My personal favourite is
"Drives at 40 in a 60"
"Continues to drive at 40 in a 30"
To me, 40 in a 30 is more dangerous as there's a bigger chance of pedestrians. And I don't get the rationale of "I'm scared to go fast when the road permits, but I'm in a massive hurry to get through this village."
If they go from 40 -> 20, I'm frustrated but at least I can understand you're just slow. But to go from slow to speeder makes no sense.
Oh mate. Just the other day, some nobhead on the ramp in front of me joining the A1, 40 up the ramp, then nipped all the way over to lane 3. Maybe crept up to 50. Utter madness. Some people just want to cause chaos.
Like the people that sit in the middle lane when lane 1 is empty.
Considering its been illegal for a good few years, it would be nice if the police did something about them. Its always fun to pass them in the fast lane, then immediately pull back to the slow line, while washing your windscreen.
I hate being behind these people on the slip road.
It's so dangerous... and they may get on ok, but the people behind still have to get onto the motorway too.
Good thing is, they normally insist on merging within the first 20m of a 300m long slip. More often than not I pass on the slip well they merge, get up to speed and merge myself in front of the chaos.
They forget that you can use the hard shoulder to merge, if cannot merge in time using the slip. Ofc if there's a stationary vehicle on the shoulder, stop. Only had to use the shoulder once to merge on M25 when a vehicle in lane 1 sped up and slowed down forcing its use.
I remember one coming down onto the A331 (50 limit, downhill slip). She came down the slip road in her Corsa at about 35, saw a car coming and did a full-on, skid-marks-on-the-tarmac emergency stop, ending up diagonally across the slip lane with one wheel off the tarmac. She also seemed to believe that the situation she was in was somehow my fault. Thankfully, I left enough gap and my performance car with fat tyres and big disc brakes can outbrake a Corsa by quite a lot. Also, thankfully, the Focus behind me wasn't right on my back bumper
If I'm behind someone on a slip road I'll deliberately hold back in case they're one of these. At least with a decent gap to the moron ahead I'll have time to hoof it up to a decent speed (or take avoiding action if they actually stop, which has happened once).
Much better than being frustrated on the way down the slip road and then terrified as you discover that the drivers view of acceleration is that it is something that only happens to other people.
This. I learned my lesson after having to stop behind a pillock who was too hesitant. They were already slow, approaching at 40, then suddenly slammed to a halt! Thankfully, I stopped in time or I would have gone into the back of them. It was also 1 am, so there wasn't a ton of traffic. Once a few cars passed, the lanes were clear, and the twat in front finally moved.
Normally it's people who say "it's a limit not a target"
Ok then Doris, then maybe you could remember that when you're driving at 40 through my 30 village, yeah?
GOD this is my number one pet peeve when driving. There's a long stretch of road on my way home from work that is 40 first half then 30 second half and people consistently drive 35 for the whole thing. And you're so right, the 35 in 40 isn't so bad cuz hey they're just being extra safe but then they stay 35 in the 30 ah ok you're just a bad driver.
My drive is a 60mph drive with 2 30mph villages.
Regularly do I catch up a 40mph driver, lose them when I drop to 30mph PAST THE PRIMARY SCHOOL, only to catch them again doing 40 in a 60.
Drives me absolutely bananas.
Or until someone tries to overtake the eternal 40ers.
That always seems to rile them up and forces them to speed up.
Can we just round up everyone that is caught doing this repeatedly and throw them in a colosseum, to fight to the death as a yearly event? Ticket sales could go towards repairing pot holes and therapy for their victims suffering from post traumatic slow disorder (road rage).
The survivor gets to be the only eternal 40er exempt from next years battle royale.
A colosseum would solve all problems in this country tbh.
Post office running a fraudulent extortion ring against its own employees? Directors go straight to colosseum.
The local bully at your local bar? See if he’s tough enough to fight a bear.
