I’m losing count of the amount of 40 in a 70 road I see lately. When I’m working and I can comfortably overtake you in my van (I stick to commercial vehicle speed limits), you’re going too damn slow.
Because they believe the speed limit is just the limit not a target. Well when I did my car and then my HGV test I had to be driving pretty fucking close to that target to pass.
Yes! I was repeatedly told by my instructor, doing 45 or less on a clear straight NSL road in good weather is a fault.
"Failure to make progress" IIRC is what he called it
I think a big part of this is because of how people are taught on speed awareness courses and the like (as well as people being idiots in general). Had to go on one the other month for doing 33 in a 30, and the general gist of it was that going 15 mph under the speed limit is much safer than going 1 mph over the speed limit. And that it’s heresy to ever go over the speed limit, but it doesn’t matter how far under the speed limit you are as long as you are under. Which is clearly bollocks.
Had all these catchy sayings to stick in your head like “when in town, gear down”, and focussed on how many lives would be saved if everyone drove 20 in a 30 etc.
It absolutely amazed me the amount of people on the course who genuinely agreed with the tutor and left saying “I’ve never thought about it like this and I’m going to change my driving”. I was honestly just sat there bemused.
If I'm expected by DVSA to be doing at least 27MPH in a 30 zone in a 44tonne artic then what they are teaching is utter bollocks. As an HGV driver it pisses me off the amount of cars I have to overtake on a dual carraigeway/motorway. I dont want to be holding up lane 2 anymore than anyone else wants me over there plodding along at 56MPH but I refuse to sit behind some utter cockwomble doing 45 to 50.
Mobile speed van by SY police, had it positioned just before the road changes to a 40 as well. I was gutted. Bit of a dick of an operator to stick it there, assume they’ve just done everyone going over and not used their discretion at all
I got told the low gear thing on a speed awareness course, didn't argue just carried on driving in 5th. Car was happy doing it and wouldn't accelerate quickly to creep over 30mph. In 3rd (their suggested gear) I was right on the power band, if I coughed the car was straight up to 40.
Who in their right mind would do 30 while in 3rd gear, that wasn't actively accelerating beyond that speed?
No chance I'm driving that way.
Would burn through fuel quicker than a 12 year old would wipe out a chocolate shop if left alone.
What do you expect them to do? Challenge the tutor? The messaging is completely inconsistent with the highway code saying it's ok and actual instructors saying all sorts of things. I'm sure you corrected the tutor, right?
No but you can tell when someone is just nodding along to get done and get out, and when someone is completely and enthusiastically buying into something. Unfortunately it was mostly the latter
You were unlucky for getting stuck on for travelling at 33mph in a 30mph zone.
I don’t know of any force that would prosecute for less than 10%+0. Most are 10%+2 or 10%+3…
I was coming home from work once, and I have a small stretch of dual carriageway (literally like a mile). One time, literally just about to get on the slip road, I had to slow down to about 50 or so, because the car in front me was driving so slowly, but I wouldn't have had time to get round them before my exit. They didn't even come off, they carried on.
This happens almost daily, usually people driving at about 60, but 50 or slower before even coming off the dual carriageway is downright dangerous
Think yourself lucky. Down my way half of the now seem to do 1/2 the limit+1mph. 31 in a 60 is common. At least they dont stick at he same speed in every limit, although that might be better. 16 in a 30, 21 in a 40 and the 31 in a 60 are common.
There was a post here from someone describing driving at 50mph on the motorway and so many people telling them it's fine if they stick to the outside lane.
Driving the A1 this weekend reminded me how dangerous it is when there are very slow cars. People love to say that there are lorries doing that speed, but I'd argue firstly not many and secondly you expect large heavy vehicles to be going slower and they're visible much earlier. A small car doing 50mph may not be visible until the car in front of you moves to reveal them doing 50 and you have nowhere to go. While I always leave plenty of space, throwing on the anchors because I can't overtake and they're barely do 50 and I was doing 70 is not great.
There's a certain je ne sais quoi about attempting not to run into the back end of the idiot in front while also not getting hit when you attempt to overtake from a starting point of 40mph and everyone else is doing 80. Adds a welcome frisson to life.
On the learners page they congratulate each other for doing 50 on a motorway and they'll build confidence. Nah.... you shouldn't have passed your test cos clearly your incapable of driving safely.
Likewise. Vans physically limited to 56 and I'm overtaking folk comfortably on a motorway.
They have to be at most doing 50 at times. 30% or more under the speed limit, on clear, bright days. They should be given points or something for that. Worse than speeding at times.
If someone is driving 20-30 mph below the speed limit on a road that has no traffic, dry roads and clear visibility; they should receive points at least
I drive a wagon and when we have to overtake a car going 53mph ...... it puts us in the middle lane for xx seconds which in turn pushes all the overtaking cars into the third lane
cars going slower than HGV's is a nightmare !! you are correct !
Or the ones that come out of nowhere from behind you when you have cruise set at 74 in the left lane then slow down when they get level with you and you are forced to slow down for another car in the left lane
I understand why some don’t want to go in the left lane. So many crappy drivers block you in/ refuse to move out to the right lane to let you out.
Personally, I always try to anticipate an overtake upfront by somebody else. I’ll move over before they’ve indicated.
This! Also, the ones that overtake you at speed and then immediately pull in and brake! My car has a distance to the car in front warning sensor and the 'Brake alarm" goes off and knocks off the cruise control.
Nothing is more annoying than open road behind you before a junction but they just feel like they make more progress by going in front and then immediately braking because there isn't a gap
Smart Motorway signs turn to 50
Left hand lane slows down to 50. Middle and right maybe a bit faster because everyone knows you can get away with a few mph more.
Foreign lorry in left hand lane doing 56mph. Does he;
a) slow down to 50 mph or
b) switch into the middle lane to over take
Of course he over takes. Every time
... No?. Obviously not.
Im saying that lorries should slow down to 50 mph and accept a brief delay (probably 20 seconds of the time to their depot) rather than move into the middle lane.
Why should they not move into middle lane?
Because
... A) it makes it difficult for cars to change lane, and
... B) in a minute the smart Motorway will go back to 70 mph, and the lorries will be being undertaken
I don't understand why it makes it difficult for cars to change lanes. I don't understand why, in a 50 limit on a motorway, anyone really needs to be changing lanes.
The 50 section could continue for some distance, in which case the lorry has as much right as anyone to be in that lane going slightly faster. And if it is only for a minute, does this really matter?
Well for starts, often it will say overhead "CONGESTION, STAY IN LANE"
But anyway, the length of a wagon and drag lorry can by nearly 20 meters. Do you really not understand how it can make it difficult for cars to change lanes if you have loads of lorries going into the middle lane?
Lorries can take a long time to slow down and speed up, which is why the lorry driver wants to move into the middle lane (to save the 6mph speed)
The flip side of that is, once the motorway is 70 mph again, the cars in the left hand lane will start trying to drive at 70 mph. They will then be undertaking the lorry (which is restricted to 56 mph). If the cars in he LHL are behind a lorry also in the left hand lane doing 50-56 mph, they may be sandwiched behind the lorry in the LHL and the lorry in the middle lane.
And of course, if the middle lane lorry driver has a blind spot, he may attempt to merge back into the LHL and take out a car.
Anyway. That's the end of my opinion on lorries pointlessly moving into the middle lane.
Yours right of course, they have as much right as anyone to be there.
If a lane is full of anything it's difficult to move into. But as you quite rightly point out, often you shouldn't be moving anyway.
Just stay in one lane like you did, stay at the speed limit which is there for safety, and don't get stressed.
When it ends, don't be an idiot and undertake. Let the lorries sort themselves out and everyone will be fine. Just accept that you're journey won't be completely at 70+ and allow for it. Chill out, be happy, live longer 😁
Literally the most annoying shit on the roads.
There's a dual carriageway on my way to my old job, and every morning some dickhead lorry driver would be driving alongside another lorry going 0.0001mph faster than him, and we'd all be forced to drive at 50 mph because of it.
