Drive at the speed limit

[OldSpeclkledHen]

I am sick to bloody death of drivers who refuse to drive upto the speed limit.

Ffs if it's 60mph speed limit - drive at fucking 60 -NOT 30 🤬🤬

Three times I have been out driving since last night, EVERY fucking time on 3 different journeys I have been stuck behind some freaking twat who cannot drive upto the speed limit, or overtake a fucking cyclist (but that's another rant)

I am by no means a girl racer, but FFS get out of my fucking way.

Aaaaaand breathe.

Not sure I want a lorry on my backside going 20mph faster than me.

But please, do try it and come back with your findings. (Most likely in a reincarnated form.)

You sound like an angry aggressive swat! You shouldn’t be driving! Get off the bloody road!! 😡😡

VinoISVeritas it feels like you're having a different conversation, because I've never mentioned whether it's legal or not or whether the police will stop you for it or not. We're talking about whether driving slowly is dangerous. I don't think "people will get pissed off and do stupid things" means driving slowly is dangerous. It means getting pissed off and doing stupid things is dangerous.

Not sure I want a lorry on my backside going 20mph faster than me.

Why not? Can't a lorry slow down and overtake? I've seen them slow down and overtake other lorries plenty of times.

FFS. I’m out.

My 7 year old understands how motorways work better than you.

Actually, I think the spider on her bedroom ceiling probably gets it.

I can see what you mean about frustration and aggression being a human response, and we all get frustrated by other drivers (I'm guilty too), but adults should be able to exercise self control and follow the rules of the road.

Car accidents can cause death, as our family found out when my FIL died. Please remember that it's not just about you getting to where you need to be.

I’m pretty confident that if the police will stop you for it, it’s not a particularly great idea, or indeed particularly safe.
If you wish to still do so because you feel that You Know Best, then I’d say that you and your ilk are the ones who are not driving to the accepted standard, and are therefore more likely to cause an accident.

Well no, like you already said, the police will stop you because they know other people (like our friend above) can't control their emotions and will likely do something dangerous. Not because driving slowly itself is actually dangerous.

YANBU, I love the speed prudes on MN though always makes for a good eye roll.

Interestingly I've noticed a lot of learner drivers driving at 30mph on our local 60mph bypass. I feel sorry for them, their tutors are terrible tutors if they aren't making them get up to speed.

whyisnt

So you wouldn't consider that joining a motorway at 40 is dangerous then?

If there are other vehicles in the left lane driving faster than 40mpg then obviously yes.

But that's not really what we were talking about.

@GunpowderGelatine I recently saw a poor learner creeping along a busy road with lots of turnings and junctions, holding up all sorts of traffic and obviously not up to the road. I was on a bus behind them, and I could imagine how they were clutching the steering wheel as they struggled on. As far as I know, all turn offs led to busy roads as well. I thought the instructor was being cruel.

You do understand that danger isn’t just direct cause?
You do also understand that going too slowly can cause someone obeying the speed limit to crash?
Going too fast for the conditions is dangerous.
Going too slowly for the conditions is equally as dangerous.
The two are different, yet the end result is the same.

You do also understand that going too slowly can cause someone obeying the speed limit to crash?

Well, now we're back around to the beginning of the actual conversation, at least.

I don't see how driving at 30 on a 60 road is dangerous. How does it cause someone to crash? Bearing in mind that I don't believe other people taking incorrect actions as a result of impatience should be attributed to the slow driver. To me that's too much like saying an assault victim was behaving dangerously by walking down a dark alley alone at night.

Someone going slower than the speed limit could not cause a crash.

If there was a crash it would be due to a faster vehicle driver failing to drive safely around a slower vehicle.

@WhyIsntGeorgeCalledPeterOrPaul

Car a is doing 30 mph. Car b is doing 60mph because that's around the norm for that road and that's what the driver is expecting. Car b is going to catch up on other car a very quickly, especially if there's any sort of obstruction, like a bend.

QuestionableMouse

Yeah, but it's not uncommon to come up behind other vehicles driving slower than 30 on these roads. Tractors, horse boxes, huge lorries carrying mobile homes, etc. I guess because most people slow down round bends anyway. And if the road is straight enough to drive at 60, you see the vehicle ahead with plenty of notice.

I can see both sides of this to a degree.
If you don't know an area at all then you're likely to be more cautious, and on any very narrow, windy roads (like the ones we've recently experienced on holiday) then you probably don't want to be doing 60 unless you know them very well.
However, on 'normal' roads, where visibility is good and the road is wide enough for two cars to pass, don't drive at 25 in a 60 zone (yes, the old lady pootling along in front of us along a massive stretch where we couldn't overtake), and funnily enough it was a small silver car.

I often transport injured animals around, I'll go as slow as I deem necessary so not to cause further injury or pain.

I also transported a huge full fish tank once, drove at about 10-20mph hour the whole way..

YABU, you don't know the circumstances behind their speed.

We have country lanes that are national speed limit and you get idiots actually trying to drive at 60 - they crash, a lot.
It’s a speed LIMIT, you don’t have to strive to reach it. You drive safely, whatever that means. However those who drive well below for no reason on an open safe road, are indeed very annoying

Car a is doing 30mph. Car b is doing 60mph because that's around the norm for that road and that's what the driver is expecting. Car b is going to catch up on other car a very quickly, especially if there's any sort of obstruction, like a bend.

Erm - where to start with this one?

OK here goes:

It isn't driver a's fault if driver b catches up with them so quickly it is likely to cause an accident. Driver b should bone up on their stopping distances. My instructor taught me to think of the car ahead as a potential brick wall. If they suddenly stopped dead, would you be able to stop in time?

If it is a straight bit of road, then driver b should be able to see car a from quite a long way away, giving plenty of time to judge car a's speed and to slow down.

If there is any kind of obstruction visible ahead (a bend is an 'obstruction' - really???), then driver b should have seen it and slowed down already. Then, coming upon car a after the bend, they would already have anticipated a possible obstruction and wouldn't have to suddenly react to it.

Driver b shouldn't be driving round a bend too fast. If they can't see far enough round the bend to know that the road ahead is clear, then they need to slow down.

Driver b shouldn't be expecting other drivers to behave in a certain way. Never assume anything, especially not when you are driving at speed.

You can't either expect or assume the road in front of you to remain clear. You need to anticipate potential problems and give yourself time to respond.

(And yes, I do often drive at 60 on the country roads round here. I did today. But only some of them, and not all the time - I know them too well for that).

Yeah but what should happen and what does happen aren't the same thing. 😂😂😂

Drivers are supposed to anticipate not just react. They should never approach a bend at 60 without breaking in case there is a slow moving vehicle in front, or, as is very common in rural areas, a sheep stationary on the road. You should be concentrating very carefully on winding country roads.

Slow moving vehicles are annoying but a careful driver should be watching out for them. You would be the one at fault in any personal injury claim (I used to be a legal secretary in the PI Department).