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

Lorry drivers never seem to stick to 50 when it's a 50 average speed limit

See my post above. What you think is 50 might be 45 in reality.

@peoplearewaitingforme

People are saying in this thread that going at the speed limit is WRONG when people are trying to over take at much faster speeds and that you should "keep up with the flow of traffic".

"I was just keeping up with the flow of traffic" won't get you out of a speeding fine, unfortunately. If it did, then it would be law.

Mamboitaliano the highway code is just that- a code. A manual, not a deeper analysis of human behaviour

Hilarious, there seem to be a lot of 'experts' on here.

@Babdoc

I've seen your posts before. Assuming your tales of heroic(!) driving are true and not just in your head, what kind of vehicle were you driving, with what colour lights? What driving training did you undertake and what exemptions did you have?

I suspect the answer to the above is - your own car with no lights, no additional training and no exemptions. In which case you are an absolute fuckwit.

sorry that was meant to be iknewyouwerewaitingforme

no idea where peoplearewaitingforme came from

@Iknewyouwerewaitingforme don't worry that link I shared shows her where it says it in the Highway Code - rule 264. Granted that relates to motorways but further down talks about lane hogging being against the law and that you should always travel in the left lane unless overtaking, and not doing so is considered as careless driving.

beautifulstranger101 peoplearewaitingforyou... to speed up or budge over

to speed up or budge over

If I choose to speed up- where do you draw the line then? am curious now- how fast should you speed up if someone is impatient behind you. Say the speed limit is 70.

How much faster is "acceptable"

But why are they wanting to go faster than 60 if that's the limit

Who knows? But unless you're wearing a uniform and sitting in a car with a blue light on the top, it's not your job to do anything about what other drivers on the road choose to do.

I sympathise Op.There is a stretch of dual carriageway near me with a fixed 50 limit, flashing lights at regular intervals saying its 50, average speed cameras, signs on the road and lots of turnings on and off.

Its amazing how aggrieved people can be about other people driving at 56 in the left hand lane.

Slightly off topic, but I have a friend who a few years ago got quite few points on his licence in a short space of time and knew that if he got caught once more in the next year he would lose his licence. He drove on busy dual carriageways every day and was one of those who would overtake all the time and hated to be behind someone sticking to the speed limit and would definitely have been one of those bullying others to speed up or move over. For 12 months he stuck to the limit to avoid losing his licence (and therefore his job) and was amazed to find that on busy roads like that his journeys actually didn't take any longer. I assume this was because he still had to keep stopping for congestion etc. He has a totally different approach after this.

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)

I agree with reducing your speed and increasing the gap between you and the vehicle in front, but I don't see how this would reduce the risk of the tailgater crashing into you. I think the aim is to reduce the risk of you slamming into the car in front of you (if the car behind slams into you)

Braking to make the car behind slow down is dangerous - what if they don't slow down? Better to put your hazard lights on briefly

GiveHerHellFromUs great- thanks for sharing!

A lot of lorries have a 56 speed limiter on them so they stick to this. You could say they shouldn’t in a 50 zone, but that’s their prerogative - it takes a lot for a loaded lorry to build up speed, so if there is a hill, they want to keep up the momentum.

How soon are you getting into the right hand lane?

YANBU to do 60 in a 60 zone but I would try and stay in the left hand lane until I was a mile away from the roundabout where I need to turn right.

I'd love to see where in the highway code it refers to 'lane hogging' and references that you should pull over if you're doing the speed limit and someone who wants to go fast is getting cross.

This sounds like you lane hog, OP.

Are you moving over too soon? We have a dual carriageway near us with a roundabout in the middle and some drivers move over as far as a mile ahead - i.e. far too early.

YABU

i notice that you claim this is a dual carriageway, which has a national speed limit of 70mph!!!! so it seems to me that you are being boring and driving under the limit (which is just as dangerous as going over ~!)

in my personal humble opinion i would personally be doing at least 100mph in my peugeot 208 1.2 litre 82bhp monster. it gets me where im going at lightning speed and passengers love it - people like you just slow me down and cause accidents, so either buy a bicycle or get off the road

lots of love a fellow (angry ) mumnsetter xooxox

FELLOW MUMSNETTER SIGNING OFF

I agree with reducing your speed and increasing the gap between you and the vehicle in front, but I don't see how this would reduce the risk of the tailgater crashing into you. I think the aim is to reduce the risk of you slamming into the car in front of you (if the car behind slams into you)

If you allow more space in front of you, if the car in front stops/slows unexpectedly, you don't have to brake as harshly, so tail-gater behind is less likely to slam into you.

I would try and stay in the left hand lane until I was a mile away from the roundabout where I need to turn right

A mile away is a long way off! I think these people are probably getting impatient a few hundred yards out.

@Iknewyouwerewaitingforme sometimes you can't though. There's one roundabout on a duel carriageway near me that if you moved over you'd end up in the motorway lane because you wouldn't get back in the lane to turn right. Sounds like the situation is similar with the op.

But sometimes if you look in your mirror and see a group of cars some way back, it makes sense to move out then, because otherwise you may not be able to. And if you then get stuck in the left lane when you want to turn right and get in people's way because you want to change lanes, they'll get annoyed about that too. A mile is too far out but half a mile should be fine.

If everyone gives a little bit, it's much easier for everyone.

@beerbellypregnantbelly I genuinely can't work out if you're serious or not.

The people who say I'm moving over too soon (I'm not - I know the road and have explained when I move over and why) - can you answer this:

What if I'm overtaking at 60? There's a steady stream of lorries or whatever doing 50/55 on the left so I'm overtaking. Someone who wants to go fast comes roaring up behind me and starts driving too close to try to intimidate me. What do I do then? I can't pull over to the left, as I'm overtaking. I don't want to break the law. The person behind me wants me to speed up. Am I still in the wrong for not just going faster? This happens a lot too.