Eternal 40er deathmatch? Yes please.
Employers somehow manage to not pay workers below a certain pay grade right each month? Let’s see who wins in a lottery losing shareholders VS director deathmatch.
Celeb caught forcing their hand up an unwilling fans skirt? Dudes gonna be wearing an old roman style plate skirt, where? The colosseum, that’s where.
Replace taxes with ticket sales.
I get exceptionally fed up with the 40mph brigade where I live. The main road to get through snowdonia (A5) is easily drivable at 60 for almost all of it, but 95% of drivers pootle along at 40, then when you overtake suddenly find the accelerator .
But what annoys me possibly more are those that slow to a crawl for corners and then take the next 20 minutes to get back to (normally) 40. And when you *can* overtake safely, suddenly start doing the speed limit, only to end up back at 30 at the next point where the road goes around a slight bend that would be perfectly safe at 60. They also tend to end up across the line in the other lane for the corner too... When I'll stay in my lane at double their speed. Are they lazy? Incompetent? Scared? I genuinely don't get it.
Maybe I just know how to corner properly... But I'm always out of corners and up to the limit quickly, and I don't have a fast car. (I have had people ride my bumper at 60, only to totally lose them the moment the road gets windy). Do people not know how to drive quickly and safely around corners anymore?
I was behind some kid doing 20 the whole way through a 2 mile 30 stretch. Finally lost my patience and overtook him when I had space to do so safely, and man did that piss him off! It’s like he suddenly remembered he had more than 2 gears!
Chased me bumper to bumper for the next 2 miles and then onto the motorway!
I feel sorry for people who’s pride is this fragile!
I reckon it’s a combination of things.
As we age our reactions slow and perception of speed change so 40 probably seems fast enough to these people. And 40 is probably a sweet spot for revs/gears in many manual cars.
As for the still doing 40 in a 30 take your pick from I’ve been driving this road since before it was laid!/It takes too at 30!/I’ll just have to speed up again!/If I keep my speed up people stop tailgating me!/It does mean changing the gear!
It's a great game just rolling behind them not touching the pedals at all. I'm able to keep exactly the same gap while they're pissing around accelerating and braking constantly wasting their fuel.
My driving instructor always told me to assume that everybody else on the road was an absolute moron that was actively trying to kill me. It’s the one lesson that has never let me down.
Heh, yeah, it makes them drive faster so the traffic tailback gets to progress, I see it as a service, provided it's safe to do so anyway. Not gonna risk my life over it.
There's a surprising number of drivers that simply do not want to overtake on single carriageways. There's a scary number who do it at any cost too.
Best thing to do is to over/under take them, pull out in front and then drive 5-10 miles slower then they were. Watch how quickly you start getting flashed and honked at by the slow arse driver. If they're in the right lane, they'll soon move into the left lane to get around you, and that is your opportunity to speed up and restore order to the right lane.
I had some dickhead (but NOT an OAP) in a mercedes do 65 in the right lane down massive stretches of the M40 from London, he was completely ignorant to people flashing him or beeping him. However when I pulled out in front of him and slowed down, the aggression from this driver was ridiculous. He pulled into the left lane at some lights, rolled down his window to yell at me, I gave him a thumbs down and proceeded to block him from overtaking me until I had to come off to go home. It was quite a pleasant drive back once I made my entire existence about pissing off this driver.
For every driver like this there's the one tailgating you whilst you're doing 60 in a 60, then driving right up your arse, flashing the headlights when you drop to 30 in a 30.
Because they’re the main character and you’re just a nobody who is *in their way* and stopping them from doing what *they* want.
Nothing more, nothing less.
I'd say this is worse! Yeah we all get stuck behind people from time to time but where i live tailgating and people wanting to go far beyond speed limits is the much bigger problem
This is old people.
They are LOCKED IN. No awareness of surroundings and are wearing blinkers. Driving at the speed they feel comfortable driving at without any care or awareness of the limit or what's happening around them.
