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?

@Packingsoapandwater

"The Audi"

I didn't need to read any more.

You are experiencing the now common phenomenon of the "Rural Audi". It is so bad where I live that we have set up speed groups, are currently ordering community speed awareness signs, and have had the police out numerous times to do speed spot checks.

And it is, by far, overwhelmingly Audis that speed. I have actually wondered whether there is something about the engineering of Audis that creates this behaviour, whether it is something to do with the acceleration process or drivers just cannot sense their speed.

It is, in fact, so serious where I live that one road has had nine crashes in the last two years. One woman down the road was nearly hit on the pavement when an Audi span out of control.

Inevitably, they are not locals. They are either just using our country roads as like a rally circuit, or are just passing through.

I have lived in a semi-rural area all my life. No one local speeds after the age of about 25 because they'll all been in some sort of near miss by that point and it's scared the shit out of them, or they know someone who has died on the local roads after taking a corner too fast.

This. Driven on country roads for the last 10 years, was nervous about the speed limit at first because it felt unsafe. Then found out rural roads are the most dangerous and I was right to be careful. I am now more comfortable with doing the speed limit but would never get annoyed at someone going more slowly. What I am constantly amazed at is how many people speed. And how many accidents there are as a result. Audi drivers seem to be in a class by themselves - maybe it is the car but maybe it is a self selecting thing and only jerks drive Audis.

I used to encounter this when driving round country lanes, I think due to locals who knew the lanes, but I didn’t so was naturally cautious going round blind bends. They’d be up my arse all the way, mutually annoying!

The person behind you would hate me. If the same car was continually "pushing" me to go over the speed limit I would drop right down and crawl along at 25mph. I had a white van man keep getting close, pulling back, getting close, beeping horn once because I was doing 30 in a 30zone. We got yo an island and I was waiting for traffic from my right to clear and he had his hand on the horn the whole time. So I pulled on my brakes and let loads of traffic through, even missing gaps where I could have gone. When ready I moved off and did 30 in the 40 zone ahead. My friend and I waved to him when we moved into the lane we needed and he passed by. Just because they want to drive like twats doent mean you should feel intimidated for following the speed limits and driving safely.

@Babygotblueyes I drive an Audi - carefully and considerately - around our country lanes! (Not an SUV that needs 2/3rds of the road though).

I am not a jerk - imo

I think there is a portion of the population that just drive at 40mph regardless of the speed limit. Near me there are lots of stretches of 60 going down to 30. I’ve often had people tailgating me at 30 who then don’t seem to accelerate that much into the national speed limit zone.

@smilingontheinside

The person behind you would hate me. If the same car was continually "pushing" me to go over the speed limit I would drop right down and crawl along at 25mph. I had a white van man keep getting close, pulling back, getting close, beeping horn once because I was doing 30 in a 30zone. We got yo an island and I was waiting for traffic from my right to clear and he had his hand on the horn the whole time. So I pulled on my brakes and let loads of traffic through, even missing gaps where I could have gone. When ready I moved off and did 30 in the 40 zone ahead. My friend and I waved to him when we moved into the lane we needed and he passed by. Just because they want to drive like twats doent mean you should feel intimidated for following the speed limits and driving safely.

I always work on the maxim 'don't poke the crazy'. In your situation I would have ignored him and continued driving normally.

You were lucky he didn't so something unhinged like overtake you then suddenly slam on his brakes.

Don't be intimidated - drive how you feel is safe for the roads. Driving has gotten awful lots of impatient and dangerous 'drivers' out there. I slow right down or pull over and let them have it especially if its dark and their super bright lights are blinding me. I say to myself I hope I see you wrapped around the next bend....they are in such a rush to get to their own funerals. Good drivers would simply overtake you and not sit tailgating......

It's not likely to be you. It probably is the assumptions they are making about the car.

In DHs Audi I didn't get this behaviour but in my car I did. Although there were the teenagers that pulled up next to me at the lights and asked me to race. I had. 2ltr Audi and they were driving a fiesta .

I was ready to say its you if you're going at 40 if its not a 40 speed limit, but see that it is.

Its not you, its them, yes they may be more used to the roads but they still shouldn't be speeding.

I do get frustrated at drivers in the country who don't know the roads going very slowly round the bends then going at 60 on the straights, so impossible to pass.

If you are going really slow on the bends you might want to go below 40 on the straights to allow others to pass, if its safe to do so.

[quote DoubleTweenQueen]@Babygotblueyes I drive an Audi - carefully and considerately - around our country lanes! (Not an SUV that needs 2/3rds of the road though).

I am not a jerk - imo [/quote]
Good to hear that @DoubleTweenQueen - but there does seem to be a disproportionate amount of audi drivers who drive like idiots!

@Babygotblueyes I will eventually change my car and rid myself of the stigma :D

[quote DoubleTweenQueen]@Babygotblueyes I will eventually change my car and rid myself of the stigma :D[/quote]

Pull over, let them pass and then try your best to drive up their arse. This winds them up immensely and gives you an easier drive, visibility wise.
The reason they are able to go so fast behind you is that they are using you to navigate the road (ie you would hit an oncoming car first).

