To think 70mph is an acceptable speed in any motorway lane?

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Disclaimer: I have only recently started driving on the motorway regularly

Surely whatever lane you're in, 70mph is an acceptable speed to be doing? I keep finding that when I'm in the fast lane (eg when overtaking cars in the middle lane) at 70mph, I find I have someone driving 2 metres behind me in a way that suggests they enjoy causing a pile up. Once I'm able to get back into the middle lane they will rush past at well over 70mph.

Did I miss the memo where the fast lane became part of the German Autobahn?

@kamilahbobo - 70mph is the LEGAL SPEED LIMIT for ALL lanes.

If you are overtaking a middle lane vehicle you should be using the outside lane. In all other circumstances you should not be in the outside lane. Your speed is irrelevant to your choice of lane. Other people's decision to drive above the speed limit is irrelevant. You pick the appropriate lane based on whether you are overtaking or not.

@Abandoned legal or not it's common sense of everyone drives the same speed why do you need 3 lanes..I tend to go 80-90 on average on motorway like most drivers on motorway any way, which is also legal there is no prosecution for that. I also use flashing lights or emergency lights on drivers who cause traffic by slowing down on 3rd lanes ..if they want have a cruise they may take village lanes instead..

Not everyone drives at 70mph on the motorway. Lorries (for example) have speed limiters which prevent them from driving that speed. The three lanes exist so that people can drive at different speeds, provided those speeds are all below the legal speed limit (70mph). If you choose to drive faster, that's up to you. But don't pretend the number of lanes are there in order to enable you to break the law!

Lack of routine prosecution doesn't make something legal. Cause a fatal accident at 90 and you may find yourself in prison for death by dangerous driving.

What kind of emergency lights do you have on your vehicle?! I really hope you aren't a driver for the emergency service.

BlueBiros says it much better than I could and is 100% right.

Can't agree that most motorway accidents are down to weather conditions, enthusiasm.
Many are due IMO to people driving too close to the car in front - you see it all the time - even at the speed limit there's not nearly enough braking distance. Though the idiots who do it will often be driving too fast for the conditions, too.

We should have more signs reminding people to keep their distance, like in France. Their automatic lowering of the speed limit if it's wet wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I once missed by a split second miracle being part of a motorway pile up caused entirely by people driving far too close, and too fast, in wet conditions. I will never know what caused the first car in the outside lane to brake slightly, but the car right behind it piled on top of it literally as I passed.

Yes 70 is reasonable and the law in the third lane, but depending on the flow of traffic, eg. if you know the drivers in the third lane are going over the limit then I wouldn't enter it to prove a point. Depending how experienced you are, it is common knowledge that drivers go over the limit in third lane and sometimes second. If I was in the second lane and not in the mood to navigate the third (based on how busy) I would simply stay at 65 or whatever it was flowing at until there was a very big gap in third. I don't agree with popping into third lane and overtaking at 70. It is legal but it is not usually safe to do so due to others not having the same standards as you do.

70mph was defined when cars had terrible non abs brakes and took 3x further to stop. It's past it's sell by date

If you are in the outside lane, you should be overtaking. I find it hard to believe you are regularly overtaking in the outside lane at 70 on a UK motorway though. Since most of the time the middle lane is going at 80.

Your job is not to police the speed of other, more experienced, drivers.

For me, stopping distance is FAR more important than speed.

I've seen quite a few motorway accidents where people have been side swiped and have avoided a few myself. There seem to be people who don't turn their heads to look in their blind spot before changing lanes.

I've also seen people who have randomly braked hard for absolutely no reason. Luckily the drivers behind them have left sufficient space and been alert otherwise there would have been a pile up.

Oh and the M11 has chevrons that tell people to keep their distance. This doesn't always work.

City ring road motorways are often fairly slow, eg first lane 50, second lane 60-65, which can tempt you in to the third lane to overtake at 70. However they generally have a lot of junctions close together and those in the third lane are trying to zoom past, so as a new driver I wouldn't advise you overtake into third lane as there are often a fair few stop and start again situations

You should pull over to the slower lane after passing. You should not be driving in the passing lane for longer than it takes to pass and pull in in front of the vehicle you have passed.

Sitting in the passing lane doing 70 'because that is the speed limit' when there is someone driving up your ass is passive aggressive driving and you should not do it. It does not matter that the driver behind is clearly going to exceed the speed limit. It is not your responsibility to enforce the speed limit this way. (Agree with MrsTerryPratchett).