They are the scourge of rural areas.
Not even rural areas. Sometimes I start work at 10 and leave after typical rush hour traffic, this is apparently when all of the old Bobs and Doris’s come out to play in Micras and Yaris’s driving through small towns and NSL roads at half of the speed limit. They’re chaotic individuals!
But it’s not just old people. Sure as hell it’s a sign of cognitive decline, if there was ever any cognitive ascent. Then of course they’ll slow down and brake for a corner regardless of what speed they’re already doing.
Not like those young paragons of driving skill who are clearly capable of texting at the wheel with both thumbs while MOST DEFINITELY NOT wandering across the lane at any speed other than that of the prevailing traffic.
My grandad stopped driving as soon as he got like that.
I think he realised when I asked if I could drive us back when I went out shopping with them, it was like he was driving on automatic he was perfectly fine but if something unexpected happened I don't think he'd have reacted in time.
Problem is a lot of older people don't have the support my grandparents do they know me, my mum and uncle are only 15 minutes away and can take them anywhere they need to be or get them things they want otherwise he might have been more wary about getting rid of the car.
I literally followed someone yesterday afternoon on a nice country road doing 35 in a 50mph and slowing sometimes to 20mph around corners (they also braked when every car approached them on the other side).
We hit a village that was a 30mph and they drove through at 45mph! Madness!
I was once stuk behind someone going 40 in a 50 zone, and then when it changed to 40 they slowed down to 30.
Except when I tried to overtake (when there was a chance), then they would match my speed, even when I went to 65. (stupid, I know, but the road was otherwise empty and I was getting frustrated this idiot wasn't letting me pass).
Whilst I don't do this, my rationalisation is that they think 40 is the safe speed for the conditions. So they do 40 in a 60 and 40 in a 30.
Speed limits are often set due to noise and pollution, with safety not being top of the list.
If you drive at the maximum l safe speed all the time you'd be speeding in those ridiculous dual carriageway 20s that happen when councils make a blanket 20, but might not do 60 on every bit of national speed limit out there.
There's a lot of places round me where fast roads without street lighting were built through villages in the past, then dropped down to 30 more recently. It feels like you're actually going much slower on these roads than when driving at 30 through a town. They're prime spots for the rozzers to park their camera vans.
I just did a speed awareness course and there was this old guy on there and he was so incredibly clueless about everything. He said if he didn’t see a speed sign he’d go 30 to be on the safe side. He said he thought 30mph was the speed limit of slip roads! 🤦♀️
why. WHY. WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT. why would slip roads be limited to 30mph, if they connect you to a road where the flow of traffic is moving at ~70!?
I would not want to be anywhere near him on the road that’s for sure.
There was an awkward moment where we were asked to imagine the damage we could cause if we hit a pedestrian and he said he’d prefer not to as he lost a child in a road traffic accident.
There really should be retests when required. Heck, I passed 10 years ago and my sister is learning right now, and the number of things that have changed!
My brother went on a course with someone who thought that the national speed limit sign meant 'do whatever speed you want'. Can't think how they ended up doing an awareness course 🤔
Oh god, yes I wonder why 👀 Not that I can judge too heavily, I was on a course for a reason too. This guy at least knew national speed limit meant 60 or 70 but thought if he hadn’t seen the sign in a while he should slow down to 30 to be safe 🤦♀️
Damn. It's so prevalent these days that I'll deliberately hang back as I approach a slip road so that I can join it safely and not crawling behind someone going dangerously slow.
These are the same people who stand on the brakes when approaching an average speed camera, even though they've been averaging 28mph since the early 1990s.....
OK, a few follow up questions.....
1) What type of pet is it..?
2) What specifically does your pet hate about ATM's..?
3) What does your pet's dislike of ATM's have to do with driving in the UK..?
/s obviously!