Pull over and let them pass. I drive country roads daily and have done for years.

On twisty, turny lanes? Someone's in for a head in collison.

The thing is - you have no idea at all what is around a blind bend on a country road. It may technically be possible to 'take the corner' faster but that's not really the point - the point is lack of visibility means it's better to be safe than sorry. A head on collision between two cars who drive fast around the corner each way because they 'know the road' would not be made any better by their knowledge of the road because the road is only half of it - what it on it can never be known on a bend.
Pedestrians are advised to walk against the traffic where there is no pavement, so if a car goes around a corner fast and comes smack up against a pedestrian walking the other way what is the outcome there.
OP - ignore the idiots and keep being safe. One day you will be thankful you did.

I think the people make assumptions about type of car. I drive a small electric bmw.

Whenever a dual carriageway opens up, the person being usually begins to move out as if to overtake.

Where there are two lanes at a traffic light and I'm at the head of the queue in the left of the two lanes, larger cars - also going straight on - assume that they need to be in the right lane so as to take off ahead of me.

Because I'm in a little car.

They get a big shock when I accelerate away from the lights because as an electric I can do 0-60 much faster than the biggest Audi Saloon 🤣🤣

I've grown up in the country and still live here, I know the roads like the back of my hand. I admit, in my young carefree days I drove like a complete idiot, I really did. It scares me now to think I drove like that. Now I'm much more cautious but do know how to approach and take the corners, but I always always slow right down on blind bends. The are risks of meeting farm machinery which would be horrendous at fast speeds.

You get to know how to see ahead too, especially in autumn and winter when trees and hedges are more bare you learn where to look to assess the road ahead. Harder in the summer with trees full of leaves.

Oh, it is very very annoying when people brake just because another car is coming when there's room to pass. But I guess you'll get used to knowing the available space. Doesn't give anyone the right to be too impatient and close behind you though.

@frumpety

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.

What an idiot. Thankfully there wasn't a crash.

get a rear cam and put a sign in the back of the car your recording - they'll not be sure you won't send in the footage and they can be done for tailgating, its a fine and points, you can get them at Halfords

www.safetysignsandnotices.co.uk/dashcam-recording-sign&variantid=17558?gclid=CjwKCAjwm7mEBhBsEiwA_of-TNXK55R4A8G_u_IdawHXRcLUZXrFSswBHWmaLa1ao6k8b9q6upFWxBoCOSMQAvD_BwE

or just get the sticker?

@trappedsincesundaymorn I hope your driving is better than your reading and comprehension.

@smilingontheinside

The person behind you would hate me. If the same car was continually "pushing" me to go over the speed limit I would drop right down and crawl along at 25mph. I had a white van man keep getting close, pulling back, getting close, beeping horn once because I was doing 30 in a 30zone. We got yo an island and I was waiting for traffic from my right to clear and he had his hand on the horn the whole time. So I pulled on my brakes and let loads of traffic through, even missing gaps where I could have gone. When ready I moved off and did 30 in the 40 zone ahead. My friend and I waved to him when we moved into the lane we needed and he passed by. Just because they want to drive like twats doent mean you should feel intimidated for following the speed limits and driving safely.

We all hate drivers like you.

Some drivers on country roads are just assholes. My DM once was on one and it wasn't too bad a road and the part she was on was actually straight, she was going downhill and came up behind a lorry who wouldn't let her pass by moving over the line every time she tried. I have lost 2 wing mirrors on country roads by drivers going too fast. A long time ago now.

@ivykaty44

get a rear cam and put a sign in the back of the car your recording - they'll not be sure you won't send in the footage and they can be done for tailgating, its a fine and points, you can get them at Halfords

www.safetysignsandnotices.co.uk/dashcam-recording-sign&variantid=17558?gclid=CjwKCAjwm7mEBhBsEiwA_of-TNXK55R4A8G_u_IdawHXRcLUZXrFSswBHWmaLa1ao6k8b9q6upFWxBoCOSMQAvD_BwE

or just get the sticker?

My front and rear dash cam is fitted - but quite discrete. Not sure I would want to advertise that it is in the car as it could be stolen when car parked somewhere public (it's a good model which cost in excess of £300)

@Bumpsadaisie

I think the people make assumptions about type of car. I drive a small electric bmw.

Whenever a dual carriageway opens up, the person being usually begins to move out as if to overtake.

Where there are two lanes at a traffic light and I'm at the head of the queue in the left of the two lanes, larger cars - also going straight on - assume that they need to be in the right lane so as to take off ahead of me.

Because I'm in a little car.

They get a big shock when I accelerate away from the lights because as an electric I can do 0-60 much faster than the biggest Audi Saloon 🤣🤣

Hmm, not sure that you'd be quicker than my Audi SQ5