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?

Chillychili, we have a VW Up and a RAV4 at the moment and I get treated completely differently in the two cars. It’s very interesting.

@BoffinMum

Chillychili, we have a VW Up and a RAV4 at the moment and I get treated completely differently in the two cars. It’s very interesting.

I had to hire a car last minute a few years ago and they gave me a full sized 4x4. Wow, did I get treated differently from my usual Insignia type model.

I used to worry about cars behind wanting me to go faster than I was comfortable with on country roads, but now I'm much more experienced on them and comfortable I just drive at the speed I feel safe and competent at. I usually drive at/close to the given speed limit but sometimes a bit slower because of the quality of the light, the weather conditions, my level of tiredness. If you don't feel safer going faster, then you aren't! As my driver instructor said- the speed limit is an upper limit, not a target..

I drive an extremely old Fiat Punto that's seen better days and has gaffer tape stuck over a tear in the rear bumper. My car is however a great drive and I absolutely love it. I get overtaken on a regular basis and often then sit comfortably behind whoever has overtaken me, because contrary to what they assume my car IS capable of going at the NSL!

@Cantstopeatingchocolate

If you don't ease up for blind bends and hill crests, then soon enough you will kill a cyclist/walker/horse rider or your self.

I regularly cycle and meet drivers like you very often, people who think they are excellent drivers, everyone else isn't and their journey times matter more than other peoples lives.

What exactly do you think you will do with those 2 minutes you ve saved by driving beyond safe stopping distances? or the micro seconds you save by overtaking cyclists at 60mph, a 1m from their elbow? as i suspect you also do "shouldn't be on the road, they don't pay road tax...?"

Whats good to see though is the vast majority don't believe in hurtling around as if it were a race track.

I used to worry about the cars behind me too but don’t anymore . There is no way I’m going to hare round blind corners when I can’t see what’s coming at me.

Over time I have learned how to use my gears and accelerator more efficiently so don’t have to brake as much. I’m obviously faster on straighter stretches as visibility better.

It is hard but just ignore the tailgating arseholes OP. We have 2 cars and it’s definitely worse in the smaller one.

I drive a similar road to work, at first I was very cautious but now I know the road well I drive much faster. I expect the people driving up your arse know the roads well, and since these roads are usually national speed limit, they are eager to drive closer to that. Always drive at the speed you feel comfortable though. If you feel safer driving that bit slower, don’t be intimidated into driving faster by dickhead tailgaters ❤️ Xx

Lots of very good points here. I’ve never understood why people drive faster than the distance required to stop in the area they see to be clear. Are they just not thinking or do they genuinely believe they have super powers the rest of us don’t?

It’s absolute insanity and sooner or later there’s going to be a horse-rider, broken down car, fallen tree etc. around that corner.

I generally pull in when I get people like that behind me OP and just let them pass. But as a cyclist and horse-rider I really I do despair. They think they’re ‘expert’ drivers but the reality is they’re dangerous and stupid. Save the rally car driving for the track!

I know it’s hard when drivers are further up your arse than a g string. I find it easier if I move my rear view mirror to and angle where I can’t see them as much and just pootle along doing what I know is safe.

Drive to arrive!

YANBU, carry on being careful. Country roads can be deadly and nobody should be bombing along them - you never know what’s round the corner.

Keep on as you are and ignore the angry men. The Audi driver sounds like a tool.

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.

The mind boggles why anyone would slow down around bends and then speed up on a straight stretch of road. 🤔😂

You need to sort your insecurities out my dear😂

Do what you're doing. I once met a lovely couple whose son had accidentally killed a cyclist driving on a country lane. Both families had been devastated.

I always think of that when I'm slowing for blind bends.

@Billben

🤣🤣🤣
Yes why indeed?

I live in the country and it would be silly to do excessive speeds to be honest. Save faster speeds for the motorway. As long as you are sticking to the speed limit it’s their problem not yours. Don’t let them bully you.

On twisting country roads, if you are holding up following traffic, just find a safe place to tuck in and let them pass you. Now that I’m retired I am not usually in a hurry, so I happily get out of the way for delivery drivers etc.
When I was an on call doctor, I was infuriated by slow drivers who wouldn’t get out of the way, but that was outside lane hogging on dual carriageways and motorways, not country roads!

I actually feel quite smug when I enter a village at 30mph on my own but have several cars behind me when I leave. I've made them all drive at the speed limit. People who speed through villages really piss me off.
I also have a long lane-based commute to work. Over the years I've figured out what I can see from where and my speed has increased. For example I know how close an oncoming car has to be to decide whether I'm going to give way on the hump back bridge or if I will get a clear run before they will get there. I know which farms clean the road and which fields pour water across the road so I know before I come round a bend that I'm likely to find a mud slick or a flood.