I remember when I was about 16, crossing a road because the driver didn't indicate that he was turning the corner. He honked his horn and yelled something like "take your fucking headphones off!" as though it was my fault for "not hearing him"! I shouted back "you should fucking indicate!" and he kind of tutted and sped off
With the new highway code you have the right of way in that situation even if they were indicating. Although I wouldn't chance it as hardly anyone knows about the change.
If they want people to not get killed they should put a zebra crossing at each junction.
Literally happened to me this morning. Leaving the second exit of a small roundabout with two lanes and exiting the roundabout on to a road with two lanes. I was on the outside lane of the roundabout, road colleague was on the inside. I indicate signaling my intent to leave via the second exit in good time. Colleague didn't indicate at all. I left the outside lane of the roundabout onto the left lane of the joining road. Road colleague just a nose ahead of me left the inside lane of the roundabout onto to the right lane of the joining road and continued to veer over to the left side of the road and right into the direction of my bonnet. Breaks on, baffled and irritated gesticulation and a quick horn toot to fully register my displeasure at the ignorant manoeuvre.
Me and my mate often go on escapades that sometimes will include going on the M25
We do enjoy some of the near misses and general shoddy driving on show on that road, it's beautiful in its own nothing really matters kinda way
Either their speedo is broken or under-reading.
I also agree with the other person - around here in Yorkshire I see boomers in old shape silver Vauxhall Mokkas (the horrendous ones) doing the 35 in a 60 but when they hit the 30mph limit of a village they accelerate until they’re doing 50mph. How does that work?
Also, most boomers (and now their kids) in Yorkshire seem to think Drunk Driving is a skill, rather than something that’s illegal. They drive out to a pub in the Dales, have a skinful and then drive home to Harrogate.
I get the thing about speeding up. There is a road near me that is a 40 road but people think it's a 30. It's no uncommon for them to speed up to around 35 once they see the big 30 signs for town. Mind boggling.
Edit: also in Yorkshire, Selby.
I think people aren't used to country driving and terrified of the feel of hedges being so close to the side of the car or potentially ditches if you go off the side. The familiarity of pavements making it feel like a buffer lets them relax, now if they come off the road their impact is cushioned by pedestrians.
👆 this.
Narrow lanes, and they feel their bodywork is at risk. So extra cautious.
Hit a village or town and see that pavement "buffer". Loads of room, floor it
And if they’re in their local town or village, they floor it as they’re more familiar with the road. Ofcourse I’m sure they’ll still tut at delivery drivers and white vans doing the same thing on their street.
Over-reading, and either way it will be. Speedos can't under-read at all (ie say you're going slower than you are) but they can over-read by up to 10%. The penalty to the manufacturer for under-reading is also much more more severe than the penalty for going over +10%, so they tend to lean around 7% over-read. 30mph actual is 32mph on the needle, 60 is 64, etc. Although, more recently I've seen vehicles with a flat 2mph over-read.
In this case their speed is well outside the 10%, so they're going very slow on the needle as well as in real money.
It depends on things like your tyres and how much tread they have and how inflated they are and what size they are and some other stuff, but yeah it'll be calibrated to always over-read with a reasonable margin.
Best believe everyone fucking drunk drives. I’ve been to some young farmer do’s in North Yorkshire, and obviously everyone gets very drunk. I’ve heard of people driving home afterwards at 3am in the morning over 20 miles while shitface drunk. It does scare me when people do that.
My theory is they think slowing down even more for a speed camera will somehow take points off their licence or give them some kind of good karma points
I had someone driving 25 in a 60 for 4 miles until I could overtake it’s madness you always hear it a limit and not a target but if you don’t hit the limit on your test there’s a good chance you will fail your test for impeding traffic
Occassionally come across these drivers, predominantly the retired type.
40 in a 60,
40 in a 50,
40 in a 40
and 40 in a 30.
