To think you can't just trundle along at any old speed you fancy...

[TallulahTwinkletoes]

I fully expect to get flamed for this because I know I'm a tad over the top about this but it's my pet hate so here goes.

If say be gentle but I know this is the wrong place for that

I drive a lot. Every day I drive on a road that's technically a country road as there are fields either side but it's more than wide enough and not too windy. This road is followed by two straight roads. These are all national speed limit roads.

This is comfortably attainable with a few corners on the country road where 50 is a better speed. Obviously various weathers call for different speeds. I was behind a double decker bus doing 50 down there today.

The last few days I have been stuck behind people doing 35-40. Today the lady flashed at me when I finally get chance to overtake.

They way I see it is if you are driving so slow on the roads either
A) you are unaware of the speed limit/unable to follow basic road signs and therefore shouldn't be driving
B) do not feel comfortable driving at an appropriate limit for the road and therefore shouldn't be driving.

I know it's a limit not a target but you fail your driving test if you 'fail to progress' so they shouldn't be driving like this.

It's the principle that they don't care about anyone's time frame or how they affect other people. They just trundle along deciding what speed they want to go at and not giving a fuck.

We all have bad days where we mess up roundabouts and misjudge but Jesus Christ, if you can't drive at 60 in a straight line...

So mature humpty. Well done. And I'm so glad you look down on people and assume they're suicidal when they are capable of the speed limit. It must be pretty cosy on your pedestal. You, yourself admit to not driving for long. Could it not be that they're more experienced and you're a slow learner?

Jaded, I'm not assuming they're thinking that. I'm talking about the people at the top of this thread who said that.

Humpty --

I have been driving safely since 1988.
You are by your own description someone who is fairly new to driving, and you drive slower 'if my daughter is howling in the back, or I'm tired, or the road is scaring me'.

I have some advice for you:
You are not engaged in a battle of wills, or a battle of good vs. evil with other users of the road. You are engaged in a collaborative enterprise when you are behind the wheel. We all want to get where we are going and some of us have a time to shoot for. We all want to get there alive.

If you do not want to go over the speed limit on a motorway and the rest of the traffic is going faster then you are a danger to other users of the road. It is not your job to be the speed limit police.

After reading this thread, and the frankly offensive way in which you racing car drivers think of and refer to those of us who don't want to drive at or above the speed limit, I'm not going to do that anymore. So you'll have one more person holding you up. Enjoy the extra time to think about what you achieved here today.
Driving while vindictive can be dangerous.

I won't risk my life, or my daughter's, or others', because you are so bloody important that I have to drive faster to accommodate you.
Driving with a chip on your shoulder is not a good idea either.

The slower drivers know that the speed limit is set with due regard for road conditions and if warranted, it would be lower and everyone should be going slower.

That isn't true in the UK.

NSL just means that it's up to the driver to judge the appropriate speed limit for the road. That might be 20. Neither the Highways Agency nor local authorities set the speed limit on every road. The default speed limit for a car on a single carriage way road with no street lighting is 60, whether that is a straight stretch or a bendy one track country lane with cows and tractors and horse riders potentially round every corner.

Anyway, I must be very lucky because although I drive on a 60 mile an hour stretch of road every day I never come across anybody doing 30. People tend to drive between 40 and 60, and whoever they are - boy racer, or elderly person out for a drive - they all get caught in the one way system bottle neck in the next village.

Humpty I think if you find the road 'scary' it might be an idea for you to take some extra lessons.

math you are advocating going over the motorway speed limit if others are doing so?

math you are advocating going over the motorway speed limit if others are doing so?

I advocate going over the motorway speed limit regardless. Where conditions allow you to do so safely of course.

I sense that your middle name is danger, dirk?
DirkDangerDiggler1 has a ring to it...

Mainly I think it's frightening a) how angry people get in their insulated metal boxes and b) how people seem to think driving at a certain speed is their god-given right. It's not a right, it's a privilege. You see this time again, on threads bashing slow drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists.

