If you can't drive faster than 35mph....

[DeRigueurMortis]

So indulge me with a rant....

My drive to work involves a 10 mile section on what you might describe as country roads.

The national speed limit applies.

There are a couple of sections that are winding but the corners are not severe - for example you could safely drive the whole section at 55mph (inc cornering) and 60mph in the straights (in good conditions - in the dark/rain/snow you would obviously not be unreasonable to adjust your speed as required to be safe).

I appreciate that someone who doesn't know the road might want to adopt a slower pace and wouldn't think that going 45-50mph corners/straights was unreasonably slow.

However there is a man who regularly seems to be on the same schedule as me that that insists on driving the whole section at no more than 40mph slowing to 35mph for long stretches. He obviously knows the road having done the journey many times and his speed (or lack of) is not impacted by driving conditions.

Cars regularly bunch up behind him (I'm talking queues of 10/15 other road users) as opportunities for safely overtaking are limited
(and I've seen quite a few dodgy overtaking manoeuvres done in sheer frustration I would assume - which I don't condone).

I can't help feeling that if you're incapable of driving at an appropriate speed you shouldn't be on the road at all.

This man works in a building near to my office (I've seen the car parked there) and I'm getting to the point of wanting to walk over and speak to him if I see him getting in/out of his car to have a strong but polite word.

Realistically I won't because I'm not sure there's anything I can say to make him a better driver.

However I don't think I'm U for thinking of you can't drive at a reasonable speed you shouldn't be in charge of a vehicle at all.

The speed limit has just been reduced from 60 to 50 on the very long straight road where the Duke of Edinburgh crashed last month because it's an accident black spot. I bet it's not the only road by a long way where the limit's too high for safety.

How can any of you say HE is the bad driver..none of you have seen the road. One person's definition of bendy and another's is different. Same with safe distance behind another vehicle and safe overtaking distance. ...if everyone must get it well.there would be no collisions. Just because someone posts here does not make the poster correct. And him wrong.

it only adds 5 mins to my travel time I bet it doesn't add anything like 5 minutes to your travel time.

Imo drivers who can't drive at the speed limit shouldn't be on the roads

What about people who can drive at the speed limit but choose not to.

Can anybody tell me how it makes me a bad driver if I go out in my car tomorrow and choose to drive at 35-40mph on a 60 road, just because I'm enjoying the scenery and in no hurry? WITHOUT listing dangerous things that OTHER drivers may do as a result of their own impatience/inflated sense of self-importance?

“It’s a limit not a target” was my instructors mantra.

Having said that, if it’s a regular driver and not a one off who is not used to winding roads with potential wildlife, mud or other hazards, I would get frustrated. And I’m a never speeder.

Is there anywhere he could pull in and let people pass?

This drives me mad too. I live in another country and the main road I drive on does have a few curves and so you can't really drive at the 80kmh speed limit but there are often people merrily driving along at 30 or 40 kmh. If they cannot drive on this road faster than that, they shouldn't be driving at all.
There are a lot of tourists as well so many are unfamiliar with the road and you could therefore understand them being cautious.
HOWEVER, on this road there are 3 points where the road has two lanes so that people can overtake. Slower drivers should drive straight into the right hand lane - do they hell.... they normally continue to drive along in the lane which is meant for overtaking, meaning that others can't get past them (some people undertake which is of course, illegal, and an accident waiting to happen).
Why do they do this? If they aren't able (or don't want) to drive at an appropriate speed then the least they can do is drive in the correct lane at these sections or pull in to a bus stop and let others get past.
They must be completely unaware of anything around them or they don't care that they have a queue of 20 cars behind them.
This often provokes others into very dangerous overtaking manouevres.
I would like to see more fines for these slow drivers who are driving with no awareness of anything else going on and causing an obstruction by not using the correct lane.

Without knowing the road I couldn't say if you are being unreasonable but unless it's a wide a road is rarely safe to do 60, in fact there's a consultation to reduce national speed limit roads to 50 unless otherwise specified. Now 35/40 sounds quite slow but there's plenty of lanes where I would not dream of going faster as there's bends and plenty of cyclists. What's the hurry. (The same roads with bushes sticking into the road and barely wide enough to have a central line my dad does 60 on!)

Nuno some people give zero fucks about the scenic route on the way TO THEIR JOB....

Agree OP.

The amount of times I've seen one of these slowcoaches crawl down the road, then get to a red light and carry on right through it. No awareness at all. These kinds of drivers are as dangerous as the speeders.

Can anybody tell me how it makes me a bad driver if I go out in my car tomorrow and choose to drive at 35-40mph on a 60 road, just because I'm enjoying the scenery and in no hurry?

I was told when learning to drive that people driving along a lot slower than the limit and looking at scenery are hindering other road users. I was told that the correct thing to do is for the driver to pull in and park for a while to look at the scenery. Looking at the scenery could be dangerous because attention is not directly on the road, but on the surroundings.

