To think that if you can't drive any faster than 35mph..........

[FlappytheBat]

You shouldn't be driving on a busy motoway!

The speed limit is 70mph and yes, there is not a minimum speed limit but 35mph FGS!!!!

Drivers like this should be banned, they are not safe and the one today was driving with his nose practically touching his windscreen.
I bet he was driving like this because he couldn't see the road or cars in front.

ok, rant over, just needed to get that off my chest!

Agree Lottiebunny, hardly ever brake on the motorway, generally only brake when someone pulls out sharpish, when no other lane to move into. Most circumstances though you can slow down enough by easing off the accelerator. Wouldn't change gear to slow down on a motorway, though, that wouldn' t be a goood idea!

yanbu, its even worse when they do it on single lane roads, and it is usually old men, its so dangerous.

Agree Lottiebunny, happens on A roads too. Car in front brakes regularly with no discernable reduction in speed so you start to ignore them.

Ten miles on, they slam on the anchors for real, and you ignore again before realising they're hard on the brakes, and hurtle towards them with eyes on springs

V annoying and dangerous.

Can I ask if anyone else can see in the box containing my original post on both the 2nd and 3rd pages, just below my name,
"click here to upload a picture to your ad"

or am I just seeing things?

I can't see it, Flappy.

It is only me that can see it as I am the OP.

HelenMNHQ is sorting it out, just as i clicked on it this morning, mumsnet "switched off" but that was probably just coincidence

"person behind watches out for himself" so all those mirrors in an outside the car are for? makeup?

"some colleagues and I once mooted the idea that when you brake hard, your brake lights should flash or summat," I have feeling that some bmw or poss mercedes have brake lights that show the severity of braking.

The point surely is that there is a world of difference between smashing your brakes on and slow gentle breaking to adjust your speed a mite faster than a general decline of speed caused by taking your foot of the accelerator would create.

Not using your brakes at all (ie not letting other drivers clearly know what you're doing) id nothing to boast about.

tattifer, the mirrors are so you can watch what is around you and look after yourself.

My point is that you shouldn't need to decelerate faster than lifting your foot off the accelerator if you are properly watch the traffic ahead. You can anticipate cars pulling out in front of you and adjust your speed accordingly. Unnecessary braking causes phantom tailbacks, jams with no perceivable cause, and is poor motorway driving. The person behind you cannot tell that you haven't slammed your brakes on and so has to slam theirs on until they realise that you are only gently slowing, causing the person behind to slam theirs on and you get a nice mexican wave of break lights as everyone slams their brakes on in panic eventually bringing the motorway to a standstill. Of course, you won't notice this because you'll be mile up the road by the time this happens.

Drivers behind you only need to know about major changes in speed not gentle slowing to keep with the speed of the traffic.

Passats, afaik, automatically put the hazards on when you break sharply.

Lottie, I suspect we're agreeing - unnecessary braking is always hazardous (motorway or anywhere else) especially given the speeds that many drivers reach on the motorway.

Comment ref the mirrors was in response to "other drivers look after themselves" - i've paraphrased I know, excuse the quotes. Not strictly true, the mirrors are there to check where the other drivers are in relation to your position and situation on the road so that you can factor them in to your situation on the road. It's not always the fault of the guy behind you if they rear end you - your own driving can contribute to the prevention of an accident.

lottie, you speak sense.

Are you Stig?

Tattifer, by you doing your best not to endanger yourself, you are also not putting people in your periphery in danger since if you were putting yourself in a situation where the person could rearend you then you would be endangering yourself.

Ramble, my DP thinks he is

Do you mean non-brakers, Kerry?

I hope you don't because I don't like this done to me either.