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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Ignoring speed limit on motorways

50 replies

agedknees · 27/06/2017 17:08

On Friday the motorway near me was restricted to 30mph because of the appalling condition of the road surface (lots of loose chipping).

So me and most cars slowly going 30mph. However, everyone knows this does not apply to lorries who thundered past doing 60mph.

Result, a 12 inch crack on my windscreen cause by a large stone chip.
Aibu to think a speed limit applies to everyone. (Fuming cos I have had to pay £100 and it's near the end of the month.

OP posts:

TestTubeTeen · 27/06/2017 21:51

The reality on busy motorways often is that there are 3 streams of traffic, L hand lane almost nose to tail lorries, middle lane roughly at 70, and R hand lane, often about 90.

IDontBowlOnShabbos · 27/06/2017 21:52

Police still need the flashing lights if going above the speed limit and the road ahead is clear, just not the sirens.

Both outside lanes are for overtaking, if the lane to the left is clear you should pull in.

Bishybarnybee · 27/06/2017 21:54

testtubeteen that's pretty much my experience. Apart from the bits where it is 50mph and you have 3 lanes going at exactly the same speed......

DarthMother · 27/06/2017 22:04

Coddi I need to save that picture, enlarge it a thousand and plaster it over every Bridge on every motorway! People don't seem to know how to drive when there are more than two lanes - LEFT LANE UNLESS OVERTAKING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!
Apologies for that, I've done a lot of motorway driving lately

Goldmandra · 27/06/2017 22:08

The left hand lane is for all vehicles. You only use the middle and right hand lanes for overtaking. You then pull back to the left. That applies whatever speed you are doing.

I really struggle to understand why so many people find this concept hard to grasp.

lampygirl · 27/06/2017 22:12

Most HGV drivers have probably realised that their speed limited 56mph is probably closer to 53, which is slow enough to not get done by roadwork average speed cameras, and as HGV drivers have limited hours in which to drive, being stuck behind someone who has put cruise control on at their car's 48mph which is probably actually 42mph will actually mean that in long sections of roadworks (going up the M1 currently for example) they might end up losing 20 miles of driving in their 9 hours and end up sleeping in a layby not actually at their destination...

NB not an HGV driver, but I do understand logistics.

Arealhumanbeing · 27/06/2017 22:14

If you're in the middle lane it should be because you're overtaking.

Staying in the inside lane can be annoying as you will need to overtake fairly regularly.

However if you drive in the outside lane you'll be tailgated/bullied out of it unless you're prepared to drive at around 90+ MPH.

AuditAngel · 27/06/2017 22:24

I was on theM25 this morning trying to obey the variable does limit (or at least be close enough to it not to get done by the speed cameras)

Unfortunately the speed limit was down to 40.

I was in lane 2 of 4 but moving faster than land 1 when a juggernaut started tailgating and flashing me.

I decided discretion was the better part of valour and moved into lane 1 (ready for the next exit) as soon as there was a gap

Coddiwomple · 27/06/2017 22:31

Thinking about it, I also use the middle lane at junctions, to give space to incoming traffic, not strictly overtaking but it makes things easier for everybody.

Original poster

agedknees · 27/06/2017 22:38

No chip on windscreen before a great lump of whatever came bashing on my windscreen.

OP posts:

PickAChew · 27/06/2017 22:52

Ignoring speed limits is endemic. DH did some work involving the computation of average speeds on trunk roads and motorways (you can thank him when the signs tell you that it's 16 miles to the next waypoint, but will take you 40 minutes!) and during testing discovered that some sections of certain roads gave average speeds that were above the speed limit. They had to build in a cap so that it couldn't suggest that it was possible to travel that 16 miles in 11 minutes.

We travel the section of motorway that caught his attention regularly (which is why he included it in the test) and often get caught in a sandwich where one lane is chugging along at 55mph and the other whizzing past us at 80+.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 27/06/2017 22:54

It's not terribly safe to be in the outer lanes and doing 70, if others are doing 80 or more. But you can't be penalised for it.

ErrolTheDragon · 27/06/2017 23:09

If you regularly get tailgated in 50mph roadworks, it's worth checking how far the calibration of your speedo is off. It can legally read anywhere between 0-10% high (never low) so if you think you're doing spot on 50 it could be nearer 45. Which is of course legal and people shouldn't ever tailgate, but it might be safer to adjust your speed to nearer true 50.

chitofftheshovel · 27/06/2017 23:10

Man middle lane hoggers do my nut in. Drive me insane. Make me want to chuck the dog in the liquidiser and eat the children for breakfast.

