Slow drivers - why do you do it?

[Kibble29]

If you’re a slow driver who chugs along the motorway at 50mph in a 70 zone, or one that does 17mph in a 30, why do you do this?

Are you afraid of driving? Or is it something else?

Yes the limit is a limit, not a target. Yes there can be roadworks or lane closures, or torrential rain. But I’m just talking about a standard road with no issues or adverse weather.

I do go too slowly on winding 60mph country roads because I'm shitting myself about what's around the next corner. But I'm a city driver so this isn't my area of comfort.

It's the 40 mph folk that drive me crazy. No matter the speed limit they go for 40. Why?!!

This is someone I know. Has got so many speeding fines for doing 40 in a 30, but caused a backlong doing 40 on the motorway 🤣.

It's a speed limit, not a speed target.

Because it pisses you lot off

In case any animals run out in the road, kids in the car, i don't like thrashing the car for the sake of it and my brother killed someone by driving to fast. Just not worth it.

I don't think my speedo is very accurate. My Google maps has me going along slower than my speedo. Not so much at 30, but at 40. I don't use a map often so I only recently realised.

Too slow in the flow of traffic is dangerous.
I hate the ones that pull onto a main road but don't accelerate to get up to the speed of the road.
I also hate the drivers who hold the wheel with both hands at the top of the wheel ie at 12 o clock and thus have less control. You can tell them from behind as they tend to be all over their lane....this often in my experience seems to be older drivers.

It absolutely stuns me how fast the speed limit allows you to drive on winding single track country roads filled with blind bends and zero lighting at night!

Here in London you can rarely go above 30 and 20 is the (frustratingly slow) norm in many places now.

It's almost like there's no joined-up countrywide policy on speed limits .

Driving too slowly for the conditions is just as dangerous as driving too fast as it causes other drivers to make unwise decisions re over-taking etc.

Worse are the drivers who do a steady 30 everywhere - through 20 limits, through 40 limits, past schools, in the open road, etc. They clearly have no awareness at all of their surroundings, road signs, no observation as to hazards, etc.

And yes, those who pull out in straight in front of you, causing you to brake, and then proceed at a snail's pace even though there was no one behind you and they could have waited a few seconds and then pulled out behind you.

Of course, a speed limit is a limit, not a target, but when there are few, if any, hazards on a particular stretch of road, there is really no excuse not to drive at the speed limit. Completely different, say, around parked cars in the middle of a housing estate or a blind bend on an unlimited country road. So many people don't seem to be able to adapt to road conditions and hazards.

And going significantly under it is dangerous.

Ex police officer here.

There's a difference between driving slower than the speed limit and being mildly annoying (e.g 40 in a 60) and driving so slowly you're potentially committing the offence of driving without due care and consideration (which you are if you drive way too slow).

Most people naturally drive the speed they are most comfortable at being sure they can react to hazards. That's sensible and I'd rather a less skilled/confident driver drive at 40 in a 60 (even though I'll be cursing them in my head) than I would them drive faster than their ability and cause an accident.

However, if your comfortable is say 30 on a open stretch of good quality road with good visibility and national speed limit, as a cop I'd absolutely have pulled you over and checked if you had been drinking, needed glasses or were otherwise impaired.

If it is purely confidence and slow reaction times, I'd question if you should be driving at all. People that nervous tend to panic at the slightest hazard and cause accidents - or just don't react at all until it's too late.

Driving too slow absolutely can and does cause accidents. They're nowhere near as likely to result in fatalities though, so I'll take someone driving to their limits under the speed limit any day over someone whose confidence outstrips their ability.

A speed limit sign doesn't force you to drive at the speed limit when there are other hazards such as winding roads, blind bends and no lighting. You have to drive to the conditions. They're hardly likely to put up speed limit signs on every bend, so speed limits are for entire stretches of road and in no way do they give the green light to go at that full speed with no care nor consideration at all for the hazards present.

By “you lot”, do you mean people who actually know how to drive?

Oh my gosh - so annoying!! The people doing 30mph on the country lanes by me really annoy me when they continue to do 30mph through the country village - I give them the benefit of the doubt on the country lane and assume they're not local / trying to be safe, but it becomes clear that's their "set speed" when they continue through the villages 😡

My driving instructor always told me you drive to the limit and the conditions, too many people cause issues by driving too slowly for the roads / conditions where I am and tbh it's shocking to see!

To counterbalance the many who drive like they’re at Silverstone.

Ugh, I has some stupid woman pull out in front of me yesterday when there was nothing behind me, she could have waited. She then dithered around at 25mph in a 40 zone on a perfectly clear and straight road. It’s so frustrating.

Well thats original.

Y'all so angry. Think it's ya driving licences. Give em up, y'all be happier 🙂

Just walk.
Everywhere.
You might realise, actually, most drivers are knobs 🤣

I’d be driving to the road conditions.

If I was doing 17 in a 30 it might be because I was approaching a vehicle that was double parked, or could see there were a bunch of primary school kids on a school trip walking along a narrow pavement to cross.

If I was doing 50 in a 70 it might be because it was near white out conditions and the grit was unlikely to be effective on the roads.

However in both of those scenarios there will be plenty of drivers who “do the limit” because it must be safe, right?

Better to properly risk assess yourself.

(Former rally driver)

My area is now a 20 limit and I drive at 19-20 there. There are a SIGNIFICANT number of drivers who tailgate, flash their lights, lean on their horn, and where possible (and even sometimes when it shouldn't be) overtake in a great squeal of gears and rage. It does make me wonder whether they think I'm "doing 17 in a 30" when in fact I'm doing 19 in a 20.

I'm not bothered by the people who drive at 50 on the motorway as long as they don't do it in the middle lane. It's meant to be much better for fuel economy, although I'll admit I generally sacrifice fuel economy for going faster.

Drives me wild, the only time I have purposely driven below the speed limit was when I was transporting a load of drinking glasses, and when I drove for the first time in a different country, opposite side of the road in a hire car!!

I did in both instances pull over regularly and use my hazards often to give people who came up behind me notice of my slow speed and a chance to safely overtake.

my FIL is so risk adverse he drives far too slow, to the point I can’t get in a car with him, an old boss of mine used to be scared on the motorway. He drove 50 in the left hand lane. After being with him on a business trip, getting overtaken by lorry’s, uphill, I also refused to get ever get in the car with him again - both of them made me feel so anxious and unsafe and neither of them should be allowed to drive IMO

I spent many hours on the M1, M25 and M4 over the weekend. I was driving at around 58-60 all the way. Why? I wasn't in a hurry, there wasn't all that much traffic about to keep up with the flow, I have a small middle-aged car, and for fuel economy. And no, I wasn't pootling along in the middle lane holding people up.

On Sunday I followed a car doing 25 mph on a 60 limit. They braked every time a car came in the opposite direction.

Driving too slowly for the conditions is just as dangerous as driving too fast as it causes other drivers to make unwise decisions re over-taking
What? Nobody is responsible for anyone else's actions!