People driving at 50mph on a 60mph road

[impossibldream]

I have to use an A road most days which has a national speed limit (60mph). It seems like I’m always stuck behind some idiot driving along at 50mph. I find it so hard not to get wound up. It just results in people trying to overtake (sometimes taking risks so I think it increases a chance of accidents) and generally increasing levels of stress. Why do people do this? AIBU to find it rude and annoying?

The driving instructors in the links I posted earlier disagree with you.

It's obviously depending on the road and conditions, so clearly it's fine to go far slower going around the bends on a 60MPH road, or on a narrow 60PMH road, or in poor weather/visability, or if the road surface is poor, or if taking a trailer or HGV test, etc.

The isle of man. No motorways and also plenty of roads with no limit. Your judged on how you drive not how fast

Driving at 50mph rather than 60mph takes 12 seconds per mile longer.

If you really need to save that 12 seconds then you should follow about 6 feet behind the car in front, flash your headlights, sound your horn, and wave your middle finger. I think this would suit your attitude and temperament much better and let everyone else on the road see what type of driver you actually are.

Lots of national speed limit roads where I live, none of which are safe to drive at 60mph, despite it being the limit. There's one or 2 where I come close for a short stretch. A few where I come close to 50mph again for short stretches. Majority I wouldn't go much above 40mph and a couple where if I hit 30mph I'm doing well. Heck there are points where I drop to 2nd and crawl round the bends on one road, hoping and praying that anyone coming in the opposite direction is doing the same.

Then remember that for anyone towing a caravan or trailer the National speed limit is 50mph rather than 60mph.

BTW I do "get" how annoying it is to get behind someone that isn't driving at a speed that is sensible within the limit. I've had that more times than I can count, but maybe they don't know the road, what speed you can do and where the barely visible side roads are.

The isle of man. No motorways and also plenty of roads with no limit. Your judged on how you drive not how fast

The IoM is not the UK though, it has different laws, it may has well be Australia which was posted about earlier, why do people insist on posting on these type of threads about different countries.

All I'm saying is driving at 100mph isnt automatically unsafe in the right conditions.

I’ve noticed a lot more drivers doing it since fuel prices rocketed. It has been well publicised that driving at 50 is the most fuel efficient way for most cars.

Great shits and leaves post. Well done op.

Not always possible. Maybe they have to drop kids off at school then get to work, for example.

So you saying it’s safe isn’t mitigation then? What qualifications do you have to come to the conclusion that you’re safe to drive at 40% above the limit when the law makers disagree?

It's not safe to drive that fast. Nobody, other than people who've done an advanced driving course eg with the police, or Fi drivers, have adequate control of their cars at that speed.

Please don’t ever visit Germany then. It’s quite amusing being overtaken whilst you’re sat in lane 1 at 150mph. I’ve done the magic double ton on several occasions!

I hate that pathetic MN phrase, ‘it’s a limit not a target’ 🙄

The limit is set for optimum conditions. Therefore, if you are driving on a straight road, in clear, dry daylight conditions, you should be driving towards the upper end of the speed limit. This will ensure a constant flow of traffic and minimise people overtaking / frustration / reckless driving.

If you don’t feel able to do this, you should not be behind a wheel. Doing 50 on a 60 in optimum conditions is utterly ridiculous and if you do this regularly, you should seriously consider giving up your licence. You shouldn’t be on the road.

I can think of reasons why someone would do 50 in a 60. Why can't you?!

Wales are proposing to reduce the speed limit on all 30mph roads to 20mph - safety, noise reduction and environmental concerns. Some of you will be exploding with frustration.

I hate that pathetic MN phrase, ‘it’s a limit not a target’ 🙄

It’s not a “pathetic MN phrase”, it’s a Highway Code phrase. It’s concerning that you haven’t stumbled upon it before.

”146 do not treat speed limits as a target. It is often not appropriate or safe to drive at the maximum speed limit“

"If you don’t feel able to do this, you should not be behind a wheel. Doing 50 on a 60 in optimum conditions is utterly ridiculous and if you do this regularly, you should seriously consider giving up your licence. You shouldn’t be on the road."

What if you have pets or a nervous passenger in the car, or are taking someone poorly to a medical appointment. What if one of your kids is feeling a bit queasy. What if there's something fragile on the back seat or you yourself are a new driver, an older driver, a nervous driver who wants a bit more stopping time. What if you've just had a bad day or you're thinking about something else for a few minutes and don't notice your speed drift down a few mph. None of these are reasons to never drive. If someone is driving slower than you, there is a reason, be patient.

We are not talking about a dangerous driver or someone driving without a licence/insurance or someone driving at 20mph. 50 in a 60. Yet look at the irrational entitled anger on here.

Sounds fun. What car was it in ?

Oh god, you’re one of ‘those’ awful dithering drivers 🙄

The Highway Code also states that if the road conditions are favourable, that you can drive up to the max speed limit. If driving close to the speed limit in OPTIMUM conditions terrifies you so much, do stay off the road dear, for the sakes of all of us good and confident drivers 🤷🏻‍♀️

I dont a qualification to say what's safe. I have real world experience on motorbikes that will out perform 90% of cars.

Were obviously going to disagree on what is safe.

You do you.,I'll do me

You are not being unreasonable OP. People like this should not be on the road. Judging by the poll results though, it’s how most MNers drive.

It's quite telling that the speedy drivers are saying that they are the good and confident drivers

And it telling that people dont feel safe to drive at the limit

I totally agree with everything you've said 👍 And I’m one of the ‘drive slower, save fuel, relax a bit’ crowd these days.

Despite me having a Tesla with ludicrous which is still in the Top 10-20 fastest accelerating cars on earth.

Some people cannot think for themselves. They need rules to tell them what to do. Of course it’s perfectly safe to drive over an arbitrary limit if the conditions are such that it is safe (and you’re on your own, or with someone who consents to you doing so).

It doesn’t mean it’s legal - far from it and if you are caught you say ‘it’s a fair cop’ and you deal with the consequences. But blankety saying ‘that’s dangerous’ is the hallmark of someone who doesn’t understand the concept of people have different levels of ability to assess conditions, different vehicles etc.

I never break the limit in a 30 and only very rarely in a 40 because I’m concentrating on the road, not the speedo. Because there isn’t a need to, the likelihood of hitting a child or something unexpected happening is very high etc.

But on a clear NSL road in good conditions, the ‘danger’ factor of driving above the limit is an assessment that can be made by the driver. If you cannot assess the safety of doing so then you have no margin of error in your driving abilities.

It's more drivers who insist on doing 60 in the middle lane and just sitting there without moving across. and any one doing under 70 in the inside lane

Well that's different. Driving at 60 in the middle lane and sitting there is middle lane hogging.

Driving at 60 on the inside so people can easily get past you...no problem.

We have a ring road outside York. It's 60 mph but even with little traffic, it's a bit pointless in some parts as all you're doing is accelerating to 60 just to slow down for the roundabouts. I was on there today - and got up gently to 50 and then slowed down for the roundabouts.

I feel perfectly safe to drive at the limit. I have done 100 mph on the autobahn which was interesting.

Sometimes I just can't be bothered. For lots of reasons

There's a difference