JUST BECAUSE THERE IS A SPEED CAMERA ON 50MPH ROAD

[NotYoMomma]

Does NOT mean you should drop your speed to 35MPH!!!!

Ianbu!

HATE this, seriously why do 50, traffic moving nicely and then bang on the break just as you go past?!

Note I didn't nearly crash but we had to slow right down and of course it was muggins here who got stuck at the next set.of traffic lights of doom

GRrrr twitch

Assuming normal safe road, traffic and weather conditions, you should aim to drive at or very near the speed limit

I'm glad I don't.

I was going at 10mph where the limit is 20, but there are a lot of children who play in the road.

A few weeks ago a ball came bouncing out in to the road, I stopped at about the same time as a small boy ran in front of my car.

If I'd been going at the speed limit I would have hit him.

OP - just because there is a speed camera on a 50mph road doesn't mean you have to do 50. People with that kind of attitude really shouldn't be behind the wheel of a potential killing machine.

You need to drive safely and be able to stop safely at whatever speed you are driving. If a car driving in front of you (at whatever speed) stops suddenly YOU need to be able to stop too.

This is one of my pet hates. And people who trail behind a police car on the motorway doing 60. I always drive pretty much to the limit unless there's poor conditions or on a horribly windy/narrow road.

People who drive massively below the limit when there's perfect conditions should really consider some additional lessons or give their licenses up if they are too nervous to drive. Got quite a fright a few days ago when driving at 69 on the motorway and realised I was bearing down verry quickly on the car in front which was doing less than 50.

Similarly, people who tailgate, speed, don't use indicators on roundabouts should also fuck off. In fact, just everyone leave the roads to me.

Sashh: children playing and being likely to run in to the road is part of the judgement of road conditions. So it is sensible to adjust your speed accordingly. Driving down the same stretch of road at 2am at 10mph would have been silly.

Lurkedtoolong - your post tells us a lot about your (bad) driving skills. Any idiot can drive fast.

Personally, I think the "national speed limit" is a bloody stupid idea. Just put up a sign with a number on it - everyone knows what that means.

Soudragon. It is easy. Learn the national speed limit for the type of road you are on or spend millions on speed limit signs. Not stupid now is it

And learn that in a built up area if there are no speed limit signs it is 30 mph. So much would be safer, and easier - even at vmax for the given road if people learned the rules AND learned proper vehicle control

Completely agree. We have a speed camera in a 40mph zone here, just before you hit the 60mph zone. Then there's another camera through the village on the same stretch of straight road. The bloody speed limit is still 60, everyone ignores the first camera and then jams on their brakes at the second. I'm surprised there haven't been more accidents as people tend to travel bumper to bumper trying to overtake lorries on that road.

The reason we have a "national speed limit" rather than a specific number is because a different limit applies depending on the type of road AND the type of vehicle being driven.

Ditherers,the overcautious and people who drive significantly below the speed limit WHEN THERE IS NO VALID REASON TO DO SO (which is the bit some people wilfully seem to be ignoring; part of the skill of driving is adapting to the conditions and that includes speeding up appropriately in the absence of any hazards etc) are just as much of a danger / potential cause of an accident as people who speed.

ItsYoni any idiot can drive too slowly, too - I see dozens of them every day.

Lurked they should leave the roads to you, me and the other sensible people on this thread who know how to drive properly.

Ditherers,the overcautious and people who drive significantly below the speed limit WHEN THERE IS NO VALID REASON TO DO SO (which is the bit some people wilfully seem to be ignoring;

I think some people are wilfully ignoring that because they are the kind of drivers you describe, Orange.

I know I'm being a bit rude to people about this, but people's bad driving is something that fucking irritates me every single day.

I guess this is akin to the speed kills message which is not true. If it was inappropriate speed then it would be correct.............

I'm getting ready to take my test and my instructor has drilled it into me that you need to drive the speed limit when possible. Unless it's dangerous (hazardous conditions, stuck behind someone you can't overtake) you should aim to to get as close to the limit as possible otherwise they can and will fail you.

Well..... a lot of times there is no sign to say the limit just before you have spotted the camera. That is why I would jump on the brakes.
They are not getting any money off me!

They should paint the limit on the camera itself.

Melika - perhaps you should concentrate on looking for signs and learning the Highway Code. In a built up area with no signs, the speed limit is 30. Any other speed limit will be signposted.

Of course, if you are concentrating on driving you will have seen the sign and not need an extra sign.

Um ... I think the point is, you should know what the bloody limit on the road you're driving on is.

Cos, of course, it's totally fine to do 50 in a 30 zone so long as when you hit the child, you're not right by a speed limit sign - it's a mistake anyone could make. Or not.

Well said LRD

Personally I drive to the road and the conditions, sometimes that means above the limit and sometines below. I'd hope though that any reasonable driver would be travelling within 10mph below the limit where conditions are good.

Melika there may not be a sign "just before the camera" (although increasingly these days there will be) but surely if you're reading the road properly you will already know what the speed limit for any particular stretch is and maintain it in the absence of a sign to the contrary?

Crabby I often have a cartoon-like mental image of people who persist in chugging along ten miles or more below the speed limit, smugly priding themselves on their safe driving, oblivious to the trail of destruction in their wake...

Ugh, tie pin too slow again...YY LRD.

I have never been in an accident. But I have seen hundreds in my mirrors lol

Why, aka?

You mean, good as opposed to excellent?

I think blanket rules about how much below you want to drive aren't a great idea, because surely it varies according to stopping distance? If conditions aren't perfect in a 30 zone, 20 is substantially slower; 60 isn't substantially slower than 70.

(This is a thing I argue about with my brother, who is perfectly intelligent and could work out stopping distances in his head just fine, but who seems to think if he's safe doing about 25 in a foggy village, when he gets onto the 60 limit he should be doing about 55. He doesn't drive much any more, thank goodness.)

Well..... a lot of times there is no sign to say the limit just before you have spotted the camera. That is why I would jump on the brakes.
They are not getting any money off me!

Godalfuckingmighty Melika you shouldn't be fucking driving if you are paying so little attention that you've no idea what the speed limit is at any given time!