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.

If the road is straight and clear and safe enough to do 60 then there will be nothing stopping you from overtaking a driver doing less than 60. Anything that is stopping you from overtaking safely (eg blind bends or width of road) will also be a reason why it is sensible to slow down.

🍿

As I said, I'm learning to drive.

There are a few places around the test centre where the road rises relatively steeply and you can't see what is on the other side. There are cars parked both sides and it's an area with a lot of side streets. Speed limit is thirty but I always find myself slowing down because I'm not sure what's on the other side - bend, oncoming traffic etc.

How would the collective of MN approach this?

I posted on a local Facebook group to ask why so many people drove along the 60mph (NSL) bypass at 40mph (max). 90% of the people who responded had no idea it was a 60mph road. hmm

Oh dear. DP frequently says that most people don't know what the NSL is and/or what the NSL sign means and I told him he was talking bollocks. After all, they cound't have passed their test without knowing, could they?

I think I'll keep this to myself...

You’re actually trying to bully me and make me feel bad over the Internet. Wow.

Agree that generally speaking drivers should be capable of doing the speed limit where road conditions allow. I was told that doing below the speed limit (unless this isn’t possibke, for example on a rural road) would be a fail by a driving test examiner. There are far too many instances of people driving at 45-50mph on a motorway or dual carriageway.

I’m sorry but any car driver who fails to see an problem when they’re being overtaken by a HGV should not be on the road.

The limit is just that - a limit. I am shocked at the amount of people that take a limit as meaning the minimum. Although, I wouldn't go at 30ks in a 60 zone, but I do tend to hover around 95 in a 100 zone, sometimes less. It is not a race. The limit is the maximum. Not a minimum. And not compulsory to always go at the limit.

You’re actually trying to bully me and make me feel bad over the Internet. Wow.

Wrong. But do carry on.

I hear you OP. Does my head in

Oh dear. DP frequently says that most people don't know what the NSL is and/or what the NSL sign means and I told him he was talking bollocks. After all, they cound't have passed their test without knowing, could they?.

You wouldn’t think so, would you?

Even when the government’s own page showing the NSL limits was posted they didn’t get it.

Do carry on

There are a few places around the test centre where the road rises relatively steeply and you can't see what is on the other side. There are cars parked both sides and it's an area with a lot of side streets. Speed limit is thirty but I always find myself slowing down because I'm not sure what's on the other side - bend, oncoming traffic etc.

How would the collective of MN approach this?

Stick to 20-25mph. Be prepared to brake. Radio off, window down and listen.

^^which is where electric cars cause a problem.

And drive as much as you can to build your confidence and knowledge of the road. And learn to control your emotional reactions to things other drivers do.

@TittyGolightly - I'm not planning on using a radio. There are enough blind corners where hearing what is coming is a help! The instructor has, of course, had me practice the worst of the bends and junctions, but the routes I am likely to be taking aren't straightforward, so I need to get on with it.

TittyGoLightly i'm intrigued by you saying your speedo reads differently to your speed...have you ever been pulled over by the police for speeding? I have, & coincidentally their speed gun gadget read the speed my speedo did...

@Meckity1

On my actual driving test, we had just left the test centre and turned onto a main road with a 60 limit when I got stuck behind a cyclist. It is a straight road there but I could not overtake because there was a constant stream of traffic coming the other way which had just been released from roadworks lights.

I crawled behind the cyclist for what felt like ages thinking "oh no, I hope I'm doing the right thing and the examiner won't fail me for being too cautious!" But obviously I was doing the right thing as I passed!

Also, later in my test when I was doing the sat-nav bit, the sat-nav wanted me to go up a road which was closed for roadworks so I had to go another way, ended up going into a residential road where neither I nor the examiner had ever been before, found a turning space at the end and did a perfect turn to escape from there, and finally got back on a road where the sat-nav got back on track again. I think the fact that I coped with the diversion without panicking at all helped me to pass!

A 60mph speed limit is a LIMIT not a target...

So many mumsnetters will go mad if you tell a woman not to walk naked and alone down dark alleys at 3am, but at the same if someone crashes while trying to overtake you because you're driving at 30 on a 60 road, it's all your fault.

Driving slowly is not dangerous. Trying to overtake a slow driver when it's not safe to do so, or tailgating, is.

TittyGoLightly i'm intrigued by you saying your speedo reads differently to your speed...have you ever been pulled over by the police for speeding? I have, & coincidentally their speed gun gadget read the speed my speedo did...

No, that’s not what I said. Manufacturers usually calibrate speedos to read above the speed being travelled to limit the likelihood of speeding. They are allowed to do this up to 10%. You can google this and find all of the regulations and workings out.

My car is calibrated for track use, so is spot on.

Never been caught speeding, no. Only ever been pulled over once, and that’s because the officers thought my car was their unmarked police car. 😂

if you cannot overtake safely then you dont.Of course you passed.

ditto gormlessly following satnavs. well done.

*Driving slowly is not dangerous.”

I’m driving 30 miles down the motorway shortly. I’ll do it at 5mph and test your “driving slowly is not dangerous” hypothesis.

It’s cow shit. I don’t know enough about cow shit to know whether digested grass is greasy.

I don't know either, but I do know that a fresh cow pat with fresh snow on top is very slippery indeed.

Fell flat on my arse when I stepped on it.

I completely agree with you op, it boils my blood, (nearly as much as people who don't indicate at roundabouts but that's another issue)
If you are not capable enough to drive at the limit the road has been deemed safe,don't be on the road. It's actually got me a little wound up just typing about it........grrrrr