McTufty · 27/06/2017 23:15

I do obey them but I am fucking sick of half of Britain's motorway network being 50mph with average speed cameras due to 'improvement works', especially given hardly any work is taking place.

BubblesBuddy · 27/06/2017 23:30

My DDs friend was fined for hogging the middle lane of a motorway at 3am. Obviously the Police had no real work to do and must have been bored! It is illegal to hog a lane but even so! Fine and 3 pts. Young driver so they were vindictive in my view. As there was hardly another car on the road, whatever difference did it make? Technically she should have been in the left lane and they could have reminded her of that.

It is a very good idea to pull into the middle lane to let others get onto the moterway at junctions. That is where most accidents happen. It's just good motorway manners really.

70 feels slow on motorways and it is not hard to see cars doing 90-100. They don't get caught as they know where the cameras are. The police prefer fining lane hoggers who have the road to themselves! Madness!

specialsubject · 28/06/2017 10:14

Back to the point - yes, the rules do apply to lorry drivers, same as not tailgating and not using a phone, but you would never know it.

Meanwhile I laugh hollowly at all those blubbing about ' the children' and yet guzzling petrol by speeding well over the national limit. Drag goes up as square of speed, as you would know if you listened at school. Stuff the planet, eh?

Ifitquackslikeaduck · 28/06/2017 10:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

alltouchedout · 28/06/2017 16:20

This thread has shown me that I really don't understand how motorways work!
Thanks @Angrybird123
makes notes to buy proper theory test book

rosie1959 · 28/06/2017 16:38

Totally agree with testtubeteen Have never been on a busy motorway which most are where all the traffic has kept to the left apart from overtaking
My worst gripe are duel carriageways where one lorry is trying to overtake another but hasn't the power to get past and just sits there blocking both lanes These are supposed to be professional drivers

Firesuit · 28/06/2017 17:31

The left hand lane is for all vehicles. You only use the middle and right hand lanes for overtaking. You then pull back to the left. That applies whatever speed you are doing.

I really struggle to understand why so many people find this concept hard to grasp.

Because most of us haven't come across a motorway where one can move into a lane to the left without having to slow down to below the speed we are trying to drive at.

If you want to drive at 70 on the M25, assuming the traffic allows that at all, you need to be in lanes 3/4 virtually all the time, occasionally dipping into an inner lane for less than a minute at a time to let someone who wants to go faster past. Even then, you will often be penalised for your courtesy, ending up trapped behind someone doing 60 and unable to get back into the outside lane due to a long stream of cars doing 70+.

BonnieF · 28/06/2017 22:33

Keep Left Unless Overtaking.

I drive on the motorways every day, and every day I have to contend with idiots who evidently don't understand this simple concept of lane discipline.

Gold stars to the police officers handing out fixed penalties to middle-lane hoggers.

Zafodbeeblbrox10 · 28/06/2017 22:42

OP if you knew which lorry it came off you could call the company it belongs to and they might pay for your windscreen, as sometimes bricks and rubble gets stuck between their double wheels and flies out on the road later..dashcam would be useful in that respect

CircleofWillis · 29/06/2017 11:34

I really had no idea. I understood that if the left lane was full of slower moving traffic it is OK to use the middle lane until the left is clear for travelling at the speed limit. As I generally travel on the M25 in the daytime this means the majority of my journey is 68-73 mph in the middle or right lane. I always leave a big enough gap for left lane traffic to move into. On the m25 the slow lane is generally 60mph or slower Is this wrong? To be honest most other drivers seem to stick to a single lane until there is a big gap to the left too. I have travelled long distances with police cars directly in front behind or to the side of me (I commute to work almost every day) and have never had any indication that my driving is illegal. I do move left when there is a big gap or if a faster car wants to pass but otherwise do not. As a (relatively) new driver I would honestly like to know if this is wrong.

BertieBotts · 29/06/2017 11:50

If there is solid traffic on the left travelling slower than you then you can overtake them all at once meaning you may stay in the middle lane for some time.

However when the left lane is clear you must move over.

Someone mentioned germany, people are very good at moving over there and not undertaking, as these things are more dangerous than speeding and are treated as such.

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