to point out that the national speed limit on a dual carriageway is *70* and not *60*?

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

I am sure after the zillion AIBUs about drivers over Christmas this isn't necessary but WHY do some people not know the speed limit?

I know that the speed limit is a limit not a target; I'm fine with people driving at 60 if they think that's the appropriate speed for the road or the conditions. What I'm not fine with is pillocks who slam the breaks on every time they see a speed camera because they're doing 65 and think the limit is 60.

Moaning about this to friends at lunchtime, they did not know that the national speed limit on a dual carriageway is 70, not 60. They've passed their tests, btw, and have been driving for a while.

AIBU to think they're twats and so are the idiots I ended up behind today?

If you have to keep reacting to break slamming you are driving too close.

my good friend tomtom keeps me right with speed limits lol

I was also thinking if it upset you that much then you were too close!!

They are the same people who think that the national speed limit is 50mph on single carriageways.

Drives me mad too, or the ones that drive at 33 in the 30mph and the 40mph zone - argggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oh god yes hellhath - got stuck behind one of those recently (in perfect well lit dry conditions) for several miles driving very carefully at 47 mph. Might have had a dodgy car I guess, but gave off strong vibes of someone who simply didn't know that the speed limit was 60.

dual carriageways in Northern Ireland have various speed limits from 40 (thinking around forestside, belfast) to 60 (thinking new road between dungannon and ballygawley)

70 is on motorway only

or am i wrong?

I hate the ones who drive at 40mph constantly, through 30 zones and 60 zones. For example, following main road (60mph) which goes through a village where the limit goes to 30mph! Why stay at 40 through both zones??? AAARGH!

YANBU this really annoys me, I'm constantly having to educate parents/friends on this-all of who have passed their tests.

I was just going to post exactly the same thing Spaghetti. Twunts.

Here you go TheUnsinkableTitanic

70 on dual carriageways unless speed signs dictate otherwise

www.doeni.gov.uk/roadsafety/index/cars/speeding/speed_limits_for_northern_ireland.htm

We have this on a road near us - it's national speed limit, single carriageway. Every time people go past the cameras they slow down to 40mph. Fucking idiots.
I always follow at a safe distance - but someone slamming on their brakes in rush hour traffic has a knock-on effect that could easily cause an accident.

I think NI has different limits
OP remember that vans and goods vehicles and the like are limited to 60mph on dual carriage ways

The same people as don't know that in a van or towing your are subject to different speed limits than in a car. Those are the people who have never looked at a highway code book again after passing their driving test many years ago.

I'm not in NI.

I'm not too close either - obviously, or I'd have had a problem! But emergency braking is dangerous, and you shouldn't be slamming the brakes on when you see a speed camera. It's bad enough when people do it because they were speeding, but it's really stupid when they do it becauuse they don't know the speed limit.

Street lamps = 30mph limit unless it is marked otherwise oh and the people that sit in the overtaking lane (or either of the overtaking ones for the 4 lane motorways) regardless of what speed everyone else is moving at. I once managed to inadvertantly undertake several cars doing 60 on the inside lane of the motorwa y - I was going slow to conserve diesel

that's not unreasonable, that's just funny!

cross-post - ratspeaker, I do know that. I'm talking about perfectly ordinary cars, not towing, slamming the brakes on because they think they should be doing 60.

TBH, if you do not know the speed limit, I think you should not be driving at all - what else might you not know? That's what I thought when my mates said they thought the limit was 60.

Yabu

I'm sure when I passed my test it was 60 - however, that may be because of the fact that where I passed there was never any central reservations.

The key difference is that a dual carriageway (even if it has 4 lanes) must have a central reservation in order to be classed as one.

Most people who passed their test 20 plus years ago will have a problem with this as central reservations have sprung up so much due to road safety initiatives.

Before the glut of these it was much more likely you would have been doing 60 the majority of the time.

And even now speed cameras are seemingly bloody deliberately put on stretches of dual carriageway without central reservations to catch people out!

If in any doubt most people slow down to 60.

It's not right or correct but it is understandable.

Um, surely if you passed your test years ago you do expect to update your knowledge occasionally?!

Crikey, maybe that's why my dad thinks it's ok to drive after two pints. I spend half my life telling him not to.

It is fine to slow down. It is not fine to slam your brakes on because you don't know what the speed limit is.

You drive according to the hazards and environment and if one of those hazards is an habitual brake slammer then you adjust your driving accordingly. It is not worth getting upset about - it about staying safe.

LRD - I totally agree. If someone isn't sure what the limit is, and then slams the brakes on then they were either thinking that they were driving over the limit and that was fine until they came to a speed camera, or they have no idea at all what the speed limit it. Neither of these are acceptable, and both would get you a fail on your test.