Is it okay to drive well below the speed limit on a main road?

[ScarboroughFairy]

Hi all, tomorrow I’ll be driving on a main road where the speed limit is 60mph, but I’m thinking of sticking to 40mph. I know it’s well under the limit, but I just feel safer at that speed. Does anyone else do this

I drove up to Inverness last year from Yorkshire and found it an easy drive. The A9 has more dual carriageway sections since I last drove up it 30 years ago. I found that the lorries were tanking along at 70 on the dual carriageway parts though.

But you don’t know what you are talking about.

Agreed - the above poster absolutely shouldn't be on the road as the driving behaviour she's described would fail a driving test. It's not about 'giving up your independence', it's about not being selfish and keeping everyone else safe. Of course there are times when everyone should drive slowly - that's why we have multiple speed limits - but 'slow' does not equal 'safe'. If you're too scared to drive at more than 40 mph then you almost certainly know you have poor reflexes, couldn't cope in a challenging situation, and that you're prone to panic, none of which make you safe to be behind the wheel.

These things are completely road and conditions dependant.

on a windy country national speed limit road- no one should be doing 60. Far too dangerous usually unless you know very single twist and turn.

on a dual carriageway - as long as room to overtake then sure.

on a single carriage way. I’d say you should try and keep to near the speed limit but if not you must allow for people to overtake.

if it’s pouring with rain and conditions terrible then 40mph would be the right speed.

as I have got older I have got less confident with speed. I used to have zero fears but if happily sit at lower speeds as long as I am not impeding anyone. Usually find the inside lane of any multi lane road goes less than the speed limit anyway.

I think you're cherry picking. Driving unnecessarily slowly is literally one of the examples given in that link. The test seems to be driving below the standard expected of a capable and careful driver and it includes behaviour that could "potentially" endanger yourself or other drivers. You can't predict that no one will come up behind you so driving far too slowly is always going to be a potential hazard .

I suppose you could argue that you are "necessarily" driving slow because you're not a good enough driver to go with the speed of the traffic, but I definitely wouldn't want to be telling a police officer that if they had flagged me down for potentially not reaching the standard of a competent driver!!

It totally depends on the road. If the road is clear and wide, you can do 59 in a 60 limit perfectly safely - and you should, so you don't hold up other people unduly.

But if it's a windy narrow road, you do what you think is safe, even if it has a 60 limit. There's a road fairly near me which has a 60 limit on it, but I am lucky if I do much about 30 - there's a sharp corner every few hundred metres.

However, going too slowly is NOT dangerous. It is annoying. Not the same. People can choose their responses to situations and nobody makes them do dangerous overtakes - they make those choices, nobody else,

Ah sorry, hadn't appreciated we were all referencing a specific route- mine were more general comments. Most rural A and B roads do have laybys and gateways that slow vehicles can pull into. Down here (Dartmoor) it's tractors, milk lorries and caravans and they are often down to 1st or 2nd gear on the hills- so you do get tailbacks but only motorcyclists would attempt the national speed limit.

Last time I went on the A9 the lorries were a menace. Every time you got to a dual carriageway bit they'd do their elephant-race and get in the outside lane doing 49mph while the one next to them was doing 48. So anti-social!

There used to be signs in the Highway Code for minimum speed limits but I've never encountered one. They need one by Stonehenge to stop all the idiots slowing down to take photos for their Instagram.

It’s still in the Highway Code but I’ve never actually seen one in the wild

They won't, they are too busy trying to find people who steal laurel bushes and write rude words on horse boxes parked on busy main roads causing obstructions for weeks near where I live! Although they did catch someone driving with drugs the other day so maybe they do do some proper policing from time to time.

Ah I will have a look. I have a 2019 edition somewhere!

I'm sure I have seen messages on the boards by the trunk roads telling you to pull over and let traffic behind you clear on the A9. And on the road up to Ullapool.

Personally I'd have "ditherers will be shot" but that's possibly a bit harsh.

My advice to you OP is to always drive with your hazards on. Gives the rest of us fair warning that there is an idiot behind the wheel.

I'd definitely seek some help in dealing with your anxiety.

Yes, there are lots of crashes on the roads and most are due to someone driving dangerously, too fast (or too slow) or not paying attention.

What you don't see in the news is how many crashes there aren't each day. I do a 35 mile round trip every day to work, using a motorway that is becoming more and more notorious for speeding drivers and accidents, yet I've been driving for 30 years and have never had an accident. I reckon on average I'll have done 10,000 miles per year over those 30 years which is the equivalent of driving round the world 12 times without having a crash.

The chances of being involved in an accident are really very low and you can do as much as you can to reduce your risks by driving well yourself. You can't do much if someone else is being an idiot of course, but really the stats are in your favour.

They're blue signs aren't they? I feel like I've seen one somewhere, but I can't remember where!

While there is generally no such thing as a minimum speed limit on the roads, driving too slowly can lead to a charge of driving without due care.

For the new folk: the A road that OP is referring to is one of the (few) main trunk roads in Scotland.

We don't have many motorways. So main roads are A roads. Some of them, including a chunk of the A9, are not dual carriageways.

These are not wee windy roads with a single tractor on. But main traffic and transport routes. So a wonderful mix of people commuting for work, travelling about, lumber lorries, trucks, tourists and tractors too for good measure. Travelling at 40mph is honestly not a good option on this road.

Plus there isn't always a ready alternative - going alternative routes mean travelling halfway across the country to the east or West. Or across the mountain roads that st this time of year are likely to be closed due to snow. There isn't a wee network of lovely little country B roads to pootle along.

Wow I wasn't expecting so many replies sorry I cant possibly read them all. Stopped for lunch taking it easy have been doing up to 50 haven't been stopped.

I agree. Unless adverse weather conditions, driving so slowly leads to other drivers becoming frustrated and taking risks.

I really hope this thread is a wind-up.

Christ on a bike. (Which would probably be quicker tbh).

agreed. You don't have to do 60 but 40 is a bit nuts

The 60mph speed limit means this is the maximum speed you can travel, it doesnt mean you should or have to drive at 60pmh.
The speed you drive should be dictated by the road conditions as the 60mph speed limit doesnt mean its always safe to drive at 60mph.
if i saw someone driving at 40mph in a 60 mph zone it wouldnt "piss me off" id think there may be a reason for that and work around it.

I cannot believe the OP decided to drive. Good luck tackling Edinburgh in rush hour.

Driving under the speed limit and the consequences - Solicitors On Your Side

Highway Code rules around driving too slowly as some motorists face fines | Bristol Live

Yes - driving too slow can be an offence giving you points on your licence and - more importantly - can also be very dangerous.

One of the reasons the A9 has so many accidents is not because drivers are travelling at 60mph, but because some drivers travel at speeds way in excess of 100mph. Number of drivers busted speeding on the A9 quadrupled between 2022 and 2023 hitting 13,322 as ‘inexcusable’ top recorded speed was 140 mph

One of the reasons drivers go so fast on parts of the A9 is because it's a difficult road and too many drivers drive too slowly causing massive tailbacks and frustration, which then causes other drivers to drive too quickly on the faster bits.

As others have said you have to adjust your speed to the prevailing road conditions. That means you don't have to drive up to the limit of 60mph all the time, but you do have to be capable and confident of being able to do so safely in appropriate conditions.

If you can't do that you shouldn't be driving