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.

Rule 169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

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.

It starts with just one person stuck behind, then builds up as more and more people catch up till there’s a tail of over 20 cars behind and all the while the slow driver seems oblivious not only of the queue but also of all the parking places they could pull in to let others pass.

Actually it is a do not.

Your idea of What is appropriate for the road might be faster than someone else feels safe at. Whether you think that makes them not as good a driver is irrelevent. Its just your opinion. They have a licence and are entitled to use it.
Its good if they let you go past, but tbh, they might be in a hurry too. Just because theyre not speeding, doesnt mean they want to keep stopping either.
If you go out on public roads, you meet other road users.
Sometimes its cyclists, sometimes its tractors, sometimes its slower drivers than you.
You can all wish people would get the fuck out of your way so you can go fast, but fast drivers on country roads are both intimidating and often dangerous, so maybe its you in the wrong.

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

Try it on your next commute. See how much of a difference it makes to your journey.

It seriously makes very little difference on a typical journey on a road that is mainly not dual carriageway.

maddening
True. I was quoting from the DSA sheet for driving tests because it covers more than just having a long queue of traffic.

Saying that I'm sure some will turn up to say that a long queue of traffic is 'subjective' and what constitutes holding people up is 'subjective' (as their decision to do much under the speed limit doesn't really hold anyone up)

But if you’ve got a tailgater why wouldn’t you want to pull over ASAP to let them pass?

I'm a fast driver rather than slow, but hate tailgaters.
I'm more likely to further reduce my speed with tailgaters than pull over.
Then I speed up again to create a distance between us. In situations where overtaking is not possible, after a few cycles most of them understand the message.

I think this is a good idea.

I live in a county with no dual carriageway.

It is perfectly safe on the main A road to drive at 60. It is wide enough and not overly bendy. However it is busy which makes over taking almost impossible in peak times. The number of people I see who go 40-50 miles an hour, oblivious of the 20 car tailback is shocking.

What is equally shocking is it’s the same people who will drive too fast through the narrower windy roads and rapidly break round corners.

If you can’t drive for the conditions of the road then you shouldn’t be driving at all.

Saying that I'm sure some will turn up to say that a long queue of traffic is 'subjective' and what constitutes holding people up is 'subjective' (as their decision to do much under the speed limit doesn't really hold anyone up)

Go on then.... define long queue.
Define 'holding people up'

I should clarify it think it's a good idea in a single lane road where overtaking is difficult.

Tailgaters are wankers! I put my hazards on back at them when they flash me

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.

Nope, we know if we’re going that slowly, there is a good reason, usually a cyclist or a tractor. And slowly, the cars in front are able to overtake as it takes very little space to do so. If we are going at 40 -50, we know we are behind a pootler who oblivious of other road users.

What kills me are the people who drive super slow and cautiously (braking and slowing to a crawl through every bend) but then accelerate aggressively on the only safe overtaking straight so it's impossible to overtake safely.

Absolutely their perogative to be super cautious on windy roads - I know the area, so I know the safe speeds through bends, but don't expect others to - but please let me overtake when there's an opportunity. Its something I'm conscious of when I'm the one driving cautiously on unfamiliar country roads. I allow local traffic to overtake (you can tell), and even pull over if there have been no overtaking opportunities for a while.

chomalungma
I don't need to. Most of my commutes are short now and a number of our roads have dual carriageway at 60/speed limit at 50 to keep traffic moving which works well.

When I did rural journeys or journeys between towns on more rural roads, sitting behind these people added time to my commute.

My journey aside, I drive in a way that is appropriate for the conditions and doesn't hinder other drivers making progress. It doesn't matter if I feel like toddling along because I'm not in a rush because toddling along could be holding someone else's journey up. It's called road awareness and being aware of other drivers.

I find it frustrating when there are people who know roads very well drive extremely fast i.e. speed limit and over and do not take account that other people may not know the roads so well and therefore drive a little bit more cautiously / defensively.

I'm in complete agreement OP.

Frankly its sheer arrogance that people do this (born out by some of the comments above) , that people genuinely believe their time and fuel economy is remotely more important than anyone elses time. It says an awful lot about the sheer level of entitlement .

