To think people who overtake are idiots?

[sallyhansen32]

So this morning I was out early.
I was on a road with a 30 mph limit..there's a speed camera next to a school.
I'm new to driving so didn't want to go crazy so I dropped down to 25mph till I passed through it.
A van overtook me and stuck his fingers up.
Was I going to slow?
If I was then fair enough ..but it's not like I was going through under 20.

Ok OP driver with four days experience who admits they aren’t sure how hard to press the accelerator pedal. You are clearly in the right and didn’t in any way make a mistake and the other driver just decided to get angry with you for no reason at all 🙄🙄🙄 good luck out there 😬😂

ClaireAnne1976

Hold on, people can't have it both ways, can they? Either new driver should be expected to get everything right straight away - in which case they are as likely to right as anyone else - or we need to acknowledge that they will probably drive a little cautiously, and not take every opportunity to cut them up.

Which is it?

Ignore him. Yes maybe you were going a bit slow but so what, you were near a school and a speed camera. He’s a knob. Consideration on the road goes both ways and people have the patience of knats.

Pen

My point is she can’t see she might have been at fault. I don’t expect a new driver to be perfect but they should accept they are probably making errors. This OP seems to think she was entirely innocent and the other driver was “an idiot”. She clearly want driving as an experienced driver would.

Agree, @ClaireAnne1976

OP was driving erratically, whatever her speed. I bet she didn't do it on her test, so why start doing it now?

Her attitude is not going to serve her well in her driving life either, she needs a thicker skin because there are stupid people everywhere (inc the guy who swore at her).

Overtaking would need breaking the speed limit, so yes that was stupid of them and dangerous.

You, like several other PPs, are making an assumption that he needed to break the limit to overtake. Here's the thing. This all happened right at a speed camera. Regardless of how much an aggressive nob the overtaker might have been, do you really think he flew through a camera at a speed likely to get him a ticket? You don't know what speed he was doing nor do you know if his driving was actually stupid or dangerous. Stating that overtaking = breaking the limit as though it's fact is just nonsense. Sometimes it does, but invariably it does not.

Welcome to the world of driving. Yes they're idiots and dangerous. Most roads near us now have 20mph limits and my husband insists on slowing down to that speed which enrages the white van men and causes them to do similar things.

Drive at the speed you feel is safe and just ignore them. They'll come unstuck one day.

Tbh, its not about not knowing how much pressure to apply to the accelerator pedal as if you were previously pootling along at 30mph before you reached the camera zone, you could have coasted through without touching the accelerator. And since you managed to raise your speed safely once past the camera, there was no need to slow down. But you'll know for next time. Lots of people don't drive at the speed limit, thats up to them, if they can overtake safely, let them. He shouldn't give you the finger but welcome to the real world of driving, concentrate on being a safe and sensible driver and let all the other crap go over you.

The van driver was a prick. There was no need for swearing. Sadly, you will realise the longer you spend on the road - those sort of drivers exist not infrequently and as a fellow driver, dealing with them is something you have to do.

However, nervous drivers are unpredictable, and can be a danger because of that. He quite possibly realised you were a nervous driver when you slowed down (probably quite suddenly and without warning or cause, because that is something most new drivers do - whether or not you choose to acknowledge that) and decided to get in front of you. Unpredictable breaking of a car in front makes me want to overtake too when there is no obvious reason for it.

It may be worth considering doing something like pass plus, or hiring an instructor to come out with you in your car a few times until your confidence has increased

Il be very careful next time I drop 2mph ...seen as though it's so erratic to do so.

ClaireAnne1976

The other driver was an idiot.

I'm not sure if anyone has said this before since not read the whole thread (sorry).… but

30 is not a target! It is a maximum speed and to those who say you should drive at 30 - seriously! You drive according to conditions/what is going on etc.... it lots of children near road near a school way zoom through at 30 if 25 if ok... more children survive if an accident occurs (they do step out you know) at lower speeds...

