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

@beerbellypregnantbelly If you really don't know that not all dual carriageways are NSL you are seriously stupid and dangerous.

National speed limit is the default so it applies unless it is changed by a sign setting a speed limit for that particular stretch of road.

@Mamboitaliano if you're overtaking you're not lane hogging. As long as you're driving at the limit you don't have to (and can't really) move over.

The point is you move over when you're no longer overtaking. If you have time to pull in to let someone overtake and then pull back out to continue overtaking, without having to adjust your speed too much, you should do.

Someone who wants to go fast comes roaring up behind me and starts driving too close to try to intimidate me.

You said earlier that they were just going faster so of course they'll be right up behind you faster. Which is it - are they just going faster or are they "roaring up" to intimidate you? And if the road is so packed of lorries in lane 1, how come you are the only car in lane 2 which always gets bedevilled by these raging speedsters?

Either way, if you are turning right at the roundabout and there really is zero chance to pull in to lane 1 and out again nearer, why not just start signalling so they know what you're planning? Even if its well in advance.

Then just carry on and ignore them.

If you have time to pull in to let someone overtake and then pull back out to continue overtaking, without having to adjust your speed too much, you should do.

Isn't it more dangerous to change from lane to lane in a stream of traffic for no reason than to just stay in the lane I'm in and drive at the speed limit?

Not if you do it safely. Obviously you don't move over if it's not safe to do so.

That's why I said if you have time.

Some people will sit in the right hand lane because they can see another lorry they're slowly catching up to 400yds away. If there's nothing else in the left lane until that lorry, and not a long stream of traffic behind the car that wants to overtake, there's no harm in switching lanes.

You said earlier that they were just going faster so of course they'll be right up behind you faster. Which is it - are they just going faster or are they "roaring up" to intimidate you? And if the road is so packed of lorries in lane 1, how come you are the only car in lane 2 which always gets bedevilled by these raging speedsters?

They come 'roaring up' (excuse my descriptive language) meaning they are going above the speed limit so they approach at a speed that is faster than me. That's fine (ish - I don't actually agree with speeding). It's what they do next that I have issue with, and that's not drop back, but deliberately drive as close as they can. Other people on this thread said they also sometimes flash lights, wave arms, beep etc, though I personally haven't experienced this.

I said neither that lane 1 is packed with lorries nor that I'm the only car in lane 2, so I'm not going to argue against your straw man. I gave an example of a situation where someone might use the right lane to overtake a stream of traffic, and people who want to speed find it unacceptable that someone is overtaking in that lane and going at the speed limit.

@BuzzShitbagBobbly it's because the others all move over to the left

There isn’t a slow lane and fast lane there’s the right hand lane and everything else is an overtaking lane regardless whether there are two, three or four lanes. Unless you are close to a junction/roundabout etc where you need to be in the outer lanes, you shouldn’t be there if you aren’t overtaking. There is a dual carriage way near to where I live where people “get in lane” about a mile from the roundabout

I mean left hand lane obvs! Doh!

I don't actually agree with speeding

NO, REALLY? THAT IS BRAND NEW INFORMATION!

I said neither that lane 1 is packed with lorries nor that I'm the only car in lane 2, so I'm not going to argue against your straw man. I gave an example of a situation where someone might use the right lane to overtake a stream of traffic,

For the love of mike, if there are all these clear gaps to pull in then you are not overtaking, you're lane hogging.

Your story is changing with the wind because you aren't getting the MN "limit not a target" seal of approval response you expected.

Things that people have admitted doing on this thread that are illegal:

(i) speeding
(ii) sitting in the overtaking lane when the driving lane is clear, in order to piss people off
(iii) applying the brakes whilst travelling at speed with someone driving closely behind them, in order to piss other said driver off

Take a fucking wild guess at which two of these three is most likely to cause an accident.

I don't condone speeding but I expect almost everyone posting here has done it at some point. The people doing (ii) and (iii) are a smaller category of copper-bottomed arseholes.

