Seven people overtook me in the space of 20 minutes

[Tankersome]

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.

JaceLancs but doing the speed limit isn't overcautious and she wasn't talking about people doing a little bit over they were going 10-20 over.

I think the attitude on this thread shows why it's socially acceptable to speed.
Some rural country roads are not suitable for doing 60m/h despite them being national speed limit. One of the local roads at present is usually 50 limit, but due to pot holes at present most people are driving at around 30, as there are some seriously bad ones and it's a bit like driving over a whole surface of speedbumps.

If you've ever come across the aftermath on a road like the above of two drivers who met head on both doing 60m/h you wouldn't be questioning the OP. It isn't pretty.

Surely a good driver is able to assess the situation and decide for themselves that the speed limit is too fast for that road and/or weather conditions? A bad driver just drives at the speed limit regardless.
That's why the police are trained in making that sort of decision when they're trying to stop someone-the speed limit may be higher, but if it potentially may cause an accident they may pull back.

Oh and there’s a rural bendy NSL road near me with blind bends and people take the corners so fast that there are several accidents every week. It’s not safe to go round them more than about 40.

• it can be as dangerous to drive slowly on a road as it is to drive fast

couldnt agree more. doing speed limit on the road is fine but driving woefully under it - not good.

I can't help but think if youre having to pull over to let people go past and there's a queue of traffic behind you who all blast past at the first available opportunity, something's going on. Maybe your speedo isn't calibrated right....

We have NSL road that you would be stupid to do that on. I do 35-40mph. There are blind bends, horses, walkers, often loose sheep, dog walkers. I won't go whizzing around a bend at 50mph when there may be a horse around the corner, I know the road well and drive and ride it often
You get people who do, like the idiot who came screaming around a bend and slammed on inches from my horse. It's terrifying when you can hear the speed someone is coming round a corner at, no pavement, and no verge and you almost brace yourself as to whether they will stop in time

I live rurally and drive a variety of speeds as the nature of the road changes.Someone saying they drive 35mph gives no idea of the type of rural you're talking about so may not be unreasonable but can be maddening at times as overtaking on roads that are windey is tricky,even on the straight bits the next bend is never far off.

Based on the example picture i posted, what speed would you feel comfortable driving that type of road?

No where near 60. 30 maybe. It's hard to judge.

However, what do you think the big difference is between you doing 60 and someone doing 70 on a straight, safe road? What makes them awful drivers? Simply 'cause it's illegal or something more thoughtful than that?

I drive at a speed I feel safe doing and that is often more than 70 on a motorway.

Errr sorry but it's not up to you to decide what speed is safe. You have to stick to the speed limit because your risk assessment might not be perfect and you're risking other people's lives too. (I don't care if you're going a few mph over but if you're driving excessively fast down the motorway you deserve your speeding ticket).

I think everyone images in their head what a NSL road near them looks like. However, there are lots of unclassified roads that are technically NSL but there is no way that you could or should ever drive at 60 on. Once again people picking up on a bit of the OP and applying their own standards without considering that not all roads are the same.

For god's sake, it is incredibly stupid to say that you can always go faster than 35mph on an NSL road!

Indeed. It's bollocks to say NSL roads have been assessed for speed: the NSL just blanket applies outside towns, unless there are specific reasons to have put a lower limit in place. Driving at even 30 on blind roads with passing places, say, is insane.

However, what do you think the big difference is between you doing 60 and someone doing 70 on a straight, safe road? What makes them awful drivers? Simply 'cause it's illegal or something more thoughtful than that?

Because if something unexpected happens they're less likely to react in time and more likely to have an accident. If they collide with a driver in the opposite direction the accident will be worse and more likely to kill the occupants of the other car. Driving at 70-80 may be safe 99.5% of the time but the other 0.5% could cause people to die. The speed limit was put in place for a reason.

