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!!!

MinesAPint I would read the road signs and judge the conditions, like I would do on any road. Black-and-white arrows, "road bend" signs, "slow" on the road, perhaps an advisory speed limit, not being able to see round the bend = "tight bend, slow down on approach". It's fairly basic road sense based on experience.

I drive all over the country on holiday including unfamiliar roads in rural areas. I have on occasion been that uncertain driver not feeling confident to drive at the speed limit on a strange road - and if I start holding people up because of it, I pull in as soon as I safely can and let them past. Apart from anything else, I'd rather they were in front of me and out of my way than potentially getting frustrated behind me! I don't see it as a badge of honour to be the sanctimonious twat holding up the traffic because I have decided that the speed limit on that road is too fast and so everyone else must obey my law. I drive to the conditions and that frequently means being at or close to the speed limit, and where it doesn't I still try to be considerate to other road users who may be more familiar/comfortable with the local roads.

I think because of my constant driving of country roads I know what is safe and what isn't. Maybe that's my problem.
Yes, you get to know the road, you know what bends are coming up, whether they are wide or tight, where the road narrows, straightens out , which corners sheep are likely to be hiding around, where there are potholes.
Other road users may not know these things and have to go slower.
My drive to work is 60speed limit. I often slow to 30 and never go past 40. I was overtaken by someone on a straight run once only for him to fail to anticipate the next bend. If there had been someone coming in the opposite direction to him, he would have killed them.
Absolute wanker. His Merc. made a big hole in a dry stone wall and he was very very sad.

"I don't see it as a badge of honour to be the sanctimonious twat holding up the traffic because I have decided that the speed limit on that road is too fast and so everyone else must obey my law."

Excellent post Select. There are a lot of assumptions and smuggery on this thread. I also drive according to the road conditions. Sometimes that means 20 mph, other times nearer 60 mph on a NSL road. I agree that some drivers genuinely don't know what the NSL is.

Incidentally, I use up more fuel at 40 than at 50 because my car isn't happy doing 40 in 5th gear.

Definitely not unreasonable. There is a reason you are failed in the driving test for driving more than a couple of miles below the speed limit where it is safe to do so.

As others have mentioned, in my experience, those who trundle along at 40 in a NSL almost invariably then plough through the 30mph speed limits without slowing down as they enter my parents' village - they are never decent drivers with a better sense of what is safe, they are just bad drivers without a clue, likely to cause accidents as a result of their lack of observation, whilst also causing no end of frustration to other road users.

Anyone with the "we'll all get there in the end" mentality needs to be given a lifetime buspass instead of a driving licence.

I think there needs to be a limit on how many times you can take your test before you are deemed unsuitable to be put in charge of a motor vehicle. It is just beyond some people.

Jesus Yabvu

I live on a 60 road. It's way too fast a limit for a bendy country road which goes on for a number miles.

There are always always holes in the hedges and cars in ditches where the stupid wankers don't know they should have slowed down.

I don't care about them anymore.

The selfish speed obsessed bastards, taking no care with their own lives or anyone else's.

I agree it is frustrating but I also think that 60 may not always be a safe speed.

I use similar roads every day and have been mostly lucky, however, early one very dark morning I was confronted by a roaming herd of cows on the road, and often there is debris, once got a branch stuck under my car.

Garnet and select, you're great. Ms... You're part of the problem ha!

I meant I know country roads, not just that one. They generally the don't make me nervous. Single lane ones do obviously as some knob could be coming the other way in the middle at 60.

Today I was behind another regular, a white van man who works opposite me. He was doing 60ish and it was lovely. Only issue was a guy who pulled out of a t junction on a non rural very wide and straight part of the road. Would have been fine if he was doing a sensible speed as he accelerated quickly but because he stopped accelerating when he hit 40, I had to slow down a lot as not to hit him. If at 60 we could have driven along together happily not affecting one another. Obv I slowed down when he pulled out anyway as you do. And no, I didn't tailgate

It depends on the road. There's a good, wide, smooth road out of our estate, so mainly local traffic. In most conditions, most traffic comfortably goes at 50 to 60 mph. Then you get the people who pootle along at just under 40 all the way at a flat rate. They inevitably speed, up when they reach the 40 at the end of the road. Presumably they are ignorant to what a national speed limit sign means.

I was once pulled over by the police for doing 19 in a 30 on a road with speed humps and strewn with parked cars. I'd had the car 5 days and was still getting used to it and it was a foul night. That's the same ratio as 40 in a 60.

Narrow, rough, winding country lanes are different. A good driver will adjust their speed according to the conditions, not drive at a flat rate.

I do agree with the fact that some speed limits should be ignored. In the sense that some roads are only posted as a 60 by default and you should be driving at a much slower speed. This isn't the issue. It's those roads where there is no reason to drive slower, or certainly not at half the posted speed limit, that is the topic here. It's an assumption that those who like to do the speed limit where it is safe to do so must be idiots that always do the limit regardless of the road or conditions. There are idiots that do this, but I don't personally and I'm not unique.

