To think driving 20 miles under the speed limit is really dangerous?

[Subtext]

There's a long stretch of B road near my parents' place where the speed limit is 60 mph.

I can't tell you how many times I've been stuck behind someone pootling along at 40mph. It happened again today and this time the person I was stuck behind was indicating right for the whole length of the two mile stretch. Ie shit driver.

It's so annoying. And apart from anything else it's really dangerous to drive too slowly. Really boils my piss.

AIBU to think if the speed limit is 60 you should more or less attempt to drive at 60?

Sorry to go on, but our attitude in the UK was explained by my instructor. We come from a country which is law abiding, which has clear laws that are generally enforced and which looks after us when we are wronged. This tends to give us an entitled attitude. 'He was too slow/not obeying the Highway Code/ etc etc.' If we were to live in a country where there are few laws or laws which are not enforced (laws which are not enforced are no laws at all) - and there are more like that than We would be far less likely to whine about others' poor driving and far more likely to drive defensively and responsibly and thus have fewer accidents. An interesting consequence of being well cared for by the authorities perhaps .

What are you supposed to do about tail gaters?

I always just slow down and keep going slower and slower and slower until they overtake me (yes nobber, that's why God put that lane there, why didn't you do that sooner) but I'm not sure that's what you're supposed to do.

On a motorway you move out towards the line as this is a confident act that makes you 'own' the road and puts you in charge . There are other tips but that is the simple one and weirdly, they will usually drop back. Our instinct is to do what you do but It apparently signifies weakness to idiots.

I must say that on country roads I slow to allow them
To pass but I am always expecting a horse or cow to be round the next corner.

Yes, you slow down to increase the stopping distance ahead of you too. So that you don't have to brake so hard when a deer runs out in front of you (say) and therefore Mr Up-Your-Arse-Audi doesn't take your bumper off.

Once, in India, there was an elephant on the motorway.

I think it depends on the road as to whether yabu or yanbu. If i go one way out from my house there is a lovely straight road about 2.5 miles long with a 60 limit. I get stuck behind the 40 "milers" all the time, one who even flashed me when i overtook them (absolutely no incoming traffic). Those drivers are a danger and shouldn't be on the road.

If I go the other way it is a curvy road where driving at 40mph is completely appropriate and to go faster would be dangerous as there might be a hidden obstruction / cyclist etc round the corner.

There is a b road between our village and the next one. The road is Nsl, so 60mph. However, it is narrow, windy and with high hedges either side. It is used by horse riders and cyclists. There are very few bits of it where I feel it is safe to do 60mph, as you don't know if there is a cyclist or horserider round the corner.

There is one corner which has someone flipping their car into the hedge on a fairly regular basis, as they have taken the corner too fast, presumably thinking that as the speed limit is 60mph, that's what it's safe to do.

I drive at 40mph for most of the road and don't feel that I need to apologise to anyone for doing so.

Slipshod, you mean move over towards the line on the overtaking lane without slowing down?

Really?

That's v. counter-intuitive isn't it.

I will do that next time and see if it results in the nobber overtaking quicker.

Although obv, motorway tailgaters are different from country road tailgaters in that they actually have another (2) lanes to move into, which makes me even more irritated with htem. There's no excuse for tailgating anywhere, but on a motorway when there's actually a free lane on your right... well.

Yes - it is for motorways. It happens here sometimes but frequently in countries with worse driving cultures and those where women are perceived to be worse drivers ( just about everywhere then). If we helpfully shift ourselves towards the hard shoulder we are sending a subliminal message that we are weak and the behaviour (intimidating closeness and flashing lights - that kind if thing) continues. I think that's the basis of much of it. It's a kind of bullying isn't it?

Yes it is. It's mostly nothing to do with actual driving to your destination.

This is probably why I get so many tailgaters even when I'm doing the speed limit - I'm a fairly new driver and do have a tendency to sit further to the left than central in my lane!

Wobbly (page 1 comment) - Your statement about being pulled over in the US for doing 20 under is a little misleading. I know this because our road signs here in the MidWest have a 45 miniumum (there are signs) for a 65 road, leads me to believe MORE than 20 under isn't permitted.

The road I was on when I saw a car being pulled over for doing 20 below the speed limit did not have a minimum posted speed. I am not in the mid-west, and the only roads in my state with a minimum posted speed are freeways.

So I'm not being misleading at all.

But aren't limits lower in the US than the UK? I've lived in a lot of different countries, some with highly dangerous roads and bad drivers, but I find people drive very fast here in towns and on B roads

The road I was on at the time was the equivalent of an A road and it has a 60mph limit. The freeways where I live have a 70mph limit, most A road equivalents are 40-60mph depending on the conditions, and around town it's 25mph...

Id say traveling at anything between 50 and 60 is ideal in a 60 limit area as long as its not foggy or really wet. It's normal for the odd person to be traveling at 45 on a 60 road too though and other drivers should expect this. We all know old people exist and might want to drive somewhere. I dislike it when drivers travel at 70 and tail gate normal drivers.

I think the main problem is impatient drivers and the reckless overtaking they do when stuck behind anyone going slower. Best thing for you to do is relax and have the expectation that you will need to drive at 40 along that road. It's really not worth you stewing over - total over reaction on your part.