The NSL on a lot of rural, narrow, bendy roads should be reduced. 60mph is much too fast on roads shown in Tankersome's photo. There are loads of roads like that around where I life and people drive like idiots as though there couldn't possible be anyone coming the other way, or dog walkers or horse riders. So many car drivers seem to think they are invincible & that no-one else will be on the road. You should drive as though you are ready to anticipate anything that may be round the next corner and that does not mean driving at the NSL on roads like the photo above. The NSL is long overdue for an overhaul as so many drivers seem to think the NSL means they must drive at that speed - it is not a directive to drive at that speed - it is the maximum legal speed you can drive at safely, but this is lost on so many. It is such a shame that so many other road users like cyclists, horse riders, walkers are driven off rural roads by selfish speed merchants.

You're not driving at the speed limit if you're driving at a very max of 35 mph. So I suspect you're driving below the speed limit, which is why folks are overtaking you. Driving too slow on these roads is dangerous, as is driving too fast.

I also live where the roads are like yours and I see some wankers over taking, it's stupid. However there are bad drivers on the yesterday I was on a dual carriage way and got stuck behind some tosser who kept slowing down and speeding up. It was really annoying.

8However, what do you think the big difference is between you doing 60 and someone doing 70 on a straight, safe road?*

The additional 37% of energy they bring to the accident.

The additional 37% stopping distance.

You are not a safe driver, OP.

akkakk
Op did not say she has cruise cintrol on while on country roads, only on the main road.

I live ruraly and some roads are fine but some of the roads round here are single lane with all the hazzards you describe. Belting along at 60 just because thats the nsl would be bloody madness.

There isn't ever a queue of traffic behind me on the rural roads

Nor is there on the main road. Cars speed up behind me then overtake. It's not a busy road. Most cars stay a good distance behind, likely going 60mph too.

I've said a few times now, on the rare occasions when I see a car behind me on my rural route (not close, but even in the distance), i make sure to pull over at the next possible place and allow them to go past me if they like. I've lived here almost a year now and I can see this as happened less than five times. It's usually work or post delivery vans.

There are lots of walking groups and dog walkers though, no way would i drive along these roads at 60mph! Whereas there is another rural route about 20 miles in the opposite direction we go through regularly when visiting family which I do feel comfortable driving 60mph for the majority of.

Speed limits are arbitrary numbers applied with the broadest of broad brushes.

Which is why speed cameras/enforcement etc is applied only at specific accident risk hot spots rather than randomly on all roads.

If the roads you are doing 35 on are like those in the photo then you are being sensible. I drive on this type of road a lot, they are always badly maintained, usually have a lot of mud because the tractors use them and have lots of footpaths and bridleways coming off them so lots of walkers etc.

He overtook on a BLIND bend with oncoming traffic, swerved, and I had to slam on my brakes when he pulled back in! I suppose one might argue that in this situation it was reasonable to anticipate that he would have to pull back in, and therefore to have dropped back a bit to avoid the need for heavy braking.

So cross with all these people criticising OP for going at 35 in a NSL road which she said was winding, single track (not single carriageway) and full of potholes. Are you seriously suggesting that you would drive at 60 on a road with about 10m visibility and too narrow to get past a car coming the other direction? And are you happy about a car approaching you head on at 60 just around that bend that you can't see round?

Oh and FYI, I am perfectly comfortable with speed in the right places - I think the motorways in our country are too slow.

If anything, that photo massively under-represents the difficulties of such roads. In the six miles of roads like that up to my parents, that would count as a long stretch of clear road.

You ARE a safe driver Op.

If it's a "lovely straight single-carriageway with no pot-holes" where it's "not busy or congested" and "there aren't any pavements" then they probably are pretty safe going 70. Going 40 in a built-up area with shops, schools, houses, etc is far more dangerous than going 70 on a clear straight road with no likelihood of unpredictable pedestrians etc.

Where they may well be being dangerous is with the overtaking. I travel on a single-carriageway A road most days. It sounds busier than yours, but the amount of dangerous overtaking I see is ridiculous. There are curves and hills/dips which make it impossible imo to overtake safely, but people do it anyway. Including in the fog the other day, with headlights approaching from the other direction. Absolute lunacy.

If you're doing the speed limit and driving safely, then just don't worry about them overtaking. Meh.

And yes frequently rural roads which are technically NSL would be downright dangerous if you actually drove at 60mph as they are often narrow, with bends, hedges, etc. So I wouldn't stress about that either.