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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder who all these people are, speeding?

420 replies

justonanote · 03/04/2022 02:19

Or more to the point, how they think they can get away with it, or clearly do all the time?

I do a lot of motorway driving and I see so many cars doing over 80!

See also dual carriageways near me. People do 80+!

I'll be in a lane sometimes doing 70 and I have cars behind flashing at me to speed up Shock

My question is do people not get done very much for speeding? I wouldn't really think to speed anyway but surely the strong possibility of a fine or more is a deterrent? Do people just not care?

OP posts:
MoiraNotRuby · 03/04/2022 07:47

I have a black box for my car insurance so can't ever speed, I feel like I'm holding everyone up!!

Darbs76 · 03/04/2022 07:49

I drive at 80mph too, 70mph is generally people who drive in the slow lane. If you drive at 70 in any other lane than the outside lane you’ll get flashed. Most drivers know where the speed cameras are and slow down.

megletthesecond · 03/04/2022 07:52

Yanbu.
No one should be driving at 80.

alwayswrighty · 03/04/2022 07:53

I used to live in Germany. Driving is something they do well. We need motorway driver training in this country as part of out test. It was ok 30 years ago when there weren't so many vehicles on the road, but things have changed.

The other thing to mention is your speedo might be out. Mine shows 75, GPS shows I'm driving at 70.

thedarkling · 03/04/2022 07:55

I do think you need to drive to the traffic conditions, if you're overtaking you very often need to go over 70 to accelerate past and get back in to the inside lane safely and with enough stopping distance. It's actually pretty dangerous to think ' I'm not going above 70' as hardly anyone else sticks to the limit so you'll end up stuck behind lorries in the slow lane or driving up the middle lane at 70 and not pulling in (please don't admit to this!)

notacooldad · 03/04/2022 07:55

I'm not understanding why people are saying drivers are hounding you on a motorway, regardless of your speed. Why dont they just overtake, that's why there's usually three, sometimes four lanes.

darlingdodo · 03/04/2022 07:56

No point having laws if there's no-one policing them.

We're in Scotland. Had 20mph speed limit introduced in towns a couple of years ago and very few people adhere to it, but no-one ever gets pulled over.

knittingaddict · 03/04/2022 07:58

@MrsTerryPratchett

I'll be in a lane sometimes doing 70 and I have cars behind flashing at me to speed up

Which lane?

That was my first thought too. If you're driving steadily at 70 in the overtaking lanes then it is you that is in the wrong. I doubt you would get any reactions from other drivers if you were doing 70 in the inside lane.
Fairislefandango · 03/04/2022 07:58

I see very few people modifying their driving style to save all that £1.65-£1.85/litre fuel in their tank. They couldn't care less.

Maybe they can afford it. It's not compulsory to care about try to save petrol/money.

Billandben444 · 03/04/2022 08:00

I drive at 70 on the inside lane unless the cruising speed on the middle lane is 70 then I move there to avoid the lorries. On ordinary dual carriageways I join the other tortoises doing 60 on the inside lane to save fuel - sometimes we're creeping along at 55.

Original poster
justonanote · 03/04/2022 08:01

Sorry but I've come back and loads of you have said you regularly do 80 to 85?! What? Why?

I must be thick Blush because I thought the speed limit was 70 for a reason. Why are you all so happy to regularly break the speed limit? Even if you aren't getting caught?

Is there some unwritten rule I'm not aware of that 85mph is completely fine? Shock

Those asking about which lane I get flashes at, not an overtaking one!

OP posts:
Blanketpolicy · 03/04/2022 08:02

It is very unusual to see a thread on MN where every poster is condoning speeding. Usually a poster comes on concerned about getting a speeding ticket and gets their arse handed to them on a plate.

Speeding on a motorway is no different. It is ok.....until it is not.

