AIBU to want to drive at the correct speed

[Freudianslap]

All bloody morning I've had people driving an inch behind me, some shaking their heads, some then overtaking and looking glaringly into my car - all because I am daring to drive bang on the speed limit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who do 20 in a 30mph zone but having already got points for speeding I am not prepared to speed up just so other people are less annoyed.

I am usually quite stubborn about things like this so am not usually bothered but today it has really irritated me.
Plus these people tend to be the same ones who drive in full daylight with their bloody full headlights on.

Oh I don't know, maybe I need to go an have a lie down.

Kerela that's a pretty bizarre statement without mentioning the speeds involved. You do realise that if you did that journey and drove at double the speed limit on each road along the way you'd save more than 6 minutes. I've knocked over 30 mins off a 1.5hr motorway journey by exceeding the speed limit which is a significant saving!

OP, have you recently started driving a smaller car?

I recently bought a new car which is smaller than my old one, and the number of tailgaters increased dramatically.

My driving ability stayed the same, people just assumed because I drove a small car I am going too slow.

People tailgate me all the time in my little honda jazz. Thankfully my window washers are good so I take great pleasure in scooshing the tailgaters behind me.

DH gets tailgated in our people carrier but not in his estate, even at the same speeds.

There's definitely some assumptions and pride involved.

There are many people who have zero patience and will not wait. It drives me crazy. You are not being unreasonable OP.

Well, YANBU. I frequently get twats undertaking me and then breenging back out in front of me. The problem with that is that I am in the right-hand lane because I am overtaking something in the left-hand one, so the undertaker risks requiring ... well, an undertaker, if you get my drift.

What we need is a few errrm remedies.

Missile launcher on the front bumper. Twat cuts in front of me after narrowly missing my front left fender following the above manoevure at 80-odd mph. Press the button. WHOOOSHHHH. KABOOM.

Hand grenades. Twat pulls up next to me at lights with window open and loud musak blaring out. Pull out the pin, ping. Toss into passenger footwell, plop. Count to three. KABOOM. (patent pending DSIL, particularly excellent against showoffs in convertibles with the roof off).

Sticky mines deployed from next to the rear exhaust. Twat driving at 70 mph right on my back bumper. Open the hatch, bzzzzzzz. Drop mines, one two three. Clink. BOOM.

Petrol tank dart with electronic detonator. Twat overtaking dangerously and speeding. Fire dart into rear fender near petrol tank, twang ptoink. Drill into tank, whirrrrrrrr. Click. KABOOM.

I'm not convinced these techniques are more dangerous than the stupid driving described. Not quite sure they're legal though :-)

I have to confess to being a bit of a road rager sometimes, but only when people are driving like monkeys!
I commute, and my route is half an hour and goes 30, 40, 30, 50, 40, 30, 60, 30, and there are SO MANY idiots who just go at 40 for the whole time - why do they think it's ok to speed in the 30 and then hold me the hell up in the 60?! It's not hard to shift your foot and go the right speed!
I do tend to drive right on limit because I know the roads, and I will overtake if someone is not doing the limit, but I never tailgate because it used to freak me out when I was learning! Tailgaters are just rude people who are too scaredy to overtake correctly so they try to intimidate folks.

Akak81 Well said about crap driving being the biggest issue. The war on speed should be a war on all crap drivers.

Your speedo legally has to read faster than you are going and this varies by car so you may well be driving 4/5mph under the speed limit.

There are fewer fatalities on motorways than on single carriageway roads despite the higher speeds.

A war on shit drivers would be wonderful. A shit driver at the speed limit is far worse than a good one exceeding it IMO

Op YANBU at all!

Ladycelia - It is highly advised that motorcycles ride with their lights on at all times, as it improves visibility to other road users (bearing in mind how vulnerable we are compared to those in cars).

I'm a motorcyclist and can honestly say i stick to the speed limit! I know too many who haven't, and have no wish to join them in the sky :-(

Speed limits are there to keep EVERYONE safe - fuck those who choose to ignore!

YANBU

The problem is that many, many drivers overestimate their own driving abilities - so whilst they might believe that their driving prowess should allow them to go faster, in actual fact they are not as good as they would like to think they are.

If I can wind someone up by driving at the speed limit then I am very satisfied - it's not my blood pressure, after all

YANBU! I live on a 30mph road and get annoyed with the people speeding past my house.

When I drive along my road I drive within the limit and sometimes at about 25 because , living on the road I know the potential dangers ( dodgy junctions where there have been a few accidents, a particular cat that belongs to a friend and is insisting on using up it's nine lives as soon as it can) There are also cars parked on both sides of the road making visibility of children and pedestrians difficult.

I am always being harassed by cars using my road as a rat run. They drive up really close behind and If I dare to slow down to turn into my driveway I get drivers trying to overtake me while I wait to turn.

Someone recommended to me to put my back windscreen wash on, as it will spray the car behind. Works a treat. By the way, you are not being unreasonable. I got done for speeding (not intentional, silly absentmindedness) and the letter clearly states that someone tailgating you is not an excuse for speeding.

Thing is sirchenjin there are also plenty of highly skilled drivers out there who can 'make progress' quite safely.

I think the answer is to concentrate on driving safely yourself even if there is an idiot tailgating you.

Everyone is just trying to make their journey from A to B and it's not worth getting wound up about.

I hate hate HATE idiots who get up my arse.
I passed my test in January this year, still not the most confident of drivers and to be honest, if I get over a certain amount of points in the first two years after passing I have to retake my test and as I took SIX before passing I am never, ever doing another.
So that is what I chant to myself through gritted teeth when some prick usually in a white van is festering at my rear end while I am dead on 30:
'It's not worth it, its not worth it...'
There would be no fun without rules :)

The white van man thing is unfortunately alive and well round here. They come from nowhere and then you look in the rear view mirror and all you can see is an upside down copy of The Sun in their front window.

YANBU. Unless you are one of the people who justify staying in the middle or fast lane of the motorway, even when the inside lane is clear, because "I am doing the speed limit" .

It you are in a 30mph zone, then it is going to be a built up area isn't it? They have the speed limits for a reason. Only twats speed through built up areas.

As for the headlights on in the day time - I hate it. I always think it's the police trying to pull me over for some reason! They make me nervous (and annoyed).

Generally open on page 3 Sparkling?

AKAK81 and does being "highly skilled" make your stopping distances any lower? No. And that is the main reason for speed limits. Lower MPH = shorter stopping distance = life or death for a child.

Stopping distance is important, yes.

But reaction time is important too. Skilled drivers read the road better so react sooner.

Being highly skilled means you shouldn't be in the position where you're travelling at such a speed to kill a pedestrian in a built up area. It also means having the observational skills and situational awareness to spot hazards developing before other drivers. So yes an advanced driver is likely to have reacted quicker and been on the brakes earlier so will stop quicker BUT should have been travelling at an appropriate speed in the first place. Stopping distances are a complete load of bollocks anyway unless you're driving a 1960s car.

Exactly 30MPH on your speedo is more like 25/26 miles a hour. Speedos are all clocked faster that your actual speed.

then you look in the rear view mirror and all you can see is an upside down copy of The Sun in their front window. ha ha, v funny, but unfortunately true. 10-3 in London when white van man is out in force is such a horrendous time to drive.

YANBU.
Speeding and tailgating are overly tolerated.
I feel sick when I think of the number of children killed on our roads.
But that's ok because ppl like to drive fast and their journeys and deadlines are so fucking important.