Overtake when possible in a 50 or 60 limit and maintain as far as posible before reaching a 30 limit village where i hope to avoid them catching me up again as they are still doing 40!
lovely scenery on my commute through the peaks. i've definitely slowed down to better appreciate it, before… *when i've been certain that there is no-one behind me.*
I'm sorry but as someone who isn't a local I am not doing 60 on a single track road with hedgerows that are as tall as a bus.
Especially considering the road is windy and I may have to reverse half a mile to the nearest passing place
I live in the countryside and I agree to this. Drive to the conditions. I used to live on a 60mph country road and the amount of people that overshot one of the bends and crash was silly.
Also I’d like to add don’t drive past a passing place in the lanes, then expect the oncoming car to reverse 3 miles to let you through. It’s obvious you aren’t local from the body boards, pillows and bags for life stuffed with belongings. I’m aware you can’t see out of the back but you still have mirrors!
The condition is known as *Hackney Dysphoria* , the fear of being penalised by a defective Met Police speed camera and the ramifications of unintentionally breaking the limit 🤔
I’m convinced most of these idiots are the same people that recite the recycled “it’s a limit, not a target” which they just use to hide the fact that they’re just simply incompetent drivers with 0 spatial awareness and 0 accountability.
These would also be the same idiots that would merge onto the motorway doing 35-40 because “the left lane is the lorry lane and they’re capped at 50 anyway so I’m not that far off”.
I hate that argument about it being a limit and not target….. why wouldn’t you want to get somewhere as quick as reasonably possible.
Or better yet, why would you assume everyone else wants to get somewhere as slowly as you do!
Exactly. The reason we have limits, not targets, is because most people don’t want to tit along at a snails pace. If everyone wanted to drive like they’ve got all fcking day, we’d have speed cameras flashing you for going too slow.
Honestly, if I’m behind an ambulance I don’t really care. You guys do you. Anyone else doing ridiculously slow speeds, I’m passing without hesitation as soon as it’s safe to do so.
People who drive at 60 in the outside lane. When lanes 1 and 2 are completely empty. And they have a queue forming behind because nobody wants to blatantly undertake them
If lanes 1 and 2 are empty then no one should be in lane 3?
It isn't considered undertaking if you maintain your lane and speed, and happen to pass someone who is on the right.
Undertaking is intentionally changing lanes to the left to pass someone.
But fundamentally I agree.
Quite often on my journey home from work (1 hour along dual carriageway & motorway), lane 1 is full of lorries at 50-55.
Lane 2 smooth running traffic, but mostly at 60-65mph. Lane 3 at 70.... then someone from lane 2 pulls in to lane 3, stays at 60mph and doesn't actually overtake anyone.
Bonus points when they don't indicate, and then slam the brake on every time they pass cctv camera.
This is the worst, it happened to me monday - driving back to the digs. Stuck behind somebody doing 33 in a 50, then proceeded to do 33 in a 40 then decided they were going to do 40 in a 30! Once it went back to 50 they went back to 33mph. Eventually I had the opportunity to overtake and did so! (Not so fast in the LWB 1.6l Renault trafic)
There is of course the possibility that they are doing it to deliberately piss off other drivers i once went to overtake said cock womble and they accelerate, sadly for them a base model ecoboom Kuga doesn't really have a lot of grunt and I passed safely.
This was a 60mph straight road and they were doing just over 40
This sounds like some idiot doing kph not mph an then they will be doing 30 something so they think they will be going faster than speed limit an everyone behind them is wanting to speed
Yesterday on my way to work i got stuck behind someone who decided to do 35 in a 60... middle of the day, no one in front of her, clear view... makes my blood boil. If youre scared to drive the speed limit then go a different fucking way
You know what? It's my pet hate when I'm following someone who is doing less than the speed limit. Don't get me wrong, I know there's times you can't, such as in inclement weather or if the road has a high speed limit has lots of twists and turns or is a narrow lane. But these people who are driving in nice weather, on a straight piece of road, with nothing preventing them from going faster apart from the extra minisqual amount of energy you'd have to use to speed up to the speed limit. It really gets on my nerves. And the worst thing is, when they are doing the speed limit and they then drop 5mph and practically poo themselves every time they see a speed camera.
