To think this is a bit unsafe?

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Nice, fairly empty motorway.
Most cars doing about 70.
Most lorries zooming along at their speed limit.
I know not everybody wants to compete with the reps/ boy racers..
But doing 40, on the m6?
Forcing lorries to overtake

I am guessing the driver could have been old/not confident/foreign?

But for their safety, would it BU to have a motorway lesson?

I am now trying to remember if there are rules (suggestions?) about a minimum speed on empty-ish motorways?

I think 40 on a country road (especially one you are unfamiliar with) is fine
Good for you.

I think driving at 40 mph on a wide and nicely-surfaced road, with great signs and strong fences either side, on a clear and dry day, is unnecessarily cautious and obstructive for the traffic behind you. Even more so if you drop to 25 mph round corners.

Some people seem so scared of driving!

I drive country roads every day. Some of them are narrow and hedge lined and have poor visibility round corners. 40 is appropriate and safe (and the lanes are low traffic so unlikely to be holding anyone else up). If you're behind a cyclist you're at 20 max anyway as there's nowhere safe to overtake for miles!

I also drive a country a-road. On that road, when it is straight, flat, great visibility and dry, I get severely annoyed at people doing 40. There is no need whatsoever to be doing so - there is the odd tricky bend or hill where everyone drops speed but there are great stretches where you can see ahead very clearly that there are no hazards ahead. It's a commuting route too so most people are going to work - one person pootling along at 40 can hold the whole road up for ages.

With regard the poster who asked if in N Ireland there isn't as much traffic as 'over here'. Obviously it's a small country, so there are less cars but car ownership in NI is higher, proportionally, than in GB, based on the 2011 census. I know this is anecdotal, and subjective, but I've driven round the M25 and many of the other main GB motorways and DH and I, and many of our friends who have done it too, all were amazed by just how much slower and more considerately people drove than they do at home. Driving in NI is crazily aggressive.

And personally I think the 45mph speed limit here for new drivers shouldn't apply on motorways because it is just so slow compared to the rest of the flow of traffic.

I have been in the situation where the car refused to go above 40 on the M25.
I could have stopped on the hard shoulder, but I think that's actually more dangerous than continuing at 40 and taking the next junction off, which is what I did.
However having had it fixed by a helpful taxi driver, I chose to continue my route off the motorway just in case.

40 on an unfamiliar country road is sensible, and the police would certainly not consider it to be their fault is an impatient driver is stupid enough to try and overtake on a blind bend.

40 on an unfamiliar country road is sensible

Genuine question: why? Are you saying that driving on an unfamiliar country road at 55-60 mph is not sensible? Or are you saying that everyone should drive in their comfort zone? On all country roads? I'm not advocating speeding, but why are some people so overly-cautious? Do they not trust their car? Do they not trust their driving? Are they worried about sheep and badgers? We have signs for bends that are unexpectedly sharp (usually not sharp at all), speed limit signs for a really poor corner, signs for bumpy roads, etc. Why brake when you pass another car?

I realise it sounds like an obvious "well, durr" question, I'm just making conversation.

Our council/police clearly think 55-60mph on a lot of the country roads round here isn't sensible as most of the limits on the winding A roads have been lowered to 40 and 50 and it definitely makes those roads feel safer to drive along.

I wouldn't drive at 55-60 on an unfamiliar windy country road.

60 is the maximum, and going over that is breaking the law, not a target to be reached.

I would be comfortable driving at 50 on an unfamiliar country road. But I have good reflexes, and know my car well. If I knew the road well, I'd go faster.

If someone in front of me was going at 40, I would get a little frustrated tbh, if there was nowhere to over take, but driving at 40 on a country lane isn't dangerous.

I do think driving slowly on the motorway is just bizarre, and more dangerous than driving faster.

Optimum speed for fuel efficiency is around 55-60mph, so driving at 30mph when you're low on fuel makes no sense at all (especially on the motorway, FFS!).

Our council/police clearly think 55-60mph on a lot of the country roads round here isn't sensible as most of the limits on the winding A roads have been lowered to 40 and 50 and it definitely makes those roads feel safer to drive along

I live near a 40 mph country road (and quite rightly so). But I wasn't really including those where special speed limits apply.

