Speed limits - please explain

[wherestheaircon]

You're driving through the country roads. You're in a 30mph zone going through a school - fair dos - best not to risk any kids running into the road so let's stick to the limit. HOWEVER. You drive another mile or so and pass a clearly labelled "40"mph but you carry on doing 30 - sometimes you even dip down to 25, and break randomly with no reasoning (to add, I'm keeping a very reasonable and safe distance between our vehicles). The roads aren't that busy - couple of cars here and there but it's definitely safe to go up to 40mph otherwise they wouldn't put that restriction on.

So why in the world are you STILL doing 30 when you've entered a 40 zone??!!! You even drive through a 60mph zone and creep up to 40mph but no further than that. I am being so genuine when I ask that, if this sounds like you, why? I'm sure if there's a reasonable explanation I will be ok...

Good grief. My friend has a job she needs which requires her to use her car for work, as well as the commute. She had a phase when she was scared of driving, but still had to do it. (She did take some lessons with a specialist instructor, and is a bit better now, but not entirely so.)

As I get older I am no longer able to face long drives, motorways seem full of people who are used to driving on motorways which I'm not, and I've noticed that hills seem steeper to me, even though they aren't, so they feel more scary to drive down IYSWIM, so I drive down them slower than I would have done a few years ago. And some days I am a confident overtaker, and other days not.

So in the interests of feeling safe, and driving safely, I do sometimes drive slowly. It gives me a bit more reaction time as well.

I don’t care if you want to drive significantly under the speed limit but at least have the decency to move over so others can drive at a speed that suits them. I live in the USA and here at least slow drivers can be and are ticketed for obstructing the flow of traffic.

Once had this bloke driving 20 mph in a 40 mph zone; he was on his mobile it turns out

Once had one woman constantly at me as I clearly wasn't going fast enough. However I've been driving and travelling those small country roads for years and know that speeding round a corner you can't see past can easily see you crashing into the back of a tractor trailer.

I think this thread is resonating with me so much because I’ve recently been regularly driving an 18 mile route which seems to be a favourite with very slow and erratic drivers. It’s a mix of 30s through small villages, and 60s with straight flat stretches, hilly, twisty bits, and some lovely views.

People who are themselves, or are sympathetic to those who drive well below the speed limit tend to say that those of who find it frustrating that we need to relax, it doesn’t matter if a journey takes a few minutes longer etc are forgetting that it’s not just a matter of how long a journey takes. If you are behind someone whose driving is unpredictable (doing 35 on a straight road and a 60 limit) and erratic (braking sharply when there’s a couple of trees at the side of the road, or speeding up/slowing down for no discernible reason) then they constitute a hazard. A hazard which adds a layer of complexity to the journey as you have to make myriad small decisions and change your driving to accommodate their unpredictability etc. You have to drive at a greater distance than usual in case they slam the brakes on, you have to try to work out what they might do next and be ready for that. Eg, there’s a nice view of the sea over this next hill, so may be they’ll slow down again.

On the other hand, I have endless patience behind slow or nervous learner drivers. We all have to start somewhere and build up skills and experience, but if your skills are below driving test standard, for whatever reason, please, get off the road!

Legally speaking, it's a limit not a target, but in the real world we all know people expect other drivers to be doing the speed limit (or in some cases over).

Going too slow is dangerous, especially around blind bends and corners. The drivers behind you aren't expecting to go round a bend and see a car doing 30mph under the limit!

In my experience, those going too slow are either lost or incompetent.

I would assume they were anticipating hazard areas I might not be familiar with if it was a rural area. They were in an unfamiliar area themselves, being cautious. They are not a very good driver. They have a problem with their vehicle.

Seeingadistance speaks a lot of sense.

Driving at 30 in a 60 zone when it's perfectly safe to do 60 in good conditions (not talking here about windy single-track NSL lanes) may be legal (although, as others have rightly said, in your driving test, it's taken as a lack of ability to drive appropriately, so what does that suggest for an experienced driver to do the same?); but where selfishness and lack of consideration for others is concerned, it's the equivalent of stopping to chat at great length to the checkout assistant when there's a big queue building up behind you - or waiting until the last moment to get your purse out ("What?!?! You mean I'm expected to pay for these groceries that I'm taking away from the shop?!") and then producing a huge bag of pennies for a trolley-load.