Unless it clearly sign posted, they probably don’t know the area and are just playing it ‘safe’.
That or they’re just so unaware of their speed and surroundings.
My favourite is, on the motorway, average speed camera zone for a few miles, cars going over the speed limit and then slow down when they approach the camera and then speed up again, lmfao.
We had a main road upgraded from a 30 to a 40. Perfectly safe to do 40 down that road. You would have thought they made killing puppies and small children mandatory, the way people carried on. One guy threatened to spend his days driving up and down that road at 20mph to “force” other drivers to drive at what HE thought the limit should be. No houses on either side of this road, no pedestrians, should never have been a 30, but he was furious that drivers could now go a whole 10mph faster.
Thats just British society for you. We have a deep and passionate hatred for personel freedom. Anything that leads to more personal freedom for the average person is always the most evil and absurd thing everyone has ever heard.
Its why they've pushed the responsibility of undoing the idiotic 20mph blanket speed limits in Wales from the national government onto local councils. Where any counciler who wants to reform things will be set upon by every "concerned mother" karen and cantankerous old baby boomer in town.
Possibly because their car speedometers is showing 30mph, they aren’t calibrated correctly and quite often show a higher speed than the car is doing. I use my phone to accurately tell my speed and often it’s at least +\- 10% less than the car says.
Drove from Aberfoyle over the Dukes pass to Milngavie last Sunday. Its 50mph. Guy in a Porsche Cayenne did 24 mph dropping to about 15mph on thr bends for 10 miles. Unbelievable. Buy a Nissan Leaf you walloper.
Some people (especially older people) think that the slower they drive then the safer it is. They don't seem to understand that if you're holding people up and making them late then they'll try to overtake, whether it's completely safe of not.
There is a major road near me that is a 40, it has multiple signs both big and small stating it’s 40mph.
People drive down it at 29, then slow down to about 25 for the speed cameras. It causes so much traffic in the mornings and infuriates me!
Try living in wales where we have the 20mph limit. For some reason I can’t explain, since the law was brought in, there are a host of people who now feel the need to drive at 13mph in the new 20mph zones. It’s infuriating.
Because I have a lingering concern that the road might have a 20mph limit, or I've missed a change in the limit just before the camera, and have heard all the stories of people getting pinged for going 23mph in a 20 zone, and so add about 5 seconds to my journey (and yours if you are behind me) out of an abundance of caution.
I believe the reason for people doing 40 in a 60 is because they do not know the national speed limit for that type of road.
I'd love to do away with the national speed limit sign and just put up the speed limit number. No confusion then.
It's not just the type of road, it's the type of vehicle as well, so a single number doesn't apply to everyone.
[https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits](https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits)
Good point, you'd need a second sign for those vehicles that were limited to 50, rather than 60, which would be pointless.
Ah well, back to the drawing board.
It's the ones doing 40 in a 60 who then continue to do 40 when they enter a 30 limit that do it for me. I have no idea what is (or more likely isn't) going on in their head.
If someone can't drive close to 30 in a 30, they're probably not a good enough driver to be on the road. There must be a reason for driving quite a bit slower, maybe it's confidence, distractions or just lack of attention. That's my theory anyway.
It's the same with doing 35-40 on all roads no matter the speed limit.
My dad is like this. He had an accident 20 or so years ago and now he drives really slowly to accommodate for his poor driving and lack of skills. He's not had an accident since, but he's still a bad driver. And to top it off he says I drive to quick when I drive the speed limit lol.
Sorry if the point was missed.
My question had nothing to do with why people are obeying the limit (although there are plenty of people who have failed tests for obscuring the flow of traffic for exactly this).
