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!!!

Osmio I can, I failed 4 tests and remember my instructor spitting with rage when I failed one test for doing something that was the complete opposite of what I'd failed the previous test for. He'd been in the back of the car both times and tried to point out to the assessor, who had assessed me both times, how ridiculous that was.

What do you mean by too slow
Too slow for what?
An impatient idiot like you?
And I see lots of them like you on the country roads near here going too fast to stop if they need to.You are the reason why country roads are more dangerous than bigger roads.Fools like you who think they are 'good drivers' and invincible.

totally agree pixiepotter, I was driving along these country lanes in my usual manner the other day, eg about 40 tops, I mean I really do know these roads, and there was this maniac in a very clean (eg not local) beamer tailgating me, well the next moment a huge straw truck came around the corner, so i had to brake sharply, and the silly cow behind drove into me! (just a bump but still)
when she got out of the car i realised she must have come from the city judging by clothes/clean car/accent and just had no idea at all of how to drive in the country!
she did look relieved when i let her off on the grounds that my car is an old shed anyway!

YABU. As a novice driver I very often drive at 45mph on NSL rural roads. They be very bendy and twisty round yur! Not to mention completely waterlogged in many places too ATM.

I passed my driving test 15 months ago at the ripe old age of 51 and driving around Bristol during my test I only averaged about 26-27 mph. And over the course of my 130 hours of driving tuition I was never once told off for driving too slowly!

well done btw pacifist, i was 45 when i passed!

Confused point taken. I think that this thread has shown us that no real 'one size fits all' when it comes to roads.

On my regular drive I have a 45 degree bend onto a slip road. I take the bend at around 15 because it can have oncoming traffic which is often obscured. However, the slip road is long enough to allow acceleration to near 65 to join the flow (conditions permitting).

I was failed twice for driving 'with excessive caution'.

For all of you complaining of drivers going too slow on a country road with a 60 limit, and blaming other drivers for going 40.

If you plough into the back of my tractor - who is at fault here?

When you are on a country road, you share it with humble farmers, not all of whom have a top of the range 45mph John Deeres, would you question their right to use a country road.

Perhaps tractors should be restricted to 30mph zones in city centres?

Currently, they are allowed to use dual carriageways. Should this be stopped?

Country lanes are not just a way into towns.

I drive a bloody great big van, if I'm driving at 60 and round a bend to find a kid on a horse I'm not going to be able to stop on a sixpence, I'm afraid I would rather piss you off behind me than have a kid all over my front grill

We live in a rural area. The road between our village and the next one has a limit of 60mph. The road is fairly narrow, very windy, with blind junctions. Anyone doing 60 would be insane. Cyclists and horseriders use it a lot, and it's impossible to see round the windy sections. If you came flying round a bend at 60 to find a cyclist or rider in front of you and a car coming the other way, there would not be room to overtake.

There is another road out of our village which leads in the other direction, Also 60mph.It is wider, smoother and straight, with good visibility. I usually drive at 60 along this and then get overtaken by idiots doing 80

I never said I tail gated anyone. I simply wait til it's safe to overtake. Or that I'm constantly going at 60. Or that I need to get back to 60 as quick as humanly possible. I don't know home many times I've said it, I drive a Picasso. A breeze block on wheels and it's only 1.6. If I've managed to overtake you then you must be going slow!

The deathbend is at the bottom of a small hill and very adequately signposted. The people who miss it are 'boy racers'. Most people slow to approx twenty id say. I'm not 100% I'll look today but you just slow down til you feel safe. This is also a main connector route so it's busy for a country road. Luckily I'm a few hours before rush hour.

To PP who said about driving a huge van, you'd fall under the category of vehicles like tractor, bus, lorry. You may be carrying precious cargo (yes I realise anybody could be but it's more likely a van will be) or the extra height means you can't take the curves fast.

OP, you describe the road as "twisty" and "a fun drive." Hand on heart, do you ever drift over the centre line out of a bend while having your 'fun drive'? That's a very quick way to kill a biker.

OP I am with you. I live in a rural area and am frustrated every day by people driving at 40 mph or less on straight, good roads with good visibility and in nice weather. It gives me the rage.

It is obvious that in bad weather, in the dark or when behind vehicles which cannot go any faster then you have to be patient.

I am a very careful driver too. I also go much slower on roads which are narrow, twisty and have no road markings.