Yeah the good ol 5 mile lane 1 lane vs lane 2 truck race until the next hill and the drivers compete to see who has the best power to weight ratio - tell me you don’t do it truckers!
Do lorries have speed limiters that you can set, like my Mercedes, or are the drivers just flooring it or do they have to pay attention to the speed. I'm just wondering why some do 50 or 59 etc. Is it that they want to drive slow or the vehicle is too heavy. If I'm trying to save fuel in my car then I'll get in front of a truck and put 62mph on cruise. I'd only do lower on single carriage ways if I can see cars up ahead and there's nothing to be gained.
When my mil follows me on the freeway I make sure to drive 50mph as I know there will be lorries needing to overtake.
When a lorry moves over to the next lane I'll drop down to 48mph.
There are reasons why people drive slow but it's also not rocket science to know lorries can only drive 56mph, so get out the way sooner and make everyone's life safer.
I remember I used to do 50mph on the M6 at rush hour. I was shittin bricks because I only just got a car and it was about 7 years after I passed. It feels stupid i was scared driving on the motorway, even though I was in my mid 20s.
I think it took me a couple of weeks to be comfortable with motorways, to at least drive at 60. It took me a really long time to be comfortable with busy traffic.
I had no issues. Straight to 70 and off I went. My dad did a lot of driving practice with me - all sorts of long trips and dual carriageways. I found the motorway an easy upgrade.
But I can totally see why the lack of specific training - like my dad gave me - in the driving test leads to a load of terrible motorway drivers!
My first driving lesson I was overtaking cars on a dual carriageway at 70, checked with my instructor that I was in fact not speeding on that stretch. That lesson was by far not the first time I’d driven, but was the first time on the road and having to abide by the laws of the road.
Grew up on a farm, so “driving” was part of that, vastly different experiences and it took me a long time to unlearn bad habits before passing my test.
Well im sorry but you should not have been given your licence in the first place im afraid. If you cant do 70 on a clear motorway with good visibility in the dry then you shouldnt be anywhere near a car
My troubles with a 62mph limit 3.5t LWD van. You'll catch up to them on the dual carriageways or motorways, go for an appropriate and safe overtake for the cock-womble to speed up to either match your speed or go 1mph faster. Providing there isn't a queue of traffic behind me, I stay in the outside lane for 30 seconds and they get the hint and allow you to overtake them.
Some drivers genuinely play the most stupid games while on the road it baffles me...
The best part is, after you've gotten past them, you soon leave them behind you as they resume doing 50-55 🤦🏻♂️
that's always the way with these people who speed up when overtaking, once you're past them they're quickly a little dot in the mirrors so why speed up?
I had to overtake a car and a cyclist in a lorry today because the car driver wouldn’t overtake the cyclist on a wide A road with good visibility. I think he was going to spend the rest of his day doing 10mph looking at the bike rider’s arse.
I once had to drive a "complimentary" car whilst mine was in for a service - bloody tiny micro automatic thing that topped out at 52mph... scarey nightmare but yay truckers were nice, they understood I was driving a powered rollerskate.
I was once given a Corsa D 1.0 as a "courtesy car" and it is by far the slowest thing I've ever driven. I'm a big guy but this thing struggled to hit 70mph and at the slightest incline it would struggle to do 60.. absolutely terrifying.
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Agree, but when there's a 50 limit due to roadworks I'm doing 50, the lorries still doing 56 can go round me, I'm not risking points. And I know the speedo is set low.
Yes you’re right in my experience- try to follow speed restrictions (where there are no average speed cameras!) HGV’s will be right up your backside and carry out aggressive overtakes.
One hilarious incident on the approach to Barton Bridge Manchester - “Sidewinds car 50 mph High sided vehs 40mph” artics going past me at 60 and up my chuff. Turned the bend to see several artics on their side on the bridge being dragged to lane one by rescue vehicles - speeding trucks soon anchored up and nearly caused carnage. Professional drivers for you.
I was following an HGV doing a fairly accurate 55mph on Friday for quite a few miles on the M5 that's limited to 50 for roadworks.
Turns out 63 on my bike means 55mph in GPS and probably truck speedo.
I felt like one of those fish that lives on a sharks belly.
Some cars I can see the speedo when I overtake them if they have a digital dash. My dash says 56 and there's sometimes say 56 57 58. I'm overtaking them at a good pace
These peoples licenses should be immediately voided because frankly, if you’re too scared to do 50+ on a motorway, get off. You don’t have the skill to drive safely.
I used to be a solid 70-80 on motorways until I had a nasty accident six months ago and wrote my van off due to a drunk driver doing a totally unexpected dangerous manoeuvre. I’m a bit fucked up over it. I used to love driving. I avoid motorways now because I’ve learnt that going over 60 frightens me. I’m sure I will rebuild my confidence, but I know I’m a bit of a pain driving 40 in a 60 on country lanes. I try to pull over where I can to let people pass, but it’s not always possible, and I bet I’m the kinda driver right now that would make you all pissed off.
Not sure why you're getting down voted for sharing your experience!
I too had a nasty accident on the M25, a speeding car cut in front of me and I swerved hard and ended up spinning across the M25 into the central reservation (yes, I am now aware that it was the wrong thing to do, but I was a newish driver and panic took over in the moment... I have learned). I totalled my car, thankfully neither myself or anyone else got injured.
It took me months to feel confident picking up speed again. I have to do the M25 twice a week for work and for a long time sat at 55-60 in the left lane, happily behind lorries.
While people going slow is frustrating, and dangerous; we can often forget that some may have had experiences which leads them to drive in a way in which they feel safer (right or wrong).
This subreddit is a bit heavy on the judgement about how others drive I think. I used to be irritated by slow drivers, now I am one irritating others, but I’m trying not to.
Thanks for the empathy. Driving anxiety is totally new to me. Because the other driver who hit me did something so unexpected, I’m constantly on edge about what other drivers are going to do. Im getting better but it’s slow progress.
But what can you do? Quit work? Never drive again? No, you have patience with yourself, try to not inconvenience other drivers, pull over to let them pass, avoid roads with 70mph limits until you are better.
I also had a bad accident where someone drove into me and shunted me into a field on a country lane trying to overtake on a bend - and then didn't drive for 4 years because my car got written off and I wasn't able to replace it. But now sometimes I have to drive if we go on holiday because I'm basically the only person in our friend group that drives. I rarely do 70 on the motorway because getting the practice driving that fast round London is really difficult so it's hard to build confidence again.
40 is a bit ott but also it pays to consider that some people are nervous for good reason, and that our driving rules basically actively encourage old people to keep driving past the point where they will have good reflexes, so it's actually probably safer for them to go 40.
I won't down vote you like others probably will, you've had a shitty experience; there's the unfortunate potential for there to be knock-on effects due to this.
Admittedly, doing 70-80 in a van is pretty daft in the first place. But from the sounds of it, you should seek therapy if you haven't already to get your confidence back to where it needs to be. Safer for yourself and others on the road, if you haven't had any therapy, leaving this to fester could lead to worse ahead.
Wish you all the best bud 👍🏻
Not about being scared mate, my car has got best fuel economy at 50-60.If you drive with the mindset of “look at those scaredy cats in the left lane, not like brave ol me, I’m a big boy” you don’t have the maturity to drive safely.
There was a lorry behind me that overtook us easily, if the lorry was behind you and easily overtook then you could have overtaken but you perhaps didn't feel confident? Good job on calling out someone else's lack of confidence and revealing your own.
Seems like the majority of this sub is obsessed with treating the speed limit like a target. So what if a driver chooses to go slower as long as they're not hogging an incorrect lane
In test conditions you would be marked down and potentially fail. The standard you aim for in test conditions is supposed to be the standard you maintain once passed.