Insinuating that it's other people's fault that YOU are angry and making rash misjudgements that lead to accidents is just wrong. It's also wrong to say that a slow, cautious driver is a "bad" driver: why are they? Selfish maybe, but not bad. They are probably in control.

It's almost never dangerous to drive more slowly (I accept that the motorway or slip roads are an exception to this). So many people do not think about the thousands of road accidents and deaths caused by dangerous driving every year when they get into their cars every day. Perhaps if they did, they might not get so wound up about being delayed by a few minutes.

personally i think if you can only drive 10-15 miles an hour in perfect weather conditions with little traffic around then you shouldn't be on the road as I would assume you are driving so slowly because you aren't confident in your ability to go any faster. I recently followed an OAP, who drove to morrisons and could barely stand when you got out the car (and not a specially adapted one either).

Ilovesooty -- yes. If you are doing the speed limit and everyone else is going faster then you should stay in the slow lane. If you want to pass a slower driver in the slow lane but everyone in the overtaking lane is going faster than the speed limit then your choices are to stay behind the slow vehicle or speed up to whatever speed the overtaking traffic is doing. Driving without regard for traffic conditions, whether by driving too fast or too slowly, is dangerous.

Editthis -- I think there have been plenty of posts on this thread asserting the right of slower drivers to drive as slowly as they want to or feel they need to. One driver just recently asserted her right to drive slowly just out of spite. It is in fact dangerous to drive considerably slower than road or traffic conditions warrant. You simply have to drive in accord with conditions on the road, and that includes the general speed of the rest of the traffic, farm vehicles excepted.

I don't know what the law is in other countries, but according to the Highway Code you are supposed to drive at an appropriate speed in the left hand lane, overtake in the right hand lane when there is a gap in traffic and return to the left hand lane as soon as possible. You shouldn't need to speed up to match other cars to over take - just be faster than the traffic that you are overtaking and ensure that there is a clear space to pull in to.

This applies to everyone - you should always be driving with the intention of driving in the left hand lane as soon as the road ahead is clear.

There is no slow/medium/ or fast lane, just the left hand lane and the overtaking lanes. The speed limit is always a maximum of 70. I know most people don't drive at 70, but that doesn't mean we can all make up our own rules in our heads.

(There are rules about not pulling a caravan etc. in the right hand lane of a 3 lane carriageway, but I don't think that is what we are talking about here.)

Yes, you are supposed to only use the overtaking lanes for overtaking. However, if you come up behind someone doing 55 in the left lane, and you want to pass, you really should not pull out from the left lane and only do the speed limit if those in the overtaking lane are doing 75.

There is a place for principle and there is a place for common sense. The road is the place for common sense.

Whether the cars in the overtaking lane should be there for extended stretches or not is not your judgement to make, and pulling out at 70 is going to cause them to brake if they are going faster. It is also not your place to police their speed by forcing them to slow down.

I agree with math. It's not exactly right but it's the same vein, if you pull out at 70, you're inconveniencing other road drivers by slowing them down. I would do the same but not really like it.

My drive home was unbelievable tonight. It's like humpty or someone else vindictive has sent out their minions. The two straight 60 roads... 40. The 60 windy road... 30. THIRTY!!! I overtook at a place that was only safe because she was going at THIRTY. I flashed her at one of the exits to say pull over. She didn't. Probably thought I was harassing her. I wanted to. Then along the straight I really fucked up. I overtook a car going 40. It was just before a 40 but I thought fuck it, plenty of time. I didn't see two cars infront of him as he was a big people carrier. They were quite far in front (a few car widths) but he pushed forward and wouldn't let me in so I sped up and overtook the two cars. It was a bit close for comfort to an oncoming car because everyone seemed to speed up. Terrible driving. A bad day for me.

