People ostentatiously driving at 20 in a 30 zone with plenty of space, no wandering children or other pedestriansa clear road ahead

[HauntedBungalow]

... please go at speed. You're slowing journeys for everyone else for no reason.

Plus, you're wankers.

Can't edit title for typos.

These days it is often hard to tell what the right limit is. There are several roads near me where google maps on satnav says it is 20 but I know it is 30. And the fines are steep so don’t blame people for being cautious.

It's not 'the speed' it's the maximum speed allowed.

Or maybe they’re being careful in a residential area.

Nah this is a main road into town, nice clear route.

yes remember it’s a target not a limit..

Fml

It’s a limit not a target.

I agree op! So frustrating!!

Maybe they are better at assessing risk than you are.

Or maybe they live in most of London or Wales and have so many tickets that they have lost the will to drive at 30 in town !

Have you done the maths on how much time it is costing you? It is probably less than you think.

As others have said, it’s a speed LIMIT, not a target or a minimum. Take a deep breath, put the radio on and be grateful your life is easy enough that this has the ability to bother you so much!

It adds up surprisingly quickly. Even on a short stretch of a mile, it takes an extra minute to do the journey at 20mph compared to 30. And that’s assuming you don’t e.g. get caught at the lights as a result.

On a clear flat main road with wide pavements and no visual obstacles, risk is very low. Driving at 20 in those circumstances is failing to perform adequate risk assessment and is conversely putting other road users at risk as other drivers are more likely to engage in unsafe behaviour eg overtaking to get past you (the obstacle).

It’s not their fault if you choose to drive unsafely rather than exercise patience 😂

Maybe they're practising for when the 20mph limit comes to town. Maybe they've read, heard or watched something that has educated them on the increased safety of driving at a slower speed. Maybe they've just had a speeding ticket for that stretch of road or are up to their maximum points and are taking no chances. Maybe someone they care about has just been killed by a driver in a hurry to get somewhere 2 minutes faster and it's made them slow down.

Who knows.

There's a particular set of lights that if I don't reach in time because of these numpties I'll be a full three minutes behind schedule. Which obviously isn't the biggest deal but also not a delay I want to have just to accommodate Mr Relaxed Driver (TM).

OMG 3 minutes delay, you should have said! Do you think you’ll survive that? Bless you that must be awful! Can’t even imagine! 3 minutes!! Wow

Maybe they are all Welsh. It’s default 20mph here.

Its hard to remember that the default is 30 when I visit my brother in England.

You have probably been stuck behind me, cursing, at some point OP.

Not me, I'm not overtaking. But other people might. It puts us all at risk. If the speed is set to 30 (which isn't really all that fast) just trust that speed is correct, that people have done their sums and it's all good and safe. You don't need to do any additional risk assessments, you don't need to make any adjustments. It's not hard, just drive at 30.

full three minutes

Three minutes??? Fuck's sake OP, why on earth didn't you say you were being delayed this long in your opening post???

You would have received a whole load more sympathetic responses, I'm sure...

30 is the LIMIT, not the target. What don’t you understand about that?

I find it very hard to imagine that in the road conditions you are describing most people do this. I would almost guarantee it’s the other way round (speeding). So either you are just venting based on one or two people who probably had a reason which you are unaware of, or the conditions are not as clear as you say. I would ask for a google maps satellite image but understand this could be outing 😂

I said it wasn't the biggest deal. But it is annoying. It's not like roads are clear otherwise. Just keep it flowing where you can, people.