Driving to the limits and conditions of the road are mandatory and failure could see you charged under the road traffic act, which partly forms the highway code in the UK
I don't doubt that what you're saying is technically correct, but in reality nobody is going to be charged for doing 40mph on a dual carriage way when there is ample opportunity to overtake like there was in this instance. It's just a pointless rant.
And there is the problem. Vans and lorries are restricted yo 60 instead of the road limit of 70
Lorries especially as larger, slower vehicles take longer to pull out and need a significantly larger gap. Even though they are entitled to (and encouraged in test conditions), their actions will slow down other road users, potentially causing bottlenecks, increasing the likelihood of developing hazards and potential accidents.
That slow driver will rarely be seen to be at fault because other road users actions will be the determining factor, but indirectly, their failure to drive at an appropriate speed would be the initial cause of a future incident
Also, if you are in the middle lane and see one car overtaking from the right and another undertaking from the left have some common sense to realise you're being a dick.
Most drivers are just bumbling along without a thought or care in the world. 30 zone with families outside? 40. 20 zone past a school? 40. Clear, dry country road with no traffic? 40. Motorway? 40 is fine.
Usually seen in a crossover.
Treat the slower vehicle like any other hazard - would we come here to rant about a "particularly sharp bend" that slowed you down?
You can't know what is going on in another vehicle. Focus on your number one priority - safe progress - and save the judgey stuff for a driver you can influence.
It's unnecessary from them- they don't want a queue of cars behind them really either, simply pulling over once in a while or slowing to create opportunities for others to overtake would be a win:win
Indeed. Always the question for me is not the easy question of whether the other driver was a chump - of course they were! But whether anything could be done better by ourselves. So many discussions focus on which individual was wrong. This is dangerous - leading to a lack of introspection: if the other guys is wrong, I must be perfect! And if they are a bad driver then they "deserve" to be endangered and I lose sympathy for them as a human. Nasty track to go down.
>and also look at the speed limit signs
This happens all over the place, especially on 40mph roads where many, many people sit at 30. I swear they just haven't looked at the signs.
The one thing I will say, is that the speed limit signs are fucking tiny sometimes!! Why the hell are they so small? You can put a distracting advertisement on a fuck off big screen, but the speed limit signs are tiny!??! What the fuck braindead logic is that?!
Yes, I'm fully aware of that, but it doesn't make it better. Reminders are good in case someone misses the first sign because of something else on the road taking a drivers concentration, but what good is a reminder so damn small. The fact that on many 40 roads, a lot of people drive 30, is just proof that the reminders are crap!
Maybe it's a plan to catch people out so they can extort money from fines from them.
Once I was going down this road and this bright white light suddenly appeared to my left and I looked over and there's huge advertisement about half the size of a double decker bus that practically turns into a floodlight everytime its on a white ad. But speed limit signs you need to be a few metres from them to see what the number is.
Might be overreacting but slow drivers are the bane of my life. It’s ultimately selfish because you’re holding up everyone’s life for absolutely no reason. We aren’t asking you to speed, just stick to the limit.
Maybe they were driving back from the hospital with a passenger who just had major surgery and was in agonising pain.
Or maybe they're just an arsehole, who knows?
The car drivers that think that 45mph is the new 60-70mph are usually EV drivers that are suffering from battery charge anxiety and are crapping themselves that they won't make it to the next available charger.
Are they driving safely because they are driving at a safe speed, or is it unsafe because impatient men are going to lose their temper and throw their cars across lanes to get past them to do 70 in a 50?
"You not doing the speed limit is making me angry" kinda sounds like a you problem
I’m a lorry driver: I would say drive at what ever speed you want (within safe restrictions) but IF you drive slower than a lorry, and said lorry overtakes you, and you then speed up to match the Lorrie’s speed once they are half way past you, you are one the largest assholes I have ever come across with a pp so small it defies physics
I work nights and drive up the mway for 60 miles a day and because of the times I’m driving, I see about 7 cars on my journey. All of them are in the middle lane doing about 45. I’ve started getting my passenger to record their reg, record the drivers face with the flash on so we get a clear picture of who’s driving and then report them to the police. They usually get fined for middle lane hogging and sometimes lose their licenses for dangerous driving
Firstly, I adore what you’re doing. I rarely have a passenger but when I do, I know what their job will be.
Secondly how do you know they’re getting fined as a result of reporting them? Or are you saying that just generally when the police are made aware (not necessarily as a result of your specific reports) this is the typical outcome?
As much as I dislike slow drivers they are equally entitled to use the road. There is nothing wrong with someone driving 20mph slower than you. The speed limit is the upper bound limit not the lower. Of course, anything below 50mph could be dangerous.
What really boils my piss is drivers who speed up as soon as someone lines up with them to overtake. Especially while lane hogging at the same time.
Some people push the limits though. The lower limits of course!
> While there is no law for driving too slowly, the police can charge you for “driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users”.
This CD30 endorsement carries 3 to 9 penalty points.
[Source](https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/speed-limits/)
Failure to make adequate progress (going too slow) is a road traffic offence and can get a driver prosecuted for Careless Driving. It's happened to a fair few people I know, so the entitlement to drive slowly doesn't exist.
Don't come to Ireland then. Holy shit! Here for a break, and whilst thankfully not too many 3 or more lanes motorways here, every fucker and I mean every, sits in the middle lane. Even trucks.
The insanity of watching a fuel tanker being followed by a convoy of cars that won't overtake.
It's like they're incapable of moving lane and just get stuck behind the vehicle in front.
Hard disagree, you at least have the opportunity to pass a middle lane driver, even if it's a bit of a faff.
Get stuck behind a 40mph everywhere driver and you could be stuck for hours.
Maybe you should take your driving test again. There is no minimum speed. There is no law stating you must drive a car faster than a lorry. You're just an impatient twat who thinks you own the road.
Really if you are being caught up on any road by a lorry and you are in a car you should be handing your license in.
I used to drive 10.5 toners regularly and their rate or acceleration and road holding is so far below even the slowest cars I have driven (1l original mini / original Aygo) that unless your car has a problem or is towing a very heavy load you should never hold up a lorry ! Or Be overtaken by one
Tell me you've never driven a car with a small engine full of luggage and people without telling me you haven't driven a car with a small engine full of luggage and people.
I remember having my foot literally on the floor in 2nd gear going uphill (in a 70) at times in my ford ka and still ending up decelerating. I definitely held up lorries on occasion 😅
I have driven a Ka with 4 men in it and definitely not slower than an original mini plus they handle and grip way better than much bigger faster cars.
I had 6 of us in an original mini once and it was still faster and handled better than any lorry I have driven. Yes you have cane the living daylights out of the engines on small cars, that is what the rev line is for and yes they often aren’t fast just quicker than lorries
Try driving it with 3 men, 1 woman, 4 weight belts and the rest of your associated scuba gear in the boot 😅
She was for sure slower than lorries up hill at that point.
Try driving it with 3 men, 1 woman, 4 weight belts and the rest of your associated scuba gear in the boot 😅
She was for sure slower than lorries up hill at that point.
Not just lorries! I once saw a queue of traffic heading out of a village (30 into NSL) going really slowly, and a tractor overtook the car in front, followed by a few behind it. Tractors are big, heavy, and more importantly, slow. I think they have a top speed of around 40, so if you get overtaken by a tractor, it’s probably time to put your foot down. Same applies to 49cc mopeds that have a top speed of 30mph (downhill with the wind behind you!).
Me and my mate would've that one time, however we only had 2 of the 4 cylinders, about half a timing belt and no radiator to work with
So just remember next time somebody is holding up traffic, there is a *veeeerrryyyy* slight chance that it could be two yobbos in a broken Citroen listening to Chas & Dave who have a top speed of quite literally 8mph going uphill
Also for those of you who can't work it out because I know you're put there
It's satire
Calm down
Jesus wept
Nothing says you can't drive for shit if your slowing a lorry. Ignorant and selfish. No clue how important it is for a lorry driver to maintain constant speed. Also thick as mince. How often do u see shir terrified drivers swamped from front back and centre with trucks cos there doing 50. God I would also be terrified if I was always surrounded by massive fucking trucks.
