Country road etiquette. Am I doing it wrong?

[JensonsAcolyte]

I have a new twice daily commute which is mainly country roads. Very twisty and windy, most of it is wide enough for two cars to pass but not all. Lots of up and down hills as well.

I’ve done the journey three times now. It’s 40mph until it hits the two villages then it’s 30.

Every single time I’ve had a car right up my arse for nearly the whole way. I’m starting to think it’s me.

So I drive at 40 along the straight bits with good visibility ahead. I brake coming into sharp turns and then accelerate coming out. I slow right down if I think I’m going to struggle with the gap with an oncoming car. I sometimes have to tap the brakes on a downward steep hill to stay at 40. I slow down to 30 approaching the village.

Every single time I slow down, the car behind pushes right up to me. It was a big white van this morning and yesterday morning (thinking about it, it could be the same guy) and an Audi SUV thing yesterday evening. The Audi overtook me when we got to the dual carriageway and GLARED at me. I’m in a mint green fiat 500, girly little car which I think is half the issue.

Am I being over cautious? Do I need to just thunder round the lanes at a steady 40?

If you are the sort of driver who would be pissed off with me can you explain why?

Me and my husband have two cars. One is an suv and the other is a very small car. Depending which one I’m driving, I get treated very differently.
The van and the Audi will be wanting to do 60 in a 40, they are being unreasonable. If they are in the rush then they need to leave earlier.

Regardless of whatever the speed limit is on any road let's not forget that it's a LIMIT and not a TARGET which most people do seem to forget! That being said going too slow can also be very dangerous in certain circumstances.

You are not alone. I have to drive down a windy country road which is a 60 limit but has lots of pinch points, as well as dog walkers, cyclists and horse riders. A lady got hit last week and a horse had to be put down after a car was going too fast. So I refuse to go over 40. Just isn’t safe. A tosser was up my arse the other day. I just pulled over and let him get on with it!
Yesterday a twat overtook two of on a blind bend. Admittedly the person in front was a bit slow but I wasn’t going to overtake on that road as it’s also bendy and narrow. Some people are just simple and don’t see the consequences of driving like that.

Driving with consideration to oncoming vehicles is essential. If you, travelling at 40mph, were to hit head-on another car doing the same, the impact would be at 80mph.
My father, a long-standing country GP (who has seen many the result of collisions on Norfolk roads) always says of tailgaters: “the best place for the idiot behind you is in front of you”, so don’t hesitate to let people pass when you can. It does, at least, keep you safer.

It's probably a combination of things. I live in the country and it's usually fairly easy to spot visitors who don't know the road, so it may well be that you are driving less confidently than people who have driven that way every day for decades. But equally they may be driving too fast. We've lived in our current house for over 20 years and when we first moved here all the roads were national speed limit, but over the years more and more have been reduced to 40 or 50, even the A roads. I sometimes have to check myself because I find myself doing 60 along a road that was a 60 limit for donkeys years but has recently been changed.
But whatever people think about your driving, don't let other people push you to drive faster than you feel comfortable with. As others have said, if you are feeling pressured find a safe space to pull over and let the traffic pass. I do sometimes get frustrated if I'm stuck behind someone for a long time, especially if it's a caravan or camper van that I can't see past, but I never tailgate them. It doesn't help the situation and it's far better to arrive at your destination a few minutes late than be involved in a crash. I'd rather be behind someone driving slowly on country lanes than be hit by someone driving faster than they can safely manage. One of the latter type of driver nearly killed me some years ago when they swung onto the wrong side of the road and hit me almost head on. Give me the cautious drivers any day.

You are in the right. You never know what is round the bend on country roads - cyclists, horses, pedestrians. Don’t be bullied into increasing your speed.

i think its the girly car. Men are commonly more aggressive to drivers they think are women.

@Kokosrieksts

Many drivers that do these roads daily know all the corners and would like to go faster. It doesn’t mean you have to go faster than you are confident to do, but equally if there is a convenient place to pull over for a second to let them overtake it would be a nice thing to do.

But even if they know yhr lie of the road they don't know what's round the bend. That's why I regularly see cards slam on the brakes as they see the horse/tractor/walkers/ fallen tree/ cyclist/ lorry etc.

I’m with Kokosrieksts.

I live in the countryside. I drive an Audi too! I HATE slow drivers. Not for a moment suggesting anyone should speed or not slow down as hazards like bends would indicate, but a consistent 40 in a 60 with no good reason, REALLY winds me up, as does 20 in a 30. If you’re not confident to drive, then perhaps don’t?

This may not apply to your specific situation though, as I haven’t read the whole thread.

It doesn't apply to her situation where the limit is 40.

its not you. taking son to work but he is a learner and so he drives and then I drive back. Teeny tiny car with L plates on- the twats go mad, driving up close, zooming past overtaking. Its all lanes round here, so no avoiding them and you have to go as fast or slow as you feel safe. Son doesnt drive at the speed limit but at the safe limit - ie some of the roads are 60, but with the twists and turns and blind corners you woudl have to be a moron to go at 60. Two of his friends who have passed their tests have written their cars off going too fast on the lanes, a hard lesson they have learned early. Last one ended up with 3 of them in A&E but all ok thankfully.

