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?

@TrainspottingWelsh

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.

I’m very familiar with rural roads too. I think your driving attitude towards other drivers stinks, to be honest. I’m thinking of those seventeen year old out for their first few lessons, someone in a new car, someone recently out of hospital after a crash. Better nervous and cautious than reckless and dead. The speed limit is just that - a limit, not a target and anyone taking a horsebox around narrow or single track roads at speed is posing a risk to others. You can’t possibly be so arrogant as to think nobody that doesn’t take bends at speed isn’t suitable to be on the roads? I think more wing mirrors are lost to aggressive driving than to slow driving around our roads.

Sorry. Anybody not nobody.

These are the selfish idiots who hit deer at high speed and think nothing of running over various other wild animals. I despise them.

And I tow horses regularly and am horrified by the comments above.

I was once driving on a country road behind someone who was pootling along at around 30 in a 60. I only narrowly avoided a very near miss with the HGV which came up round the bend behind me. Dc and I would have almost certainly been killed had it not been for the quick thinking of the driver, luckily there was also no oncoming traffic which meant he continued his emergency break on the opposite side of the road.

Driving well below the speed limit is equally just as dangerous as driving beyond it. Genuinely, if you’re not confident at driving reasonably within the limit then perhaps some extra lessons like pass plus are in order.

I am not going to tow my horse at 60 on a country lane, really sorry that your white Audi does not like that.

I have to drive my dd 14 miles down country roads to work every day. Narrow, single track roads with sharp bends and humps. I see some very dodgy driving with vehicles careering around blind corners way too fast. There are sections of the road with warnings about deer too but all that is ignored. I got a dash cam put in (because I fear an accident is inevitable) and I ignore the speed merchants who are up my arse. It's not everyone - just a couple of drivers every week

I am not a slow driver - on the straight sections with good visibility I put my foot down, but I am cautious when it's necessary (blind corners and hills). I wish everyone was

@PrincessPopple

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 don’t look silly at all. All I will say is good luck being behind me on a country road because the more you tail me the slower I’ll go. People that drive like you are dangerous and nasty. Not about being confident but if you don’t know the road then it’s best to be cautious not drive like a moron

I drive country lanes since passing my test often 50 to 60 when not in restricted speed limit if you know the road very well Driving over 50 years Sometimes slow drivers cause the accidents and they need to poultry over

Oh yes it definitely the slow drivers that cause accidents . Do the fast twats even notice the animals they mow down?

Has anyone mentioned the people who drive country roads who can’t reverse, or those who can’t go close to the hedge in a passing place because not a single bramble can touch their paintwork? Grr.

@Nothingyet

I HATE following people who drive very slowly around all the bends, then speed up on a straight stretch. I always think it is to stop people passing them. They think they own the road.

Are you for real? No, they drive slowly around bends because they can't see if there is an obstruction in the road around the corner such as a cyclist, walker, horse rider or some numpty taking a racing line and cutting the corner, whereas they speed up on straighter sections because they have good visibility. It's called good driving!

Nothingyet when I talk about country roads I mean single roads, where there is only space for one vehicle. Taking the corner slowly/speeding up on straight is nothing about not wanting to be overtaken, because overtaking is a physical impossibility.

@NicolaDunsire

Has anyone mentioned the people who drive country roads who can’t reverse, or those who can’t go close to the hedge in a passing place because not a single bramble can touch their paintwork? Grr.

Or those who drive in the middle if the road for the same reason (when the road is wide enough for two cars). Drives me mad. The road/lane home is like this. What do they want me to do? Blend in with the stone wall/hedge my side?

CharlotteRose - you did it again!! 🤦‍♀️ I DON’T TAILGATE!! Is that clear enough for you now?! Jeez! Driving clearly isn’t the only thing you’re slow with!

(My posh Audi doesn’t even allow me to if I wanted to! 😂)

Audi=posh

According to this thread it does - have a read through.

To me, Audi = comfortable and safe!

@PrincessPopple

According to this thread it does - have a read through.

To me, Audi = comfortable and safe!

Really?! Every single aggressive incident that I have had with my horse box has been an Audi or a youth in a shitty little fiesta type. The one exception has been a white van. I moved livery to off road hacking as my blood pressure could not take it any more.

There's an unbelievable amount of twaddle being talked on this thread.

This for example: The issue is your speeding up on the straight so people who are more confident and comfortable on the road arnt able to over take you in a safe way.

I drive on single lane country roads every day. There isn't enough room for people to overtake on the straight bits whethercI speed up or not, because it's a single lane road! And the roads are very bendy and often hilly. Overtaking really isn't an option.

Also I've never seen anybody not brake at the bends. They are very bendy bends with high hedges. I know the roads very well, but I drive at a sensible speed. If someone in front of me is going more slowly than I would, that's fine and I give them plenty of space, because I'm not an arsehole. I would never stop and let a speeding idiot pass me. They might barrel round the next bend and hit someone coming the other way. They can damn well learn to be patient!

Spider Plants - you must be joking? So because you’ve had bad experiences with X number people driving Audis and a white van, all people who drive Audis and white vans therefore must be tailgaters and inconsiderate drivers? Er...

What I do do, is think that overly-cautious drivers shouldn’t be on the road

Well you're wrong then, aren't you? You don't want them to be on the road. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be. Over-cautious is better than under-cautious. Caution when at the wheel of a huge hunk of metal moving at speed is generally a good thing. There are cautious good drivers and cautious poor drivers. There are only bad reckless drivers.

@PrincessPopple

Spider Plants - you must be joking? So because you’ve had bad experiences with X number people driving Audis and a white van, all people who drive Audis and white vans therefore must be tailgaters and inconsiderate drivers? Er...

No, deadly serious. There is a certain type that harass me and tailgate me when I am towing a live animal. It’s Audi drivers and the occasional white van.

My commute is mainly in 30 and 20 zones and pretty much every day I have someone right on my tail for at least some of it. People just don't want to stick to the speed limit. There is one section where it is 30 then a very short stretch of 40 then back to 30. Almost every time the twat on my tail will let the gap between us widen to a normal size when I accelerate up to 40, then close the gap again as soon as I break to get back to 30. It really annoys me but I don't change what I'm doing - I am just following the law. I'm right and they are wrong.

Lazylinguist - whether I am technically right or wrong is irrelevant - I stated what I think and in that I remain correct.

Spider Plants - well if you’re so confident you’ve established this definitive causal correlation between Audi and white van drivers with the problems of tailgating and poor driving in this country, then why not consider write to your local MP? I’m sure they’d be interested in hearing your thoughts - after all, these dangerous twats are already self-identifying themselves by what’s sat on their drives! Bravo! Problem solved. 👏