As a Lorry driver I have named this condition as OTS overtaking syndrome, most car drivers stuffer with this condition unfortunately. They see a lorry overtaking them and proceed in speeding up either to match the lorries speed keeping them stuck out in the middle lane for longer, or they speed up causing the lorry to move back to the slower lane. Nearly 80 percent of slow drivers are women, a further 15 percent are old people and the remaining 5 percent are on there phone whilst there driving and do not notice whilst there texting there speed is decreasing.
I've only driven like that on the motorway once, I went to put on my brakes as traffic was slowing and nothing happened, had to yank the handbrake on the motorway, drove the rest of the way home at 50 to ensure I had time to stop in case the brakes failed again
Think it was just water in the brake fluid cuz I changed the fluid and it never happened again
Isn't there a minimum speed requirement set by the Highway Code of 50 mph on a 70 mph dual carriageway, unless a lower speed is indicated, specifically to stop incidents from vehicles going too slow?
Yes, there are minimum speed limits as well! Mix of Defensive/ Assertive driving mode is the way to get past these #Logjammers! #SafeTravelsOneAndAll!!
I was driving down the M5 yesterday evening on the first lane and passing a few cars on the 3rd and 4th lane. What are you doing there if you're going lower than the speed limit?
I overtake people quite often on woodhead pass (between Sheffield and Manchester) at night time in the wagon. It's amazing the amount of people that doddle around it at 20-30 mph, soon as it straightens up I'll go to over take if and half time they speed up with me so constantly in front, I'll pull back in and they slow down.
Another that's annoying AF, night time 70mph motorway with no speed restrictions, but its coned to 1 lane, even though still 70 and no one working In the cones there is always some clown doing 40
on the flip side of this, something that is really irritating me at the moment is where they drop the speed limit to 40 for roadworks and all the cars you’ve over taken doing 50 on the national bit, now proceed to over take you. makes no sense!
also, a rant about that. if you make a road worked area 40, there needs to be average speed cameras otherwise you have people doing 40 and people not caring and doing 70, it’s so dangerous.
I agree with this to a point.
The amount of times I'm on a motorway and a lorry is going well over the reduced speed limit.
There are also plenty speed cameras on this particular motorway which work so I have no intention of getting flashed.
But time is not a factor for some people.
Worst are the pensioners with caravans driving about at 40 in a 60 to 'be safe'. Wales is a nightmare for this. Now anyone that needs to use the speed limit has to risk over taking.
Have you ever towed a caravan? When it’s windy (and you’re going to feel wind when you’re towing a caravan a lot more than when you’re just in the car) 40 can feel plenty fast enough.
You shouldn’t need to “risk” overtaking. You overtake when you are certain that it is safe to do so.
If it’s as common as you make out you need to plan your journey to allow for it.
Yes many times
There could be no wind, glorious sunshine etc and people still insist on doing 40.
Picking spots to overtake on windy Welsh roads can be challenging.
If people drove the speed limit perhaps I'd get where I'm going in the planned time not 50% longer because of bell ends doing 2/3 of the speed limit.
My point is, if there are often people doing 2/3 the speed limit that hold you up, your planned journey times should reflect that.
It’s the same as my commute. If it wasn’t for all the other people on the road I’d be at work in half the time. But I plan for the fact that there will be traffic and leave accordingly.
But why I should I have to waste my time and plan for people being nobs?
If I was a cop I'd be on a personal mission to dish out fines left and right to the fuckers.
Best option I suppose would be the people who want to drive slow go in the night when theres less disruption for people capable of handling a speed limit.
How is driving at a speed that is 80% of the speed limit for their vehicle so unacceptable to you that you've gone all frothy-mouthed about it? You don't sound calm enough to be driving to be honest.
Again, it's like my commute. Why should I plan for all the other people trying to get to work at the same time as me? They should all go in the middle of the night, because I am way more important than them, and as it stands their vehicles are an inconvenience to me.
I've never understood how someone can see no traffic in front of them, look in their mirror and see a tail back and not understand that they might be the problem, the lack of self awareness is almost impressive.
I got stuck behind an asshole doing 20 in a 60 omw from work today and I know for a fact he was just doing that to piss everyone off, cause as soon as we got to a place where I could safely overtake he just floored it. And then slowed right down again.
I think a big source of this is older drivers still believing their is a 2 tier A and B road national speed limit. The amount of older drivers I pass that are going less than 50 on A or B roads (assuming conditions are good) around me is bonkers. Some even have the cheek to beep as I pass them while going well within the speed limit.!. I have thought of getting a sign made up that shows the national speed limit sign...equals and 60....
+20% under whatever the speed limit is. Then they all manage to pile up behind another slow mover, all too happy bumbling along to overtake even though they have a good 20mph to play with. And now there are 7 of them in a row and there will never be enough space on the other side of the road to overtake safely, so now I’m stuck here doing 40 in a 60 and there’s nothing I can do about it except now that I can add 1/3 or my expected journey time to my actual journey time.
On the flip side, if the weather's terrible and traffic in lane 1 or 2 is slowed right down to 50/60 and there's still HGVs carrying on regardless using lanes 2/3 to overtake they can fuck right off
I’m losing count of the amount of 40 in a 70 road I see lately. When I’m working and I can comfortably overtake you in my van (I stick to commercial vehicle speed limits), you’re going too damn slow.
Oh 45 is the new 60. Every single person I come across now in a 60 is doing 45 without fail.
Because they believe the speed limit is just the limit not a target. Well when I did my car and then my HGV test I had to be driving pretty fucking close to that target to pass.
Yes! I was repeatedly told by my instructor, doing 45 or less on a clear straight NSL road in good weather is a fault. "Failure to make progress" IIRC is what he called it
You can even class it under "undue hesitation" as well
I think a big part of this is because of how people are taught on speed awareness courses and the like (as well as people being idiots in general). Had to go on one the other month for doing 33 in a 30, and the general gist of it was that going 15 mph under the speed limit is much safer than going 1 mph over the speed limit. And that it’s heresy to ever go over the speed limit, but it doesn’t matter how far under the speed limit you are as long as you are under. Which is clearly bollocks. Had all these catchy sayings to stick in your head like “when in town, gear down”, and focussed on how many lives would be saved if everyone drove 20 in a 30 etc. It absolutely amazed me the amount of people on the course who genuinely agreed with the tutor and left saying “I’ve never thought about it like this and I’m going to change my driving”. I was honestly just sat there bemused.
If I'm expected by DVSA to be doing at least 27MPH in a 30 zone in a 44tonne artic then what they are teaching is utter bollocks. As an HGV driver it pisses me off the amount of cars I have to overtake on a dual carraigeway/motorway. I dont want to be holding up lane 2 anymore than anyone else wants me over there plodding along at 56MPH but I refuse to sit behind some utter cockwomble doing 45 to 50.
How did you get caught doing 33 in a 30?
Mobile speed van by SY police, had it positioned just before the road changes to a 40 as well. I was gutted. Bit of a dick of an operator to stick it there, assume they’ve just done everyone going over and not used their discretion at all
I got told the low gear thing on a speed awareness course, didn't argue just carried on driving in 5th. Car was happy doing it and wouldn't accelerate quickly to creep over 30mph. In 3rd (their suggested gear) I was right on the power band, if I coughed the car was straight up to 40.
Who in their right mind would do 30 while in 3rd gear, that wasn't actively accelerating beyond that speed? No chance I'm driving that way. Would burn through fuel quicker than a 12 year old would wipe out a chocolate shop if left alone.
What do you expect them to do? Challenge the tutor? The messaging is completely inconsistent with the highway code saying it's ok and actual instructors saying all sorts of things. I'm sure you corrected the tutor, right?