I also think it is quite selfish to do this - as I said in my post above, we have a lot of tourists here and many of them probably are looking at the scenery (which is very impressive) but it does cause tailbacks and we often end up with traffic jams as a result of this sort of thing.

Pull in and enjoy the scenery for a while, let others pass and then set off again.

Can anybody tell me how it makes me a bad driver if I go out in my car tomorrow and choose to drive at 35-40mph on a 60 road, just because I'm enjoying the scenery and in no hurry?

If you're looking at the scenery, you're not paying attention to the road. If you were paying attention to the road, you'd know whether or not it was safe to drive at/near the speed limit and if it was, you should be driving at that speed. If you're not, you're being inconsiderate to those unfortunate enough to be stuck behind you. Why should you determine that everyone else has to drive slowly?

OMG. Whatever the reason for driving at 35-40 is, the scenery was just an example. The reason is irrelevant. It could be because someone is a bad driver, but it also could be because they're simply not in a rush!

The point is that people are saying it's inherently bad driving and I'm asking for reasons why that do not simply involve dangerous things that OTHER drivers may do as a result of their own impatience/inflated sense of self-importance.

Nuno it might be legal but it's extremely inconsiderate towards other road users. What if someone behind you needs to get somewhere urgently to bring a child to the doctor, help an elderly parent who's had a fall, get a pregnant woman to hospital, etc? Your attitude is very selfish.

Has some sanctimonious person piled in with "it's a speed limit, not a target" yet?

I hear you, OP. I live on the edge of town. Turn right out of the end of my street at it's a 30. Mile further on, it's a 40. Half a mile after that, national speed limit applies. You can safely drive at 55mph at least on most stretches. Obviously slowing for corners.

That doesn't stop the Sunday drivers on their weekly pootle up to Loch Lomond or Aberfoyle not registering that they have indeed left the city 30mph zone and never getting above about 25mph. Completely oblivious to the 12 cars piled up behind them. Braking every time another car approaches.

And slowing to a crawl over the Queen's View - undeniably spectacular but there is a SODDING CAR PARK to allow you to pull in and look at the view for as long as you sodding well like.

Can anybody tell me how it makes me a bad driver if I go out in my car tomorrow and choose to drive at 35-40mph on a 60 road, just because I'm enjoying the scenery and in no hurry?

I'm not a lawyer or policemen, but I reckon you are guilty of inconsiderate driving, if you are slowing down other drivers for a protracted period of time.

If a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, he is guilty of an offence.

Nuno it might be legal but it's extremely inconsiderate towards other road users. What if someone behind you needs to get somewhere urgently to bring a child to the doctor, help an elderly parent who's had a fall, get a pregnant woman to hospital, etc?

I dunno, I feel like that kind of extreme circumstance, where the 5 minutes travel time makes an actual difference, is extremely rare. I suppose if someone was in one of those rare situations though, they'd have a right to be pissed off! But my earlier point was that for people who are just on their way to work, or to Tesco or wherever, if losing those 5 minutes makes them mad enough to tailgate and perform risky overtakes (which it is, for most people) then THEY are bad drivers. And they probably need to relax a little. Try meditation or something.

You forgot that on the only long stretch which allows for overtaking they put their foot right down.

I'm not a lawyer or policemen, but I reckon you are guilty of inconsiderate driving, if you are slowing down other drivers for a protracted period of time.

Sorry, by bad driving I meant dangerous driving, rather than being inconsiderate. I was responding to the multiple posters who have complained about how dangerous the man is being.

Some of the rage on this thread makes me think it's probably not slow drivers who are a danger on the road.

A little light reading www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/motoring/crashes-rise-people-driving-slowly-2368461.amp it is dangerous and I bet there is a simple reason for it like he requires glasses.

Some of the rage on this thread makes me think it's probably not slow drivers who are a danger on the road.

I don't get the impression that anyone here would make dangerous overtaking maneuvers. It's human nature to be frustrated when stuck behind an incredibly slow driver.

If a section of road isn't safe to overtake on, then it almost certainly is not actually safe to drive at 60mph on. If you can't overtake then either there is a bend coming up that you can't see round or it's too narrow (or both). He sounds like a sensible driver.

Lack of consideration towards other drivers is bad driving - whether it's not signalling, poor lane discipline, tailgating, driving inappropriately fast or inappropriately slow.

I often finish night shift at 8am on a Saturday morning and need to get home promptly before the tiredness hits. I can drive safely at proper speeds, but being stuck doing 30 behind some weekend driver just makes me sleepy and I can't drive safely then. I usually end up losing my temper and swearing which keeps me awake I suppose.

Speed lumitnis a limit not a target.
Not condoning his speed and know it would drive me bat shit crazy but 35 to 40 isn't illegally slow. Perhaps he's conserving petrol/diesel or hates his home life/what ever is at his destination.