AIBU to be really anal about speeding?

[TheGhostOfBarryFairbrother]

I honestly don't know whether I am being unreasonable on this one. I live in an EU country with clear speed limits. I drive exactly on the limit, I'm not a slow driver, but every time I take to the road I am overtaken by someone going over the speed limit.

It really, really gets to me. I tend to flash my lights at them as they roar past but a recent passenger told me that I need to relax.

Background - two of my siblings have been injured in RATs, one of them with life changing injuries. However I do also suffer from anxiety and have been known to overreact.

Please be kind...

[herecomethepotatoes]

It's strange that you drive AT the speed limit which is a maximum, not a speed you should always do.

In the lanes around where I grew up, the limits are usually 60mp/h. If you were in a car capable of doing so, you certainly wouldn't be in control.

I drive sensibly. 30 in a 30, 40 in a 40. 50 on the motorway if that's the safe speed in the conditions. I do drive a little more quickly than 70 if I feel it's safe on a large, quiet motorway / dual carriageway when dry, good visibility etc. Maybe up to 90.

I'd never flash at someone to get out the way (unless land hogging) but equally, you do need to calm down. Why flash when someone's overtaken you. There's no benefit. Concentrate on your driving and not others.

[Buckinbronco]

Speed limits are incredibly well researched and evidence based. It's amazing that people just assume no one bothers to look at them or review them. Roads change constantly to reflect new research or technological or cultural changes. There is a lot of evidence that all of the speed limits are safest, accepting of course that only an idiot would take a sharp bend on a country land at 60 etc

That said nobody sticks to 70 on a motorway

[herecomethepotatoes]

@buckingbronco - so speedlimits are there for our safety; except many deristricted B roads where we should (often) drive significantly slower and motorways where no one sticks to them...

That's a lot of exceptions!

[Spandexpants007]

I drive at the speed limit and don't worry about other drives speeds. That's their choice.

[Spandexpants007]

Obviously it would be stupid to drive at the speed limit in country roads. Too many horses, loose chickens, bends and walkers

[Spandexpants007]

Also stupid to drive at the speed limit on wet roads

[Buckinbronco]

No- I said it's ridiculous to say they're not reviewed. Clearly, it's not possible for a B road to be national but 20pmh at each bend, for example. And whilst 70mph on
The motorway is the speed limit there is some lack of enforcement for minor speeding there to aknowledge that the lesser risk- the police won't pull someone on the motorway purely because they are doing 80. We all know they'd be pulling over the whole of the overtaking lanes all over the country. 90 though, and you're taking the piss.

[Buckinbronco]

The law obviously assumes driver competence as it should. But the amount of research that goes into road safety is incredible and it's annoying when it's belittled. It's thanks to that research and the willingness to implement it we have some of the safest roads in the world, and so few people die on them

[tellmemore1982]

I don't know where you live but can share my experience here. I drive approximately 600 miles a week and I rarely exceed the speed limit by much but I try to read the road and drive at the same speed as everyone else. Therefore I almost never see anyone overtaking me or carrying out dangerous manoeuvres as a result of my driving. People may go a few miles over the limit but not to the extent they would be promoted into a dangerous overtake by someone on the limit.

There are two exceptions.

1. On the motorway. I find on the motorway that the amount of traffic usually dictates the speed people are driving in each lane. There's normally c 5mph difference between each lane. For example, inside lane drives at 65mph, lane 2 at 70mph, lane 3 at 75mph, lane 4 at 80mph (yes I know his is speeding but it happens).
   
   In this example, I frequently see people in lane 3 sat at 70. They stubbornly stay there because they are on the limit. Problem is, they are causing a huge number of cars driving at 75mph to back up behind them and in many cases make dangerous lane changes or underpass to try to get around them. I do flash my lights to ask someone to move over because they are not driving at the same speed as everyone else in that lane. It's everyone else's problem if they get caught for speeding, not that slower driver. But it's also dangerous if you're not doing what everyone else is.
   
   All drivers should be able to read the road to establish that they are driving at the safest speed in the safest place.
   
   
   
2. Around town, I frequently see people sat on 20-25 in a 30 limit who are a cause of great frustration to other road users, many of whom are in a rush and may therefore be in a mindset that prompts them to make less safe choices. Again, I think you have to read the road and other road users. If you know that you are causing a delay or frustration to others because you are driving slower than the traffic, it can have dangerous consequences.
   
   If it's a country road in eg a 40 or a 60, then just ignore them and let them move on. They probably know the road and passing places and it's their risk to take not yours. Don't flash your lights in this situation, it's very dangerous when someone is mid manoeuvre and possible faced with the danger of oncoming traffic or hazards on the side of the road such as animals.
   
   If you find its happening a lot, you should review your driving as in my experience it's not a huge problem (but again I don't know where you live). You could also take a couple of refresher driving lessons to reduce your anxiety and give you confidence that your skills are up to date and your equipped to manage these situations.

[ForalltheSaints]

YANBU.

[Arsenicinthesugarbowl]

Part of driving is about adjusting to the conditions but I would never break speed limits and definitely not in a built up area.
I think until you see the consequences of an accident, speeding or aggressive driving you don't worry about it much. As someone who has personal experience of most drivers nightmare scenario "child running out in front of car" I can tell you that driving below the speed limit is the reason that child wasn't seriously injured or killed. I realise I'm massively biased because of this but Its my own experience and why I drive as I do.

[SimpleSimonThePieMan]

you are not in control of your car if you exceed them

What absolute bollocks

[Scattymere]

Completely agree with tellmemore - great post.