Is some one doesn't feel safe/simply doesn't want to do 60 on that road I'm not going to scare them more by tailgating or push them along like a snow plough. I'm not their mother, nor am I more important than them. If anything, tailgating would lead to them slowing down further to annoy me so it's lose/lose. I don't know why this assumption I drive like a dick. I drive at the speed safe to do so. In a way that's safe to do so. You'd have thought that goes without saying

Thanks little white bag!

No the dog, I don't because it's not the type of road that you'd need to. It's very wide and you don't even have to brake for those lovely curves. Slow down and ease off accelerator yes. Brake no. It's a bloody beautiful road!!!

The country B road near us is a '60', it varies between long straights with no driveways, where 60 is completely safe to hairpin bends where you have to drive 30mph or end up in the verge.

It concerns me how formulaic people tend to see driving these days, you have to adjust your speed to the conditions, but lots of people I know don't seem to 'get' this.

Phew :)

There's a rule in California that if you get 3 people behind you, you have to pull over and let them go. Sometimes I think we should have the same!

I drive a classic car that is (if I'm honest) underpowered for modern traffic. On the A roads across the Scottish border I get stuck behind guys in Jags and BMWs doing 40 or less...for miles, and miles, and miles. I know what my excuse for being slow is, and I do wonder what theirs is!

Possibly the woman who goes so slowly is is partitially slow on that road because its terrible for agressive tailgaters? Especially if you can see her driving pose at dusk....

60 on non-trunk roads is very much a limit not a target. On the majority of B or non-numbered roads and quite a few A roads 60 would be downright dangerous.

You mention one corner on that road which is known for accidents: if someone doesn't know the road well then they don't know the rest aren't as bad. Plus there could always be a stopped car/child/animal around the next bend.

Apart from the death bend obv! You have to brake for that!

Yes mrs cog. Do what feels safe, no formula as such

There are too many assumptions on this thread.

I live in a rural area. Not all of the roads near me are narrow and winding. There are some roads where it is perfectly safe to drive at 60 mph. People don't ride horses on these roads because they are too busy and the traffic is too fast.

Like the OP I drive according to the road and the conditions. I am not a speed merchant, but if it is a clear straight road with very little traffic, no horses or bikes I will drive nearer the speed limit than on a winding road that has lots of horse droppings on.

Yes, but if you don't know the road well how do you know which the "death bend" is?

And I live and grew up in rural areas. I know that there are plenty of safe trunk roads to drive at 60 on, but I wouldn't describe them as country roads, I would describe them as trunk roads or rural A roads.

"I would describe them as trunk roads or rural A roads."

The ones I am referring to are as you describe. I wouldn't drive at 60 on our little roads - too many horses round here, plus unexpected bends. Also the vile weather we have been having means that there is a lot of mud and large puddles on the edges and most vehicles tend to drive in the middle of the road to avoid them.

No mines a pint, she drives like that cuz she's a dick. At the risk of sounding harsh, no one needs full beam on at dusk. She drives the road every day. She should know it. She's clearly terrified of it. Makes sense to me that she finds another route. There are other routes. Her I'll be harsh about. Most other people there's no need.

The death bend is clearly a death bend. You can see it from the hill. Both directions whether up or down it. You'd have to be not paying attention to miss it. Those people also shouldn't be on that particular road

I also hate people who drive very slowly with no good reason. Obviously if vision is restricted for any reason you wouldn't do the speed limit, if you do you are a crap driver and a bloomin hazard, but on perfectly safe roads driving along at 35/40 is just irritating. And as noted before half of the people who insist on doing 40 in a safe 60 will be the ones who don't slow down for the 30's further along. I'm beggared if I can understand that one.
We have similar roads around here (edge of Yorkshire backing onto Derbyshire), and those drivers do make me mutter under my breath in a very grumpy manner. I do wonder if some people just don't know the NSL, I also have a NSL single carriageway very close to my house in which I daily get stuck behind people religiously doing 50mph for absolutely no good reason (it's huge and wide and straight and well away from all houses, you could manage it at 100 easily if it wasn't illegal iyswim). I can only assume that most of those just don't know what the NSL actually is. Worrying really.

There are some really poor drivers on this thread. People 'getting the rage', being grumpy or actually 'hating' other people for not driving fast enough for their own needs. Surely then you are psychologically compromised for being in charge of a car.

Yay mrs tigs. Welcome to the good side!!! I'm running really late today. Just dropped off DD ten mins later than i aim to get to work so in gonna be stuck behind a few

One guy at my work thought the limit on the road was 40 for about five years before I had this discussion with him