The consequences of a crash with cars travelling at 80+ are much more severe than

Alexandra2001 · 03/04/2022 08:04

Huge divide here, many threads on "i can't heat my house" and here we have poster after poster saying they drive at 80, which scoffs fuel (at record high prices) compared to 65 to 70, it obviously needs to rise even further!

TBH i used to drive around 35k per year, much of it on M/Ways, mainly M5 and M4, there weren't that many times when i could drive consistently much over 60, esp mornings and evenings, on the M25, forget it.

Primtemps · 03/04/2022 08:07

My dh always does almost 10%above the limit - so will zoom along at 76mph. I'm not sure how accurate speed cameras are within such a small margin....

gettingolderandgrumpy · 03/04/2022 08:09

I think 80 is fine if in the right hand lane then over taking . Op if your driving at 70 keep to the left let others go faster if they want , it really annoys me people staying 65-70 in the middle lane when the left is empty. Always move to the left then over take if you need to .

Bigassbeebuzzbuzz · 03/04/2022 08:12

Far too many impatient people on the motor who dont realise not every other person uses these regularly so might need a bit more time/space. Everyone seems so angry behind the wheel now.
I agree with a pp some motorway driving SHOULD be taught as part of driving lessons. It's crazy that most people have never had a single lesson in motorway driving.

TupilaLilium · 03/04/2022 08:13

My car is smoothest at 80 and a bit rattly at 70. I often do 80 without noticing because it is so much more comfortable.

Sapphirejane · 03/04/2022 08:14

I live in the SE, the motorway is very rarely clear so I’d say average speed was below 70mph, closer to 60-65mph.

If it makes you feel better OP (as it did me) a car speeding along got flashed by a camera on the M25 the other day, it half blinded me as I was driving the opposite direction.

ivykaty44 · 03/04/2022 08:15

If you're driving steadily at 70 in the overtaking lanes then it is you that is in the wrong.

If you’re overtaking, you are not in the wrong.

If though you are driving in the middle or outside lane & not overtaking and pulling back into the near side lanes then you are not driving correctly

Popopopo · 03/04/2022 08:16

I don't go over 70mph, but I stick to the inside lane. I never get flashed. It's one of those laws that no one seems to care about but I dread to think what an accident at 90 mph looks like. I guess no one thinks it will happen to them.

We recently moved to a more rural area and people here seem to drive like maniacs, the amount of times I've been over taken in one of the villages by someone clearly doing 40/50mph in a 30 zone! Never see any police and no cameras

Isonthecase · 03/04/2022 08:18

Surely it depends on the car. I used to work in this area and basically a bigger car crashed at 80 is much the same as one crashed at 70, and old speedos generally had a 10% leeway anyway. It's the idiots whizzing along in an Up I'd be more concerned about, most of those really little cars barely have a crumple zone at all. It's so much more important to stick to you're personal limited based on the car you're in, those around you, and the conditions, than to just drive at 70 on a motorway regardless.

Disneyblueeyes · 03/04/2022 08:18

I average about 75.

I find people doing 65-70 in the middle lane more annoying. Nothing in the slow lane next to them.

ImBurtMacklin · 03/04/2022 08:19

@justonanote

Sorry but I've come back and loads of you have said you regularly do 80 to 85?! What? Why?

I must be thick Blush because I thought the speed limit was 70 for a reason. Why are you all so happy to regularly break the speed limit? Even if you aren't getting caught?

Is there some unwritten rule I'm not aware of that 85mph is completely fine? Shock

Those asking about which lane I get flashes at, not an overtaking one!

Yet you admitted to driving at 71/72 as a fluctuating speed too.
RantyAunty · 03/04/2022 08:19

Could your speedo be off?

How busy are the roads when this happens?

I mostly try to stay with the general flow of traffic even in the slow lane. If I'm unwell or something and driving a bit slower, people just go around me as I'm still in the slow lane.

AchillesPoirot · 03/04/2022 08:20

I don’t speed. On the motorway I overtake and get back in as soon as possible.

There needs to be strict enforcement of the speed limits and people need to lose their licences much quicker.