To wonder how so many people are comfortable breaking the speed limit?

[AngeloMysterioso]

Is it just me? I’m pretty vigilant about sticking to the speed limit but more and more I’ve noticed recently that I’ll be doing 70 or just below on a dual carriageway or the motorway and someone will go flying past. God forbid I be driving at the limit on the outside lane, even if I’m going faster than everyone in the middle lane it’s only a matter of time before some knob is either flashing their headlights at me or driving up my arse (or both) while I wait for a big enough gap to move across so they can shoot off before doing the same to the next car in front.

It tends to be most often 4x4 drivers or Mercedes/BMW/Jaguar etc types. Maybe they just don’t think they should have to see the back of a 16 year old Fiesta!

You're completely right OP, in theory at least. The reality, sadly, is that if you're overtaking more than one car you'll be in the overtaking lane for a bit and you'll likely get flashed or tailgated by some idiot going faster than they should, who thinks nobody should hold them up.

The most annoying drivers those that stick to 70 in the over taking lane so they can police it 🙄

It’s ridiculous the speed limits on our motorways majority of people drive faster it’s about time they were updated to reflect how car safety has improved

@CantHoldMeDown Where did I say that we should get rid of car engines? I'm saying that speed limits are there for a reason, preferably to keep people safer and minimise the risk to others.

Average speed cameras are the way forward on notorious stretches. The drive from Dundee to Aberdeen is positively pleasant now everyone obeys the limit. Some dual carriageways don't have proper slip roads and that one requires passing across to the other side which is nothing short of terrifying. Perhaps it's been improved since our last run up, I hope so. Suicide overtaking on the A9 too, adds so much stress and easily solved with the ASCs

The most annoying drivers those that stick to 70 in the over taking lane so they can police it

If anyone did that it'd be pretty stupid ... does anyone really 'police' speed by disobeying motorway rules themselves? (I assume you mean lane hogging but in 3 rather than 2, not just 'overtaking but less quickly than I think they should')

The ones I find worse than that are when there's a lot of cars in lane 2 overtaking a lot of slower vehicles in lane 2 (eg trucks on an uphill that's got no crawler lane). They're all going at least 70 but then someone comes up faster, tailgates and flashes till the car in front squeezes back into 2, then he repeats up the line. Ugh. Dangerous bullying behaviour that probably shaves two fifths of bugger all off his journey time.

Very worst is that sort of tailgating in 50mph zones, especially when done by a truck though. Seriously scary if there's no gap to move into.

Yea they do

how long do you have to be in the overtaking lane for someone to be flashing you

i have often seen people stay in that lane at 70 it’s not so you can stick to 70

Because when a person gets behind the wheel of a couple of tonnes of metal, their brains fall out their ass?

how long do you have to be in the overtaking lane for someone to be flashing you

Not long at all if you're unlucky enough to get a speeding bully come up behind you when you're overtaking legally. It's not a new phenomenon.

So based on your final sentence do you fancy your chances if you crashed driving at 50/60/70 without wearing a seatbelt?

It’s ridiculous the speed limits on our motorways majority of people drive faster it’s about time they were updated to reflect how car safety has improved
Car safety might have improved but they're still driven by absolute dicks.

Just because cars may have improved, does not mean the human controlling it has aswell. In fact, due to cars being better, humans are worse, not paying attention and expecting the car to rectify their mistakes.

I feel like this thread is in some strange parallel universe.

Im not sure what motorways people drive in when they say the left lane is empty but I do a lot of long journeys and rarely the left lane is empty. There can be miles and miles of lorries and trucks on the left which can leave me in the middle lane for far longer than what most would find acceptable. The alternative is zig zagging from left to right every 30 seconds which isn't safe either or when you do pull to the left you find you're at a slip road entry when lots of vehicles start pulling in to the left leaving you to pull to the middle again just to stop a slow pile up from the slip road.

Im not sure what motorways people drive in when they say the left lane is empty

I'm seeing that on 'smart' motorways where most people are staying out of it. Under normal traffic conditions when 3 lanes is enough and the speed limit hasn't been reduced, that's what was meant to happen but the authorities aren't putting the X up. This is on the M6.

I don't see the left lane empty when there's a hard shoulder

Other countries they manage with higher speed limits I don’t think they are safer drivers it’s time things changes here

you will always have bad drivers its not only over confident fast drivers it’s those that are really too nervous to be driving that cause issues the driver in front of me recently that almost came to a stop from the slip road onto the motorway

Other countries they manage with higher speed limits I don’t think they are safer drivers it’s time things changes here

Not sure many manage well. The U.K. is pretty low on the list for traffic-related deaths, despite having busy roads.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listoffcountriesbyytraffic-relateddeathh_rate

When cars were invented the speed limit was something like 12mph and that was considered “too fast” by some. As technology advanced the speed limit increased.
So now in the UK we have decided that 70mph is “fast enough.” If you think that’s incorrect, write to your MP and ask to change the law. You complain that people driving at 70mph are “policing” you - well you cannot unilaterally decide that they are driving too slow and your speed is correct.

Apart from the safety aspects of speed (hopefully everyone knows kinetic energy rises with the square of the velocity, increased stopping distances...) , going faster than the vehicles optimum uses more fuel and creates more pollution. For most cars somewhere about 50-60 is best for that. It was noticeable in our area that during the recent fuel price surge there were far fewer cars speeding and more staying below 70.

I don't think it's particularly likely speed limits on motorways will be reduced on environmental grounds any time soon, but neither does it seem likely that any government would raise them.

(We all limit 90+ to racetracks and 70-90 to motorways/dual carriageways.)

So you are happy to announce on a public forum that you and your family/mates break the law every day! Unbelievable.

If the speed limit is considered too low by some, then the route to follow is lobbying parliament for a change in the law and NOT to casually break the existing law.

"I felt that the speed limit was a guide, your honour, which is why I was going a lot faster than 70."

"Well, I feel the sentencing rules are a guide, pet, which is why I'm giving you three months in chokey without the option."

it’s those that are really too nervous to be driving that cause issues
It really isn't. It's the utter tools who don't read the road, don't pay attention, don't adjust their driving to the conditions, treat a speed limit as a jumping off point, and think that the highway code is just something that happens to other people that cause issues. Always.

I've done loads of motorway driving, sometimes driving 30-40 thousand miles per year. Certainly on most motorways, you really don't need to spend much time in the right hand overtaking lane. Usually lots of opportunities to get back into the middle or left hand lanes, even at 70! I think it depends on which motorways really and the standard of driving - obviously if there are loads of middle lane hogs, then you're going to spend more time overtaking them in a right hand lane.

100%

Yes. The best drivers are those that adapt well to what is going on around them. Such as give space to hesitant drivers not drive up their bum flashing them.

See so many you tubes with avoidable accidents because cam car had right of way and would rather have an accident than give way. People make mistakes it's how you react that counts.