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...

I do sometimes do 30 in a 50! COUNTRY ROADS! Blind spots! Turns! Hills! Trees! Rocks! Animals! People! Cyclists! Cars in close proximity on the other side of the road! I understand if this was a Roman Motorway but a country road! It’s pretty obvious. I’m prepared to take my time and not kill myself or others - you to tail gate me and I emergency break, then your fucked.

@herculepoirot2

I used my horn twice because I was allowing for them being particularly hard of thinking.

It became obvious that thinking wasn’t in their repertoire.

On a country road near me you can go round a bend and see a vehicle coming down the wrong side of the road trimming hedges. It is a really bad idea to go round bends at 50-60, irrespective of the limit.

SomeAfternoonDelight Agree 100%

Driving brings out an aggressive side to people.

The speed limit is not a target as others have pointed out. Depends on the condition of the road too, if it’s wet you should definitely be going 30. Country roads tend to be bendy and narrow too, I try to go a bit slower for that reason alone- you never know what’s around the corner.

Knowmydisrespect

You have already said why you used your horn and flashed them four times: to get them to enter a passing place.

I get why you were frustrated, but acting in that frustration on the roads is bad driving.

Because they are shit at driving

Country roads can be treacherous - bends, blind summits, farm vehicles, animals in the road - I feel safer on motorways.

Before I started reading AIBU parking threads I didn't realise there were so many crap and incompetent drivers on the road. It's scary. One the other week was a woman who couldn't reverse her own car . Multiple threads from people saying they won't drive on a motorway or at night or when there are 31 days in the month etc.

And the sanctimonious "limit not a target" is stupid too. My auntie was pulled over by the police for driving at 20MPH on a NSL road and causing an enormous tailback. She wasn't fined but was warned quite sternly that if she was involved in another incident of a similar nature she would be charged.

People with large, slow vehicles tend to know how to drive down country roads - tractors, horse boxes and so on, and they pull over to let the build up of traffic pass periodically. Numpty's in cars, in my experience, do not.

The drivers I particularly dislike are those who do 40MPH constantly, irrespective of the 20MPH limit outside a school or the 30MPH limit throught the "Please drive slowly through our village" section or the delimited sections when it's perfectly feasible on the long straight parts to do 60MPH. It's just a complete lack of awareness of their surroundings or anyone else. These people are crap drivers.

@herculepoirot2

For the last time, I wasn’t acting out of frustration.

I was the one who understood and was complying with the Highway Code.

I soon, after about 4 passing places, realised they didn’t understand and were not going to comply, so I resigned myself to following them very slowly and at a distance, for almost 24 miles.

It’s maybe worth pointing out as you maybe don’t understand, that there weren’t any side roads to take instead. The only option, and I did consider it, would have been to turn round, go back the way I’d come and take another road altogether. That would have meant a detour of about 70 miles. Just because the driver in front of me couldn’t drive according to the Highway Code, and with thought and consideration for others.

It became obvious that thinking wasn’t in their repertoire.

Nor yours I'd argue.
An exceptionally long country road, a slow driver and someone harassing them.
If the driver of the car in front had gotten out, road rage taken over, you could have ended up in a ditch.

But I'm guessing they were older people in a small car like a panda so you figured you could harass them without consequence.

@MonkeyToesOfDoom

Ha ha!

Nice one!

Actually, I was in a 15 year old Polo and they were in a new flash motor. The driver was probably in their 40’s, and I was in my 20s at the time.

These 30/40/30/40/30/40 roads become effectively 30 mph when you have a stream of traffic along them. Personally I think the 40mph is a waste of metal, planning laws and honesty. And having been caught when I was adjusting my speed limited from 40 to 30 and attending a Speed Awareness Course (which I would happily mandate for every driver every 10 years) I just stick at 30 - especially where I know the road. Mainly because the extra few seconds (and it is seconds) you'd gain by speeding up in the 40mph sections really aren't worth it.

I think there is some justification that such roads are dishonest ... I wonder if there's some sort of incentive for the planners to try and have the 40mph stretches ?

There's a couple of roads near me which have 20mph stretches outside schools. So when there are a few cars on it, the entire road becomes 20 mph. Much to the frustration of the less bright drivers.

So you were just some kid telling a grown up, who may have been driving longer than you'd been alive, how to drive?

No wonder they looked blank at you.

And as it was such a long and windy and right road, if they were in a flash motor, maybe they didn't want to barrel into bushes and pot holes just to let some inpatient punk kid in a beat up polo pass them..

Maybe like me they're driving their very dodgy/slightly broken car to the garage!

Passing places are also used to allow vehicles to overtake and you will see frequent police notices reminding drivers of this. If a vehicle catches up to you from behind then you should consider pulling over at the next safe passing place (indicating clearly to make your intentions known) to let him pass. The vehicle following you may flash his headlights - this should not be regarded as an aggressive move as it might in other parts of the country, they are simply letting you know that they would like to pass.

This is from a website for visitors to Sutherland, where I met the oblivious driver.

I was the one who understood and was complying with the Highway Code.

Which part of the HC tells you you should use your horn and flash your lights repeatedly at other drivers to tell them they need to move for you? Remind me.

@MonkeyToesOfDoom

Yeah.

@herculepoirot2

Read my earlier posts.

Knowmydisrespect

I read them as well as the HC. Nowhere does it say that.

Knowmydisrespect

Nah

drops back from thread in resignation

Highway code:

Adapt your driving to the appropriate type and condition of road you are on. In particular:

do not treat speed limits as a target. It is often not appropriate or safe to drive at the maximum speed limit

take the road and traffic conditions into account. Be prepared for unexpected or difficult situations, for example, the road being blocked beyond a blind bend. Be prepared to adjust your speed as a precaution

do not allow yourself to become agitated or involved if someone is behaving badly on the road. This will only make the situation worse. Pull over, calm down and, when you feel relaxed, continue your journey.

slow down and hold back if a road user pulls out into your path at a junction. Allow them to get clear. Do not over-react by driving too close behind to intimidate them.

You broke pretty much everyone of those.

I have two perspectives on this; one that, as others have said, the limit is just that and not a target.

Also, driving 'too fast' or 'too slow' in situations where the speed limit is being (almost largely) adhered to is subjective; for example, yesterday I was driving along a wide, clear 40mph limit road at about 41/42 mph and the bloke behind me clearly thought I was driving 'too slowly' (I know this because he tailgated me, flashed his lights, made hand gestures and then aggressively overtook me, making more hand gestures and flapping his gammon-like gob in what I assumed to be explicit swearing and name-calling).

Had I been driving at 30mph, he might have had a point, I suppose, but that's still no reason to act like a twat.

Then again, many of us drive more 'slowly' when we're not on a deadline, have some time to kill and are simply enjoying being out and about. I know I do. Sometimes, on empty country roads around where I live, with the roof of the car down, I'm doing two-thirds of the speed limit and enjoying myself. I might speed up a bit if a car appears behind me, but on country roads, I'm always going to be that little bit more careful.... not least because the chances over happening across a freshly-dumped pile of fly-tipping in my local area are pretty high and I'd rather not get a bedstead stuck in my grill or rip the sump off my car on a partially-dismantled shed.

In my oh-so humble, middle-aged view too many people drive 'too fast' and, more to the point, too bloody aggressively. It's a phenomenon to me why usually sane beings suddenly morph into some kind of teeth-gnashing, raging lunatics the second they get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Mind you, I honestly believe that most things in life are enhanced by slowing them down - with the possible exception of the whole airport/flying anywhere experience.... roll on teleportation!

I've digressed, and waffled, apols.