Slow Motorway Driving

[allmycats]

AIBU to think that if you are driving on the motorway and you are passed by me towing our caravan - bearing in mind that whilst towing said caravan I am restricted to 60mph then you are going too slow. I am getting truly cross with the number of people driving in the slow lane at speeds of circa 50mph - whilst I appreciate that speed limits are not target speeds you need to drive in a manner that is safe and going too slow is just as bad as going too fast. me and my caravan do not like being in the middle lane, causing inconvenience for those behind me when you are simply driving like a tosser in the inside lane at 45-50mph - Rant Over !!

[HauntedNoddyCar]

The aim should be to drive appropriately for the conditions. On a dry, free flowing motorway where there are no special factors then everyone should be tending towards the speed of the majority of traffic. Doing 40 while everyone else is doing 70 makes you a rolling road block. Doing 60 less so.

Still it's different not as bad as the night on the M4 when someone had stopped in the middle lane to retrieve items from their roofrack.

[PansBigChainring]

Um..yes it does help as I am one less rushing to the next bottle-neck. And yes it is safer - speed kills. So in summary, don't blame the folk who do 50ish for your poor driving skills. People travel at varying speeds, and this isn't one dominated by the needs of caravan-tuggers to travel at their max speed allowed (OP). And learn some patience. Some of you need to check your blood pressures!!

[pebblyshit]

Dawdling on the motorway isn't safer. It just isn't. We all have to share the road and we should all make an effort to do so courteously. Driving 20 mph below the speed limit and thinking 'I'm all right, Jack' causes a lot of unnecessary braking and overtaking. It also causes people further back on the road to wonder wtf is going on when they see all the brake lights, which causes more braking and traffic jams to form while the dawdlers potter at the front of mile long queues absolutely oblivious.

I'm not talking about when the road conditions and traffic volumes mean 50mph is appropriate, I mean when everyone else is doing 70 and suddenly you find yourself braking behind someone doing a speed much slower than everyone else.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

My driving skills are just dandy

[BoneyBackJefferson]

but pan you are the bottle neck.

[Raskova]

Haunted, it is I with the s reg Beemer! It's all fixed and perfect now! Mass air flow! Better than any Shitroen I love all your car stories

Pans, 70 isn't an horrific speed that people should be terrified of. It's an appropriate speed and does not cost that much more fuel wise. You could simply pick any number and say

yes, I want to drive at 40 everywhere because I'll save £3 a week and it is perfectly safe because I say so and will completely disregard a whole forum of sensible drivers because I AM right

And to the pp who said most slow drivers are old. And female. I was about to give it a how dare you but then I realised you're bloody right

I'm female, I drive like a male and at over 30k a year I am accident free. (Well it's never been my fault )

[YellowTulips]

Pans - you are talking rubbish.

Driving at 50 on a motorway (with the exception of where a 50 limit is enforced) thus causing lorries to overtake you is a contributor to congestion.

It also causes significant breaking/acceleration from cars around you which impedes overall traffic flow.

If that's your chosen comfort speed then fair enough to a degree but don't try and sell it as saintly driving - it's not.

It's about appropriateness of speed - which on a motorway in good conditions I would say 50mph is right on the lower limit.

[PansBigChainring]

Nooo, never been a bottle neck - though I usually meet LOTS of bottle-neckers when at the end of the m/way etc.
No 70 isn't a horrific speed and no-one said it is.
end of table tennis! Drive carefully!

[YellowTulips]

Can I suggest you haven't seen the bottleneck Pans because you use your rear view mirror with the same hesitancy as your accelerator - thus oblivious to the hordes behind you?

[HauntedNoddyCar]

Oh excellent news on the Beemer! Glad you're converted too. Did wonder how you'd got on :)

[Abra1d]

Pans you really need motorway driving lessons if you are not happy to drive faster than that.

[SheherazadeSchadenfreude]

Why do the Brits always hog the middle lane on a motorway, even when there is nothing at all, for miles, in the inside lane? This is why I loathe driving on motorways here and will avoid it at all cost.

