Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Learner doing 25mph in a 30

137 replies

Hullabaloo9 · 03/04/2022 13:35

I'm taking my son out driving to consolidate what he learns on his professional lessons. We drive round residential areas at non peak times.

Is it acceptable for him to be driving generally at 25mph on residential 30mph roads?. I encourage him to go a little faster but with lots of road parking etc he says he only feels confident to go at that speed at the moment. Are we a total nuisance or is this OK? Xxx

OP posts:
Chely · 03/04/2022 15:07

It's a limit not a target. If you were 20 or under in a 30 with good conditions you would be annoying.
You can get minors on a test for going too slow, paying an instructor is the best way to learn how to pass a test. Mine liked me to get up to speed quickly and I got a pass with 1 minor so he was a good instructor.

melj1213 · 03/04/2022 15:11

What kind of backlog is he going to cause doing 25 in a 30?

Depending on the road layout, a lot.

I was driving to work the other day at 30mph in a 30 zone. Traffic was free flowing, no queues etc then as I was approaching a junction a car pulled out into the gap between me and the car ahead. I slowed as they pulled in so they could get up to speed from the stop, anticipating they would quickly get up to 30mph. Instead they got to about 25/26mph and stayed at that speed. This meant I had to slow down which knocked on to all of the other cars behind me who also had to brake to keep a reasonable gap between cars. We pootled along at 25mph on a clear main road - no parked cars, clear pavements, straufht road, wide lanes etc - so absolutely no need to drive "cautiously" and the line of cars behind me just got longer, and cars were driving closer together due to the slowed speed ... meanwhile the car I was previously behind, and had kept pace with for the previous 5 miles, had disappeared from view. Eventually the driver pulled into a junction and a few metres later I pulled into the car park and then watched a long line of practically bumper to bumper cars get back up to speed - normally the road flows freely but this one 25mph driver had caused a whole line of traffic tailback.

FlipFlops4Me · 03/04/2022 15:12

It's a limit, not a target. If it's safe to drive at 25 then that's fine.

mouse70 · 03/04/2022 15:13

Speed limit is the Maximum speed. So doing 25 is absolutely fine. I rarely drive at any maximum speed on any road. It is all to easy to tip over into over limit. I often travel along country roads which have a 40 mph limit. I very rarely do 40mph as bends, animals and walkers!!!!!

Justleaveitblankthen · 03/04/2022 15:17

I would encourage anyone to get a front - and especially rear - dashcam. Worth their weight in gold.
The wud-be tailgater's take one look and back off Grin

Just had someone racing me at the lights, even though my lane was filtered to allow me to slip back infront of him (tried to block me) Saw my dashcam and thought better of it.

Nat94 · 03/04/2022 15:26

Nope. If the speed limit is 30 he should be doing 30. You would fail your test by going to slow as you are obstructing the flow of traffic.

mogsrus · 03/04/2022 15:26

Dash cams are great,my friend has one in the back,it’s old & doesn’t actually work,but I would think twice,

Electriq · 03/04/2022 15:29

My instructor told me, the speed limit is the maximum speed limit for that road, if you feel you need to maintain a lower speed to keep yourself and other road users safe, that is absolutely fine.

Original poster
Hullabaloo9 · 03/04/2022 15:29

Thanks everyone Smile

OP posts:
MrsHugget · 03/04/2022 15:32

Sounds on to me. What wasn't ok was a large brand new BMW doing 50 mph on the very quiet motorway yesterday. I caught up to it very quickly and was shocked it was going so slowly especially when there was very little traffic.

whynotwhatknot · 03/04/2022 15:39

Seems fine in residential with parked cars

its 20 in central london now i feel a bit stupid going that slow at 6am with noone about but hey ho

whynotwhatknot · 03/04/2022 15:40

One thing my driving instructor did say to me though was he really didnt like parents taking them out inbetween lessons as all teir knowledge wasvoid and were giving out wrong info which had to correct in the next lesson

CrowUpNorth · 03/04/2022 15:41

At most he will pick up a minor in the test. I'd expect people to travel at 30 on main roads through a village, but at less on residential roads where there isn't a clear field of vision, no crossings etc

catscatscatseverywhere · 03/04/2022 15:41

Speed limit isn’t often adequate. With lots of cars parked around, he sounds sensible. Don’t push him, he needs to be sure of what he’s doing.

CounsellorTroi · 03/04/2022 15:51

@BornIn78

You would fail a driving test for driving in excess of a speed limit but not for going slower speed limit.

Actually you can fail a driving test for driving too slow for too long.

Yes, they call it “failing to make proper progress”. I was failed for that once Blush!

25 mph is fine though. All residential roads in my area have just been reduced to 20mph.

PumpkinPie2016 · 03/04/2022 15:58

I think that's fine in the circumstances described. We were all learners once.

I think some people forget that when learning, it takes them far more concentration to do everything that a more experienced driver will do easily - even things like steering/changing gear. Their observation skills are also usually still developing. Of course they will be slower.

janj2301 · 03/04/2022 16:15

Round my area (East London) there are a load of 20mph zones, including my road, I think I'm the only one driving that slow (polishes halo).

RedWingBoots · 03/04/2022 16:16

Is it acceptable for him to be driving generally at 25mph on residential 30mph roads?.

No where I live he would either be going too fast or too slow on 30 mph roads.

Some roads around me don't have 20 limits because due to a mixture of street furniture, parked cars and road layout it is not safe to go above 22mph.

Other roads have 30 limits and unless there was an obstruction in the road there is absolutely no good reason for you not to go at 30 on your speedometer.

He needs more practice to work out which is which and to learn when to slow acceleration and brake on his journey rather than sticking to one speed.

NewPapaGuinea · 03/04/2022 16:19

I was told “it’s a limit not a target”, but if you drive below the limit on tests it can go against you. However, teach him to drive to the conditions and to adjust speed accordingly will result in a better driver.

Clymene · 03/04/2022 16:22

@FlipFlops4Me

It's a limit, not a target. If it's safe to drive at 25 then that's fine.
Did you actually read the thread? It's a limit and a target.
UnsuitableHat · 03/04/2022 16:25

Course it’s ok. Lots of residential roads are now 20 anyway

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/04/2022 16:26

DS got 3 minors in his driving test - one of them was for driving too slowly. However, whilst they are learning to drive its fine for them to go at whatever speed they need to to build their confidence as long as its not over the limit

Parth · 03/04/2022 16:28

Nothing wrong with driving 5 mph below the speed limit. The limit is not the recommended speed at which you should be driving on a road. It's the speed beyond which you should NOT be driving.

Spannwr1971 · 03/04/2022 16:31

Come here to Italy, where people do 10 km/h or 110 km/h depending on the music they're listening to, overtake by going the wrong way round roundabouts, and use pavements are a short cut.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 03/04/2022 16:35

I don't know why people are saying "it's fine because lots of residential roads are 20mph here"

What the limit is on other roads is irrelevant - in a driving test you can fail if you continually fail to make progress - it doesn't matter whether the roads' limit is 30mph or 60mph.