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?

But the 60 is still not a target speed. All it means is that you Can go up to 60, not that you HAVE to.

Depends on the road, I always do 40-50 on our 60 mph road between the village and the town because if you come around a corner at 60 and find a cyclist/walker/jogger/tractor in front of you there is no space to avoid an accident.

I can imagine.

My worst ever experience of this sort was going through Glencoe on our way home from holiday one year. One car driving at 20mph max, braking at every corner, stopping when anything larger than a Fiesta was coming the other way. Oblivious to the dozens of cars queuing behind them. And in such rural areas, going another way isn't an option.

YABU
60 is the maximum, not the target. People drive at speeds they are comfortable with. Why should someone have to drive faster than they feel safe at just because you want to go faster? If I dont know a road I will drive at 50, not 60. When people try to get others to drive faster by driving too close, looking to overtake they are the ones who are dangerous.

It's a limit not a target. Its only 10 mph difference

Maybe take a refresher course and get help for your anger issues.

It depends. An A road near me has recently had a 50 limit put on it and that's sensible. It's very windy with some seriously sharp bends and very limited visibility.

On other roads it annoys me, though the '40 is a safe speed' brigade are worse.

Guilty! I hate windy country roads that I don’t know. 60 feels way too fast. I think it’s a limit not an instruction!

I may even go 40 depending on the conditions and how windy it is.

I was stuck behind someone doing 30mph for mikes, now that was frustrating!

60 isn't the target. It's the maximum, depending on conditions.

It depends. I live on a 60 mile an hour road (in that it's national speed limit). You'd be foolish, putting it mildly, to travel at that speed though - a good chunk of it is single track.

You should drive at an appropriate speed for the road, below the speed limit. That might be driving at the limit or it might be well below.

50 mph in a 60 limit is fine. It's a 60 limit, not minimum.

@impossibldream these speed threads always go down badly on MN and reading them always raises my blood pressure 🤣 MN is full of clearly bad drivers who feel 50mph is “safest” without any concept or understanding about how they can themselves be causing a hazard due to their not driving the speed limit. You’ll never get the majority agreeing with you here, as I think this is the problem demographic!!

but I agree with you, Soooooo irritating, especially when people defend it as “safer driving” as they can’t recognise their own incompetence. I used to drive for work and be very busy and an extra 5 minutes into my journey time meant I couldn’t go to the toilet or eat something, for example. Couldn’t leave earlier as it was in the constraints of a working day, so was already at maximum capacity time wise. Those that say “don’t stress, just leave earlier” obviously have never experienced being that busy! Time is a luxury!

If i was 10 under on a 60 or 70 my instructor would say that was ok, any less and he would tell me to speed up unless there was a need to be that slow. I have a friend who told me she drove at 30 on a motorway as it was raining heavily (speed was not reduced to that) and didn't seem to understand why that was so dangerous.

A lot of roads are NL simply because they haven’t been classified.

Plenty of NL roads are winding, and without verges. It gives you a sense of security to be following another car because they see the horse / cyclist / pedestrian first.

They may be being more cautious accordingly. And may not know the road as well as you.

When I am driving in the county of my upbringing I know the NL roads will likely be occupied by agricultural vehicles, caravans, cyclists, visitor drivers who aren’t used to no verges, etc etc. So I don’t expect to be able to always drive at 60.

Nothing wrong with 50 on a 60 limit road. I'm more bothered by all the twats who completely ignore all speed limits and do whatever they like. They're the ones who cause accidents.

This. I used to be an ‘ffs drive at the limit!!!’ thinker too.

Since getting an EV which presents the info on ‘fuel’ consumption front and centre, I’ve done a few experiments.

and do you know what - it’s astonishing.

the difference between 57 and driving 70mph in terms of consumption is easily 25-30%.

50 and 60 is around 20%.

so I did the same in a normal diesel car and what do you know - similar results.

And the best bit?

I really don’t get to my destination any slower.

I’m almost always driving from one urban center to another. And the second I arrive at the urban center - even on a 30 mile or so drive, I always see some of the people who flew by me on the motorway or 60 mph A road stuck at the same traffic light as me entering it. It’s uncanny.

I find 50 is much more fuel efficient for my car so tend to stick with that. You don't need to take risks to overtake me, just wait until it is actually safe to do so.

Stress is a killer OP. Just put some music on and chill. Nothing you can do about other people's driving 🤷‍♀️.

It does my tree in!!

There's a dual carriageway by me, 50mph. Clear straight roads with no bends / junctions. People still do 40, it's so annoying.

"It's a limit not a target" - however you're meant to drive to the limit and conditions. In fair weather with good sight and no obstructions, you should be driving to the speed limit. Not some internal fuel saving limit you've set to yourself.

THIS
THIS
THIIIISSSSSS

All roads unless otherwise indicated are 60 mph. This includes one track winding country lanes. Stop being a dick. People drive to their limits and 50 may be some people's on these roads. Overtake safely if you want , but don't dictate how other people drive.

I bet some people on here hate caravans, tractors and cyclists on the road.

Agreed.

The only person to blame for completing a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre is the one doing it.

I live rurally and travel on 60 mph roads daily. So do lorries and tractors, especially at this time of year.

It's a limit not a target. 50 mph in a 6 limit is more than reasonable.

*60

I live on the edge of Glasgow by a main road which leads up to Aberfoyle and the Trossachs.

I live on this road too! I drive at 60 though. I don’t mind people driving at 50 so much. I obviously know the road inside out, but if you don’t 59 seems reasonable. However 40 doesn’t feel great. At 30 (unless it’s a lorry or tractor) I’m getting very annoyed. Despite going at 60 I still regularly get overtaken by people going at 80(?)which terrifies me a little.

I notice on this road that the people going at 40 for the most part slow to 30 in the 40 zones which I can’t fathom either. ‘You like 40! Here’s your big moment!’ 😆

This might be an entirely wrong presumption, however I thought that the reason its historically been called a ‘speed limit’ rather than just ‘speed you drive at’ is because there are too many factors in play to allow anyone to say what the safe speed is for any road, with a given driver, in a certain vehicle, at a particular moment, so the only thing that can be determined is the very fastest that could ever be safe under an optimal arrangement, and it’s up to individual drivers to drive at the speed under which they can safely control their vehicle on that day.

Maybe they are trying to save on petrol. I've slowed down because of the horrendous prices