To drive at the speed limit

[Mamboitaliano]

OK I know in theory I'm not being unreasonable not to break the law - but why do I feel like I'm the only one then?

I drive to work along a dual carriageway. It's a clearly signposted 60mph road. The traffic in the left lane drives at 60. The traffic in the right lane drives at 70+ There's a roundabout where I have to turn off this road, taking the third exit (right), so I move into the right lane and drive at 60. Because it's the speed limit. But almost always, someone charges right up behind me and then drives intimidatingly close to the back of my car. I really really hate it. I feel like I'm being bullied each time, and I also feel very uncomfortable with having drivers so close to the back of my car. If I had to brake they'd go right into the back of me.

Am I just boring and nobody actually drives at the speed limit? Am I being unreasonable driving at the speed limit and annoying all the other drivers on their way to work?

YABU = You don't need to drive at 60.
YANBU = You should drive at the speed limit

YANBU at all. I wish there were more speed cameras and traps on roads like this to give points and fines to the people who believe it is their right to do whatever the hell they want.

Speed limits are in place for a reason, if a dual carriage has been set to 60 instead of NSL then it's because of the layout, and 'accident' statistics.

Sheer recklessness and selfishness to put other drivers at risk just so they can get to their end point a few minutes earlier.

I drive a big flash BMW and I always drive at the speed limit and never give a fuck about arseholes behind me tail gating - I just drive slower !

I find it odd that 16% of voters think OP is being unreasonable for wanting to use her driving licence within the rules that apply to its issue. If the thread title was 'I lost my licence after getting 4 speeding tickets because people behind me were trying to make me go faster, aibu to be angry with them', op would be being castigated for driving too fast and being irresponsible...

It is illegal for speedometers to read low. So if your speedo says 60, you're probably doing 55.
Btw, that is why satnavs always seem to read low. They are not, they're right. The speedo is high.

Not unreasonable OP! Been back at driving to work for a week and already feeling totally fed up of the arseholes I encounter nearly every day. Tempted to bus it even though it costs me more than driving for my own sanity!

Your speedo could be reading as much as 10% over your car’s actual speed. So you think you’re doing 60 but you may be travelling at 54.

I'd like to think that they don't realise it's a 60 and are trying to point out that I'm in the wrong, but there really are repeaters everywhere. It just seems to almost be more culturally acceptable to speed than to drive at the limit, which is weird to me.

My sat nav is usually about 2mph under my speedo, so speedo says 60 and sat nav says 58.

Disquieted1 would that work as an appeal to a speeding ticket?

Sorry police officer, I heard somewhere that speedometers underestimate your speed, so I decided to disregard the instrument panel and go faster?

The assumption is that all the bumper hugging twazzocks are seeing 60mpb on their speedometer, know that this actually means 55 and are just trying to raise their speed by 5mph to the actual limit.

Whereas I suspect their speedometer when they overtake probably says 75mph and they know full well they are breaking the law, they just don't care.

YANBU, I just take my foot off the accelerator until they back off, if they’re going to drive too close for safety at the speed limit, I’d rather they hit my car up the arse at a slower speed thanks.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like my actions are reasonable. I'll try not to feel intimidated next time. I just really hate seeing those huge bumpers/grills looming up in my mirror.

It's a good point about slowing down so that they're going slower if they hit you actually. I never thought about that.

Given the inaccuracy allowed on a speedo is 10%+6.25mph and the tolerance on a speed camera is 10%+2mph I'm not going to be second guessing my instrument panel, nor am I going to rely on GPS, which isnt always 100% accurate, especially in built up areas or where there's electromagnetic interference.

Mamboitaliano it's what you're supposed to do if someone tailgates. Reduce your speed and increase the gap between you and whatever's in front so if you have to stop to avoid hitting someone, you can do so more slowly and avoid the car behind hitting you (or at least make it less likely).

Well if they are all going 70mph and come up behind you doing 60moh it’s going to look like they are being aggressive because they have to slow down ( a lot).
My guess is you changing lanes too early, I hear what you say about it being busy but then everyone would be slowing in anticipation.

Don't slow down, put your sidelights on. They see them as brakelights and brake. Less risk of them running into you this way.
If sidelights already on, put your foglights on briefly.

put your foglights on briefly.

WTAF?

I think the 'turning right' thing might be a bit of a red herring though. Surely I'm also allowed to be in the right lane overtaking and doing 60. I mean, surely everyone should be doing 60, so if I get over 'too soon' I'm still doing the appropriate speed so why does it matter?

I know what you're saying about them having to slow down, but it's not that - it's continuing to drive right up my bum the entire way. It's definitely meant to make me hurry up ( to get to the queue for the roundabout sooner!)

Flash your rear fog lights at them. Tailgaters back right off when you do that.

It just seems to almost be more culturally acceptable to speed than to drive at the limit, which is weird to me.

Avoid the M40 then. It would be like another dimension.

Most of the speeding is because of poor lane discipline. You are supposed to use the lane for overtaking and pull in. No one can be arsed hence a packed fast lane going 85mph and half empty slow lane/s with anything below.

Wowww... currently 18% of people think driving at the speed limit is unreasonable. You are the people driving up my backside, aren't you??

Leflic

It doesn't matter when the OP changes lanes.

In both lanes, the OP is travelling at the max speed allowed on that stretch of road. Nobody should be trying to go faster as they would be breaking the speed limit.

I had someone do this to me once, she went bonkers beeping at me to move back into the left lane as I was slowing down due to traffic ahead. She then undertook me, squeezed her car right in front of me and then had to slam on her brakes as she nearly plowed into the queue of cars in front (that I was slowing down as we were nearing). Absolute moron. So I gave her a nice big round of sarcastic applause. People are such idiotic morons sometimes

I don't think I've ever seen a toad sign saying "60". I've only seen 30, 40, 50 spelled outside as numbers. Or a NSL white circle/black line.

Not to sound mistrustful, OP, but it is actually a sign reading 60?

OP, it’s not your job to enforce the speed limit.
People like that were a bloody nuisance when I was a young doctor providing emergency cover to two hospitals from home - I regularly drove in excess of 100mph when I was on call, and I didn’t appreciate idiots trying to force me down to 70 by hogging the outside lane. I often had to overtake them on the inside, which I didn’t like doing as it’s much riskier. But when you’ve got seriously injured patients waiting for you, you don’t have a choice.
Please use some common sense - if a driver is needing past you in a hurry, they’ve probably got a damn good reason for it! Just get out of their way, let them through, then pull out behind them. It costs you nothing.