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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Seven people overtook me in the space of 20 minutes

334 replies

Tankersome · 20/04/2018 09:02

AIBU to be so bloody annoyed by how easily some people find it to speed?

I live rurally with lots of windy, pot-holed single track roads. I commute into the town every day. The rural roads are all NSL but I drive them around 35mph max - and always pull over on the rare times a car is behind me to let them pass if they like.

When i finally get onto the main road that takes me into town, i get myself up to 60mph and switch on cruise control. It's a lovely straight single-carriageway with no pot-holes so I feel comfortable doing this.

But despite going the speed limit, I'm always overtaken. This morning it was a new record with seven people overtaking me in the space of the 20 minutes I'm on that particular road (it was five last night on the drive home).

They don't just speed to overtake either - they continue along at 70-80mph until they're out of my sight. It's not a busy or congested road whatsoever, and there aren't any pavements. So they probably feel safe going at that speed but it's illegal. I've never once seen a speed camera van parked at the roadside either so there is no incentive for these people to drive within the speed limit.

It just really annoys me. Yes, we all have places to be. But why do some people feel so at ease with speeding like that? And the annoying thing is, it makes me feel like I'm the one in the wrong because it's as though I'm holding people up despite going the fastest speed allowed on the road.

OP posts:
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applesisapple5 · 20/04/2018 09:05

I couldn't get worked up about this, I'm always delighted when a driver who is going too fast overtakes me; one less thing for me to worry about!

Zampa · 20/04/2018 09:06

The general public and parliament are complacent to road death. 5 people a day are killed on UK roads and 60+ seriously injured. Speeding is a contributory factor.

If an infectious disease was killing 1,800 people a year, we'd be looking for a cure.

Speeding drivers think they're safe, that they can handle it. Arrogant and dangerous.

Zampa · 20/04/2018 09:07

Sorry - YANBU!

RedPandaMama · 20/04/2018 09:07

Just ignore them. If they want to be idiots let them, you're driving at what is in your opinion the safest speed, so you do you.
I'd always much rather some speeding idiot overtake me than be driving up my arse the whole time as that makes me so panicky!

QuestionableMouse · 20/04/2018 09:08

Probably because, ignoring the speed limit, there's nothing actually all that unsafe about doing 70 on a road like you describe. The speed limits were set ages ago and have never been updated to the modern car. You keep doing what you're comfortable with and let them do what they will.

Oblomov18 · 20/04/2018 09:09

"The rural roads are all NSL but I drive them around 35mph max "?

Why?

ginghamstarfish · 20/04/2018 09:09

People are just wankers. I too live rurally and there could be a tractor or horserider(s) just around any bend in the road. We live on a main road, same as the one you describe which has a limit of 60mph, but it is rare to see anyone keeping to that. Most just forget the highway code as soon as they pass their test, and think 'end of restriction' sign automatically means 70mph. As I said, wankers.

ginghamstarfish · 20/04/2018 09:10

Mind you I think it would help if the 'end of restriction' signs were replaced with ones showing the actual limit for that road!

curious86 · 20/04/2018 09:11

I fully agree with you it is frustrating, where I live it's not possible to overtake so people will be really close behind me which I find intimidating. I'm sure one of these days someone will speed past you then when you get further down the road they would of crashed there car, as bad as it sounds it's called karma

user1495884620 · 20/04/2018 09:11

Are you sure you are doing 60? A lot of car speedos under-read. You could be doing as low as 55.

Spiggle123 · 20/04/2018 09:11

Yanbu. I live on a straight road with a 30mph speed limit. There are no pavements. I dread walking the half mile to the bus stop - it's incredibly scary how fast some people drive down it. It's dangerous and I don't know what we can do about it.

Dulra · 20/04/2018 09:13

I wouldn't worry about it let them overtake. I live in Ireland but often drive through UK to in-laws and the minute I get off the boat I feel people are going so much faster then at home but as far as I am aware Ireland has a higher rate of road deaths per head of pop then UK where roads I think comparatively are much safer

user1495884620 · 20/04/2018 09:13

On the other hand, I'm not sure why anyone would ask why you would only do 35 on an NSL road. There are roads around here that are single track with night banked verges and blind bends every couple of hundred metres. You are lucky to be able to get up to 20mph on some NSL roads.

Allthebestnamesareused · 20/04/2018 09:14

Maybe they are already late because they were already held up by some other numpty driving at 35mph in a NSL! Grin

akkakk · 20/04/2018 09:14

The rural roads are all NSL but I drive them around 35mph max - and always pull over on the rare times a car is behind me to let them pass if they like.