Then... Someone (a BMW 5 series if it helps) was driving at 20 in the thirty part through a village. Braking every time a car came the other way and every time a car was parked on the other side and the oncoming person was waiting he slammed his brakes on and slowed down to 15. There are slow down signs but they seem to go off even when it's the traffic on the opposite side of the road speeding so even though he was going really slow, the signs all went off. I think basically that confused the fuck out if him (fair enough) so... Just before it turned into a forty I overtook. No speeding. No need. I got a flash from the guy behind me.

Of course you stay in the left hand lane if other lane traffic is going faster. If you exceed the limit and are flashed in the UK I don't think you'll get too far claiming you needed to do so to drive safely. The fine and three points will be issued regardless.

Tullulah you actually sound like a very aggressive, dangerous driver.

You stay in the left lane if you are going slower than the rest of the traffic. It the rest of the traffic is over the speed limit and you are doping 70 then the left lane is your lane.
If you end up behind a vehicle going slower than you, then you either slow down further or you overtake.
When you overtake, you do the speed that everyone else is doing in the overtaking lane, and of course your speed has to be sufficient to get past the slow vehicle.
If everyone in the overtaking lane is doing 75 and you are behind four juggernauts all doing 55 then you need to do 75 if you choose to overtake (points or no points) because causing people behind you in the overtaking lane to have to brake is dangerous. It's the same as cutting people off.
You can do 75 until you pull in beyond the slower vehicles in the left lane again.

doing, not doping (thanks autocorrect).

I agree that I totally misjudged with the overtake involving more cars than expected. That was just my stupidity. I could have stayed behind and it be fine. They weren't even driving that slow. I just chanced it.

The village you go through is a very very posh village. Smallest house is 250k and most have more bathrooms than people. Most people are older and overly cautious. The village next to this is equally posh but I think even more are 'older'. Most days are fine. The problem is I've been leaving for work later for the last three weeks and I'm always behind the same people. The majority drive at 50-60. With it being dark at night now, most people drive at 50. Some slower.

I don't think the woman doing thirty knew the road. When I overtook her front seat was extremely lit up. She either had a DVD playing or sat nav but a built in one so not at windscreen height. Or her phone.

Tallulah-you sound very dangerous.
Hope the people advocating exceeding the speed limit get loads of points on there license and pay massive insurance premiums.
No wonder slower drivers feel intimidated-you are causing them to drive more slowly. W*nkers!

133
If you need to change lane, first use your mirrors and if necessary take a quick sideways glance to make sure you will not force another road user to change course or speed. When it is safe to do so, signal to indicate your intentions to other road users and when clear, move over.

264
You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.

You can't just pull out in front of another car - that would be stupid - you need to wait for a space. However, once traffic catches up with you it might have to slow down to your pace. Obviously once you have overtaken the slow moving traffic you move back into the left hand lane - and if the road ahead is clear, any traffic that has over taken you should also move back into the left hand lane.

People don't all travel at the same speed in any particular lane - it varies depending on individual drivers and general traffic conditions.

Agree merry. You can't just pull out. But sometimes the flow of traffic does mean that you will be slowing people down once they catch up with you. This obviously only stands to a certain amount. If the rest of the traffic is doing 100, I'll happily stay behind the lorry.

Usually I don't make stupid judgements. Not sure why I did tonight. Like I say, the woman doing 30 didn't appear to know the road. What she thought of my overtaking, I have no idea. I'd assume she didn't approve but she has to know doing so far below the speed limit, someone will overtake when safe to do so. Due to her speed, it was safe when I did. It was only me and her on the road. The next person was my dodgy overtake. Only those three and me. I'm fairly certain they all disapproved. I did. Then the thirty there was only me, the guy doing 20 and a guy in between. Towards the end a guy came zooming up behind me and tailgating me. Hilariously, he was the guy that flashed. It's not the norm to overtake in a thirty, I think but it was safe and legal to do so. Bearing in mind my actions were against them, they all thought I was a cunt probably but so be it.

Drudge, it's their! And you're also a wanker. And I dare write the whole word, with no stars