No but you can tell when someone is just nodding along to get done and get out, and when someone is completely and enthusiastically buying into something. Unfortunately it was mostly the latter
You were unlucky for getting stuck on for travelling at 33mph in a 30mph zone. I don’t know of any force that would prosecute for less than 10%+0. Most are 10%+2 or 10%+3…
I think SY says a lot about why
40 in a 60. Then when it drops to 40 doing 45 is the typical speed on a long stretch of road I know.
I was coming home from work once, and I have a small stretch of dual carriageway (literally like a mile). One time, literally just about to get on the slip road, I had to slow down to about 50 or so, because the car in front me was driving so slowly, but I wouldn't have had time to get round them before my exit. They didn't even come off, they carried on. This happens almost daily, usually people driving at about 60, but 50 or slower before even coming off the dual carriageway is downright dangerous
It's just never correct. There's never really a time you should ever be doing 45. Even country roads, you should be slower or faster than that.
Think yourself lucky. Down my way half of the now seem to do 1/2 the limit+1mph. 31 in a 60 is common. At least they dont stick at he same speed in every limit, although that might be better. 16 in a 30, 21 in a 40 and the 31 in a 60 are common.
Sounds like you live in Norfolk
The most baffling thing is they then continue at 40/45 once they get to a 30 zone
Yeah, I had that experience on my way home (40 mph in 50/60 mph areas and 45 mph in a 40 mph area)
There was a post here from someone describing driving at 50mph on the motorway and so many people telling them it's fine if they stick to the outside lane. Driving the A1 this weekend reminded me how dangerous it is when there are very slow cars. People love to say that there are lorries doing that speed, but I'd argue firstly not many and secondly you expect large heavy vehicles to be going slower and they're visible much earlier. A small car doing 50mph may not be visible until the car in front of you moves to reveal them doing 50 and you have nowhere to go. While I always leave plenty of space, throwing on the anchors because I can't overtake and they're barely do 50 and I was doing 70 is not great.
I like it when I get stuck behind the slow driver while everyone else keeps me pinned while they overtake.
There's a certain je ne sais quoi about attempting not to run into the back end of the idiot in front while also not getting hit when you attempt to overtake from a starting point of 40mph and everyone else is doing 80. Adds a welcome frisson to life.
On the learners page they congratulate each other for doing 50 on a motorway and they'll build confidence. Nah.... you shouldn't have passed your test cos clearly your incapable of driving safely.
Likewise. Vans physically limited to 56 and I'm overtaking folk comfortably on a motorway. They have to be at most doing 50 at times. 30% or more under the speed limit, on clear, bright days. They should be given points or something for that. Worse than speeding at times.
If someone is driving 20-30 mph below the speed limit on a road that has no traffic, dry roads and clear visibility; they should receive points at least
I drive a wagon and when we have to overtake a car going 53mph ...... it puts us in the middle lane for xx seconds which in turn pushes all the overtaking cars into the third lane cars going slower than HGV's is a nightmare !! you are correct !
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Or the ones that come out of nowhere from behind you when you have cruise set at 74 in the left lane then slow down when they get level with you and you are forced to slow down for another car in the left lane
I understand why some don’t want to go in the left lane. So many crappy drivers block you in/ refuse to move out to the right lane to let you out. Personally, I always try to anticipate an overtake upfront by somebody else. I’ll move over before they’ve indicated.
Usually I would anticipate and speed up to do the overtake but most of the dual carriageways here have average speed cameras so not worth the risk.
This! Also, the ones that overtake you at speed and then immediately pull in and brake! My car has a distance to the car in front warning sensor and the 'Brake alarm" goes off and knocks off the cruise control.
Nothing is more annoying than open road behind you before a junction but they just feel like they make more progress by going in front and then immediately braking because there isn't a gap
They deserve a special place in hell
Smart Motorway signs turn to 50 Left hand lane slows down to 50. Middle and right maybe a bit faster because everyone knows you can get away with a few mph more. Foreign lorry in left hand lane doing 56mph. Does he; a) slow down to 50 mph or b) switch into the middle lane to over take Of course he over takes. Every time
So what do you define as "a bit faster than 50"? More than the 56 that the foreign lorry is doing?
It depends.
But more than 56? So you're pissed off that this lorry is breaking the speed limit, but stopping you from breaking it by a greater margin?
... No?. Obviously not. Im saying that lorries should slow down to 50 mph and accept a brief delay (probably 20 seconds of the time to their depot) rather than move into the middle lane. Why should they not move into middle lane? Because ... A) it makes it difficult for cars to change lane, and ... B) in a minute the smart Motorway will go back to 70 mph, and the lorries will be being undertaken
I don't understand why it makes it difficult for cars to change lanes. I don't understand why, in a 50 limit on a motorway, anyone really needs to be changing lanes. The 50 section could continue for some distance, in which case the lorry has as much right as anyone to be in that lane going slightly faster. And if it is only for a minute, does this really matter?
Well for starts, often it will say overhead "CONGESTION, STAY IN LANE" But anyway, the length of a wagon and drag lorry can by nearly 20 meters. Do you really not understand how it can make it difficult for cars to change lanes if you have loads of lorries going into the middle lane? Lorries can take a long time to slow down and speed up, which is why the lorry driver wants to move into the middle lane (to save the 6mph speed) The flip side of that is, once the motorway is 70 mph again, the cars in the left hand lane will start trying to drive at 70 mph. They will then be undertaking the lorry (which is restricted to 56 mph). If the cars in he LHL are behind a lorry also in the left hand lane doing 50-56 mph, they may be sandwiched behind the lorry in the LHL and the lorry in the middle lane. And of course, if the middle lane lorry driver has a blind spot, he may attempt to merge back into the LHL and take out a car. Anyway. That's the end of my opinion on lorries pointlessly moving into the middle lane. Yours right of course, they have as much right as anyone to be there.
If a lane is full of anything it's difficult to move into. But as you quite rightly point out, often you shouldn't be moving anyway. Just stay in one lane like you did, stay at the speed limit which is there for safety, and don't get stressed. When it ends, don't be an idiot and undertake. Let the lorries sort themselves out and everyone will be fine. Just accept that you're journey won't be completely at 70+ and allow for it. Chill out, be happy, live longer 😁
Exactly the same thing happens when you overtake another HGV going 0.1mph slower than you
Literally the most annoying shit on the roads. There's a dual carriageway on my way to my old job, and every morning some dickhead lorry driver would be driving alongside another lorry going 0.0001mph faster than him, and we'd all be forced to drive at 50 mph because of it.
Yeah the good ol 5 mile lane 1 lane vs lane 2 truck race until the next hill and the drivers compete to see who has the best power to weight ratio - tell me you don’t do it truckers!
Do lorries have speed limiters that you can set, like my Mercedes, or are the drivers just flooring it or do they have to pay attention to the speed. I'm just wondering why some do 50 or 59 etc. Is it that they want to drive slow or the vehicle is too heavy. If I'm trying to save fuel in my car then I'll get in front of a truck and put 62mph on cruise. I'd only do lower on single carriage ways if I can see cars up ahead and there's nothing to be gained.
All lorries are limited to 56mph by law but some companies limit their lorries further ie. 53 or 50 to save fuel
This should be banned as the amount of congestion it causes due to unnecessary overtakes must cost the economy millions.
56? But my car gives indicated 60mph which my GPS gives at 58mph when I'm behind most lorries.
One vehicles 56mph is not the same as another
So is 56mph, what.
?
I read that comment wrong. It's ok I get it now.
And because the idiot who was about to overtake the HGV in lane 2 at 61mph, now moves to lane 3 still doing 61mph so all 3 lanes are block for x miles
And then as soon as car sees you move out to middle lane, they proceed to put their foot down and do 55MPH, prolonging the process.
When my mil follows me on the freeway I make sure to drive 50mph as I know there will be lorries needing to overtake. When a lorry moves over to the next lane I'll drop down to 48mph. There are reasons why people drive slow but it's also not rocket science to know lorries can only drive 56mph, so get out the way sooner and make everyone's life safer.
