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 !!

[Abra1d]

Parts of the M25 specifically tell you not to change lane. Between the M4 and the M3, for instance, anticlockwise.

[bigdog888]

Got it in one Pointy failing to look properly kills more people on British roads than exceeding the speed limit. The 'speed kills' brainwashing seems to have quietly disappeared - I wonder if that's because it's not strictly true. Driving doesn't automatically become dangerous at 71mph or safe at 69mph. Personally I drive to the conditions rather than the speed limit.

[dolphinsandwhales]

Yanbu. It's dangerous to drive too slowly. I think the highway code says that you should drive at the speed limit unless it's unsafe to do so?

[mercibucket]

doubleha
it was me today doing 5mph in a bloody massive queue

i think we just mean 'when 70 is perfectly achievable without compromising safety - but some twit still insists on doing 45'

[FryOneFatManic]

I commute to work using the M1.

If I can get the speed up to 50 mph in the mornings I could jump for joy. Even the outside lane rarely gets up to 60 mph in my location!

It's all well and good spouting off about motorways being for fast driving, but between J21 and J21a, you'd be lucky to get any.

[ReadyToBreak]

OMG the M23/A23 is horrendous for middle lane hogging!!!! Some of the poorest motorway driving I've ever seen.

That stretch was my daily commute for 5 years until a month ago.

I had people stop(!!!), yes, stop(!!!!) at the end of slip roads onto the M23!

[FryOneFatManic]

Err, you are supposed to stop at the end of the slip road if your entry onto the motorway is blocked. In practice, I've only ever seen this when the traffic has gridlocked.

My normal thing is to match my speed to the vehicles on the motorway, pick a vehicle as "target" and slip in behind them. I thought that was how everyone did it.

[withextradinosaurs]

I was doing 50 yesterday because the car in front was doing 50 and I was settling in before committing to an overtake.

The chap behind me was swarming all over my bumper and giving me Italian-style "hands raised to the heavens" gesture.

As PP said, the government have thoughtfully provided two other lanes for him to pass me in.

He passed me, pulled in, and braked to 50 realising there was a car in front of me.

Yes, I gave him the Vs. with gusto.

Then I pulled out and passed the fucker.

[ReadyToBreak]

FryOne, the motorway has never been blocked in the instances I've encountered. It was just downright dangerous driving.

[ivykaty44]

Indridcold do you know why the lorry driving at slightly higher speed has to over take? Just curious if you know there is a reason and if you know what the reason is?

[messalina]

The slow drivers are annoying but I can cope with them on a motorway as I can overtake them. They are more annoying on an A road and a tually dangerous as their slow driving encourages frustrated drivers to overtake when it may not be safe to do so. What annoys me on motorways is the prick (always, always, always male) who cannot abide the idea of a small Polo in the fast lane and tail gates dangerously until Polo realises that he of big Range Rover is Man of High Net Worth with Large Prick and all must make way. WANKER!!!! and if anybody like that is reading, I bet you are really shit in bed and have halitosis.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

@ messalina I once had a man in a jag chase me most of the way home because I didn't pull into the completely full middle lane to let him pass. When I came to a stop he shouted at me. His wife looked like she wanted to curl up and die. I was driving faster than the middle and inside lanes, I couldn't magically disappear for his special jag. That's kind of what I said to him .

I tend to drive at 70mph (on the motorway!) weather permitting. I never tailgate, I put my lights on at dusk. If I had £1 for every "I drive at 50mph because it's safer" driver, driving without their lights on when they should have them on, I'd be able to quit my job tomorrow.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

@ messalina I once had a man in a jag chase me most of the way home because I didn't pull into the completely full middle lane to let him pass. When I came to a stop he shouted at me. His wife looked like she wanted to curl up and die. I was driving faster than the middle and inside lanes, I couldn't magically disappear for his special jag. That's kind of what I said to him .

I tend to drive at 70mph (on the motorway!) weather permitting. I never tailgate, I put my lights on at dusk. If I had £1 for every "I drive at 50mph because it's safer" driver, driving without their lights on when they should have them on, I'd be able to quit my job tomorrow.

[AnnField]

It wasn't on the motorway, but I was pulled over and breathalysed by the police yesterday for driving too slowly. Ironically, I was actually speeding at the time (doing 25 on a 20 road). I do think going too slow when conditions mean you don't need to is just as dangerous as going too fast.

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

This is why I need a tardis

[MrsMook]

When I passed my test, I took advantage of Pass Plus to be tutored on motorway driving, and it was very useful for learning good practice and gaining confidence.

