as often lanes 1&2 are going faster.

Nishky · 11/12/2019 23:04

@chomalungma I was once driving into a city with someone who thought I was too slow and did the flashing and arm waving, then shot off into the distance.

I knew shortcuts, she obviously didn’t as 20 mins later I gave her a cheery wave as I pulled into the car park ahead of her.....

Nonstopbuttmachine · 11/12/2019 23:04

I get this on my commute. The speed limit is 100kph on the motorway yet there are always women (yes always women) pootling along at 80kph, completely oblivious to everyone and everything around them. Trucks and HGVs have to pull out and overtake them, creating a hazard.

I'd fucking line them up and shoot them.

KatnissNeverdone · 11/12/2019 23:05

@Nishky Or manage to get stuck coming on from the slip road.

ivykaty44 · 11/12/2019 23:08

People need to slow down & observe the speed limits, I’m constantly being overtaken in 20mph limits whilst driving at 20mph

At least slower drivers will do less damage if they crash

Armi · 11/12/2019 23:27

I live in the countryside, down quite twisty, though perfectly safe, roads on which it is impossible to safely overtake. I allow 40 minutes to get to town, although I know I can get there comfortably and without speeding in 25 minutes. Today I missed an appointment because the person in front of me was driving at less than half the speed limit. It’s fucking rage-inducing, it really is. My 25 minute drive turns into nearly an hour and then I’m behind a tractor on the way back and suddenly I’ve lost a sizeable chunk out of my day.

(Tractors I can generally cope with - they are essential for farm work, after all - and usually they do pull over to let me go by.)

LolaSmiles · 11/12/2019 23:30

chomalungma
See I don't really find it funny.

If someone passes me then cool. If I overtake someone else then cool. We're all doing different journeys (e.g. one junction near me has a 10 min window of being clear between two surges of traffic so I hate getting caught behind a ditherer if it means I get stuck at that junction but couldn't care less about earlier turnings).

The idea of driving in such a way that holds people up needlessly and then gaining some weird enjoyment from people overtaking being at the lights seem to be really quite odd and is only ever seen by ditherers or permanent 35mph drivers

Likethebattle · 11/12/2019 23:35

I got stuck behind a test on m a national speed limit road doing 35mph...I was unable to overtake due to the road layout. I could see her turning her head to chat to her mate in the passenger seat as I sat fuming behind her. It was a dry day, full daylight so she had no reason for crawling apart from being a twat!

Likethebattle · 11/12/2019 23:36

Twat not test

Northernsoullover · 11/12/2019 23:41

I know what you mean but sometimes on a 60 windy A road I will go at around 45 if I am unfamiliar with it. I usually go around the 55 mark if I am familiar with it. Usually the people that have a problem with that are the ones that overtake and then shoot off at way over 60.

LiveFatsDieYoGnu · 12/12/2019 06:33

Yesterday I came up behind someone in the middle lane of the motorway doing 50 mph, while the limit was 70 and traffic was flowing freely. Overtook them and moved back in, but a few minutes later entered a variable speed limit section that was limited to 40. Such is life. They then proceeded to tailgate me like hell while I stuck to 40, before overtaking me, then when the limit went back up to 60, they returned to their 50 mph middle lane driving. Baffling.

Stupiddriver1 · 12/12/2019 06:42

50mph on a motorway is a pain in the arse because the lorries which are limited to 58mph will all be in the middle lane overtaking it but then choking up the middle lane.

HugeAckmansWife · 12/12/2019 06:59

There are a lot of country roads though, where if you know them well you can go significantly quicker. You know the angle of every bend, where the potholes and blind spots are, which bits look very narrow but are actually ok, but if you're not familiar its absolutely right to go much slower, say 35-40 so you dont misjudge any if the above.

knittedgoldfish · 12/12/2019 07:09

You should drive to the conditions not the speed limit. Generally the speed limit is a good guide for a safe speed but not always. Winding country roads are the best example, where round here people maintain their speed at up to 60 by driving in the middle of the round to take bends. It is not safe and if someone comes round the corner on the other side they have to swerve. Dangerous. But regularly driving more than about 10% below the speed limit in good conditions is also dangerous. So depending on the road and the weather, YABU or YANBU!