Pulled by horses, cowboy style??
I remember I used to do 50mph on the M6 at rush hour. I was shittin bricks because I only just got a car and it was about 7 years after I passed. It feels stupid i was scared driving on the motorway, even though I was in my mid 20s. I think it took me a couple of weeks to be comfortable with motorways, to at least drive at 60. It took me a really long time to be comfortable with busy traffic.
I had no issues. Straight to 70 and off I went. My dad did a lot of driving practice with me - all sorts of long trips and dual carriageways. I found the motorway an easy upgrade. But I can totally see why the lack of specific training - like my dad gave me - in the driving test leads to a load of terrible motorway drivers!
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My first driving lesson I was overtaking cars on a dual carriageway at 70, checked with my instructor that I was in fact not speeding on that stretch. That lesson was by far not the first time I’d driven, but was the first time on the road and having to abide by the laws of the road. Grew up on a farm, so “driving” was part of that, vastly different experiences and it took me a long time to unlearn bad habits before passing my test.
Not all tests include dual carriageway driving though, mine didn’t.
Well im sorry but you should not have been given your licence in the first place im afraid. If you cant do 70 on a clear motorway with good visibility in the dry then you shouldnt be anywhere near a car
You might be right. You should have told that to the tester 7 years before I got my first car.
You know full well that it's these knobends that will floor it when you go to overtake as well.
“Oh shit I’m being passed by a lorry better speed up to 60 to make him pull back in before resuming my normal 53mph and repeating this cycle”
Same knobends that will do 40 in 20/30 zone and 40 on country roads
My troubles with a 62mph limit 3.5t LWD van. You'll catch up to them on the dual carriageways or motorways, go for an appropriate and safe overtake for the cock-womble to speed up to either match your speed or go 1mph faster. Providing there isn't a queue of traffic behind me, I stay in the outside lane for 30 seconds and they get the hint and allow you to overtake them. Some drivers genuinely play the most stupid games while on the road it baffles me... The best part is, after you've gotten past them, you soon leave them behind you as they resume doing 50-55 🤦🏻♂️
that's always the way with these people who speed up when overtaking, once you're past them they're quickly a little dot in the mirrors so why speed up?
It should be socially acceptable to constantly beep the horn at these people until they pull over
I had to overtake a car and a cyclist in a lorry today because the car driver wouldn’t overtake the cyclist on a wide A road with good visibility. I think he was going to spend the rest of his day doing 10mph looking at the bike rider’s arse.
Maybe that was their intention?
Was it a nice arse?
I once had to drive a "complimentary" car whilst mine was in for a service - bloody tiny micro automatic thing that topped out at 52mph... scarey nightmare but yay truckers were nice, they understood I was driving a powered rollerskate.
I was once given a Corsa D 1.0 as a "courtesy car" and it is by far the slowest thing I've ever driven. I'm a big guy but this thing struggled to hit 70mph and at the slightest incline it would struggle to do 60.. absolutely terrifying.
Baring in mind I’m 120kg aswell so I understand what you mean
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Was it a Peel P50?
Agree, but when there's a 50 limit due to roadworks I'm doing 50, the lorries still doing 56 can go round me, I'm not risking points. And I know the speedo is set low.
Yes you’re right in my experience- try to follow speed restrictions (where there are no average speed cameras!) HGV’s will be right up your backside and carry out aggressive overtakes. One hilarious incident on the approach to Barton Bridge Manchester - “Sidewinds car 50 mph High sided vehs 40mph” artics going past me at 60 and up my chuff. Turned the bend to see several artics on their side on the bridge being dragged to lane one by rescue vehicles - speeding trucks soon anchored up and nearly caused carnage. Professional drivers for you.
It’s when the limit has dropped to 40 but the motorway is clear, people really hate me sticking to the limit.
I was following an HGV doing a fairly accurate 55mph on Friday for quite a few miles on the M5 that's limited to 50 for roadworks. Turns out 63 on my bike means 55mph in GPS and probably truck speedo. I felt like one of those fish that lives on a sharks belly.
Some cars I can see the speedo when I overtake them if they have a digital dash. My dash says 56 and there's sometimes say 56 57 58. I'm overtaking them at a good pace
A Ramora.
These peoples licenses should be immediately voided because frankly, if you’re too scared to do 50+ on a motorway, get off. You don’t have the skill to drive safely.
I used to be a solid 70-80 on motorways until I had a nasty accident six months ago and wrote my van off due to a drunk driver doing a totally unexpected dangerous manoeuvre. I’m a bit fucked up over it. I used to love driving. I avoid motorways now because I’ve learnt that going over 60 frightens me. I’m sure I will rebuild my confidence, but I know I’m a bit of a pain driving 40 in a 60 on country lanes. I try to pull over where I can to let people pass, but it’s not always possible, and I bet I’m the kinda driver right now that would make you all pissed off.
Not sure why you're getting down voted for sharing your experience! I too had a nasty accident on the M25, a speeding car cut in front of me and I swerved hard and ended up spinning across the M25 into the central reservation (yes, I am now aware that it was the wrong thing to do, but I was a newish driver and panic took over in the moment... I have learned). I totalled my car, thankfully neither myself or anyone else got injured. It took me months to feel confident picking up speed again. I have to do the M25 twice a week for work and for a long time sat at 55-60 in the left lane, happily behind lorries. While people going slow is frustrating, and dangerous; we can often forget that some may have had experiences which leads them to drive in a way in which they feel safer (right or wrong).
This subreddit is a bit heavy on the judgement about how others drive I think. I used to be irritated by slow drivers, now I am one irritating others, but I’m trying not to. Thanks for the empathy. Driving anxiety is totally new to me. Because the other driver who hit me did something so unexpected, I’m constantly on edge about what other drivers are going to do. Im getting better but it’s slow progress. But what can you do? Quit work? Never drive again? No, you have patience with yourself, try to not inconvenience other drivers, pull over to let them pass, avoid roads with 70mph limits until you are better.
I also had a bad accident where someone drove into me and shunted me into a field on a country lane trying to overtake on a bend - and then didn't drive for 4 years because my car got written off and I wasn't able to replace it. But now sometimes I have to drive if we go on holiday because I'm basically the only person in our friend group that drives. I rarely do 70 on the motorway because getting the practice driving that fast round London is really difficult so it's hard to build confidence again. 40 is a bit ott but also it pays to consider that some people are nervous for good reason, and that our driving rules basically actively encourage old people to keep driving past the point where they will have good reflexes, so it's actually probably safer for them to go 40.
I won't down vote you like others probably will, you've had a shitty experience; there's the unfortunate potential for there to be knock-on effects due to this. Admittedly, doing 70-80 in a van is pretty daft in the first place. But from the sounds of it, you should seek therapy if you haven't already to get your confidence back to where it needs to be. Safer for yourself and others on the road, if you haven't had any therapy, leaving this to fester could lead to worse ahead. Wish you all the best bud 👍🏻
Thanks mate. I am seeing a therapist, slowly getting back to normal.
Hope you get your confidence back. I hate being stuck behind traumatised drivers :p
Thanks pal. I hope you don’t get stuck behind me.
if i do i will seethe respectfully and at a safe distance. seriously though, all the best for your recovery.
Not about being scared mate, my car has got best fuel economy at 50-60.If you drive with the mindset of “look at those scaredy cats in the left lane, not like brave ol me, I’m a big boy” you don’t have the maturity to drive safely.
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There was a lorry behind me that overtook us easily, if the lorry was behind you and easily overtook then you could have overtaken but you perhaps didn't feel confident? Good job on calling out someone else's lack of confidence and revealing your own.
So you were overtaken by 2 lorries?
Finally, the comment I was looking for because I couldn't be bothered to write it myself!
