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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:
Thread gallery
8
peacheachpearplum · 20/04/2018 18:46

If it is twisty you can't see what's coming though so a different situation.

prettybird · 20/04/2018 18:47

Knocks head against brick wall again

The seven people that overtook the OP were on NSL single carriageway where she was doing the NSL - ie 60mph.

The road that the OP was doing max 35mph on was a single track road, which required pulling over to all a car to pass (which she did on the rare occasions that a car was behind her)

All this is in the OP. Confused

Abra1de · 20/04/2018 18:49

My commuting husband reported a driver doing 33mph on a NSL country road every morning at 6.40am. The community police spoke to the driver and said he was making it dangerous as nobody could overtake him and commuters were getting frustrated.

The idiot speeded up a bit for a while and has now slowed again.

SevenStones · 20/04/2018 19:11

I drive down a narrow, windy country road every day. It's got lots of blind bends and regularly has horse riders. I go about 25mph, anything faster is inviting an accident if I met anything coming the other way. The picture of the rural road looks even narrower than the one I'm familiar with, so I'd say 25mph tops. On 'my' road, I sometimes come up behind someone going slower, which is fine, but have never had anyone drive up behind me.

On clear motorways in good conditions and visibility I regularly do 85mph.

Some A roads are very wide and clear where, if there's little traffic and no lorries, driving at 70mph is fine. There are other A roads that are quite narrow and windy and 50mph is a better speed, even lower at some points, despite the limit being 60mph.

Willow2017 · 20/04/2018 19:38

I think I was probably one of those seven people OP.

35mph MAX on a NSL road is really bloody annoying where I live. (Windy roads through fields where you can see what's coming but can't really overtake).

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck!
RTFT PLEASE RTFT AND GET THE ROAD RIGHT!

Rural country road she goes on isnt through rolling fields.
Overtakers were on main road 60mph limit which she was doing.

Nobody freaking overtook on the twisty pot holed no visability tree lined road!

My commuting husband reported a driver doing 33mph on a NSL country road every morning at 6.40am. The community police spoke to the driver and said he was making it dangerous as nobody could overtake him and commuters were getting frustrated.

The idiot speeded up a bit for a while and has now slowed again.

Good grief not all country roads are the same. Some round here are fine others like the example op gave are not suitable for 60mph. Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

DairyisClosed · 20/04/2018 19:40

But on the other hand why should the speed limit be only 60mph if you could safely travel at 70?

user1492877024 · 20/04/2018 20:02

You sound lethal. You really do. Please either give up driving or get some additional training.

TodayImThisName · 20/04/2018 20:02

akkakk

Credit to you for persevering with trying to educate us all. If I agree with you will you stop now 😬

frenchknitting · 20/04/2018 20:13

akkakk

I see the point that you are making. However, regardless of how safely you are driving, accidents do happen. In the event of a fatality, if you are breaking the law by speeding there is a good chance you will go to jail. That's a good enough reason not to speed for me.

Willow2017 · 20/04/2018 20:20

You sound lethal. You really do. Please either give up driving or get some additional training.

Who sounds lethal User?

milliemolliemou · 20/04/2018 21:33

I'm with the OP. More people die on rural roads than motorways. The OP says the rural road she travels is single-track, potholed and windy. That is NOT a road for 60mph.

If it was straight fair enough - providing you don't mind hitting a pothole at 60mph.

As other people have said - if it's windy, however well you know the road, are you really giving yourself enough time to find a passing place on a single track road for an oncoming car, tractor or bike? The odd rider or pedestrian on whichever side of the road? At least the OP if the Lord forbid she crashes into someone oncoming at the same speed as her will have a net impact of 70mph as opposed to 130mph.

jasjas1973 · 20/04/2018 21:54

I respect the law - but safety is the priority, and as long as someone is a safe driver I am not going to be all that bothered by whether they have observed the law or not

Some one else who knows best.........

Speed limits are there for a reason, a higher speed might be as safe for an exceptional driver but the idiot he/she has to avoid at this higher speed might not know this !

Drive to the conditions and within the law, which is what the OP is doing.

GallicosCats · 20/04/2018 22:10

This thread reminds me of a conversation my late DF had with a lifelong friend. The friend teased my DF: 'Jim, you always ignore the speed limit.'

DF replied, 'No, Eddie. I exceed the speed limit. You ignore it.' Grin

(names changed, obviously)

I think of that exchange every time I follow someone who does the A-road out of our nearest city at 40 (NSL 60) - and then proceeds to carry on at 40 through the next village where the speed limit is 30. Hmm

Masterbuilders · 20/04/2018 22:18

I’d imagine they are all fed up at being stuck behind someone doing 35 in a 60, because they aren’t a confident driver.