What is it about speed with some people

Nah, @Boulty, nobody has said anything remotely like that in any of the preceding 662 comments on the thread

Possibly Pen but OP seems to accept no accountability or that she may not have been driving well.

She’s a brand new driver but thins it’s ok to call other drivers idiots.

If a driver overtaking and sticking a finger up sends her moaning to MN she probably needs to stick to the bus.

ClaireAnne1976

The OP dropped her speed by 2mph. She did nothing wrong at all. The van driver was a cock, and so is anyone else who overtakes vehicles going at a reasonable speed in a residential area.

If dropping your speed by 2mph causes such stress and anger maybe they should also get the bus eh

2mph

Never has such a minute alleged speed drop caused such angst.

OP I suspect if the other driver posted here their perception of the situation may have been very different. You feel that you dropped your speed from 27 to 25 for 5 seconds and that this caused his anger. Speed is going to continually fluctuate by 2mph - few people will cruise at exactly one speed for their journey. Maybe your speed fluctuated by more than you think or maybe he really was just being a prick, we don't know.

Perhaps he did feel you were speeding up again as he overtook, which you say you didn't but you were looking at him and not your speedo so I dunno. You say he overtook during the 5 secs you slowed down, then you sped up again to apparently get up a bank into the petrol station, it does sound like you did accelerate while he overtook tbh.

Anyway whatever happened, you are going to experience many more times in your driving career unfortunately!

Put p plate on your car that will help both you and other drivers. I get really annoyed when people can’t drive at the speed limit when there’s nothing to stop them. That’s not to say I’d actively take it out on anyone but the roads would be better if everyone just adhered to good driving, which driving at sudden drops to 25mph in a 30 is not really considered good driving.
With p plates everyone knows you are just on the road and need to get used to driving a bit more. When I did my test we were expected to get up to the speed limit. In fact not reaching it without good reason could fail you. Maybe things have changed a bit since then.

OP HAS P PLATES

• OP HAS P PLATES OP HAS P PLATES

As you were.

There's always angry drivers on these threads who think everyone else is driving too slow. Anger and speed often go together. Stay as you are op!

Wow drip feed much. Just went through the thread and p plates weren’t mentioned for a long tome.
Thanks @FeralBeryl maybe the OP can get a sign like that if they’re going blame needing to drop speeds suddenly and accuse all people that overtake an idiot on driving a new car.

As someone who failed her first test due to driving to slow I think you may have failed too if you did that whilst taking the test. You have to be more aware of other road users and how drops in your speed will force them to drop theirs too, without just cause or warning it’s potentially dangerous.

The longer you’ve been driving the more you learn to relax and ignore the idiots and also gain the confidence to maintain the speed limit. Just focus on your own driving and try not to get flustered by other people’s weird behaviour. Nothing wrong with overtaking but doing it dangerously or aggressively is horrendous but unfortunately common. I once had someone angrily overtake me on the driveway into the city park. It’s a 20mph limit dropping to a 10mph limit closer to the parking lot. Dumbass overtook me at what looked like 40mph. TO ENTER THE PARK. Lord knows what vital business he was late for at the freaking park but whatevs.

With the best will in the world OP, you've openly said you aren't sure how to control the speed in your car because it's new.
You appear a nervous driver, you also claim to be entirely aware of your own speed and control of your own speed to the exact mph, whilst not knowing how to control your speed (which is why yoy had to slow down through a speed camera despite already being under the limit). You also entirely aware of the van driver's speed as they approached you, and slowing for a speed camera, and being aware of the van's actions in an overtake. You say you didn't speed up when they were overtaking, but have said you aren't sure oj how to control the speed in your car.
My guess would be (as it has been all along) that you were going slower anyway, which is understandable, slowed further at the speed camera (not understandable), then sped up but actually a lot of your fluctuations were more than you realise.

Maybe just learn from it. You're a new driver who's not driven consistently and is struggling to regualte speed in a new car. Learn from it, be mindful of your areas to work on as a driver and move on.