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!

Colin McRae who killed himself and three others because of his dangerous manoeuvres in a helicopter?

Sounds about right.

Because OP judging by the answers on this thread far too many drivers are overconfident in their abilities & aren’t the brightest. Let’s just hope it’s only themselves they hurt in an accident!

because their handling skills are on point and every single one of them are one of the best drivers in the world and they REALLY need to show you so you don't think they are just and average joe/joelene

This, their Brian is better than your Brian. 😆😆😆

@CantHoldMeDown So, what happens if you injure or kill someone else due to your over confidence in your abilities?

The replies on this thread are infuriating. How many posters can't grasp what the OP is actually saying is quite shocking. She's doing nothing wrong here.😅

I'm with you OP. I hate driving these days as the roads are full of arrogant tests who don't think the rules apply to them. Usually driving the same makes of cars. If it's a 30 I drive at 30 and damn right I'll slow down if someone decides to tail gate me.

On the contrary. “The speed limit is the absolute maximum”

https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

The police are absolutely not bothered though, unless speeds exceed their guidelines for a FPN or prosecution. Which answers the OPs question why people are comfortable exceeding the speed limit!!

I can’t believe a lot of these posts but at the same time they make sense based on what I see on the roads! Has no one done speed awareness? How are so many people just happily breaking the speed limit?

Ok, think about this: you are on a footpath with signs everywhere saying "no sprinting!". OP is jogging along and comes up behind some walkers. She looks behind her, then proceeds to jog around a line of walkers. Whilst passing, a sprinter comes up behind her and is annoyed that they have to slow down to a jog. Outraged, in fact, that she dare pass the walkers when she's not sprinting. Yet the jogger is perfectly correct, and of course the sprinter should slow down because they should never have been sprinting in the first place! The sprinter says the jogger is in the "sprinting lane", which of course doesn't exist, because sprinting isn't allowed.

Most people on this thread are like this sprinter. The jogger is in the right and the jogger should not have to stay behind walkers nor increase to a sprint to pass them - they are doing everything perfectly correctly and pull in in front of the walkers as soon as they've passed the whole line. The sprinter is an idiot who thinks they don't have to comply to any rules and thinks nobody else should either. They also think that because sprinting is allowed on paths in other countries, it should be allowed on this one. But the fact remains: no sprinting!

I think they are perhaps too arrogant to think the law applies to them or that they could hurt themselves or others. Until it happens and then it's too late.

She asked why people are comfortable exceeding the speed limit. The answer is that the limits aren't enforced on main roads andmotorways until you exceed them by quite a margin. I don't know who to atribute the quote to, but someone once said that rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. While horribly sexist, the intent resonates with many.

The law says one thing, the police interpret it another, and most / many align to the police's guidlines. The OP is completely at liberty to drive slower, but unless particularly blinkered can't be surprised that she's getting in peoples way. No one likes a self appointed 'speed monitor' limiting their speed, particularly when the real police aren't bothered.

This thread is amazing. All these posters who throw a shit fit if the in-laws offer their little darling a chocolate biscuit seem to have no issue with regularly breaking the law. 🤣 Absolutely precious.

Speed limits are not a “guide” or “common law” - they are statutory.

Yes, they could do with being overhauled as regards motorway driving especially with improved safety features in modern vehicles. Sadly though the drivers haven’t improved in line with the vehicle safety, especially if they are distracted by tech.

When driving bigger fancier cars people often don’t realise how fast they are actually travelling, this applies in 20, 30 & 40 zones where pedestrians are (they can be distracted by tech too!).

Wonder what these posters would say if it was their kid flattened by an SUV going just a little above the “common law” speed “guide”?

70 mph is NOT slow - it is the speed limit and no-one should be exceeding it in any lane. Never - not under any circumstances.

Do people causally break the law in any other sphere of life? - in the main no. A law is a law - you cannot pick and choose which you will abide by.

An average means speeds above and below. S
o if the average is 70, people should be able to drive above that speed at 80 as per other countries, in the same way as restricted vehicles top out at 60.

Do people causally break the law in any other sphere of life? - in the main no. A law is a law - you cannot pick and choose which you will abide by.

Drug taking & many will take drugs and not even acknowledge their role in the criminality associated with drugs.

Have you ever stuck a stamp on an envelope upside down? Drank under the age of 18? Parked on a double yellow to nip to a postbox or similar? Eaten or had a swig of water while driving?

Judging by the appaling driving and parking round our local schools, yes, the rules of the road are constantly broken,. Then there's the appalling lane discipline on our motorways. The laws around drug use are flaunted widely, and there are plenty of posts on here about how 'misuse' of self checkout or any other way of getting 'one up' on a big corporation is acceptable to many

I don't think going on what the police allow is an acceptable or appropriate yardstick. There are many crimes the police won't enforce for whatever reason, some which harm others, but that doesn't mean it's still not the law or that we should break it. It's there for a reason.

Some of these comments are truly frightening!

Road safety isn’t about what you think should be, it is about the Law and what is, and no morons the speed LIMIT is not a guide! FFS you can see why so many are killed on the roads each year!

@redalex261

Speed limits are not a “guide” or “common law” - they are statutory.

Lots of things are against the law but are barely ever enforced.

It's actually illegal to be "drunk and disorderly" or "drunk and incapable" but very unlikely to lead to an arrest unless you're causing a lot of trouble to others, i.e. fighting, damaging property, etc but then you get arrested for another reason! But, in theory, there will be loads of people coming out of pubs and clubs on a Saturday night (or Sunday morning) who are technically breaking laws and facing arrest, but only tiny numbers ever end up in a cell. In fact far fewer than a few decades ago, when the police were a lot more likely to arrest for being drunk. The threshold has increased over the years as to what constitutes requiring an arrest and what doesn't. Basically "scope creep".

It's not a fast lane.

Although I do get frustrated with people using the overtake lane to drive I when the left hand lane is empty.

But at one level it's perfectly rational. Speeding is not a criminal activity, just an offence under the Road Traffic Act. The reason most people don't speed excessively is becuase they value their driving licence. The police have published the speeds at which they will take action. It's perfectly logical therefore not to exceed those limits, but to drive faster than the posted speed limit

Are you saying you do 155mph on the motorway?