On a serious note , I was only discussing this the other day with DP where he was trying to get to a care home to help when a genuinely freak accident had broken a hoist and someone needed to be moved. He drives at the speed limit and genuinely doesn't speed. However there is a stretch of road where it's impossible to overtake. Stuck behind someone going 20 miles under the speed limit.

Now in this case fine it wasn't life or death but it was pretty awful for the person stuck where they were. We actually are quite often called out and , whilst we cannot afford to speed , losing our licences would kill our jobs. Ultimately we do need to at least go the speed limit because especially if it's out of hours , it may be to a dying client , or a fallen client to support the staff.

Why is the person who is pootling along self satisfyingly congratulating themselves on fuel consumption and hoisting their bosom when they see us at traffic lights , time more important than ours , or the client we are getting to?

Granted in a tailback of ten cars probably 9 of them are off shopping or to work, but if one of them is trying to get to a hospital , or a fallen client, or an emergency , why on earth do pp's that are so very proud of their arrogance consider this ok?

I'm sure you will come back at me that not everyone is needing to get to an emergency...but how do you know ? Is it worth it? Excellent I'm glad you saved 15p this morning by going 50 in a 60 zone....at the ratio of people on the roads in a big town ts always entirely possible that that person who wants to do the speed limit has a bloody good reason for it , I do hope noone else had to pay a higher price for your arrogance.

Please note I said on the speed limit I'm not condoning speeding

FGS, although annoying, I wouldn't expect anyone doing 50 mph in a 60 mph even with a queue to pull over.
It's a minor difference.

Below that, then yes, it makes it a significant difference in speed and it would constitute a slow driving vehicle.

But, considering that people aren't supposed to drive at more than the speed limit, we should all be doing between 50 and 60 in a 60 limit.
Just breathe, keep your distance to the front car (a queue is only a hazard with tailgaters and impatient drivers ) and wait for a good opportunity to overtake or for the car to take a different road.
Enjoy the landscape.

if one of them is trying to get to a hospital , or a fallen client, or an emergency

That's what emergency services and vehicles are for.

The vast majority of drivers aren't rushing to save lives, and even so, I doubt that driving 5 min at a slower speed will make much difference unless the person on the other side is having a heart attack.

Also some speed limits are frankly wrong. There’s a lane where I grew up the speed limit is 50. It’s bendy and narrow. You would only do 50 if you were on a suicide mission.

Agreed.

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.

But it is the one driver driving so slow that they feel there need trumps the needs of over 30 other drivers queueing up behind them. What’s it got to do with the love of cars? The slow driver may love their car. In the queue will be delivery drivers just doing their job.

Lweji that's a very simplistic response, we work in a industry that obviously have called an ambulance but a manager needs to be there for a wide variety of reasons. Having a heart attack is not the only emergency , I've had carers that have found their first resident who have passed away and are distressed, the least we could do was get someone there to support them. How about getting to a hospital to say goodbye to someone.

No of course not everyone is but why is 5 minutes because someone wants to feel self righteous and save fuel...why is that more important ?

Clearly you've never been in a scenario where 5 minutes matters, I have ...quite a lot actually.

Someone prioritising their time and ridiculous fuel efficiency and smugness is a horrible example of thinking they are so much more important than others.

I think some drivers should invest in anger management classes. Impatient aggressive drivers, who think they own the road are the biggest danger. Especially to cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.

Not to mention that last time we called an ambulance it took 5 hours (I am absolutely not exaggerating) so I needed to get there as the incident had happened in the middle of getting residents to bed , I needed to be with the client while the staff got the distressed residents many of whom had dementia settled.

Why is a slower driver's fuel economy and hesitation more important?

My five minutes may not have been life and death but why is it worth less than theirs exactly ?

It's not simplistic.
In the cases you've mentioned 5 min won't make much difference.
And it's often the case that it's much less because I've mentioned driving 5 min at a slower speed. That usually just means a 1 min difference.
Your OH doesn't have emergency status for a reason.
He may be in a rush, but he doesn't actually need to drive that fast or skip red lights.