To think that 40 in a 60 is too slow

[TwittyMcTwitterson]

Ok, so you're driving on a country road. The speed limit is 60. It has officially been deemed as safe to drive at 60. So why do so many people tootle along at 40 or less??? That's 2/3rds of the safe speed for that road and the limit safe for a lot of residential areas. If you do my feel safe driving at that speed then don't use the road! I'm fed up of getting caught behind Sunday drivers!!!

Do not feel safe *

I do 60 on roads I know (when it's safe to) but on new roads I am unfamilliar with I go slower as it's safer to - slow down and enjoy the scenery :) and breath

It's a speed limit it's not a target speed

depends, can't say without seeing and driving on the road! some little country lanes round here are 70 but you'd be mad to drive at that speed as they're single track and horses use them

Yabu 60 is a maximum not a requirement. I know a lot of country roads which are the national speed limit but doing it would be suicidal.

YANBU - It's far too slow, and arguably more dangerous.

I briefly worked with a woman that would drive at 40mph on dual carriageways, she used to whinge on and on about how dangerously people drove, she'd had numerous accidents. I don't think that is a coincidence. She was a very annoying woman.

"some little country lanes round here are 70"

Are you sure? What country do you live in?

YABU - Better to be late in this world than early in the next...

Depends. I use country roads day in and out. Some areas have SL at 50 or 30 which is way too fast for some of the stretches, especially depending on the driving conditions - weather - darkness etc. We also have loads of cyclists, horses and bends ( never mind the poor suicidal pheasants) - I try to drive with this in mind.

I passed my test about 18 months ago. There is a country road which is part of the test routes and is officially a 60 - the instructor told me that if you did more than about 40 on that road you WOULD be failed for driving unsafely as the road simply isn't safe to take at 60.

60 is just a blanket limit where no one has bothered to check the road and actually set a suitable speed.
I get your frustration at 40mph on a straight clear stretch of road, but I don't think you can generalise.

What pisses me off is people who drive at 40 all the time. Clearly paying no attention to surroundings

In general I'd say YANBU - you can fail your test for driving too slowly when the conditions warrant progressing at or near the speed limit, and I know how frustrating it is to be stuck behind a car pootling along at 40 on a perfectly safe stretch of NSL road with good visibility. However, there are some roads which I, as a confident driver with 20+ years of experience, would not feel safe hurtling round at 60: narrow unfamiliar winding lanes with high hedges can all too easily have a horse and rider round the next corner, plus some of the really rural roads where I used to live were in such poor condition with potholes due to frost damage etc that it would have been suspension suicide to try to traverse them at 60.

siutheastastra do you live in the UK? Only as far as I am aware there aren't any 70mph single carriageway roads. There are plenty of national speed limit roads but as they are single carriageway the NSL would be 60mph. NSL is only 70mph on a dual carriageway.

The road my cottage is on is a 60 (I can see the no more restrictions sign from my window). You would be in a horrible accident if you did 60. Or at least horses or other road users would be.

Also, 40 in a 60 is fine. Not everyone feels the need for speed.

YABU

Most country roads are 60 limits. It doesn't mean it is safe, just that they aren't in a built up area. They range from wide, straight two lane A-roads to single track roads with blind bends and high verges. 60 is safe on the first and criminally insane on the second.

The other problem with country roads is that unless you know them, you don't know whether they are safe-to-go-at-sixty roads or if you are about to hit a 90 degree bend with an animal crossing point just on the other side.

If I dont know the road ill go at about 45mph. Unless its a straight road with good visibility then ill get nearer the NSL.

Are you my dh, op?

It's a basic principle that you should always be able to stop within the distance you can see ahead of you. That might be the distance to the next vehicle, on a straight road, or it might be as far as the next blind bend.

Or put it another way, imagine there is a child riding a horse just around the next corner. Or a flock of sheep. Or a deer.

Could you stop in time if you were driving at 60? If so, YANBU. But the chances are that the reason others are driving at 40 because the visibility is such that 60mph is too fast for the road conditions.

YANBU !! Driving that slow on a country road is just as dangerous as driving too fast . I driving a country road to work and it drives me loopy when I get stuck behind a slow driver . I was once behind someone doing 30 in a 60 .

I have killed met one suicidal rabbit in this particular road. It's my route to work. It's generally a fun and nicely curvy road. Few sharp corners etc but ok if you keep your wits about u! Every winter if I leave when I'm supposed to I get caught behind a lady in a one series, lights on full at THIRTY and I've overtaken and her nose is basically on the steering wheel. This is at 4.30 at the start of winter when it's no more than twilight. She's the most annoying one.

Yes it's a limit not a target but it's too slow!

I'm guessing PP means those country roads that have sections of dual carriageways or isn't in uk.

Thanks for support guys. I'm always told I drive too fast. I generally go 55-60. 50 is acceptable I think. I drive a shit Picasso. If I can get to 60 so can they

Often 40 in a 60 would be too slow. But the speed limit being 60 doesn't mean somebody has decided that's a safe speed to drive at.

The national speed limit applied to every rural road when it was introduced, and lower limits have only been introduced piecemeal where local authorities have specifically decided to do so. Often they will only have bothered for main roads with a lot of traffic.

That's why you quite often turn off an 'A' road with a 50 or even a 40 limit onto a tiny single track lane full of blind corners and pass a sign telling you you're suddenly allowed to accelerate to 60!

Yes ThursdayLast , those that stick to 40mph regardless are the worst of the worst. How can you think it acceptable to speed through a village but pootle along 20mph under the speed limit on a clear straight stretch of road?

Having broke 2 wheel rims in 2 days on country lanes I am not going to go over 20mph until the pot holes have been repaired sorry I hope you are not behind me

Agree with others who have said that it is not always safe to drive at 60 on NSL roads. However was stuck behind some absolute turd the other day who was attempting to join the motorway (busy, but free flowing) by driving down the slip road at 40. Now that was dangerous.

Oh, and I'm slightly terrified to find that someone who holds a driving licence thinks that the speed limit means that "It has officially been deemed as safe" to drive at that speed. That's really scary.