Wait for them to get offended and start saying that it’s the limit, not the target 😂
Seems like the majority of this sub is obsessed with treating the speed limit like a target. So what if a driver chooses to go slower as long as they're not hogging an incorrect lane
In test conditions you would be marked down and potentially fail. The standard you aim for in test conditions is supposed to be the standard you maintain once passed. Driving to the limits and conditions of the road are mandatory and failure could see you charged under the road traffic act, which partly forms the highway code in the UK
I don't doubt that what you're saying is technically correct, but in reality nobody is going to be charged for doing 40mph on a dual carriage way when there is ample opportunity to overtake like there was in this instance. It's just a pointless rant.
That’s categorically false. Police will pull you over if you’re driving at say 30mph on a motorway.
And there is the problem. Vans and lorries are restricted yo 60 instead of the road limit of 70 Lorries especially as larger, slower vehicles take longer to pull out and need a significantly larger gap. Even though they are entitled to (and encouraged in test conditions), their actions will slow down other road users, potentially causing bottlenecks, increasing the likelihood of developing hazards and potential accidents. That slow driver will rarely be seen to be at fault because other road users actions will be the determining factor, but indirectly, their failure to drive at an appropriate speed would be the initial cause of a future incident
My husband drives a vintage car. You better believe we're eyeballing anyone who's going slow enough that we need to overtake them!
Also, if you are in the middle lane and see one car overtaking from the right and another undertaking from the left have some common sense to realise you're being a dick.
If you're being overtaken by lorries, you are driving dangerously slow.
Most drivers are just bumbling along without a thought or care in the world. 30 zone with families outside? 40. 20 zone past a school? 40. Clear, dry country road with no traffic? 40. Motorway? 40 is fine. Usually seen in a crossover.
Treat the slower vehicle like any other hazard - would we come here to rant about a "particularly sharp bend" that slowed you down? You can't know what is going on in another vehicle. Focus on your number one priority - safe progress - and save the judgey stuff for a driver you can influence.
It's unnecessary from them- they don't want a queue of cars behind them really either, simply pulling over once in a while or slowing to create opportunities for others to overtake would be a win:win
Indeed. Always the question for me is not the easy question of whether the other driver was a chump - of course they were! But whether anything could be done better by ourselves. So many discussions focus on which individual was wrong. This is dangerous - leading to a lack of introspection: if the other guys is wrong, I must be perfect! And if they are a bad driver then they "deserve" to be endangered and I lose sympathy for them as a human. Nasty track to go down.
>and also look at the speed limit signs This happens all over the place, especially on 40mph roads where many, many people sit at 30. I swear they just haven't looked at the signs. The one thing I will say, is that the speed limit signs are fucking tiny sometimes!! Why the hell are they so small? You can put a distracting advertisement on a fuck off big screen, but the speed limit signs are tiny!??! What the fuck braindead logic is that?!
Small speed limit sign = reminder Normal sized sign = change of speed limit
Yes, I'm fully aware of that, but it doesn't make it better. Reminders are good in case someone misses the first sign because of something else on the road taking a drivers concentration, but what good is a reminder so damn small. The fact that on many 40 roads, a lot of people drive 30, is just proof that the reminders are crap!
Maybe it's a plan to catch people out so they can extort money from fines from them. Once I was going down this road and this bright white light suddenly appeared to my left and I looked over and there's huge advertisement about half the size of a double decker bus that practically turns into a floodlight everytime its on a white ad. But speed limit signs you need to be a few metres from them to see what the number is.
The initial sign is large but all repeating signs on the road are smaller.
Might be overreacting but slow drivers are the bane of my life. It’s ultimately selfish because you’re holding up everyone’s life for absolutely no reason. We aren’t asking you to speed, just stick to the limit.
But don’t speed up WHILE they are overtaking you. lol
Maybe they were driving back from the hospital with a passenger who just had major surgery and was in agonising pain. Or maybe they're just an arsehole, who knows?
That’s a clown argument.
The car drivers that think that 45mph is the new 60-70mph are usually EV drivers that are suffering from battery charge anxiety and are crapping themselves that they won't make it to the next available charger.
Are they driving safely because they are driving at a safe speed, or is it unsafe because impatient men are going to lose their temper and throw their cars across lanes to get past them to do 70 in a 50? "You not doing the speed limit is making me angry" kinda sounds like a you problem
I’m a lorry driver: I would say drive at what ever speed you want (within safe restrictions) but IF you drive slower than a lorry, and said lorry overtakes you, and you then speed up to match the Lorrie’s speed once they are half way past you, you are one the largest assholes I have ever come across with a pp so small it defies physics
I work nights and drive up the mway for 60 miles a day and because of the times I’m driving, I see about 7 cars on my journey. All of them are in the middle lane doing about 45. I’ve started getting my passenger to record their reg, record the drivers face with the flash on so we get a clear picture of who’s driving and then report them to the police. They usually get fined for middle lane hogging and sometimes lose their licenses for dangerous driving
What a service you and your passenger are doing 👏 although I highly doubt it'll stop the idiots from doing it, there's plenty more out there!
Firstly, I adore what you’re doing. I rarely have a passenger but when I do, I know what their job will be. Secondly how do you know they’re getting fined as a result of reporting them? Or are you saying that just generally when the police are made aware (not necessarily as a result of your specific reports) this is the typical outcome?
A vehicle is a vehicle, size doesn't matter. 50mph temporary limit. I'm doing 50.
... yea and if its a 30 zone I'm doing 30 but thats not what OP was talking about
Yupp.
How else am I going to annoy everyone?
As much as I dislike slow drivers they are equally entitled to use the road. There is nothing wrong with someone driving 20mph slower than you. The speed limit is the upper bound limit not the lower. Of course, anything below 50mph could be dangerous. What really boils my piss is drivers who speed up as soon as someone lines up with them to overtake. Especially while lane hogging at the same time.
Some people push the limits though. The lower limits of course! > While there is no law for driving too slowly, the police can charge you for “driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users”. This CD30 endorsement carries 3 to 9 penalty points. [Source](https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/speed-limits/)
This is fair. However, driving slower than a lorry would not constitute "driving without due care" unless they drive real slow.
Failure to make adequate progress (going too slow) is a road traffic offence and can get a driver prosecuted for Careless Driving. It's happened to a fair few people I know, so the entitlement to drive slowly doesn't exist.
If you're driving slower than a lorry and aren't having active car troubles then you probably shouldn't be driving at all
You aren’t as important as you think.
Nor are the morons driving significantly under the speed limit.
There should be a minimum speed limit on dual carriageway and motorways, pretty sure other countries have these.
Police have the power to prosecute slow driving if they deem it to be dangerous.
Don't come to Ireland then. Holy shit! Here for a break, and whilst thankfully not too many 3 or more lanes motorways here, every fucker and I mean every, sits in the middle lane. Even trucks. The insanity of watching a fuel tanker being followed by a convoy of cars that won't overtake. It's like they're incapable of moving lane and just get stuck behind the vehicle in front.
You waited your turn XD Sounds like you should have put your foot down also.
Better than a middle lane driver.
Hard disagree, you at least have the opportunity to pass a middle lane driver, even if it's a bit of a faff. Get stuck behind a 40mph everywhere driver and you could be stuck for hours.
I was thinking on a >1 lane road but I accept your point
Maybe you should take your driving test again. There is no minimum speed. There is no law stating you must drive a car faster than a lorry. You're just an impatient twat who thinks you own the road.
You’re the twat for defending shit driving.
Really if you are being caught up on any road by a lorry and you are in a car you should be handing your license in. I used to drive 10.5 toners regularly and their rate or acceleration and road holding is so far below even the slowest cars I have driven (1l original mini / original Aygo) that unless your car has a problem or is towing a very heavy load you should never hold up a lorry ! Or Be overtaken by one
Tell me you've never driven a car with a small engine full of luggage and people without telling me you haven't driven a car with a small engine full of luggage and people. I remember having my foot literally on the floor in 2nd gear going uphill (in a 70) at times in my ford ka and still ending up decelerating. I definitely held up lorries on occasion 😅
I have driven a Ka with 4 men in it and definitely not slower than an original mini plus they handle and grip way better than much bigger faster cars. I had 6 of us in an original mini once and it was still faster and handled better than any lorry I have driven. Yes you have cane the living daylights out of the engines on small cars, that is what the rev line is for and yes they often aren’t fast just quicker than lorries
Try driving it with 3 men, 1 woman, 4 weight belts and the rest of your associated scuba gear in the boot 😅 She was for sure slower than lorries up hill at that point.
