People who drive 40 everywhere

[PeRiO]

Sorry this subject has probably been done to death but I let it really annoy me today so just want to get it off my chest 🤣
AIBU to be annoyed at people who drive 40mph everywhere? Following a car home today, I live in a small village of which the road to it varies between 30/60. It isn't a bad road, fairly straight on the 60 bits but I appreciate 60 isn't a target speed but it riles me up when said car is happy to speed in the 30 bits but not willing to go a little faster in the 60 bits.

Anyone else?

This is my absolute bug bear.
The last stretch of my commute is 30 to 60 back to 30.
I am never ever in a rush but it drives me mad to watch people drive 10 miles over the speed limit in a residential area to then go 20 miles below the speed limit on very straight 60 section.
To me it just seems like extreme laziness, they literally can't be bothered to adjust their speed maybe?
I don't get it! Like they're not safety conscious going over the speed limit in the 30, so why go so slowly on an easy 60 section?
Utterly bizarre but really common behaviour in my experience.

Petrol
Driving a slow steady pace will increase your petrol efficiency
Driving 50 rather than 80 saves me a tank a month

How very zen of you.

The rest of us didn't just get out of our advanced meditation class though. Needless delays are annoying and inconvenient and bitching about them on MN makes me feel better!

Also you don't know the situation in the car
People could have items in the back they are being careful not to knock over.
They could be driving home someone very unwell and trying not to make them worse by playing speed yoyo

My favourite passtime is going infuriatingly slow in front of agressive speeders through villages. I can go soooooo slooooooow. Then I hit the 60 road & boot it. Petty but satisfying. I'm a stickler for limits in little villages and around houses etc. Other limits not so much

The roads between the villages here are 60, so you frequently go from 60 to 30 them back to 60. It's worrying that the 40 milers seem to be unable to read the speed limit signs.

I love it when people build their lives around cars and then complain about it, not everyone drives to work or school etc

I love it when public transport users get sanctimonious about drivers because they just can't imagine what it is like to live outside London or other large city where public transport options are very limited.

Totally agree with this
If you are feeling ragey, you need to stop and calm down. I truly believe more accidents are caused by impatience and road rage than any other factor.

Drives me fucking nuts.

40mph dawdlers in 60 zones just end up with a queue of frustrated drivers behind them.
Im convinced that the amount of risk taking on roads is down to being stuck behind these people

I do tell him but he had a stroke last year and it's made him a nervy passenger. So I do it so he feels safe but not all the time and never on motorways. He was a very good driver but has lost all confidence now.

@lazyarse123 DH has also lost confidence with driving since having a stroke. He will only drive somewhere he really knows well or on the motorway. He can't cope with following a satnav or other directions because he doesn't react quickly enough to instructions.

Wanted to add, that having gone back and read the responses to the thread - for me personally, the point of this is not people going 'too' slowly in the 60; it's the combination of speeding in the 30 then going slowly in the 60, the lack of variation in speed.
I don't have an issue when the person in front of me is going slowly because they're not the most confident driver, I've been there, I was very nervous as a new driver. It's the lack of respect for the lower speed limit in the residential area that drives me nuts & I notice it more in people who then drive 40 in the 60 because I catch up to them! The absolute speed racers are long gone when then speed through both the 30 & 60 zones so you forget about them quicker!

I've lived in cities and rurally, I do not see the point in getting stressed about slow drivers. Busy roads are part and parcel of living in a car-centric society. Using public transport isn't sanctimonious

Blaming others for your actions

It's a shame that strokes take so much away from a person. I know it could have been a lot worse but it's not easy for us as loved ones who also deal with the aftermath 💐 although like your DH mine will drive familiar routes but I'm always very alert and on edge. He's worse when tired so doesn't do it then.

All your answers are rather sanctimonious though @Allfur.

I do use public transport when it is available, but often it is not (train strikes, bus service not avilable)

The A9 in Scotland has regular signs that ask slower drivers to pull over into laybays to allow the queue of traffic that has developed behind them to overtake.

https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/msp-urges-police-to-tackle-slow-drivers-on-a9-164739/

If making a show of being morally superior to other people, which is the dictionary definition of sanctimonious, then most of the 'I must drive fast brigade' are guilty of that

It's got nothing to do with wanting to go fast. It's about wanting to make it to your destination without some tit on the road ruining for everyone else.

Do you drive @Allfur?

It's not about being busy, it's about one car driving way below the limit (often 20/30 on a 60 here) with dangerous road placement for no good reason at all. Tractors are commonplace & they don't irk me at all.

I agree @Caerulea
I often get stuck behind tractors and horses, and behind a herd of cattle a couple of times.

It is drivers who seem to be unaware of speed limits and other drivers that is the issue.

Usually yes.

You may have other bookings. Much taxi work is school runs, which is a set rate. You can't just turn down other bookings, so that you can leave earlier, to allow for selfish drivers. You can't make a living wage, that way.
Not all ambulances are emergency responders. Many are collecting patients who have hospital appointments.

And if these 40mph drivers can't pull over to let the convoy of drivers behind them pass, then how can they pull over to let an emergency vehicle pass?

And if these 40mph drivers can't pull over to let the convoy of drivers behind them pass, then how can they pull over to let an emergency vehicle pass?

They can in both instances. They don’t feel any obligation to in the first while they do in the second I suppose. Not being one of them I can only surmise.

As I've explained, that's not an option for those workers I listed.
The only way a home carer, can leave earlier to allow for inconsiderate road users, is by cutting short the previous care visit - by rushing or missing out tasks, such as washing, or giving medication.

Such workers get told where to go, when to be there, and how long they're allowed for the journey. They have no authority to make adjustments to their schedule.

My point is that, yes, some people are in a rush, and no, leaving earlier is not an option.

If you regularly find yourself at the head of a convoy, you're the problem. Have some consideration, and pull over, like tractors do.

Perhaps they are sticking at the same speed everywhere so they don't have to change gears? Which is a bit pathetic, but a possible explanation.

Fair but then why are they speeding through the slowest areas?