They will want to over take you as soon as is possible. Drivers like this are a hazard and I live on these NSL rural roads too. You want to get out of their way as soon as possible.

MereDintofPandiculation · 20/04/2018 22:22

masterbuilders She's doing 35 in a 60 because it's a single track road, no room to pass a vehicle coming the other way, is winding with no view of what's coming in the opposite direction, and full of potholes. She said all this in the OP.

Willow2017 · 20/04/2018 22:27

I’d imagine they are all fed up at being stuck behind someone doing 35 in a 60, because they aren’t a confident driver.

Seven people overtook me in the space of 20 minutes
TooManyPaws · 20/04/2018 22:52

I grew up around roads like this and they have to be national speed limit because they don't meet the requirements to be 30/40 - regular street lights, clear painted road edges and lane divider, etc. it's just a single-track, windy and bendy country road.

Nonsense. I live on a farm road that is popular with cyclists, walkers and riders, and the speed limit has been set to 40mph by two different councils at each end of the road. No street lights for miles, no painted road markings at all. It's getting more common around here for rural roads to be speed limited.

I also learned to drive off public roads at 15 and passed my test in a rural Highland town with no roundabouts, traffic lights or pedestrian crossings. It was rural enough that we met sheep, cows and horses regularly but we all learned to drive faster than 35 and react. One thing I would never do is stick my cruise control on even on a straight bit; I only do that on dual carriageways and motorways - far too dangerous and complacent on a single carriageway.

adaline · 21/04/2018 07:52

I love how some posters think that because they live on NSL roads where you can drive at 60mph, all NSL roads must be the same!

Some of the ones here are fine to drive at 60mph but the vast majority are not. Lots of single track, pot-holed lanes full of blind bends and with high hedges. Add to that the fact that they're normally full of cyclists, dog-walkers, farmers and tractors, and you'll see why you can't get above 40mph in most places.

We also get a lot of sheep in the road here so even if you can see there's no traffic coming, you can't see the three sheep sauntering across the road and hitting a sheep (or three) at 60mph isn't going to be fun for anyone!

BarbaraofSevillle · 21/04/2018 07:57

Exactly, adaline. If you stormed around a corner on a single track road and hit and killed a pedestrian, you would be facing a charge of death by dangerous or careless driving.

Drivers need to be able to stop or at least slow down significantly within the distance they can see, which on a twisty single track road, requires driving at far less than 60 mph.

AJPTaylor · 21/04/2018 08:04

Cos people have places to be and want to spend the least amount of time possible driving. If it is a straight rd people risk assess for themselves and overtake. Overtaking sensibly is not dangerous.

SkaPunkPrincess · 21/04/2018 08:09

It's when there's a queue of traffic building behind me and I am going at the speed limit that rankles my shit. 😠

Yes I'm looking at you dickhead Audi driver leaving less than a cars width gap behind me on the motorway yesterday in the "slow" lane. Fucking move over and go round me!

People can be really dangerous. The thing is at fast speeds it can kill.

scary.

NeeChee · 21/04/2018 08:13

There's a road near me (which I don't particularly like driving) that is technically NSL, but you'd be very foolish to drive at that speed up or down it. Very steep, narrow and windy with stone walls and trees lining it. It's wide enough to get a van and car through at the same time, but there's not much room for error.
It's best when we're in the van and someone comes round the blind corners fast and has to slow down quickly.

adaline · 21/04/2018 08:15

Of course people have places to be, and nobody is talking about people overtaking safely on straight roads.

It's people who think they can control their cars at 60mph on narrow, blind-bend roads. Lots of roads here are too narrow for two cars in many places so if someone is speeding and doesn't know that, they're going either going to lose control on the corner or have to emergency stop when they realise they can't squeeze past the oncoming car/bike/tractor who has right of way.

Bythepath · 21/04/2018 08:19

I live in a rural area and agree I cannot do NSL as standard. On some bits i go 20mph on some 60mph. The thing that does really annoy me is people who pull over randomly to let you pass, it is really dangerous when they pull into a passing place and stay there, then gesticulate out the window for you to go past. Those people are obviously not confident or not aware.

twinkle999 · 21/04/2018 08:43

@akkakk - how is she unaware when she pulls over to let cars past?

Also she sets cruise control on the main road not the country road.

What a patronising critique. You’ve not even read the OP’s post correctly.