You may well blame others for trying to rush you, or even suggest that they should allow more time to do their shopping because they might encounter selfish people like you but you can't blame people for expecting that others will do things at an average, anticipable speed, unless they have a good reason for not doing so (young children, disability, very elderly etc). And in the case of a very elderly person with slow movements and reaction times, this is a perfectly valid reason for using a checkout or walking along a pavement very slowly, but it does potentially raise concerns if they're in control of a motor vehicle on a major public road.

Infuriating also are car drivers who leisurely pootle along at just over 50 in the inside line of a motorway or, even worse, drive at any speed below 56 for any significant length of time for no good reason in the middle lane.

Lorry and coach drivers are in control of a vehicle that cannot exceed 56mph, but which, unlike a car, can take some time and effort to get up to that speed. They also drive for hours at a time and are doing so to a strict schedule which expects them to be doing 56mph and will be called to account for not doing so, unless traffic jams and/or accidents make it categorically impossible. They are also not allowed to use the outside lane - but they are banned by law from making up for lost time, even if in no way tired, once their allotted driving hours are up, whatever very good reason they may have for not having reached their required destination.

I have never driven anything bigger than a van, and I realise that there are some bad/selfish LGV drivers (although far, far fewer proportionately than car/van drivers), but I still recognise how extremely infuriating selfish needlessly slow drivers must be for the people who are tasked with delivering virtually every tangible item that all of us ever use.

(I do sometimes tow a caravan, which puts me at many of the same disadvantages, but as I do not do this for hours at a time, day in day out, and do it for leisure rather than livelihood purposes, I accept irritations which can make this more difficult for me than it needs to be with reasonably good grace).

The majority of people who I see doing this are elderly drivers. They pootle along at 40mph in a 60 or 20 in a 40. In my opinion they should not be driving as it is dangerous for them and others. Driving at 40mph in a 60 can cause accidents. I drive a major A road quite often. It is not a twisty country road but yet some drivers still insist on driving at 40mph.

Because, @wherestheaircon , if you look around you in everyday life, you will notice that there are an awful lot of idiots. And unfortunately, an awful lot of those idiots have driving licences.

How does driving 40 in a 60 cause accidents?

I drive more than the average mileage, I don't drive at the speed limit for the sake of it, that's not always sensible but I cant think how I would cause an accident if I go 40 in a 60

How does driving 40 in a 60 cause accidents?

Because some idiots will when stuck at the back of a long queue, try to over take the queue, even if there are no gaps ahead. Nevermind the guy in a supercar who beeped me yesterday - not seeing the learner driver in front of me.
Those kind of impatient drivers get increasingly agitated and then become increasingly likely to drive in a risky way.

Those kind of impatient drivers get increasingly agitated and then become increasingly likely to drive in a risky way.

So they cause accidents, not the slow and careful driver.

The "it's a limit not a target" people are being ridiculous.

I know exactly the type of road you mean OP. I live on the edge of a big city and there's a popular scenic route near here. People leave the 30 zone in town doing 30. A mile up the road it's 40, then a bit further switches to national speed limit. A roads. Good A roads with plenty of visibility, long straight stretches, no blind summits and tight corners. You can easily drive on them at 55 - 60mph.

But so many drivers tootle along at 30, oblivious at the queue building up behind them, enjoying the scenery and braking at every corner or when a vehicle approaches.

It's bad driving and there is no excuse for it. If you are such a bad driver or such a nervous driver that you can't cope with speeds over 30 on non-urban roads then you shouldn't be driving.

