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Original poster

'sunday drivers' 40mph everywhere

246 replies

angelos02 · 18/10/2015 23:04

Just had a weekend away in the countryside and at least half a dozen times got stuck behind people that shouldn't be allowed to drive. Doing 40mph in national speed limit zones & the same in built up 20 mph areas. Note to you Numpties...if there is big line of traffic behind you, you are probably driving dangerously.

OP posts:
Stormtreader · 20/10/2015 13:25

"being selfish,.... it's about using my personal judgement for my family's safety. I am driving within... some 'arbitrary limit' set by me. I would imagine that.... my speed is how it is. Perhaps... being selfish?"

OK, maybe I didn't paste the WHOLE quote above, but since the slow drivers are wilfully only reading and replying to small sections of everyone elses posts, I assume this is fine.

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 13:28

people will drive according to what feels safe for them

What if that judged safe level was 30mph on a 60mph (good conditions etc)? What's your lower limit on the acceptability of this statement?

Andrewofgg · 20/10/2015 13:40

I went at 30-32

Is that your speedo reading?

Yes MaidOfStars of course it was. What else would it be?

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 13:56

It might have been a satnav reading.

IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou · 20/10/2015 14:06

It might have been a satnav reading.

Yeah, my GPS shows that my speedo is consistently 5mph below the actual speed of the car - so knowing that I can drive accordingly....

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 14:23

my GPS shows that my speedo is consistently 5mph below the actual speed of the car

I get around 5mph difference at 80mph motorway speed. At 30mph, it's less of a difference.

Will depend on your speedo calibration though, and, of course, road/tyre conditions.

I have never been pulled but I know I'd get myself into trouble....
Police: What speed were you going, Madam?
Me: Hmm, are you asking what number was showing on my speedo, or my actual speed?

Andrewofgg · 20/10/2015 14:30

Sorry Maid I had not thought of that - perhaps because my speedo and my satnav always seem to agree.

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 16:10

my speedo and my satnav always seem to agree

At 30mph, they won't be far off (although your speedo will still read slightly high). At motorway speeds, it can become quite divergent. Smile

ProvisionallyAnxious · 20/10/2015 17:26

Yes, that is incorrect. It is, in fact, a target. You should be driving at the speed limit unless there are reasons not to.

NSL on many single carriageway rural roads is NOT a target.

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 17:41

One of these roads is OK for 60, one is not. Pick now!!!

'sunday drivers' 40mph everywhere
'sunday drivers' 40mph everywhere
Stormtreader · 20/10/2015 17:53

Perfect illustration Maid

MaidOfStars · 20/10/2015 17:55

NSL on many single carriageway rural roads is NOT a target

People keep saying this.

It is a target.

However, that doesn't mean you should try to achieve it when it's not safe to do so. So if it's a bit rainy, dark, bendy, windy (weather), there's some sheep around, you've got a pregnant woman with you, a dog rolling around in the back, whatever.

You are unlikely to fail a driving test for not hitting 60mph on a windy (convoluted) road full of blind bends.

If there are no clear reasons for not achieving it, if the only reason you are driving at 40mph (or even 50mph) is because you don't trust your driving skills or your car or you have a skewed idea about safety, these are the drivers that people rail against.

You are likely to fail your driving test for not approaching 60mph on a good road in decent weather and traffic conditions.

MrsLupo · 20/10/2015 18:11

I just want to say though that I think merkin has been given an unfairly hard time on this thread. S/he admits s/he's an inexperienced driver and is accruing driving hours pretty much as we speak. If you must take to the road before fully confident, better to stick to a speed you feel in control at. Driving at 50 instead of 60, or 35 instead of 40 is a world away from what I think of as the stereotypical 'Sunday driver' - a 70-something in a P-reg Honda Liability, peering over the top of the steering wheel through cataract-dimmed eyes and worrying their ears will bleed if they drive at a normal speed...

ProvisionallyAnxious · 20/10/2015 18:21

MaidOfStars

How can it be 'a target' when many NSL roads have never been assessed for it being a safe speed, let alone one to aspire to?

I agree that drivers who drive too slowly without due cause are dangerous. But I have also observed many very dangerous drivers who are convinced that because they are on an NSL road they SHOULD be going at 60mph and therefore bully drivers who are doing sensible things like slowing down for blind corners, blind summits, etc.

ProvisionallyAnxious · 20/10/2015 18:28

I think the problem with the limit / target discussion and the 'reasons for not travelling at 60mph' becomes trickier with roads that are midway between the two you show, Maid. These are the ones where I think different people make different judgement calls based on driving experience, familiarity of the road, etc, and where some drivers can get aggressive because it isn't a single-track mountain road but it also often isn't a 60mph appropriate road!

BirkinsMerkin · 20/10/2015 18:28

Thanks MrsLupo Grin

RaspberryOverload · 20/10/2015 18:38

Significant numbers of single carriageway rural roads are NSL simply because they are not in built up areas AND have never been assessed.

So, any driving examiner who expects people to drive at 60 down a single lane road as in MaidofStars picture should have his head examined.

Where I lieve there are no end of these little roads, and the chance of achieving NSL is slim to none.

bessiebumptious2 · 20/10/2015 19:08

This is timely. I got stuck behind someone doing 20mph in a 50 today. Good conditions, good single carriage road and quite straight but nowhere to overtake safely as the road undulates (love that word). Now that 20mph was twattish I'm afraid. A lot of people would have risked over-taking and if you don't know the road, it looks a lot safer than it is. But 50 is quite a safe speed in good conditions.

And I gave someone a lift today who said that I drive "like an 18 year old". Obviously I asked her whether that was because I was driving badly but no... just "fast", apparently. She said I was tolerant but impatient (because I squeezed through a gap that she wouldn't have done, apparently).

IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou · 20/10/2015 19:33

And I gave someone a lift today who said that I drive "like an 18 year old"

Hopefully she'll enjoy the walk next time then!! Grin

Caboodle · 20/10/2015 20:54

It is amusing that on any driving thread 90% of the posters think (by inference from their posts) that they are good drivers.

ProvisionallyAnxious · 20/10/2015 20:58

Caboodle

And often have diametrically opposed opinions? Grin Mumsnet driving threads always help explain for me driving situations in which two different drivers are righteously irate.

ProvisionallyAnxious · 20/10/2015 20:59

Caboodle

And often have diametrically opposed opinions? Grin Mumsnet driving threads always help explain for me driving situations in which two different drivers are righteously irate.

Caboodle · 20/10/2015 21:02

Haha yes. Both sides are at once selfish, in the right, driving dangerously and fully cognisant of every sub clause of the highway code.

PassiveAgressiveQueen · 20/10/2015 21:03

in surveys about 80% of people think they are better than average drivers, it is funny.

DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel · 20/10/2015 21:13

When Im stuck behind slow drivers I often ask myself what Id rather. Be stuck behind someone doing 20 in a 50/60 zone (and I dont mean windy country lane or bad weather) or having some dick up my arse cos Im doing 30 through the village or 60 on the single carriageway. I haven't decided TBH.