Bloody drivers!!!

[SharronNeedles]

Okay so please tell me if IABU but I'm absolutely fed up of drivers not driving at the speed limit. I was taught that the limit is how fast you should be driving so when im driving down a 70 I drive at 70 unless there is obvious traffic etc.
On my morning commute there is now someone I've seen most days who insists on driving at 45/50. In the outside lane. I'm not going to lie, I have undertook them on a couple of occasions which I know I shouldn't but id be very late if I stayed behind them!

Today on a stretch of 30, someone was doing 18, then when it changed to 50, they did 30.

I can't understand it!! It's causing traffic for the sake of traffic!
Is this just me? Am I missing something??

YANBU, I completely agree with you. I'm sure people will come on here and say 'it's a limit, not a target!' I can guarantee they will fall into this group

I think if it is safe to drive at the speed limit i.e good weather and good visibility, people should do so.

As a learner driver (about to take my test) I agree with you. Unless I’m driving down tight roads with loads of parked cars, heavy traffic etc. then it’s important to get up to the speed of the road when safe to do so so you don’t impede other motorists and ‘become the hazard!’ The only other exception I would potentially say is some windy country roads I would rather drive at 50 and feel safe that bomb round at 60 and not feel in control.

I agree.

We live rurally and on the roads where it’s safe to drive at 60mph on the straight sections, you can guarantee you’ll be stuck trundling along behind a pensioner driving at 25mph (who usually then increases to 35mph when they hit the 30 zone)

And don’t get me started on middle lane hogging 50mph driving twats.

Middle lane hoggers are fuckwits. They're too thick to be on the roads.

Yip, I frequently find myself following a 40mph person. They drive at 40 regardless of what the speed limit is.

Baring national speed limit single track twisty country lanes I agree with you.

'it's a limit, not a target!' I can guarantee they will fall into this group

Note User Name

There's 2 sections of road near me where it seems to be not a target, but a minimum! It's on roads you wouldn't expect the limit to be 40, but it is. Not that anyone actually does it, except me - who then gets tailgated and aggressively overtaken by nobs.

Same. 40 mph through villages and on national speed limit roads, irrespective. It's either lazy or fucking ignorant. Maybe both. Also fed up of having to get on the motorway too slowly because there's two snail paced fuckers side by side on the slip road. There's no need for it; Cumbria really isn't that busy!

I followed a doddery old woman in a Corsa today into the shopping centre car park. She was such a poor driver that she actually stopped before making the left turn off the main road. God knows what she'd be like on the motorway.

If you can't drive at motorway speeds, get off the bloody road.

Oh and don't even get me STARTED about the drivers who pootle up the side of Loch Lomond (mostly a 60mph A road) doing 20 mph so they can admire the view, oblivious to people behind them who aren't on their holidays and actually have places to be.

Anyone in the outside lane then should be overtaking regardless of what speed they’re doing. But if you were able to undertake then obviously they weren’t overtaking so YANBU. Watch the undertaking though as I think it’s illegal in the UK except under certain circumstances like heavy traffic and you could end up being prosecuted. Slow drivers like you’ve described drive me mad though, if you’re not capable of driving anything close to the speed limit then you’re not fit to be on the road in my opinion (excluding national speed limit twisty single tracks obviously).

Interestingly highways in the US usually have a minimum speed limit. Last week an Indiana woman was fined for going too slowly on the interstate. The UK should consider doing the same.

Middle lane hoggers are annoying, no doubt about it - but they are not an excuse for dangerous driving, which includes undertaking.

Look at it this way - a driver who does well under the limit, in the middle lane, is probably not paying particular attention to the traffic around them - they certainly haven’t noticed the queue of cars building up behind them. Do you really trust that this driver will check both mirrors, if they do decide to move into the left hand lane? Or is it likely that they will just move across, assuming that they are going faster than the left hand lane?

I know which I think is more likely - and if you are undertaking, they will drive straight into you - not worth the risk, IMO.

You have been taught wrong. It is a limit not a target. However the car in the outside should pull in unless overtaking or approaching a turn / roundabout. As this is a common occurrence, I recommend leaving 10min earlier.

I know undertaking is wrong and honestly I never normally do it, but my commute is already an hour each way and that's on main roads pretty much all the way. I deffo can't afford to drive at 45/50 as Ill be so late and I can't really set off any earlier as my childcare isn't open (I drop DS before I start my commute).

I'm so pleased people agree ha! I thought I would be very U to most people.
Middle lane hogs I can sort of ignore as at least there is a faster lane to go in, but when it's dual carriageway and someone is snailing along in the outside lane 🤯

The road I drive down has lots of sliproads too so slow drivers in the inside lane also drive me mad as they stop you being able to pull in when you're coming up to your exit!

Somebody on another forum somewhere is swearing about the tosser up their are and undertaking

I never get up anyones arse as that is really unsafe. I know l sound hypocritical as I've admitted to undertaking which is also unsafe but ive been in a very bad car crash thanks to the driver doing that and the car in front suddenly stopping.
That is how I lost my leg.

If people can’t do the speed limit under normal circumstances then they shouldn’t be driving!

The only exception I have to this is on those really really windy country lanes which aren’t wide enough for 2 cars and are inexplicably 40mph or something. Those I will crawl round because some idiot doing 60 always careers round the corner and I don’t want to die! And I’m convinced that the speed signs are fucking wrong there. But on normal roads, motorways and dual carriageways YANBU. Also hate middle lane and right lane hoggers.

Just put music on and chill. Rage causes more accidents than anything else

Undertaking is just as dangerous

Setting aside undertaking etc, you would not get your licence if you go too slowly; failure to make sufficient progress, I believe. The Mersey tunnels have a minimum speed as well as the specified limit for the trip.

There's no set limits other than that, but you can get a CD30 and a fine for causing a hazard by driving too slowly. A huge differential speed between two vehicles is more unsafe than two cars doing 85 mph.

I agree to a certain extent but bear these two points in mind:

It can take a new driver a while to get used to driving and to feel safe going at higher speeds - ditto those who are new to a road and are not sure what might be around the corner. In both cases, the more practise they do the better they will get and the less aggro they get the quicker they will build their confidence.

Some cars simply will not easily get up to speed when pulling out from a junction, filtering onto a motorway or going up a hill. For some you are literally going as fast as you can! My car is slow and no one seems to realise that it just won't go any quicker...

Remember both very good points! Tbf the 30 road I mentioned in my post is at the bottom of a bank coming off a 70 so perhaps they just slowed down too much, however the maintained the very slow speed until it went into a 50 and only then went up to 30! Very very frustrating! Especially in this heat with a screaming baby in the car.

The dual carriageway, perhaps they aren't the most confident driver, I hadn't considered that. However I know that that particular car does go very fast (fiesta ST) as I really want that car ha! I've test driven a couple so I know what the car is capable of so unless they are having major issues with it or have accidently locked their key to only let them drive at 50max, there is no reason the vehicle can't move faster.

Someone doing 50 on a 70 road doesn't bother me, the twats gluing me when I happened to be stuck behind a slower driver bother me a lot more.

The middle and outside lane should be only for overtaking, so that would also give me the rage.

I more angry against dangerous and over-confident drivers than the slower ones who are being careful, but stick to your bloody lane!
Doing 40 on a 30 zone is not on either.

Agreed on that.
I set my key at max of 70 so speeding down the main roads is impossible (I find it easier to pick up speed on long stretches on open roads so am very cautious about that since my accident)