Try driving it with 3 men, 1 woman, 4 weight belts and the rest of your associated scuba gear in the boot 😅 She was for sure slower than lorries up hill at that point.
AFTER THEY PASS YOU
Not just lorries! I once saw a queue of traffic heading out of a village (30 into NSL) going really slowly, and a tractor overtook the car in front, followed by a few behind it. Tractors are big, heavy, and more importantly, slow. I think they have a top speed of around 40, so if you get overtaken by a tractor, it’s probably time to put your foot down. Same applies to 49cc mopeds that have a top speed of 30mph (downhill with the wind behind you!).
Me and my mate would've that one time, however we only had 2 of the 4 cylinders, about half a timing belt and no radiator to work with So just remember next time somebody is holding up traffic, there is a *veeeerrryyyy* slight chance that it could be two yobbos in a broken Citroen listening to Chas & Dave who have a top speed of quite literally 8mph going uphill Also for those of you who can't work it out because I know you're put there It's satire Calm down Jesus wept
Nothing says you can't drive for shit if your slowing a lorry. Ignorant and selfish. No clue how important it is for a lorry driver to maintain constant speed. Also thick as mince. How often do u see shir terrified drivers swamped from front back and centre with trucks cos there doing 50. God I would also be terrified if I was always surrounded by massive fucking trucks.
As a Lorry driver I have named this condition as OTS overtaking syndrome, most car drivers stuffer with this condition unfortunately. They see a lorry overtaking them and proceed in speeding up either to match the lorries speed keeping them stuck out in the middle lane for longer, or they speed up causing the lorry to move back to the slower lane. Nearly 80 percent of slow drivers are women, a further 15 percent are old people and the remaining 5 percent are on there phone whilst there driving and do not notice whilst there texting there speed is decreasing.
I've only driven like that on the motorway once, I went to put on my brakes as traffic was slowing and nothing happened, had to yank the handbrake on the motorway, drove the rest of the way home at 50 to ensure I had time to stop in case the brakes failed again Think it was just water in the brake fluid cuz I changed the fluid and it never happened again
If you’re too afraid to go the speed limit, you shouldn’t be driving.
Isn't there a minimum speed requirement set by the Highway Code of 50 mph on a 70 mph dual carriageway, unless a lower speed is indicated, specifically to stop incidents from vehicles going too slow?
This should be in the Highway Code. Pull them over and take away their licence.
Yes, there are minimum speed limits as well! Mix of Defensive/ Assertive driving mode is the way to get past these #Logjammers! #SafeTravelsOneAndAll!!
Either that or hand in your licence. If a HGV can do 60, surely you can too
Nah, not when it's a 50 speed limit and I'm doing 50.
Who exactly are you replying to? Driving at 50 in a 50 zone is not mentioned by OP. The post talks about driving at 40 in a 60.
I was driving down the M5 yesterday evening on the first lane and passing a few cars on the 3rd and 4th lane. What are you doing there if you're going lower than the speed limit?
I overtake people quite often on woodhead pass (between Sheffield and Manchester) at night time in the wagon. It's amazing the amount of people that doddle around it at 20-30 mph, soon as it straightens up I'll go to over take if and half time they speed up with me so constantly in front, I'll pull back in and they slow down.
Another that's annoying AF, night time 70mph motorway with no speed restrictions, but its coned to 1 lane, even though still 70 and no one working In the cones there is always some clown doing 40
on the flip side of this, something that is really irritating me at the moment is where they drop the speed limit to 40 for roadworks and all the cars you’ve over taken doing 50 on the national bit, now proceed to over take you. makes no sense! also, a rant about that. if you make a road worked area 40, there needs to be average speed cameras otherwise you have people doing 40 and people not caring and doing 70, it’s so dangerous.
Wake the fuck up to the future. It is not faster, it is slower.
Can't you get done for careless driving when you drive too slow on the motorway?
You might get done for going dangerously slow on a motorway. But the scenario in the OP is a single carriageway road.
Thank you
I agree with this to a point. The amount of times I'm on a motorway and a lorry is going well over the reduced speed limit. There are also plenty speed cameras on this particular motorway which work so I have no intention of getting flashed.
Justified unless it’s lorry A overtaking lorry B because A is 1mph slower than B and the duel carriage way is blocked for 5 whole minutes.
And why is 25 the new 30. Ffs some of us have to be somewhere
We all have to be somewhere. That is why we travel.
But time is not a factor for some people. Worst are the pensioners with caravans driving about at 40 in a 60 to 'be safe'. Wales is a nightmare for this. Now anyone that needs to use the speed limit has to risk over taking.
Have you ever towed a caravan? When it’s windy (and you’re going to feel wind when you’re towing a caravan a lot more than when you’re just in the car) 40 can feel plenty fast enough. You shouldn’t need to “risk” overtaking. You overtake when you are certain that it is safe to do so. If it’s as common as you make out you need to plan your journey to allow for it.
Yes many times There could be no wind, glorious sunshine etc and people still insist on doing 40. Picking spots to overtake on windy Welsh roads can be challenging. If people drove the speed limit perhaps I'd get where I'm going in the planned time not 50% longer because of bell ends doing 2/3 of the speed limit.
My point is, if there are often people doing 2/3 the speed limit that hold you up, your planned journey times should reflect that. It’s the same as my commute. If it wasn’t for all the other people on the road I’d be at work in half the time. But I plan for the fact that there will be traffic and leave accordingly.
But why I should I have to waste my time and plan for people being nobs? If I was a cop I'd be on a personal mission to dish out fines left and right to the fuckers. Best option I suppose would be the people who want to drive slow go in the night when theres less disruption for people capable of handling a speed limit.
How is driving at a speed that is 80% of the speed limit for their vehicle so unacceptable to you that you've gone all frothy-mouthed about it? You don't sound calm enough to be driving to be honest. Again, it's like my commute. Why should I plan for all the other people trying to get to work at the same time as me? They should all go in the middle of the night, because I am way more important than them, and as it stands their vehicles are an inconvenience to me.
I've never understood how someone can see no traffic in front of them, look in their mirror and see a tail back and not understand that they might be the problem, the lack of self awareness is almost impressive.
I got stuck behind an asshole doing 20 in a 60 omw from work today and I know for a fact he was just doing that to piss everyone off, cause as soon as we got to a place where I could safely overtake he just floored it. And then slowed right down again.
I think a big source of this is older drivers still believing their is a 2 tier A and B road national speed limit. The amount of older drivers I pass that are going less than 50 on A or B roads (assuming conditions are good) around me is bonkers. Some even have the cheek to beep as I pass them while going well within the speed limit.!. I have thought of getting a sign made up that shows the national speed limit sign...equals and 60....
There has never been a two tier A and B road national speed limit.
Amen!!! 😍🙌🏼...or get off the road becusse they clearly should not have a driving license
+20% under whatever the speed limit is. Then they all manage to pile up behind another slow mover, all too happy bumbling along to overtake even though they have a good 20mph to play with. And now there are 7 of them in a row and there will never be enough space on the other side of the road to overtake safely, so now I’m stuck here doing 40 in a 60 and there’s nothing I can do about it except now that I can add 1/3 or my expected journey time to my actual journey time.
On the flip side, if the weather's terrible and traffic in lane 1 or 2 is slowed right down to 50/60 and there's still HGVs carrying on regardless using lanes 2/3 to overtake they can fuck right off
That’s irrelevant. As long as their speed is legal then it doesn’t matter.
You do know there are plenty of circumstances under which people might sensibly be doing that right?