But initially I drove much slower. You have to do what is safe for you.

The speed limit is the maximum safe speed for the road, that doesn't mean it is safe to travel at that speed for the entirety of the road.

Windy country road near me, going into a village with a 30 limit, yesterday I slowed right down entering the village because I knew around the next sharp blind bend there were temporary traffic lights and the possibility of stationary traffic, as all the signage on the roadside indicated. Bloke behind me was so close I couldn't see his number plate, not amused at my slowing down, decided to overtake me on the blind bend on the wrong side of the road, had to come to an emergency stop as a HGV was coming through the temporary lights. I stopped at the lights and the HGV driver made him reverse up behind me and the two other cars behind me. For someone who probably thought they were a good driver, they were really shit at reversing. Luckily for him, no-one else was driving round the bend on the wrong side, that would have been an interesting insurance claim.

It does depend a lot on what you mean by a country lane. There are fairly level country lanes with a reasonable width (but still single lane) and good visibility apart from occasional bends. Going really slowly on those, and slamming the brakes on when approaching a mild bend - fair enough, that's pretty annoying.

A lot of the country lanes near me are ones where you really do have to go fairly slowly and slow down a lot for the bends unless you're on a high point and can see over the hedges that nothing is coming for a way ahead. I very rarely see anyone driving too quickly on them tbh. The main issue is people being really rubbish at reversing when they meet an oncoming vehicle!

I could have written you post @JensonsAcolyte

Just ignore them!

The speed limit on my commute (15 mins) varies between 20&60! I do the safe speed for the road not the limit necessarily

TrainspottingWelsh

I hope you don't ride your horses on the road because if you doo then you are a hypocrite for moaning about drivers holding you up when driving your horse around country lanes.

Too many "o"s in do.

I have to do a country lane school run extremely hilly (cannot get up when icy) and very windy. It is an absolute nightmare. I regularly have my wing mirror snapped off and the only person who ever stopped was a young learner driver. I get 4 wd right up my backside, desperately trying to overtake, blaring their horns at me. My crime is driving at the speed limit not below it.

Theres a lot of building works locally and hgvs are forcing their way through lanes with huge boulders being transported. Large school buses force their way through because the local authority are too tight to pay for two smaller buses ensuring everyone's safety. Needless to say I drive a banger everyone laughs at.

Where I live the Coast Road has a terrible rep for speeding etc but I warn everyone the lanes are much worse.

You are driving correctly op. The drivers you refer to are bullies and idiots whose sense of entitlement could kill.

Same where I have lived for the last 20 years. Many country roads are 'rat runs' and the townies hurtle through at 60 plus. Ignore them. Let them stew and they'll only end up killing themselves.

[quote jasjas1973]@Cantstopeatingchocolate

If you don't ease up for blind bends and hill crests, then soon enough you will kill a cyclist/walker/horse rider or your self.

I regularly cycle and meet drivers like you very often, people who think they are excellent drivers, everyone else isn't and their journey times matter more than other peoples lives.

What exactly do you think you will do with those 2 minutes you ve saved by driving beyond safe stopping distances? or the micro seconds you save by overtaking cyclists at 60mph, a 1m from their elbow? as i suspect you also do "shouldn't be on the road, they don't pay road tax...?"

Whats good to see though is the vast majority don't believe in hurtling around as if it were a race track.[/quote]
Sorry
I mustn't have made myself clear
I meant A class roads and trunk roads
The roadI travel on is a main trunk road from a ferry port to a motorway.
It's a 60mph road but still has bends and crests. Absolutely no pedestrians, horses or dog walkers
I wanted to put out that these roads you sometimes can't see what's ahead but you wouldn't slow down to half the speed limit (30mph) like the OP is, to go round/over these on that type of road so why would you do it on a B class road.
When I'm driving on the smaller B class roads I stick to about 40mph but there are bits I can definitely get higher speeds safely. I drive to the road markings and signs. Lots of warning signs for deer, cows, horses, slower corners etc.
Drivers should drive to the conditions, signs and markings, otherwise they become annoying drivers to others in the road.
She asked if she was following road etiquette, I don't believe so

I see these roads are 40mph. Usually country roads are 60mph, so it’s probably that these people are used to driving faster. You’re not in the wrong, and only ever drive as fast as you feel safe to. I’m fed up of arseholes on the road, I had an idiotic woman overtake me on a 40mph road the other day, I was doing the speed limit. She didn’t get much further as there was a queue of traffic ahead, so pointless.
Don’t let yourself be intimidated.