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...

Having looked back at Humpty's posts, she seems to have acted in accordance with the Highway code, perhaps having the benefit of having been tested on it relatively recently.

But sometimes the flow of traffic does mean that you will be slowing people down once they catch up with you

Which is why we have 3 lanes on motorways, and why the rule is that you should pull into the left hand lane as soon as possible. People who catch up can overtake.

Sometimes there will be situations where there is a very slow lorry in the left lane, a slightly faster lorry in the middle lane and a car doing 70 in the right hand lane. However, if every body follows correct lane discipline this shouldn't be a problem for long.

The only reason there would be a problem would be heavy traffic - but then really it is the traffic that is slowing drivers down, not people following correct lane discipline but driving at 70.

Or even driving at 50 or 60.

No when I flashed I thought she's going to take that the wrong way. And if anything, it'd distract her from the fact there's a turn off. I doubt it crossed her mind to pull over. Unless it was humpty and her kid was crying in the back! Ha!

1/3 is better than 2/3

I don't know why he flashed. I'd have thought he'd follow me how close he was.

If it helps, I've had my karma. My passenger window motor has broke and I had to pull it up myself then get back in the car and otch it up as much as it'd go then and out again to pull and so on.

I like driving below the speed limit. It feels like a calmer, nicer experience. I try not to go too far below the limit but was always taught on my lessons that 10 mph under the limit is ok. However on a NSL road I might well do 30 if I didn't know the road, there were bends etc. my priority is to stay in control of my vehicle and not take risks, I'm sorry if that pisses other driver off but I'm not going to speed up just because you haven't left enough time to get where you're going without rushing.

133
It seems forcing another driver to change course or change speed in the overtaking lane is a no no.

If you have to overtake several juggernauts, you might be in the overtaking lane for quite a while. Traffic doing 75 that might not have been right upon you when you pulled out to overtake after taking all the precautions mentioned will certainly have to change speed once they catch up to you, doing 70 as you overtake the group of lorries. This is the hazard I am talking about.

It is not that you are slowing others down in general -- it is the fact that you have forced them to change speed (something the code says is to be avoided) and possibly caused a chain reaction in the overtaking lane where everyone depends on everyone else being completely alert to the change in speed in order to avoid an accident. It is far preferable to have everyone moving along at 75 than one person doing 70 and everyone else forced to brake. 133 acknowledges this.

On busy motorways, and depending on time of day too (early morning is a bad time for freight traffic) you might well have a few convoys to overtake. It is not always going to be a clear case of nip out to overtake and then nip back in. 264 recognises this.

When I learnt to drive, not too long ago but much longer than I'd care to admit, my instructor said it used to be ok to break the speed limit to overtake on a dual carriage way but now you absolutely must stick to the speed limit. Too many people were speeding and blamed it on overtaking... Apparently.

Is 'rushing' doing 40 on a NSL road then, when you are driving at 30 mph?

What if you left enough time to get to your destination doing 40 mph? Does that make you a bozo who has no regard for other users of the road?

If you taking risks and not in control of your car on unfamiliar roads when you do over 30 mph you should take more lessons and become more confident. Nervous drivers are as much a hazard as reckless ones.

I hope a police car doesn't pull you over then, Happy, for failing to make reasonable progress. It does happen:
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-531447.htmlwww.aviva.co.uk/car/motor-advice/article/common-myths-and-driving-misconceptions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-531447.htmlwww.aviva.co.uk/car/motor-advice/article/common-myths-and-driving-misconceptions/
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ferrari-owner-stopped-by-police-for-driving-394276

And if you cause another driver to have an accident, regardless of your calm and nice experience, you could be charged with careless driving.

If it is obvious that everyone else is going ever the speed limit, you are creating a hazard by sticking to the speed limit when you pull out to overtake, despite what the instructor said. Pulling out to overtake at 75 when there is nobody else in the overtaking lane is a different matter.

What causes nervous driving?
Lack of confidence in your ability to handle your car?

If lack of confidence in your ability to handle your car is warranted then you are a hazard.
You should take more lessons, or avoid roads that make handling your car difficult, or avoid driving in weather that makes handling the car difficult, or traffic conditions that make you feel out of your depth.

If it is not warranted then you should get over yourself and drive properly.

No, math, the drivers who are exceeding the speed limit are the ones creating the hazard

Rubbish, they're exceeding an arbitrary figure.

Posted by OP at 18:30:39

"Most people are older and overly cautious. The village next to this is equally posh but I think even more are 'older'."

Hmm...so maybe it is an ageist thread after all?

Personally, I always associate flashing lights with aggressive, middle-aged salesmen on their way to their next appointment on the golf course. Is that you OP?

If you have passed then keep your L sticker on your car for a few months, and hope other drivers will have patience. If you have been driving for a while then you should not be nervous.

What other reasons for nervousness could there be?

• You know your car is not roadworthy?
• You worry about your dodgy brakes?
• You think you are getting a flat?
• Your eyesight isn't good enough for weather or light conditions?

If the answer is yes to any of the above then you should not be on the road. If your nervousness is not warranted, then find a way to get over it as you will make poor decisions when you are in thrall to nerves.

....
Absolutely not, Jaded. Again, the road is not the place to stand on principle.
If you pull out and doggedly insist on doing 70 in 75 traffic then you have caused whatever crash results from the necessary braking. You cannot insist that speeding caused a crash when the occasion of the crash was the braking necessary when the relatively slower driver entered the overtaking lane. 133 acknowledges this implicitly and explicitly.

math surely that's what P-plates are for??

It is an arbitrary figure insofar as the safe speed to go if overtaking is the speed of the rest of the traffic, be that 30 or 80. If your lane is doing 30 and you are not willing to do 80 then stay at 30.

You are not forcing a vehicle to change speed if it catches up with you while you are in an overtaking lane. You are only slowing them down if you remain in the overtaking lane when you should have pulled back into the left hand lane.

There is no lane of the motorway reserved for people who want to go over 70.

If everybody else is speeding, they are causing a hazard, not the person obeying the highway code.

I can honestly say that while I have been slowed down on motorways by lane closures, traffic jams and bad weather, I have never been delayed by the odd person driving at 60 or 70 - even the ones who hog the middle lane - it is just never an issue for long enough to cause a real problem.

The thing that causes most accidents on roads is people travelling at speed, particularly in adverse conditions and over estimating their driving ability.

Luckily for you I am not aggressive, middle aged, in sales, a man or fond of golf.

That Sheffield link doesn't work but looked interesting

Is it ageist to say most of the people in the two villages are old? Or that the more cautious drivers are older? I'll throw in a bit of sexism too... The 30mpher was a woman. No idea about the others.