I suspect that if you are this unobservant about how to drive, then people will want to go past you... I live rurally and am amazed constantly at how few people overtake when they can / should - so if you have lots of people overtaking you, then I suspect the issue is with you, not them...

If you are driving around a road with a 60mph limit at a max of 35mph, I would overtake you on my bicycle, let alone in my car - it can be as dangerous to drive slowly on a road as it is to drive fast - possibly more so as you are doing the unexpected, and those driving fast tend to be more focused on their driving...

I would be hugely concerned by several aspects of your driving:

  • cruise control on any country road is a really really bad idea - you need to be constantly modulating your speed to allow for anything from turnings to farm traffic to pedestrians to wildlife that crosses the road - if you are sticking on cruise control then you are switching off the part of the brain that focuses on keeping the speed correct - not a good move...
  • 60mph on your speedo, is very likely to be lower than 60mph as speedos can over-read, but not under-read
  • you mention that you are finally comfortable with the road, which suggests that you are not a confident driver / comfortable with the other roads - we have atrocious roads around here, yet I don't know any that would take my speed to 35mph or below - your lack of confidence will undoubtedly show to others who probably consider it better to pass you than have you worry about them up behind you...
  • everything you say about your driving suggests that you are not very aware of what else is going on around you - if people are shooting past - let them, don't fuss about it - if they are bad drivers, you might as well have them out of the way and gone rather than behind you, if they are not, then not your issue - let them deal with it...

none of this is meant as an attack on you - but the way you describe your driving would really worry me that you are not at all confident, and I would suggest that if that is the case, you get some further training to deal with that - esp. the lack of confidence that means you drive at less than 35mph on NSL roads!

user1495884620 · 20/04/2018 09:14

Night banked verges? I think I meant high banked verges!

Usernumbers1234 · 20/04/2018 09:15

If you can’t drive more than 35mph on a national speed limit road that is familiar to you then I don’t think you are confident enough to be on the road and shouldn’t be driving. A lot of recent studies suggest you are as likely to cause an accident driving 15mph under the speed limit as 15mph over it.

3stonedown · 20/04/2018 09:16

*"The rural roads are all NSL but I drive them around 35mph max "?

Why?*

Rural roads near me are single tracked too. If you went 60 an accident would happen very quickly. Some roads are marked too high, and after all it's a limit not a target.

lostincumbria · 20/04/2018 09:17

Great post @akkakk.

AnUtterIdiot · 20/04/2018 09:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Scribblegirl · 20/04/2018 09:17

My parents live on a similar road to the one you describe. I'm usually quite cavalier about driving fast on it - 35 sounds really slow to me, it's usually only tourists around our way who go that slow (I see them turning off to a local attraction). That said, I really dingied my car on a pothole down there last month - there are some shockers following the cold weather - so 70/80 is a bad idea if only for that!

outofmydepth45 · 20/04/2018 09:17

Probably been waiting for the straight to get past you

DrWhy · 20/04/2018 09:18

I honestly think you doing 35 on a national limit road is a hazard. I’d expect most people will want to do at least 45-50 even with the kind of conditions you describe so you are causing everyone to need to overtake you. They then need to go faster than they might like to execute the manoeuvre in the shortest possible time. If your drive takes 20 mins at 35 mph it would be just over 10 minutes at the speed limit. So all those people expecting to take 10-12 minutes are probably allowing 15 and are going to be late if they don’t overtake you.
If they are really doing 70-80 mph then they are dangerously speeding and part of the problem too but I suspect that some at least are doing the limit or under it - that just feels quick compared to the 35 mph you are doing when they pass.

HoppingPavlova · 20/04/2018 09:18

It’s a thing. The other day I was on a 2 lane suburban 60km road. I was on the inner lane and car in front of my slows and stops waiting to turn right into a street. All legal and normal. There was a steady stream of traffic in the left lane beside me, pulling into it will be problematic, so I just wait for them to turn so I can continue on. The car behind me gives a good blast on the horn, dangerously pulls out into the left lane nearly colliding with another car and gives me the finger big time as he is doing so. Okay Confused. Looked like a young idiot.

The roads are full of young and old idiots these days.

PoisonousSmurf · 20/04/2018 09:19

I suspect the OP needs to take and advanced driving course so that she can see that her 'failure to make progress' is causing issues for other drivers. Driving isn't only about getting from A to B. It's about anticipation, how is MY driving affecting others?
There can't be that many nutters in her area! Slow drivers can be a real hazard on the road.