AIBU - If you want to drive below the speed limit you should pull over at regular intervals

[TheCumbrian]

'It's a speed limit not a target' etc

But equally, on a good road in good conditions theres no reason why a competent driver shouldn't be able to drive somewhere close to the speed limit (sharp bends, single track national speed limit C roads etc excluded) and make reasonable progress without holding up other road users.

If you can't, you should pull over, when safe to do so, once you have 5 or more vehicles trundling behind you.

I agree with MsTSwift. I'm a driver who might go 50 on a 60 road, especially if it's a bendy country road, and you get people up your bum, tailgating. It's my job to drive at a speed I consider safe, not to hit the speed limit. I don't have a responsibility to drive at the speed the tailgater wishes me to drive at.

I'm not asking anyone to drive faster than they feel comfortable. I'm suggesting they pull over if they are holding up traffic.

People expect tractors and other slow vehicles to, so why not cars?

But if you’ve got a tailgater why wouldn’t you want to pull over ASAP to let them pass? The tailgater isn’t necessarily wanting to speed and indeed may be perfectly confident that they can drive safely on that road at a faster speed than you, without going over the limit.

And no, people aren’t angry and in a rush, they’re just a bit fed up that some drivers appear to be clueless as to what’s going on around them, as well as arrogant enough to think that their decision to drive at 40 on a 60 overrides the decisions of the 10 drivers trailing them.

s you can see from this thread, many of the slow drivers do so because they've decided that slow makes them better drivers

If you think that 50 instead of 60 is "slow", then I think it's you who's got the speed problem.

I hope you are as good a driver as you think you are, aware of all situations, able to react quickly and instinctively, leave a suitable gap behind a vehicle just in case they stop and have never been caught speeding.

Anyone who tailgates isn't a good driver.

Dont tailgate. Dont intimidate. Just be nice, be patient and enjoy the ride. Will those few minutes really make a difference?

@LolaSmiles
If they were on their side of the road then the speed would have been irrelevant

That's what I'm saying- they were going too fast, probably 50 or 60, and they weren't on their side of the road.
That particular road is very bendy...
Luckily I was going 40 or so, so I was able to slow down in time.

I think it is a good courtesy if you are actually going well below the limit and holding up traffic. I do think that day you are going 55mph in 60 mph zone, you don’t need to pull over for aggressive tailgaters who want to go 75mph in a 60mph zone.

Here we have masses of cyclists too and so what looks like a car going 20mph and holding everyone up is actually a car behind a cyclist waiting for a safe spot to over-take.

If you think that 50 instead of 60 is "slow", then I think it's you who's got the speed problem.
As I've said, it's about driving in a way that is appropriate for the conditions. 50 on a national speed limit single carriageway road can be totally reasonable. 50 in the outside line on a straighter piece of dual carriageway is irritating. A horsebox doing 50 could be very dangerous.

Many of us have mentioned that national speed limit on rural roads does not mean do everything at 60. To think driving for the conditions equates to a speed problem is hilarious.

I hope you are as good a driver as you think you are, aware of all situations, able to react quickly and instinctively, leave a suitable gap behind a vehicle just in case they stop and have never been caught speeding.

I don't quite get the passive aggression there. If someone is driving at a speed that is appropriate for the conditions then surely they are driving to account for the environment.
Of course I leave an appropriate gap between cars, that's reasonable stopping distance which you are told when you learn to drive. Tailgating is aggressive driving. I've never had a speeding ticket either, because I don't speed. I drive in a way that is appropriate for the conditions within the limit.
CassianAndor
I agree, but I'm not sure so much that it's always cluelessness as willingly ignoring common sense and other users in some cases.

don't quite get the passive aggression there

You're the one being aggressive - having an issue with people driving just below the speed limit because they don't want to drive at the speed limit says a lot about you.

I do a lot of motorway driving and you wouldn't believe the amount of times I've seen a lorry have to overtake a car tootling along at 55 on a motorway. Equally annoying is people tailgating me when I'm doing the limit and have cars in front of me. Driving too slow is dangerous and driving too fast is dangerous. I dont know why it's so hard for people to just drive at the correct speed. I do agree with OP I think if you're driving too slow you should pull over.

It's so important when driving to be aware of what's going on around you yet so many drivers seem to be oblivious.

@Vulpine you are continuously proving the point - its the assumed superiority, arrogance and totally oblivious attitude thats the problem with drivers like you.

You are not a safe driver because you drive way under the speed limit. Safe drivers respond to road conditions and adjust. If you have a queue behind you, you are causing a hazard. Pull over, or drive at an appropriate speed.

Alot of car drivers are rather entitled. They feel their need to speed trumps all others. The sooner we break this country's love affair with the car, the better.

I make a point of doing 30 and won’t pull over for someone to speed off and kill a cyclist/deer/child.

It's not your job to "police" the roads. That kind of attitude is exactly what causes accidents.

You're the one being aggressive - having an issue with people driving just below the speed limit because they don't want to drive at the speed limit says a lot about you.
That's not at all what I've said.
I've said (repeatedly) I think people should drive at a speed that is appropriate for the road and the conditions in order to make reasonable progress without hindering other users.