Certain types of vehicle like tractors and low powered scooters/ motorbikes are prohibited because they can't reach the speeds expected in free flowing conditions. If I see a lorry, vintage car, caravan ahead, I can reasonably anticipate that they will be driving around 50-60mph and adjust my lane or speed accordingly. I keep left when not passing, but coming across a car randomly driving significantly slower than the flow of traffic is a hazard as you suddenly realise you have less reaction time than you anticipated, and frequently have to brake sharply as you can't safely pull out to overtake in the window of time avaliable. Particularly annoying is when it is shortly before a junction, and not appropriate to pass in a short distance, or it makes it considerably more difficult to pull in from lane 2.


There is a vile dual carriageway junction near me with a crossover. To join the dual carriageway safely you need a minimum of 40mph to merge with the traffic flow (generally doing 50mph), but traffic keeping left or turning off is decelarating to 20mph for a sharp bend. Several times someone keeping left has gone too slow in anticipation of the bend making it too dangerous to merge to the dual carriageway on the right, (short slip road, can be busy) necessitating a last minute change to the left, and a lengthy tour through the village to be able to loop round back to the junction to be able to start again.

[trixymalixy]

I'm at someone putting their fuel consumption above the safety of themselves and everyone else on the road. If you are causing lorries to overtake you then you are making the road far far more dangerous for absolutely everybody.

What's worse is that you think you are driving more safely than everyone else?!?! Baffling and quite terrifying.

Please at a minimum drive at the same speed as the trucks for all our sakes or get off the motorway.

My dad was stopped for driving too slowly on the motorway and a friend failed her driving test for going too slowly.

Going over the speed limit is stupid too, but driving slowly does not necessarily make you safer, you should be adapting your speed to the drivIng conditions and the flow of traffic.

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

I have a friend who does this, she's on a moterway shit loads of people are doing about a ton everybody else is doing 65-70 so she potters along at bang on 50 because and I quote "they shouldn't be going so fast I will slow them down"

She also drives everywhere else at 35 nobody but nobody I know will get in a car she's driving

[FryOneFatManic]

The slow, dangerous drivers are not just one the motorway, though.

The ones who tootle along at 50 on a motorway (when conditions permit faster driving), are the kind of people who will rigidly stick to 5-10 mph below the speed limit anywhere. They think it makes them a better driver. I reckon it makes them dangerous because if they're that inflexible with speed, then what other driving skills are they being rigid on? Would they be able to react properly to a sudden incident if required?

I had this conversation with someone once, pointing out to the smug git that being so rigid on speed might indeed mean he was unable to react properly in the event of an accident.

[mercibucket]

i dont know, Manic, they might be the ones with the same speed regardless

45mph on motorway
45 mph in a 30 zone

[unlucky83]

Alisvola I think I met that man ...coming down the M1 about 20 yrs ago...he couldn't bear to be overtaken by me in my little old battered Fiesta...
Empty motorway, Jag driver (and companion) in middle lane doing 60...I came up the inside lane and had to go across two lanes to overtake ....as soon as he realised he was being overtaken he sped up - I don't drive with my ego (plus fiesta vs Jag ) so I let him effectively undertake and dropped back to the inside lane, he sped ahead. Within a few minutes his speed had decreased again.... I caught up with him again so started moving to overtake and he moved into the outside lane still at 60 and stayed there ...
I go back to inside lane - empty middle lane -I think I'm going to stay where I am and do a reasonable speed and ignore him (apart from slowing down not to undertake him my speed was constant). He stayed in outside lane and kept pace with me for a while then sped off ahead again ....but his speed must have started dropping again, I caught up with him and this time I managed to sneak past him on the inside (he was still in the outside lane, empty middle lane) ...which in his world was obviously more acceptable ....

[FryOneFatManic]

Oh, we get loads of those around here as well, merci.

I long ago realised that it was best to keep a very large gap between me and the car in front, cos I could never be sure what they would do.

DP witnessed a fatal accident last year, and when giving a statement to the police (at home), he said that he could do 70mph right behind someone, or 70mph with a big gap. He'd take the gap because it gives him time to react, and he'd get home at the same time anyway.

I like driving fast, if conditions are right, but it is more important to me to observe everything, and make sure the speed is appropriate to the conditions. Recently had a sudden rain storm that reduced visibility to almost zero for a short while, which was tricky to negotiate.

[sashh]

My parents live near a motorway and a crematorium.

It is not unusual for the motorway to be down to 30 because no one wants to overtake the hearse.

[pointythings]

45mph on motorway
45 mph in a 30 zone

This ^^.

Drives me proper mad. We call them the '45 is a safe speed' brigade. The roads round my way are such that overtaking them safely simply isn't an option, so I don't try. Unfortunately other people do, and I've seen some scary near misses. These people should not be on the road, and we need more mobile speed cameras in the villages to catch them out.

I also hate people who cut in front of me - no, that isn't a gap, you plonker. That's my braking distance!

[thebodydoestricks]

No the inky thing that pissed me off are twats who speed right up to your arse in the inside lane.

Fuck off.