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.

Remain, it's not that we don't understand your argument, but we live in the real world. You can rationalise all you want that the slow driver is at no fault and everyone else is the problem, but that doesn't prevent accidents happening and people potentially losing their lives.

may provoke less than safe overtaking moves. Yes, it's ultimately the fault of the person overtaking, but the situation has been caused by the slow driver.

A woman walks down the road wearing a low cut top, extremely short skirt and stilettos. A man rapes her. Yes, it's ultimately his fault but the situation has been caused by the woman.

Is that an acceptable statement? If not, neither is yours.

YANBU, it's inconsiderate and dangerous

Inconsiderate perhaps. But dangerous? How?

Very few National Speed Limit country roads in the area I live should be driven at 69 mph. They are only that speed limit because that is the default. OP, if they are genuinely safe to drive at 60 mph then I’ll take your word for it and say he’s a bit annoying but just because the speed limit is 60 doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safe. Tbh, I’m always slowing down for cyclists or horses so slowing down much less to accommodate someone’s slower pace isn’t a huge deal for me.

Inconsiderate absolutely. Dangerous absolutely not.

*A woman walks down the road wearing a low cut top, extremely short skirt and stilettos. A man rapes her. Yes, it's ultimately his fault but the situation has been caused by the woman.

Is that an acceptable statement? If not, neither is yours.*

That is the most ridiculous comment I've seen on this thread. It is not comparable at all.

If you drive unnecessary slowly or hesitantly in your driving test, you will fail as you're considered unable to reasonably handle the road conditions. This is to protect the safety of others. A woman wearing a short skirts poses no risk to anyone else's safety and what she wears is her own business.

It's a perfect comparison.

Sorry but I don’t agree with you. It’s a limit not a target and I often feel these roads are driven too fast. Yes drivers should be considerate about traffic behind them but if there is no minimum speed then they are really doing nothing wrong.

Nuno.... Garda and myself have both given excellent reasons for not doing 60mph on country roads. Garda survived as do I and my horse. The person I saw go under a trailer pulled by a tractor did not....decapitation tends to be fatal.
Traffic on country lanes tends not to be controlled by traffic lights so higher probability of having vehicles joining or crossing at junctions in front of you. Higher probability of pedestrians on or crossing the road if there are no pavements. Higher probability of animals being on the road.

Perhaps this man choses to drive at this speed as in his experience it's safer to do so.

Bluelady - no it's not. The slow driver is being inconsiderate and unnecessarily inconveniencing other road users. The woman wearing a short skirt is bothering nobody. The rapist intends to commit a serious crime which hurts another person, the overtaking driver does not.

The thing about drivers that drive very slowly is that they are undoubtedly nervous, unsure road users. A competent, considerate driver does not need to drive 20 mph below the limit.

Driving too slowly can constitute careless driving and can be an offence. It is dangerous and it does cause accidents.

Still people say it's dangerous. And still nobody can come up with a reason why. This can run and run.

I live in a national park.

The 40mph drivers are the bane of my life. I cry a little inside whenever a Honda Jazz pulls out of a junction in front of me because drivers of that particular car seem to be a the biggest culprits.

The thing about drivers that drive very slowly is that they are undoubtedly nervous, unsure road users. A competent, considerate driver does not need to drive 20 mph below the limit

In most cases, that probably is true. And so it could be that that person is more likely to be involved in an accident at other times, such as not seeing a car or bike turning out, or something like that. But then it wouldn't be their slowness that is dangerous, would it.

I'm trying to question the mentality of the people in the queue behind such a person on a country road, many of whom, like some of the respondents in this thread, will be swearing and getting angry that this person ahead of them is being so "dangerous", when driving at 40mph on a country road is not really dangerous. Maintain an appropriate distance between your car and his/hers, and you are not in any danger. Apart from of arriving 5 minutes late to work or wherever.

I imagine roads would be safer in general if everyone just relaxed and didn't get so wound up so easily over such minor things.

YANBU because the man regularly drives that route so doesn't have the excuse of not knowing the roads.

It pisses me off when people do 30 in a 40 on my way to work when there is absolutely no reason not to do 40.

I've overtook people on motorways that are going as slow as 50-in the middle lane. They are completely oblivious to what's going on around them, they are usually the only ones in the middle lane, and no one in the first lane, probably because we've all had to move around them.

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?

There is a difference between being a bad driver one who inconveniences and messes about other road users and a dangerous driver -- one who runs into things or forces other cars off the road.

There are huge numbers of bad drivers, and rather fewer actively dangerous ones. This is just as well, since they quite often survive and only cause other people to die or be left disabled or disfigured.

NunoGoncalves
Yours was "you aren't paying attention to the queue behind you" which is totally meaningless. Of course you can drive slowly and see the queue behind you.

You can see them, but you are not paying attention to them.

Paying attention to something means giving some thought to it.