A horsebox doing 40 when I would do 55 doesn't bother me. They're a horse box.
Someone doing under 60 on a national road is entirely appropriate in many situations.

My issue is with people toddling along not making reasonable progress demonstrating they either can't, or won't, drive for the conditions.

The "I hope you're such a good driver and don't do all this stuff that isn't relevant to driving appropriately for the conditions" is the same defensive chip on the shoulder response when people say they find tablets used without headphones for children in public annoying and someone who does it replies "I do hope you're children are amazingly behaved all the time, it must be so hard being a perfect family never needing to use technology to keep them engaged". Meanwhile everyone else sits there thinking 'we just said the lack of headphones was rude because the world shouldn't have to deal with your sound effects, nobody mentioned using tablets".

Yanbu. I think half the time, these people are just not paying attention. Often I will follow someone at 35 in a 50, and then they get to the 30 zone and keep going at 35.

That's not at all what I've said.

That is exactly what you have said.

My issue is with people toddling along not making reasonable progress demonstrating they either can't, or won't, drive for the conditions

There really is very little difference in the reasonable progress made on a typical journey on a single carriageway road between doing 50mph and 60mph.

Especially when you consider all the things along the way you have to slow down for...basically you speed up, then slow down when a 30mph comes along for villages etc...

this isn't about a "need for speed"
its about driving safely - in the context of other road users
actually driving at a normal speed and adjusting to road conditions is the safest way to drive
driving slowly for no reason is NOT safe. it causes a hazard.

its just most drivers who tootle along have no concept or care about the affect on other road users - and hence no broader concept of road safety.

@chomalungma

I have no issue about anyone travelling at 50mph in a 60mph National speed limit single track, strictly on the basis of if they feel it’s safer. I’ll find somewhere to safely overtake and if I can’t, I’ll happily sit behind.

However your repeated assertion that “I travel at 50mph, because it’s great for fuel consumption” really frustrates me to be honest, and I don’t get frustrated at much on here.

So you’ll happily hold up a queue of traffic, even if you could safely progress faster, because you’ve discovered that there’s a sweet spot for your fuel consumption?

May I respectfully suggest that you apply your Martin Lewis skills elsewhere where it doesn’t affect people’s ability to make progress.

Else find better revenue earning opportunities and fuel your car appropriately for your journey.

However your repeated assertion that “I travel at 50mph, because it’s great for fuel consumption” really frustrates me to be honest, and I don’t get frustrated at much on here

10% more efficient...

From 67mpg to 73mpg

Not to mention the effect on wear and tear because I am not having to constantly brake as much because I've sped up and then had to slow down again.

The highway code agrees with you, it is a should rule and not a must but it is a rule and it also applies to cyclists.

u’ll happily hold up a queue of traffic, even if you could safely progress faster, because you’ve discovered that there’s a sweet spot for your fuel consumption

If you've read what I said, I wouldn't hold up a queue of traffic. I would pull over or indicate to let someone know that I am aware they are there and let them overtake.

Because there is so much satisfaction in catching them up again a few minutes later.

There was a fuel shortage where I live, recently, because of a strike.
Suddenly, pretty much every driver didn't need to drive as fast as usual or get to their destination in such a hurry.

Most people really don't need to drive at the speed limit. They just want to.

So, although it's annoying, we are unreasonable to get annoyed by drivers going a little below the speed limit. In most cases the slow drivers catch the fast ones at the following lights or roundabout, or take only a few minutes longer to arrive at the same place.

@chomalungma

I didn’t indicate anywhere that I disbelieved you about fuel consumption. (although tell me the make of the car that genuinely, from brim to brim, is 73mpg ...)

I believe you.

But that wasn’t my concern at all. And it’s not the concern of people being unnecessarily held up in a safe stretch of road, because someone doesn’t want to touch the brakes of their car due to saving on incremental wear.

My god...I honestly can’t believe I read that.

Your car is meant to be used. There are valid fuel saving techniques, but they should be used in accordance with the Highway Code.

I don’t want to be inconvenienced just to allow your brake discs to last for three months more or whatever .

The 50 in a 60 was in response to posters saying they do 50 in a 60 because they want to save a few pence in fuel and think it's hilarious if they see someone else at a junction later on.
For them it has absolutely nothing to do with being safe for the conditions.

The driving standards agency talks about not hindering the progress of other drivers. They talk about appropriate caution without over caution. If people can't or won't do that then they aren't decent drivers: they are either clueless or incompetent.

You may have decided that YOU feel it's negligible to do 50 instead of 60. If it's safe and appropriate then there is no reason to stop others making appropriate progress for the conditions. They may have a longer journey, the longer the journey the bigger the impact of being stuck being people toddling along is, they may want to get through a certain bottleneck onto another road before traffic starts to build up, it's entirely irrelevant though because they wish to drive in an appropriate way within the law and it's no more ok for people to choose to drive in a way to stop progress than it is for tailgaters to sit on people's arses pushing them to speed. Both groups are bad drivers.