What does copper-bottomed mean?

MN never fails to disappoint.

1. OP talks about feeling bullied and harassed by people speeding behind her- people tell her she's unreasonable, should change lanes, speed up, not be so boring.

1. OP a few weeks ago was bemoaning getting a ticket for speeding. Gets told she's a danger to society, is a selfish bitch, is going to kill someone one day and go to prison and good because she's an evil speeding monster.

lol

*1. OP talks about feeling bullied and harassed by people being annoyed when she unnecessarily lane hogs and polices everyone else to do the speed she does speeding behind her - people tell her she's unreasonable, should change lanes, speed up, not be so boring.

polices everyone else to do the speed she does

How is she doing that? is she out every day pulling people over for speeding? Is she carrying out citizens arrests?

Because she is blocking the lane and preventing them passing her, when she has said above there are plenty of gaps for her to pull back in to lane 1, but she choose to lane hog because she doesn't approve of others speeding.

Highonpotandused haven't a clue either but I like it, my new favourite insult!

I drive a BMW and to echo other posters, it's always the Corsa's, Fiesta's and bloody Vauxhall Insignia's that tailgate me, almost as if they enjoy being in some sort of race with me.

I have hardly ever seen a busy road where the speed limit is 60 and all of the inside lane are driving at 60, it's usually around 50 and people have to speed up in the outside lane to overtake. I'd be questioning how early you're signalling into the right lane, as if it's on the approach and signposted, there should be no car with a few hundred yards of road doing 70mph.

I'm fed up of drivers thinking it's appropriate to drive (usually at night) at 40mph on a 60mph road - it isn't. It builds up queues of traffic and every single night on my commute home I have a queue of 15-odd cars usually behind a lorry or small car doing 30-40mph on these roads. Slowing down and doing these speeds is just as dangerous as going at 80mph, even more so in some cases.

Thats not policing if the manoeuvre or pulling into another lane is dangerous. Its not always possible to suddenly and safely switch lanes when coming up to a roundabout

Also, shes not making people go to "her speed" its the legal speed limit. If people are going faster than the speed limit then thats their problem, not the OPs.

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:

Can you attach a google map of the road and annotate to show where you’re changing lanes?

Just thinking of the dual carriageway I use daily. NSL (70) to a roundabout off which there is a motorway slip road east and west. People slow for the roundabout reasonably late in smooth flowing traffic, and change lanes not many car lengths before the roundabout and there are hardly any accidents there.

I'm fed up of drivers thinking it's appropriate to drive (usually at night) at 40mph on a 60mph road - it isn't.

Me too.

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

@Kazzyhoward ah, got it now, thanks. Yes that does make sense too

Thats not policing if the manoeuvre or pulling into another lane is dangerous. Its not always possible to suddenly and safely switch lanes when coming up to a roundabout

If she's that close to a roundabout nobody is doing 60 or 70 anyway, they're all slowing down and getting in lane.

We can argue the finer points all day but given the story keeps changing, we'll never really know. And I have a lunch date now anyway

So I regularly use the A3- sometimes in my yes- AUDI- sometimes in my tiny banger. I like to go at say roughly 55 mph if I can- but always leave (what I consider anyway) a pretty safe gap. Anyway- cars on certain stretches of the road always love sitting in the outside lane at around 45 (its a 50). Guy finally pulls over last week, then swerved a bit as I finally got to drive past so I could see he had both hands off the wheel angrily giving me the finger. So yes- perfectly safe driving there!

You then also get cars doing similar speed under or just on limit holding up stretches of traffic behind, while waititng for a 50 sign to appear and getting so excited at the chance to remove one or both hands from the wheel while proudly pointing up at the sign. Yet again, very safe.

To all of you troubled by tailgaters,get a rear facing dashcam and submit the video to the police,hopefully capturing their index number.
They will almost certainly be prosecuted,it is dangerous driving.