Someone driving slowly with a large tailback of cars behind them is clearly not giving them any thought at all, but thinking only of what suits him or her.

We've come a long way from "This geezer drives in to work every day at a ridiculously slow speed for the road and the conditions, and it gets on my goat" to "if I happen to feel like driving slowly, that's my right and everyone else can just lump it because I matter so much more than they do."

Speed kills. Impatient angry drivers are far more dangerous than slow drivers. Don't blame others for your actions. It's like an abusive partner saying 'you made me do it'.

Adding to the sea of YANBUs, it's so fucking irritating. I really don't understand people who aren't in a reasonable hurry to get somewhere. It must be nice to have the kind of mindset where you feel you can take as long as you want to do things - maybe we're missing the secret to inner peace, chase him down and ask him!

The rapist intends to commit a serious crime which hurts another person, the overtaking driver does not.

The overtaking driver hurts another person if she/he has an accident because of their impatience.

Yanbu. I live in a country lane which is nsl, and the amount of times i get stuck behind a bloody LORRY trying to wind round the lanes at about 15mph😭 for some reason they follow their sat nav despite the signs telling them to not do this. Drives me mad!!

Some of the attitudes on this thread is exactly why I don't ride my horse on the roads any more, despite all the bridleways being cut up by roads so unless he sprouts wings it's highly unlikely we'll ever get to one without riding on a road. It's also the reason I wear a bloody great flourecsent jacket when walking - might not stop me being runover but it kind of eliminates the 'I didn't see you because you blended in' argument.
I've lost count of the amount of times cars have skidded having to slam their brakes on because they suddenly come across a hazard like a car coming the other way, a tractor, horse, person, cyclist or animal in the road - and look surprised about it - on a country lane. Just because it has the national speed limit doesn't mean you have to drive at that speed.

(General you here not aimed specifically) And if your frustration at another road user causes you to make a dangerous manoeuvre then I'd say you're the problem, you're the one not able to control yourself enough to see it's a dangerous manoeuvre in the first place and put everyone in danger including yourself. The slow driver may be inconsiderate, but it's not dangerous unless they start making silly manoeuvres.
I do get the frustration, I hate people who dither right on my horses hocks or drive practically next to me for half a mile as much as those who zoom past, and if either could just give me the chance, I'd pull onto the verge or into a gateway. Especially if people are starting to queue behind me. Rarely got the opportunity though because everyone thinks that saving 5 minutes is worth risking someone else's life for.

So many poor drivers on the road - both the too slow variety and the too fast variety. Between where I live to the nearest town is a 1 mile stretch of dual carriageway with a roundabout at each end. The number of people who get in the outside lane at one end of the dual carriageway and do 40 - 50 mph up the outside lane because they are going right at the far end is unbelievable. It's a national speed limit stretch of road. You either have to stick behind them at 40 for the duration or as some do, undertake them! How there aren't more accidents on that stretch is beyond me.

I'm staggered that so many on here think the only reasons to not drive well under the maximum limit (aside from prevailing conditions) is because of the inconvenience to others and that this may lead others to overtake stupidly?! I've heard it all now.

The reason it's dangerous is to do with the unexpectedness of coming upon a vehicle at a considerably lower speed than the road speed limit and conditions indicate are appropriate, for other road users who are driving to a sensible speed, making progress. To suddenly come round a bend (same on a motorway even) and come up against a vehicle going at just 30 mph is an actual physical danger that could cause an immediate crash - that's a bit more than an inconvenience and a cause of frustration! At all times all drivers should be able to brake within the distance between them and the car in front and be driving at a speed and distance from the vehicle in front of them that enables them to do that. Someone driving considerably below the limit suddenly come upon round a bend is a direct danger to others.

I also agree with other PPs who say that in some cases the NSL appears too high on some roads. Sadly I think people think that it's suitable to drive at NSL on the whole of that road when more often than not there are sections with bends, slopes etc where NSL is undoubtedly NOT safe. Logic should tell you that you shouldn't be driving at the limit round a blind bend.

Another PP raises that very important point (which seems to be absent from a great many drivers who drive the whole road including bends and single/1.5 track sections at breakneck speed) is that you simply don't know what's round the corner. Maybe I too am more aware of this having worked with horses and had many a close shave riding round the lanes from, frankly, insane drivers. On the straight bits, if conditions allow, I'd drive at the limit; on the blind corners, I slow right down and accelerate again as soon as it's possible to do so. And sometimes knowing the road has the same effect as not knowing it: if I don't know the road I may have to slow down earlier where a series of never seen before bends are unfolding and are unfamiliar to me. But similarly, on a road I'm thinking of that I travel quite regularly, there's a bend that's almost 2 cars width but as you go round the left hand bend there's a run of a gap between the road and the hedge - because I know it I go more slowly round that bend so I can go absolutely as far to the left as I can in consideration of traffic coming the other way, and also to ensure that my speed allows me to avoid the hazard of my wheels going down into that gap.