Ignore the idiots. Country roads are dangerous and having an accident on one is statistically much worse because ambulances take ages to get to you and there are often fairly high speed collisions. People often drive quickly round blind corners which amounts to “hoping for the best”. Bonkers.

I drive in the way you describe. And like you regularly have people drive right up to my bumper. I have now brought a dash cam. And repeat to myself them being late is not my problem. Speed limits are the maximum and NOT the optimum

Country roads have the highest death rate of road accidents. Those idiots sitting on your bumper are probably the reason why.

I think it’s partly the car too I’ve got a blue Fiat and I find on country roads people are arseholes. Could be doing the 60 and I’ll still getting a bmw or Audi up my arse. It’s rude and I hate it. Stick to the speed limit or drive on the roads late at night when no ones around and you can bomb it down the roads

I live deep in rural Wales. Narrow twisty lanes are my daily driving experience. You sound as if you’re doing all the right things. Unfortunately there are idiot, discourteous drivers everywhere. It’s truly stupid to drive so close to the car in front - when this happens it means you have to drive more slowly - you don’t want to do an emergency brake and they go into the back of you at those kind of speeds.
Stick to your safe driving and don’t be intimidated by reckless fools.

If you’re driving like that and following me then the reason I’ve slowed down is to limit the impact your car will make when it’s rammed into the back of my car due to me having to slow down quickly! Keep your distance! Most of us living in the countryside think only idiots to drive fast on these kind of roads - we’ve seen too many cars upside down on the other side of damaged hedges.

@PrincessPopple

I’m with Kokosrieksts.

I live in the countryside. I drive an Audi too! I HATE slow drivers. Not for a moment suggesting anyone should speed or not slow down as hazards like bends would indicate, but a consistent 40 in a 60 with no good reason, REALLY winds me up, as does 20 in a 30. If you’re not confident to drive, then perhaps don’t?

This may not apply to your specific situation though, as I haven’t read the whole thread.

This is hardly an inclusive attitude. Everyone has the right to the roads. We all pay the taxes that maintain them. Its false to assume that you have more rights because you have a fast expensive car.

@PrincessPopple

I’m with Kokosrieksts.

I live in the countryside. I drive an Audi too! I HATE slow drivers. Not for a moment suggesting anyone should speed or not slow down as hazards like bends would indicate, but a consistent 40 in a 60 with no good reason, REALLY winds me up, as does 20 in a 30. If you’re not confident to drive, then perhaps don’t?

This may not apply to your specific situation though, as I haven’t read the whole thread.

and perhaps you need more patience rather then running people off the road. We are entitled to use the roads rather then then feel nervous because theirs an arsehole that wants to speed up and be a dangerous driver. Just because you are used to it doesn’t mean everyone is. Maybe have more patience and if people driving winds you up do a driving course. You don’t own the roads.

Don't feel pressured and take it at your own pace

No matter how well you know the roads, what if a pedestrian or cyclist is round a sharp bend?

I feel pain. Hate people up my arse on a country Lane

You are not being unreasonable, and too many people on country roads take a lot of unnecessary risks. I see it and drive to avoid accidents accordingly - corners are a good example, also single track winding roads with passing places that are 60limit but should really not be driven at that speed. Night-time is easier as at least everyone's more visible.
Keep on driving with due care and attention in your stylish car

@ouchyouchyow Exactly - we have plenty of walkers, runners, cyclists, horses etc etc, and, surprisingly, other vehicles!

Too many drivers use country lanes for a fast shortcut/ to use phone/ to take a backroad way home when pissed/ to race.
There is nowhere, often, for pedestrians to leap to. There are a lack of witnesses. Wild animals or loose animals appear from nowhere, as do giant farm vehicles. Trees can be down, sections flooded, and maintenance poor. Hedgerows that restrict visibility can only be cut back at certain times of the year. The list goes on!
Anyone who goes faster than their ability to deal with the features of country lanes is a dangerous idiot.

CharlotteRose - I’ve never run anyone off the road. I don’t even get close to them. I also don’t mind people being responsive to clear hazards (such as bends), as I clearly stated in my post. What I do do, is think that overly-cautious drivers shouldn’t be on the road and I will continue to do this whether you or others like that or not. Maybe try reading more carefully before commenting in future though - it’ll make you look less silly. 😊

I'm aware that my familiarity with country roads, both in general and those I'm accustomed to isn't universally shared, plus the fact I've ridden on them all my life, so I'm not impatient with capable drivers on an unfamiliar road.

However, I have no tolerance for nervous or incompetent drivers. I don't tailgate, I just think they should be banned or fuck off elsewhere. I can understand eg not being able to predict the safe speed for a sharp corner on a new road, and completely agree it's better to be over, rather than under cautious. But frankly excessive braking because you are incapable of judging the distance to pass another vehicle is just shit driving.

I've been stuck behind vehicles when I'm driving a hgv horse box or pulling a trailer, as have tractor drivers I know. We don't thank them for driving so cautiously, we just think they're dangerous twats.

I also don't agree it's about the car. Mine has enough power it's not an issue if the driver in front practically parks before going up hill, and I can overtake on a straight stretch. In dsds tiny fiat, or if I'm towing or in the box, it's a fucking nightmare. And there's a special space in hell for crap drivers that speed up on the straight stretches so only powerful vehicles, or sometimes nobody can safely overtake.

Ditto drivers that think the signage for the speed on a corner then applies to the rest of the road.