You will find people driving up your arse a lot when you are driving at the speed limit, regardless of whether you are driving on the motorway or in towns and on country lanes. This happens particularly when you are in a small car - I also regularly have people cutting in front of me when they change lanes as they see a small car as an easier target.

It's just one of those things that happens and you need to let them pass - it's not worth risking your life for the idiots out there. Just enjoy the feeling when the speed camera goes off in front of you or the unmarked police car next tpo you gets involved.

Another thing, which gives me joy to know: my instructor told me that in the event of a car crash due to tailgating, the person behind you will always sustain far more serious injuries than you will.

A disclaimer for all the usual comments that will follow: I use my satnav speed, which is more accurate (read: allows me more speed) than my speedometer.

You do understand that you shouldn't stay in the right hand lane/s don't you? Once you have passed the vehicle you are passing you should move back to the left hand lane as soon as possible.

It’s unusual to need to overtake when you’re only doing 70 yourself and generally most motorway drivers are going over 70. MN posters aren’t accurate or usual in that regard

Only on MN do people peoclaim to drive at 70! Its not fast enoigh in my opinion . No reason why limit shouldn't be 80 yhese days. Do not get me started on peoplevwho drive way under the limit in all conditions on all roads. Bloody idiots and dangerous. Get a bus.

I watched someone yesterday join the m3 from the m25, he was in Lane 2 of the smart motorway going at 50, in the 50mph limit stretch, then when into the national speed limit zone he got up to about 60 and pulled into lane 3, no cars ahead of him in lane 2, and then got up to about 65 and pulled into lane 4, again no cars in front of him other than in lane 1, where he stayed for a while until he got fed up of people undertaking him!
Madness. It’s people like that who cause accidents.

@theleftparing

It depends what motorway you drive on, when I join the m25 I tend to end up in the 4th lane and there I stick doing 70mph, I am overtaking the whole time and moving with the flow of traffic. Well that’s on days we can get to 70mph in Lane 4!

It’s weird, I see far fewer people speeding hugely on motorways nearer to London than further out.

I agree with the poster above about distance. I find it really annoying - because its dangerous- when I've kept my distance from the car in front and someone pulls into it, making him on the arse of the car in front and me on his. To keep my space I then have to slow down, which is dangerous, or overtake when my speed was just fine and I don't want to overtake.

It's so dangerous and happens so often I'd like there to be distance cameras instead of additional speed cameras. Also good for the people who just seem to drive about 3 metres behind. ABS or not, it's not safe at motorway speeds.

“Abandoned

This recently happened to an unmarked Police Car in the outside lane. Car behind started flashing whilst tail-gating them. Sirens went on. Instant fine plus points I believe! Possibly Court, can't remember exactly”

Eh? What do you mean can’t remember exactly? Did you pull over and listen in on the conversation between the police and tailgater?

I actually think 70 is too high as there will always be idiots who drive at 80-90. 90
Is too too fast. Reduce to 60 & people will drive at 70-80.

It is not dangerous to drive under the speed limit, it's just damned annoying. It's not the idiots driving slowly but the idiots who lose patience and overtake them who cause accidents. Whether the motorway limit could or should be increased in the light of today's greatly improved vehicle safety is not the point at issue: the legal speed limit has not increased at the present time. Have I ever driven over it? Yes, I have (even my little underpowered runaround can manage it on a down slope with a following wind). But could I be caught and fined for it? Yes, actually, I could. Just because you haven't been doesn't mean you won't be.

Good suggestion about distance cameras. I'm sure we could increase the speed limit to 90 mph tomorrow if only some people didn't drive like dicks. Unfortunately human beings haven't advanced nearly as far as cars.

Sitting in the passing lane doing 70 'because that is the speed limit' when there is someone driving up your ass is passive aggressive driving and you should not do it

I agree with this but I don’t think this is what OP is doing. She is overtaking at 70 if the person in the middle lane is slower and thus is perfectly acceptable and correct, even if it does annoy the people who want to break the speed limit.

It needs to go up to 80mph. Modern cars are so advanced compared to the cars when the limit was introduced. 70 is too slow for a motorway. I rarely speed though except when overtaking as I don’t want the points.

That’s why it gets called the fast lane. People using it are speeding.
Legally, it’s an overtaking lane, but they aren’t using it legally at 70+.
Yes, I’d back the limit being raised now, but I’d match it with opt out organ donation and more speed cameras.