To think driving constantly at 40mph is dangerous?

[Beetlejuice3]

This has been something I’ve noticed on a good few occasions and interested if it’s quite a widespread thing.

I live out in the country so to visit the nearest city or relatives it’s usually a drive that includes mostly 60mph country roads with a few villages to pass through at 30mph.
There seems to be some (a fair amount) of drivers that only travel at 40mph no matter what? On the national speed limit roads they cause a lot of people to overtake (often 2 cars at a time I saw today), however going through the 30mph villages you can’t keep up with them! I would say I’m not the most confident driver and I don’t speed but I do travel at or around the speed limit unless there’s a reason not to. This travelling at 40 no matter what seems more dangerous to me, like I say, impatient drivers were overtaking 2 cars on corners etc. Not to mention travelling through villages with schools and pedestrians 10mph over the limit.

Is this a thing? Has anyone come across the 40mph club?

If on a country road, someone feels safe to drive at 40mph as opposed to 60, given country roads generally tend to have less visibility, winding roads and drivers coming the other way, they are not the problem if someone is too impatient and overtakes them in an unsafe manner.

Its a speed limit not a minimum.

Set off sooner.

It is dangerous to do 40 when they should be doing 30.

But it is not dangerous to do 40 where they could be doing up to 60. The people behind can choose their response and if they drive dangerously, that's on them, not the person they are overtaking.

I'm with you OP. Fed up of getting aggressively tail gated in villages only to leave them for dead in the national limit. Or have someone fly past me in the village only for me to catch them at the first corner. I think they are lacking situational awareness so are driving in a more dangerous manner. I catogories them with middle lane hogs and phone users.

YANBU. The type of driver who doesn't change speed when conditions change is the most dangerous kind as they're clearly oblivious and not aware of the different risks/hazards etc. Yet, they're the same kind of moron who has convinced themselves that they're "safe" and it's the others over-taking them who are dangerous. Muppets!

Lots of "country roads" aren't winding and don't have less visibility, yet the pillocks still won't do more than 40! Lots are pretty wide and straight. If the road generally is windy with poor visibility, then probably not even safe to do 40, yet the "one speed merchants" do the same 40 around blind bends as they do in built up areas around schools, 30/20 zones etc.

I completely agree OP. I live rurally and it’s definitely something I’ve noticed.

No one should be speeding through a village. Pay attention to the roads and slow down when the speed limit changes.

And to those saying people might not be confident doing 60mph on a country road, yes of course some 60 roads shouldn’t really be 60 and it’s not safe to do those speeds. But it’s very often on fairly wide, straight roads they pootle along at 40, and I’d argue that if you aren’t confident driving on country roads, you probably shouldn’t be driving at all.

I see this all the time. Frustrating those stuck behind them, endangering village residents. Nice!

Absolutely.

Slow does not equal safe!

They'd fail their test for consistently driving below the speed limit when conditions allow for faster speed.

Yes, country roads are winding and hazardous in places but they also have long straights with good visibility and progress should be made here.

To drive at 40mph everywhere suggests they are switched off somewhat.

They are often the type of people who slam on the brakes when you over take them on a long straight which is also against the highway code, you are meant to maintain speed when being passed.

Depends on the road, A303 or similar at 40 is a bit stupid but a twisty A or B road, even 40 can be too quick.

However (esp with older drivers in Honda Jazz's - i know) there seems to be an increasing number who lack confidence and just stick to one speed regardless.

We need some sort of retest every 10 years.

OP is evidently not talking about people who drive at 40mph as a response to the conditions of a particularly windy country road, and whose judgement of a safe travelling distance varies on a different type of road.

I know exactly the type you mean OP!

Is this a thing? Has anyone come across the 40mph club?
Yes, this is a well documented thing on MN and more generally.

There is a stretch of road near me which is 30mph but really doesn't need to be. The local wisdom is the council put the limit in as revenge for not getting the bypass they wanted. But everyone knows there are no speed cameras so I regularly get people overtaking me at 45 or 50. Fuckwits.

This is rife around the roads where DH grew up, I don’t mind the 40 on a 60 road (ok, I do, when it is safe to go faster & they don’t) but 40 through all of the 30 limit villages is totally reckless

It's dangerous to drive at 40 in a 30. It's not dangerous to drive at 40 in a 60. Sometimes it will be dangerous to drive at 60 in a 60.

Reckless overtaking is dangerous.

OMG this drives me mad! Especially when they carry on through the 30 limit at 40. What it shows is that they have absolutely no awareness of their surroundings so are not safe to be on the road. There's no excuse for speeding through a village.

It's bad. The lower speed limits are so obviously in areas more likely to have pedestrians. I won't always go the full 60mph on a country road if it's very twisty and narrow but I'd not pootle along if it's clear and straight. I had someone right up my car's bum last night who overtook the car behind then went to overtake me but there were some teenage boys on bikes (no lights) coming towards us on the opposite side of the road so I had to honk to stop the speeding overtaker from smashing into them like skittles.

I have a small engine, it's not brilliant on very steep roads if we've not had a good run up to it so there's a steep 50mph near me that I struggle to reach 50 on but I do accelerate on my way up and people get miffed off with me.

They are a liability OP. I also think part of the issue is they are just oblivious. They just cruise along at 40, not acknowledging the changing speed limits. I was stuck behind one of the pillocks on Monday for miles and miles 😁

I've never understood this "speed limit not a minimum" or "not a target".

It absolutely is close to a target. I would call it a guide. It says that in appropriate conditions, this road is safe to drive at this speed. Its why smart motorways adjust speed limits- so that people are told that actually, due to current road conditions, the safe speed is in fact xx not yy today.

Anyone driving 40 in a 60 zone when conditions are good is causing problems and, frankly, is clearly not a sufficiently safe, confident or competent enough driver.

I know exactly what you mean and it is so irritating. I cannot count the number of times I have been stuck behind someone doing under 40 on a national speed limit road where it is completely unnecessary to be going that slow. Then we come to a village which is a 30 and I always say "I bet they speed up" and they do! They always blimmin well do. It's bizarre

Well, they're obviously not adapting to the conditions of the 60 mph road to be safe, as they clearly don't give naff all about safety when they plow on through a village at 40 mph, when it should be 30.

Yes, I live rurally, OP, and it seems to be increasingly noticeable this kind of poor driving.

And you can get points and fine for driving too slowly as well as too fast, because it can be dangerous.

I like rurally but there are constantly people driving like this on the A road. 40 no matter what, in the 20 zones outside schools, in the 60. Both dangerous.

This ^

This and some of the other posts.

Recent experience was behind an elderly female driver who drove 8 miles pretty much the same 40mph through villages and on 60mph stretches. No situational awareness and zero indicators - eventually continuing through a village at 40mph and refusing to slow down when a delivery vehicle narrowed her lane, thus forcing the incoming truck to break for her while she blithely continued ahead.

As pps said I put them in the same basket as drivers hogging the middle lane.

It would be illegal for an HGV to do more than 40mph even when the road signs say 60mph. How is a car doing that speed more dangerous than a lorry?

When taking your driving test, you should make reasonable progress when it is safe to do so. If you drive at 40 in a 60 for no good reason you may well fail your test for doing so.