This thread has confirmed my thoughts; there are an awful lot of people who have a scarily limited knowledge of basic road safety. 30 mph on a motorway?!

I was taught you drive up to the speed limit, providing conditions permit; in other words, you drive as close to the speed limit as you can depending upon the conditions. So foggy/icy/raining you slow down to a safe speed, otherwise you do 50mph in a 50 zone, etc.

I live in a quiet, rural area; the only real traffic we get is holidaymakers. They're a menace as they either crawl along looking at the scenery - it really is very beautiful round here, or the go crazy, and don't take into account the fact that there's a lot of farm traffic, old people, and the above gogglers pootling about. V high proportion of traffic accidents here, sadly.

Arendelle My thoughts exactly!

I had a horrible experience of this as a relatively new driver. A person who had stopped on the hard shoulder pulled out into the left hand lane from a stationary position and was very aggrieved with me when I rammed into her car, despite a screechy emergency stop, whilst doing a very reasonable 60mph in a relatively quiet motorway. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but it took me a long time before I could drive on motorways again. I had absolutely no chance of stopping in time and she was completely oblivious to other road users' stopping distances. I can totally imagine her driving at 30mph on a motorway. Totally ridiculous.

was very aggrieved with me when I rammed into her car, despite a screechy emergency stop, whilst doing a very reasonable 60mph in a relatively quiet motorway

Usually when you hit the back of someone, it's your fault. What did your insurance companies think in this situation?

Not if someone pulls out into the path of your car, it isn't. It would be considered the other driver's fault.

I live near a 40 mph country road (and quite rightly so). But I wasn't really including those where special speed limits apply.

A year ago the lower limits didn't apply, so we could easily have been discussing those roads. One particular one is wide but with lots of bends and side turnings, it was safe to drive at 60 in the sense that you wouldn't have come off on a bend, but the amount of serious accidents at side turns was shocking. Much safer to do around 45-50 on it. It's good that this is now backed by speed limits, when it was 60you did feel harassed by racers who presumably thought you either weren't competent or sure of your driving. They might still think that, but there are a lot fewer of them in evidence now.

Maid I was not liable - she joined the motorway at 5mph with her hazards still on! The policeman at the scene was talking about charging her for driving without due care, but I have no idea if that happened.

I was not liable

Good. World's easiest scam otherwise!

Christ, someone cheerfully admitting to driving 30mph on the motorway! Scary.

Any driver too afraid to drive at the speed limit in good conditions needs to get off the roads until they've had a few extra lessons with an instructor.

I wondered about this the other week. Sunday night, so very quiet on the motorway (well sort of - it's a 3 lane A road which goes from 70 to 50, not the M6!) and I had to drive a family member to hospital with a badly broken arm. I tried sticking to a steady 55-60 but every time I went over a rut, she cried in pain so I had to slow right down. I stuck to the inside lane but I did feel like I was in the wrong doing 40-ish when I should have been nearer 70 (not so much of an issue on the 50mph section though).

We have a 4 mile drive to the next village for the kids school. It's a good road -1 lane for each direction of traffic so no need to worry about something coming the other way, 60mph limit, windy but no sharp corners etc. constantly getting stuck behind people (normally old) doing 30mph, it not really practical to overtake although plenty of people do as too many slight bends to be truly sure nothin is coming re other way. Drives me mad

There have been several crashes on that road due to people over taking slow people, if everyone went at a decent speed even 50mph then no one would new to overtake.

This has some really useful and sensible information.

BrieandChilli - it's people overtaking that causes all the accidents on the road I use too. Although obviously if you crash when overtaking it's your own fault, it's also utterly infuriating to be behind someone driving at 40 on a road that is a dream to drive at 60 in good weather. It does make you wonder if they are just plain scared of driving.

You do also encounter learner drivers going slowly and of course I stay well back and give them space. But the instructors round here sensibly seem to avoid that road in commuting hours.

I don't think most slower drivers are scared of driving, just not in that much of a hurry and perfectly happy at a lower speed and don't always realise that other people are in more of a hurry than them. I am a confident and experienced driver but I'll happily potter along more slowly on a lovely, sunny day if there's no one behind me and I'm not in a rush.