Evees mummy you sound truly obnoxious.

YANBU.

People often drive way slower than the conditions allow and waste a lot of other people's time. Obviously this is lower impact individually buy overall can still cause a lot of harm. I did some maths recently to check on this see below:

The death rate on UK roads is actually very low. 1600 deaths per year x 40 years average lost life / 64million people = 0.1% of each life wasted due to accidents each year.

The amount of time we spend driving which is also pretty much lost time (certainly commuting behind 40 everywhere people) is very high. Typical mileage of 10000 at 33mph average = 300 hours = 5.1% of (waking) life spent each year driving. If average was increased to 40mph then 250 hours = 4.2% of life spent this way.

If you need to drive slowly fine, but please pull over if someone behind you is being held up.

Ruddy, if I'm obnoxious then so are all the people on this thread who agree with me. If you have nothing nice to say, shut the fuck up.

In NI your speed is capped at 45 for the first year after passing your test. 45 on the motorway. TERRIFYING.

In principle that's a good idea stokes. How do they enforce it?

I live in a rural area and this isn't the big annoyance to me as some country roads are not safe at 60 etc etc as has been said. However, what happens to me several times a week is that I end up going up fairly steep hills behind somebody (huge generalisation but they are usually an elderly lady or gent in a micra) who fails to change down gears as they go uphill. This results in them going slower and slower until the just crawl over the top of the hill almost at a standstill.
This is hugely dangerous as they actually clearly don't know how to control their car. It also causes massive tailbacks.

The other main menace on rural country roads around here appears to be the Royal Mail vans. I've seen some of the posties round here drive like maniacs, ok they probably know the road but how can they predict when there will be dog walkers, cyclists, horses etc.....they can't.

Why would you enforce stokes suggestion OP? That's going against your own argument.

Specialsubject your last comment is offensive!! The OP is entitled to an opinion.

Some roads are suitable to drive at 60 some are not. Without knowing the road the OP is talking about, none of is can know if she is BU.

Where the conditions at conducive to driving at NSL, slow driving can be more dangerous, as people get frustrated and are tempted to take risks and overtake. Sad but true.

YABVU. We used to live on a single lane, high verge with hedgerows, twisty network of roads that had a 60 limit by default. It was insanity. The road was too narrow to even accommodate a person and a car; if you heard a car coming you had to jump on the verge and hope for the best. Being rural roads they were used a lot by walkers, some with dogs or small children or prams, cyclists and horse riders but were actually exceptionally dangerous. In the 3 years we lived there we had seen 3 accidents with cars ploughing into each other because no one was sensible enough to slow down.

Nothing could be done to widen the roads as this would involve destroying the protected hedgerows, and at the same time all the farms were being converted to multiple dwellings really increasing the car traffic - it was a nightmare and I was so glad when we moved out.

Yes, the idea of lovely country living, living with nature etc. The roads are too bloody scary and treacherous for children usually.

I never understand how people seem oblivious as to the driver at the front with a long line of traffic behind them. Unless they aren't checking their rear-view mirror, surely that is a clear sign that they are going too slowly for the road.

Those of you saying "YABU" based on then quoting details of a particular road local to you that you know is unsuitable to drive at NSL must have missed these comments from the OP:

"This doesn't include those roads where it's full on suicidal to go at 60"

and

"I'm not suggesting the whole road is 60, corners and all but as a general the safe straight bits are 50+ ish"

or

"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."

You're being as guilty of generalising all country roads as unsuitable for NSL based on a portion of your local terrain as you seem to think the OP is being for wanting to travel at the NSL on the roads which are suitable.

The roads are too bloody scary and treacherous for children usually

Too right.

I wish the scary speedsters would do 60 outside my house. It's perfectly legal. Just not safe. We need two people to actually die rather than just injure themselves, or destroy property with their stupid cars.

We had a fatality outside our house last year. 42 year old family man. Shame. We need two more fatalities before the council will consider reducing the speed limit. It would be great if we had those fatalities sooner rather than later, so it isn't my DC who become the statistics.

As long as the weather and road conditions are OK, then yes, 40 in a 60 is far too slow.

I live in a rural area popular with holiday makers, it can take hours to get anywhere and it's bloody annoying when you're trundling along at 40mph on a beautifully clear, straight NSL road

I don't charge along at 60 if the road conditions mean that it's unsafe, but really, if the road and conditions are OK then people really should be at or near the speed limit, or at least pull over and let the tailback behind you pass

Gosh, that's really creepy - is that how they decide? Waiting for more deaths.
We live in the countryside but in a purpose built estate with cycle path and a park. Roads are designed for traffic calming. Some folk think it's a bit naff but it is so child friendly and the kids have had loads more freedom.