To think I had every right to be in the right hand lane when driving the speed limit on a dual carriage way

[P3kingDuck]

Dh thinks not.

So I’ve had to do a speed awareness course a while ago so do my best to keep to speed limits at all times.

Driving home on a curving dual carriage way on a slight tilt. 50 limit signs every few yards and a speed camera sign. The lane on the right turns into a fly over which I needed to keep on. So I was in the right hand lane driving at 50. A car came right up to my bumper and kept flashing. I stayed in the lane and pointed at the signs. He kept flashing then overtook me in a dramatic fashion, zoomed off( so breaking the speed limit) then slowed down so ended up driving not that faster than me but still over the limit.

Dh said I should have pulled over. I don’t understand why. Nobody on that road should be doing over 50 so what would be the benefit of me pulling over if I’m doing 50?

Yes we do, someone previously used maths to calculate it using the OP's statements of distance to the junction.

Also if the other driver did it after tailgating her for a short distance like the OP stated. Then anyone else would have been able to do the same. Why would one driver manage the maneuver, but another driver in the exact same conditions not?

You were wrong.

If you had already seen/passed road signage that indicated that the right hand lane would be splitting off, you were absolutely entitled to be in that lane and Mr Speedy Gonzalez was in the wrong.

I agree with you OP. You were 100% right to stay in the right hand lane.

Unfortunately there are millions of tossers on the road who thinks they can bully sensible law abiding drivers. Sounds like a lot of them are on Mumsnet.

I once left a work laptop in my friends car. Chased after her when I remembered. Exceeded the speed limit slightly on numerous hopefully safe occasions. I would have been really pissed off to meet you on the road. Not saying I was in the right but your behaviour can really annoy other drivers, and so cause safety issues.

"Unfortunately there are millions of tossers on the road who thinks they can bully sensible law abiding drivers. Sounds like a lot of them are on Mumsnet."

It's exactly this attitude which leads to road rage incidents! Instead of thinking "oh there's an aggressive asshole driving dangerously close to me, perhaps I should safely manoeuvre away from the hazard" you think "I'm a sensible law abiding driver and I will not be bullied! I will continue to place myself in danger out of principle" 🙄

I agree, but not at the expense of missing my turning. If my lane diverged anywhere between 100 yards and a mile I’d hold my ground.

@Everanewbie that's your prerogative, but you have to accept that if you continue to place yourself in a dangerous situation when you could remove yourself, you are contributing to it.

Obviously if you're 100 yards away from your exit it might not be safe to start quickly changing lanes (traffic dependant), but when you're a mile away, it really shouldn't be difficult.

I think you've just confirmed my theory 🤣

What is dangerous about it? She was driving sensibly, male twat wasn't. He was the one in danger.

The 'maths' doesn't tell us anything about the other traffic at all.

Why would one driver manage the maneuver, but another driver in the exact same conditions not?

Maybe because the 'one driver' is willing to speed, and cut people up, in order to manage the manœuver, but the 'another driver' isn't?

Also, tailgater only has to pull back into right lane in front of sedately driving OP. OP would have to pull in front of the (unknown) speed merchants barrelling along in tailgater's wake.

@Fatnold odd that you think people driving dangerously are only a danger to themselves and not the vehicles they are very close to 🤔

OP has changed her story more than once as the thread went on, but neither was driving sensibly.
Lane hogging can be unsafe and disrupts the flow of traffic. Tailgating is obviously very dangerous. I would say deliberately blocking a speeding tailgater is silly too - no it isn't your fault if someone does, but I pull over and let them go if I can. Why would I want them behind me, putting myself and passengers at risk if I can move out of the way?
This was also taught to me on an advanced driving course - if someone is tailgating, don't block them or speed to get away, pull over when safe, or if approaching a roundabout, for example, circle it then take your exit to allow them to get ahead and yourself out of danger.

Perhaps it's your kind of attitude that leads to so many people continuing to drive badly. After all nobody ever tries to stop them! The cowardly "nothing to do with me" approach that is so prevalent in our society makes it a lot easier for bullies and lawbreakers to get away with it.

@fromthegecko the op has changed her story multiple times to fit her perogative and make the other driver out to be wrong.

You can't argue with maths because, well it's maths. Based on the op's statements regarding distance and driving speeds, also her DH, She had more than enough time to complete the maneuver. However, she decided she wanted to police the 'speeding driver' putting herself and her DH in a potentially dangerous situation.

Here's my theory...
OP decided to switch to the right lane early as she knew the junction and knew that she would eventually be forking off to the right. The 'speeding driver' approached the op, probably driving the speed limit. Remember the op is cautious of speeding due to past conviction, so is probably going slightly below the limit. The 'speeding driver' flashed the driver to remind her that she is driving in the overtaking lane and they would like to overtake.

The op decided to ignore this as she wants to control the speed limit of everyone else (for some bizarre reason that no one knows.)

The 'speeding driver' gets annoyed because the op is lane hogging and holding up traffic so to prove a point to the op, They purposely speed up and undertake (likely giving op the side eye as they do so) they then pull back in to the right lane as there was plenty of time to do so, confirmed by op's previous comments, and resume to normal driving speed before exiting the junction to the right.

The op has no situational awareness and anyone that agrees with her, is just as bad.

*edited for spelling.

And if the road is busy? Or there isn’t a gap in the inside lane? A proper gap, not a tiny gap that the idiot featured in the OP may dangerously use. The reality is, if OP was driving in the outside lane on a standard dual carriageway with no exits etc on the horizon and stubbornly refused to move left when not overtaking in order to police other road users who may be significantly exceeding the speed limit then she would be unreasonable. But to continue in the correct lane for her desired route less than a mile from the divergence, she was driving as safely as she could in the circumstances.

Cowardly? How much am I getting paid to risk mine and my toddlers' safety (particularly them, being in the back seat), to police speeding cars?
I've been rear ended before and was incredibly lucky that the lanes my car was thrown across due to the sheer force were empty and I didn't get hit multiple times.
What about if we make it to traffic lights or heavy traffic and they get out to have it out with me? I don't have a warrant card or any law enforcement privileges, and you're absolutely correct in that I'm not brave/stupid enough to get out and fight!

You were in the overtaking lane whilst not overtaking anything and so you were in the wrong. If the other driver wants to go faster than the speed limit this is up to them, not your issue to police.

From your posts it sounds as though the road was quiet so you should have stayed in the inside lane until a reasonable distance before the road splits. At this point (and there should be road markings and/or signage to indicate this) you pull into the right hand lane.

@Zodfa whenever I'm driving I have my baby in the car. If you want to put yourself and your children in dangers way to prove a point then be my guest.

@Canacama I imagine @Zodfa would follow them, wait for them to stop and then perform a citizens arrest 😂

The 'speeding driver' flashed the driver because he was a dick to intimateremind her thatas she is driving in the overtaking lane that he thought belonged to him and they would like to overtake the OP to do as he wished.

Or more likely they were a male entitled twat who breaks the speed limit on a daily basis and hates women drivers.

A single flash is actually one of the few times it’s actually legitimate to flash your lights. (To be clear, I am not talking about sitting on someone’s arse flashing repeatedly).

This thread really shows off how average people don’t respect speed limit laws. “You shouldn’t police other people’s speed”. Oh okay, well in that case I should keep my mouth shut when I see a shoplifter or pickpocket as well because I wouldn’t want to be a vigilante now would I

Well I'd say you were wrong but being me I'd also think that if some twonk is inches of my bumper and flashing the lights I'm more likely to slow down than get out of his way.

Unless the flashing lights mean it's a police car of course.