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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you see it as your job to control the speed of traffic and you're not in a police car...

236 replies

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 09/04/2018 17:23

...why do you do it? Why do you sit 300 car lengths behind the one in front in heavy traffic? Why do you go 10mph under the speed limit in the overtaking lane on a clear road? Why so you sit at 40mph regardless of the speed limit? Why do you pootle down the slip road towards an A or M road at 30mph?

Why do you see it as your job to control traffic?

OP posts:
BobbinThreadbare123 · 09/04/2018 17:24

Not sure it's control. Think they're just fucking thick.

SauvignonBlanche · 09/04/2018 17:27

Because they’re a twat?

Original poster
BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 09/04/2018 17:28

Because they’re a twat?

That's my general view too. I was wondering if anyone wanted to admit to driving like this (As there are so many of them on the road!)

OP posts:
RatherBeRiding · 09/04/2018 17:29

I think they are just crap drivers - lack of confidence of lack of awareness but they give me the rage Angry

ButternutCrinkleFries · 09/04/2018 17:31

There was a thread about this the other day. A woman driving at the speed limit in the overtaking lane, then being confused as to why she was being flashed and undertaken.

MallorieArcher · 09/04/2018 17:32

Honestly I thought your op would just read 'youre a year's and I'd have agreed.
So yeah, cos they're a twat?

I was driving over a long bridge the other day, in the middle lane as DD gets weirded by the edge Hmm but there was no other traffic except some cars a half mile ahead and a car a bit behind in the left hand lane. I sat there for about 5 seconds and he screamed up behind me, went across all three lanes to drive past me with his window down yelling something and waving his arms around, then cut across the front of me (I had to brake) and got back in the left hand lane. I wasn't even holding him up!

HarryLovesDraco · 09/04/2018 17:32

I don't think it's control either. It's lack of driving ability and stupidity.
I slowed down recently because there was someone ahead on the slip road but they were going slower than me. I assumed they would speed up so I wouldn't have had time to speed ahead of them.
Instead of speeding up they slowed down. So I slowed down. They slowed down more. I flashed my lights at them. They slowed more. So I had no choice but to speed up and leave them stationary at the end of the slip road. I've never seen anything like it.

MallorieArcher · 09/04/2018 17:32

Years = twat for some reason.

Clandestino · 09/04/2018 17:33

Because they are twats. Had the dubious honour of encountering two of them today. Twats. Simplez.

SaltireSaltire · 09/04/2018 17:34

Because they are poor drivers and shouldn’t be allowed out in a car. Just followed someone down a deserted country road at 28 mph couldn’t get out of second gear. (It wasn’t a tractor either a regular car. Scarily we were all heading to the motorway 😱

Etino · 09/04/2018 17:35

Speed Kills.
Its 20 on most of the streets around me, I stick to it and get tailgated and aggressively overtaken most journeys. They’re the twats.

NoSquirrels · 09/04/2018 17:38

Why so you sit at 40mph regardless of the speed limit?

This! So many roads by us are national limit then 30 through villages. So many drivers do a nice and steady 40 mph regardless.

ButchyRestingFace · 09/04/2018 17:38

I don't think they're trying to control anyone. Surely they're just driving at the speed they're comfortable at - rightly or wrongly?

spugzbunny · 09/04/2018 17:42

I (unfortunately) have a bit of insight in to this.

My OH, highly educated and 36 yrs old, is a
middle or fast lane hogger. I've almost completely re-trained him now thankfully.

I asked him why and it was based on 2 things. Firstly he thinks it's safer to sit in the middle lane very slowly overtaking rather than moving in and out of lanes as he thinks that's when accidents can occur. Secondly, he was basing it on speed. He's doing 75 so he should be in the middle or far lane. This is the wrong idea that the left lane is the 'slow' lane.

Slartybartfast · 09/04/2018 17:42

I was behind some driver doing 40in the 30 zone but 30in the 60zone Confused

Slartybartfast · 09/04/2018 17:42

However over taking doesn't mean you should break the speed limit

CigarsofthePharoahs · 09/04/2018 17:44

The 40mph thing winds me up too.
NSL road at 60mph? Nah, I'll do 40.
Into a village with a speed limit of 30mph? Nah, I'll do 40.
WHHHHYYYYY?

Slartybartfast · 09/04/2018 17:44

I might drive slowly through the lanes, can't speed up if I am not familiar with the roads

ajandjjmum · 09/04/2018 17:53

Sorry Mallorie but that would pee me off too. You should be in the inside lane unless you are overtaking. You might not have prevented the other driver going past you, but he either needed to undertake (illegal), or move over two lanes because you aren't correctly positioned.

I don't know if it's lack of driving skill, or lack of confidence, but some motorway driving is appalling.

Usernumbers1234 · 09/04/2018 17:55

Mallorie - “weirded by the edge” or not there is no reason to straddle the lanes unless you are in a wide load convoy, it’s just bad driving

PositiveProton · 09/04/2018 17:58

This is the Road Rage Anonymous thread.

Mrscog · 09/04/2018 18:02

Not all NSL roads are safe to do 60 all the way along though? On my local country road there are 2-3 stretches where 60 is safe. The rest us bendy, blind and prone to hazards (horses/tractors/bikes/walkers) am I a twat for taking these bendy stretches at 35-50 depending on conditions?

SauvignonBlanche · 09/04/2018 18:09

I don't think they're trying to control anyone. Surely they're just driving at the speed they're comfortable at - rightly or wrongly?

There’s a sanctimonious minority who think it’s their job to enforce speed limits, see here.

hidinginthenightgarden · 09/04/2018 18:10

I think people should have to do a motorway test every 10-15 years. Not a super strict one as we all develop habits over time but at the point where you are not comfortable driving the speed limit on a motorway, you should stop using them. My Grandad no longer uses them as he is uncomfortable with the speed. I wish others would follow suit.
Country lanes I think there is need for some common sense, poor weather/very bendy, its fine to go slower.

Ariela · 09/04/2018 18:11

What's the rush?