[Raskova]

Haunted, it was quite a while after it was finally fixed so I'd lost the thread.

Sheherazade, are you German? I can't explain the middle lane hogging. I can't stand it. Please know that 'idiots' and 'Brits' are generally two separate entities

[PenguinsLoveFishFingers]

God yes, this annoys me too.

However, not as much as the "I'm a careful driver" driver who goes everywhere other than a motorway at 40mph. I have an elderly relative who does this. Residential road- 40. Dual carriageway - 40. So bloody dangerous.

[SacreBlue]

Isn't it all about driving at a speed that is suitable for the conditions and that you feel in control of?

I drive quite fast on motorways but I have family who rarely have cause to be on motorways or in Belfast and who feel a bit intimidated when they have to drive somewhere unfamiliar to them.

I remember driving to and through Dublin the first time and, despite being a confident and fast driver, I found myself rather intimated by the speed of regular users I assume. I tried not to slow down too much but sometimes when you are not familiar with that stretch or are watching for a turnoff it can be difficult not to.

Hogging the middle lane - or fast lane is v annoying though.

[LongWayRound]

The national speed limit was set in 1978 - car technology has improved in leaps and bounds in 36 years, and cars are very capable of going faster than this with no issues.

Car technology has improved, but human eyesight and speed of reaction hasn't. The faster you go, the narrower your field of vision becomes. At 100 km/h (just over 62 mph) your horizontal visual field is only 40° (20° to the left and right of the line of sight). Source here So the higher your speed, the less likely you are to see possible hazards out of your direct line of sight.

[bigdog888]

There is no 'slow' or 'fast' lane, just lanes 1,2,3 etc. FFS how hard is this to understand? If you can't comprehend this then you shouldn't be on the road.

[revealall]

I feel sorry for European drivers over here. They really know how to use the overtaking lanes abroad.
I frequently use the M25 and can't understand why the two outside lanes are chocker whilst the slowest lane is totally empty. Really fustrating.
I think there should be a 15 second rule when you take your test. If you can't overtake in 15 seconds or less then stay in lane.

[PrincessOfChina]

I'm another one who failed their driving test for "failing to proceed at an appropriate speed". In my case I was doing about 40 or so on a 60mph country road.

Driving in appropriately, be that too fast or too slow, for the road and conditions is dangerous.

[pointythings]

'Speed kills' is too simplistic. Inappropriate speed kills. That can be either too fast or too slow. Adapt to the traffic and the conditions, be aware of what is happening around you and you'll be fine. Race or pootle along in a bubble feeling smug about what a wonderful driver you are and sooner or later you will come to grief.

[olgaga]

It's not speed that's the most important issue, whether too fast or too slow.

It's braking distance.

www.smartdriving.co.uk/Driving/DefensiveDriving/Motorway_driving/Mway%20article.html

[FamiliesShareGerms]

If you aren't capable of driving at 70 mph (not whether your vehicle is capable of going at 70mph - bet not many truckers pootle along at 55mph in their own cars) you shouldn't be on the motorway. Use the other roads for your journey, but going along at significantly less than the speed limit is a problem for the rest of the road users.

My pet hate is not using the slip road to get up to the speed of the road - it's downright madness to try to join a motorway going at 30mph, even those speed limited trucks will be going faster than that. And if you are in front if me when you slow down because it's all a bit much, you endanger me as well.

[TheTertiumSquid]

Ha! This was me yesterday. 45mph on the M25 & M23. To be fair it was twilight/dark and absolutely tipping it down with rain and there was shed loads of spray on that particular road surface. I couldn't see more than about 20m in front of me. I did speed up to 65 or 70 when the rain eased.
I don't understand the middle lane hogging comment - I've read it before on here but never seen it. But I think that may be because the only motorways I drive on are the m23 and m25 and they are always so busy, lane hogging isn't a thing. You are lucky if there is a space to even change lanes to overtake.