to have been infuriated by this driver?

[Gentleness]

Part of the route we were taking tonight was closed for roadworks and there was a long diversion. In the end it added 30 miles to the journey on winding single carriageway roads, almost all clearly marked as national speed limit. We soon ended up 3 cars behind a little car being driven at a steady 40 despite all the signs. 1 car managed to overtake quite early on on a rare straight stretch but it was rainy, dark, hilly and winding so much that there just weren't other opportunities. 20 miles we were stuck behind this fool who either didn't notice the long stretch of diverted cars stuck behind her, didn't notice the many places she could have pulled in, didn't know what the national speed limit sign meant or was too anxious to take it all in and respond appropriately to the situation. Or just didn't care. Who knows?

Eventually I managed to overtake ( which is how I know she was female) but I was so cross at her incompetence that I honked the horn at her as I did. Ok, I know that bit was unreasonable, but dh thinks it was unreasonable to be cross with her at all. I don't - pointless maybe, but justified given that however nervous, she could have pulled over rather than hold everyone up for so long. So, your opinions please - worthwhile anger or not, do you think her driving was enough to anger?

rainy, dark, hilly and winding... if I was on an unfamiliardiversion I would probably have been doing 40 as well, but I would try to pull in and let the tailgaters overtake. Having witnessed two accidents last week where drivers were not being careful despite the terrible driving conditions I am inclined to be overcautious I'm afraid.

YABU there is no lower limit to driving speed and if she wants to drive at 40mph then she or he can.

It is up to you to overtake safely. The other drive does not have to pull over to let other drivers pass because they want to drive slower or faster etc. This in itself would be dangerous for all manner of reasons.

It added a whopping 10 minutes to your drive if she drove at 40mph instead of driving at 60mph - but at least you are here today able to post this post and not dead through a car crash

YANBU.

There's driving cautiously and then there's driving at a speed where you could be going 50% faster and still not be speeding!

I'd have been fuming following someone doing 40mph when the national speed limit applied.

I'd hazard a guess that she had no idea there was anyone behind her; the sort of people who drive so slowly as to be causing a hazard generally have no awareness of what's going on around them.

If I was a traffic officer I'd have pulled her over and made her walk as she'd probably have got where she was going quicker than driving.

YABU there is no lower limit to driving speed...

There are minimum speed limits. They're indicated by blue circular signs with an mph figure on them.

The other drive does not have to pull over to let other drivers pass because they want to drive slower or faster etc.

See highway code rule 169.

She is aware the limit is 60...

But we don't know that, tiggy.

I recently followed an elderly gentleman who was doing (according to my speedometer) 38mph in a 60mph. He proceeded to carry on through the 30mph limit we entered at the same speed - he was pulling away from me as a I slowed for the new limit. I don't think he had any idea of the speed limits and just drove at a constant speed everywhere.

Maybe the lady in OPs post did the same thing?

Anyone going to look up the highway code on beeping aggressively?

Shelly the woman wasn't driving a large or slow moving vehicle - this would refer to a tractor driving slowly. If you have a car behind you that is wanting to drive 10-15mph faster , then how would you actually know this? it is possible that there was a long queue of traffic as there was to much traffic on the divertion route

As for minimum speed limit it is rare - but when used it is usually 40mph which was the speed the lady was driving - though it is very doubtful on a country lan there would be a minimum speed limit as tractors would use country lanes and struggle at times to get to 40mph depending on load

ivy, the rule says 'especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle'; not exclusively.

hmm - your hooter is for warning other traffic not for aggression, not for picking up a lift, not for seeing a friend and attracting their attention,

the rule say slowly - 40mph is not slow - otherwise why would there be 20mph max limits and 30 max in towns

You didn't say any of that in your first post. In fact, you were quite clear.

" but it was rainy, dark, hilly and winding so much that there just weren't other opportunities."

now you say it wasn't rainy, hilly or winding? just sometimes? But it was also dry and straight and she didn't speed up then.

If you'd said that, then I am sure you'd have got a resounding YANBU

But you painted a picture of adverse weather conditions and winding roads and so you got the response you did.

The speed limit is just that - a limit, not a number to be achieved

Very annoying for other drivers but better than her (or anyone else) ending up in a ditch.

YABVVVU.

I live in the country, National Speed Limit appears on many winding country roads where you would have to be a total nutter to drive anywhere near 60MPH. Often these are single track roads with high hedges where you cannot see anything coming until you are almost upon it.

The national speed limit is applied to roads where no other speed limit has been set, usually because there are no houses/domestic areas where speed limits are required. It is not applied because someone has officially deemed 60mph as a 'safe' speed for the road.

There is nothing wrong with driving at 40mph on a narrow winding country road if that is the speed you deem safe. There is everything wrong with hitting your horn as you overtake someone because YOU have decided you don't care for their safety choices.

evilgiraffe

Slowing for slow paint that was done before the 50 limit was put in place, why???

Why can't people drive according to the road?

And yes that also means not doing 60 on narrow lanes.

Trouble is lots of the high speeds on the back roads probably wouldn't happen of everyone wasn't running late due to numpyties doing 40 on the A roads.

Unfortunately allowing 30% more time if you live in the middle of nowhere adds up to a lot of frustration. Sometimes it just isn't possible.

In many cases on rural roads, all the national speed limit means is that the road has not been assessed (I was told on the advanced driving course work send us on to bring down their insurance bill).

There's certainly a single track road near us (with passing places) that you'd be mad to do more than 30 on. Blind bends every couple of minutes...

" ...20 miles we were stuck behind this fool who either didn't notice the long stretch of diverted cars stuck behind her... "

Either the driver was unaware of, or unconcerned by the queue she had created.

Such a person needs further training.

What an unpleasant thing to do. However annoyed you were. Your horn is for warning other drivers not admonishing them.
I haven't been driving very long and I feel very intimidated in situations like this. Unfamiliar road, dark, a small older car. I may well have driven exactly the same. And someone tooting at me could easily have damaged my confidence.
My engine is tiny, so when I hit a particular hill on my way to work I have to drop to third and floor it to get it up the hill anywhere close to the speed limit of 50. There's no way that I could overtake on this hill if there's a tractor in front, my engine doesn't have the poke. I am nearly ALWAYS tailgated by someone, (often an Audi!) even in fog, rain, ice. The thing is the limit drops to 40 the minute you get to the top, so even if I could speed up, I would have to brake with seconds anyway. Someone hooted and flashed and waved their arms at me last week (I was only a couple of miles below the speed limit) I slowed and rolled down the window and pointed at the 40 speed limit sign. Amazingly, he backed off.