My mum used to be a confident and good driver, she's now in her 70's and utterly terrifies me in the car. She's fine round town but out on the roads just doesn't understand why someone might want to drive at the speed limit on a perfectly good road and then gets upset when people start overtaking her. She crawls around roundabouts at about 5mph with absolutely no lane discipline. She had a close miss last year turning right out off a country road, she says that he must have been speeding because she looked and he wasn't there but when she was half way out he was. I can pretty much guarantee that he will have been driving at the speed limit and she will have crawled out at 5mph instead off pulling out properly.
I have suggested to her that she should drive at the speed of the road, but she will not have it, slow is better and yes 40mph is as fast as her car will go (apparently)😤

I failed my first driving test for going too slow. It was a country road and I wasn’t 100% of the speed limit so I stuck to 30, turns out it was 60 so if that was a failing offence then half then people I get stuck behind in the school run should have thier licences taken away!!!!

I remain convinced that drivers who go too slow fall in to 2 categories (massive generalisation obviously):

1. They're either lost or looking for an address, so slow down frequently and often turn off a road with very little warning. Always a good idea to hang well back from these.

1. (usually) older people who have appalling eyesight and accordingly crouch over their steering wheel because they can hardly see what's in front of them. They are an absolute menace, but there'll always be someone on here defending their right to drive (at which times I'll always recall the old dear who ploughed through a bus queue of school children round my way a few years back www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-36435678

OtraCosaMariposa

Just overtake, surely, on a road like that?

Another major issue in Scotland is the tourist driver from overseas. They arrive at the airport, hire a car and disappear off to see Loch Ness or wherever. Not used to driving on the left. Unfamiliar with the roads, the signs, have never seen a passing place in their lives, no idea of speed limits and road rules.

Last week we followed one of them through Glencoe. Yes it's scenic. Yes it's beautiful. Yes there are LOTS of places to pull over and enjoy the view. What you don't do is drive so erratically that you're doing anything between 5mph round corners and 50mph on straights. There is the other huge issue of people pulling out of laybys and forgetting that they should be on the left. There is lots of very scary footage from dashcams of head on collisions caused by clueless foreign motorists.

As an experienced driver you drive to the road conditions. On a day like today when it's dry, clear, warm, no fog, driving on the straight roads in the country at 60mph is perfectly safe. Probably still safe at 70mph to be honest.

But no driver in their right mind would drive on the same road at 60mph in January when it's dark, icy and raining.

Not being able to read the road and react to the conditions is the mark of a dreadful driver.

Hercule - you can only overtake when there's nothing coming in the opposite direction. And when it's a fairly busy road that's not always possible.

I agree, accidents are caused by the impatient over confident drivers who drive erratically and MUST overtake at any cost - sadly usually other cars' safety!

And by middle-lane hoggers. Move out of the effing way, especially on an near-empty motorway! WHY are you stuck in the middle pottering at 50? WHY?
They annoy me because they could drive at the exact same speed on the inside lane and not bother anyone. So they made a choice to be as annoying as possible.

OtraCosaMariposa

Then have some patience. I know slow drivers can be annoying but they don’t cause the accidents. The impatient, aggressive ones do that.

Older drivers do drive like this I’ve noticed, women with another female passenger chatting away oblivious too, nervous drivers that maybe have just passed their test, slowing down when they see an on coming tractor or lorry and braking every two seconds when they needn’t.

It IS annoying and it does wind me up but there’s not a lot you can do, stay well back and don’t tailgate or overtake when it’s safe to do so.

Is this the tolerance that MN is famed for?

Just accept that the person in front of you is driving at what they consider to be an appropriate speed and adjust your own to suit the circumstances. There aren’t many roads in the UK where this is a problem for long.

Unless the slower driver is somehow forcing the driver behind to overtake how is recklessness their fault? There's no obligation to overtake, one person's wish to drive faster doesn't trump the other persons preference to go more slowly.

Of course it's annoying but bad overtaking is on the overtaker

The only explanation I can think of is that maybe some drivers don't know the speed limit for that stretch of road. I drive on a few B roads and the limit changes from 30 through 40 and then to the national speed limit which I believe is 60.

On this route there are a lot of speed cameras but hardly any reminder signs to say what the limit actually is. You have to keep your wits about you at all times so as not to go over the limit.

I understand your annoyance. There is a stretch of road near me where the limit goes up to 40 and many motorists stick at 30 for whatever reason.