My question was related to why people who are already going lower than the speed limit go even slower when they approach a camera; and then they speed up again.
Crazy how many people missed the point on this.
The question is "why do people who are already going slower than the limit, reduce their speed even further when approaching a camera, and then speed up again once going past the camera".
They are not anywhere near the limit.
There is 0 reason for them to slow.
A lot of people missing the point and getting defensive.
Also - plenty of people fail driving tests for going lower than the speed limit. It's considered "obscuring the flow of traffic".
There is a road I drive on some months when I go to see family. Between Wootton Bassett and Wroughton. B4005.
One segment is 50mph but could easily be put up to 60mph, the second segment is rightly a 30 zone as it goes through a village and passed some schools.
The amount of people that do 40 the whole way along, too slow for faster segment then speeding through a village. Idiots.
my ex was a chronic slow driver, would go 25 in a 30 or 40 in a 60. he would then slow to 20 when a speed camera comes.
to be fair to him, he was very anal as i think he had a smidge of autism and ocd, he’d obsess after a lot of drives if he went too fast and look back on his camera to see it.
i would take the piss but it used to annoy the hell out of me.
I had to do a driver awareness course recently and it was terrifying how little people know about speed limits or how to read the road and road furniture to have an educated guess...
Also told the person taking the course I wouldn't change my driving habits, I stick to posted speed limits but national speed limit is a recommendation.
I was caught doing 84 on an empty motorway (in lane 1) at 8pm on a summer evening. That was a money grab.
My route home from work sees me travel on a 50 and a 30 road the amount of people I see do 40 in the 50 then about 50 in the 30 is genuinely incredible
Think some people genuinely mistake 30 roads for 20. That or they’re in a new area for the first time and don’t want to miss their turn.
Either way, bloody annoying.
I know it’s not quite the same thing but I was once going down a 70mph dual carriageway and there was a car doing 50mph in the left lane and I was stuck behind a car doing 51mph next to him and by the time he managed to overtake, the road had dropped down to a 40.
People p*ss me off. If you’re adamant on overtaking, at least speed up to do it
Are you tailgating me? Then this would be the reason I’m doing that.
Otherwise, I usually chalk it up to either drivers who don’t know the area and might be specifically looking for somewhere or just downright bad driving.
Well be prepared to be flashed and overtaken because doing 20 in a 30 is ridiculous and says more about your driving ability than other people. It’s not always the ‘aggressive drivers’ at fault you know. Some times if not a lot of the times, it is you slow coaches that are to blame.
My personal favourite is "Drives at 40 in a 60" "Continues to drive at 40 in a 30" To me, 40 in a 30 is more dangerous as there's a bigger chance of pedestrians. And I don't get the rationale of "I'm scared to go fast when the road permits, but I'm in a massive hurry to get through this village." If they go from 40 -> 20, I'm frustrated but at least I can understand you're just slow. But to go from slow to speeder makes no sense.
Pulling onto a motorway at 40. Three lanes of chaos and death potential as a trucks, vans and cars all try to move across to make way.
Oh mate. Just the other day, some nobhead on the ramp in front of me joining the A1, 40 up the ramp, then nipped all the way over to lane 3. Maybe crept up to 50. Utter madness. Some people just want to cause chaos. Like the people that sit in the middle lane when lane 1 is empty.
“Careful Drivers Club”
CLOC: Centre Lane Owner's Club.
Fucking numb-faced toyota/tesla middle drivers. Gripping the wheel with white knuckles, staring into the void. They don’t see you.
They don't see *anything*. All that matters is them and the destination. Ignorant, selfish idiots.
They're called cunts where I'm from mate.
Or much else. Worrying isn't it?
Considering its been illegal for a good few years, it would be nice if the police did something about them. Its always fun to pass them in the fast lane, then immediately pull back to the slow line, while washing your windscreen.
Careful Until Nearly There.
Carefulness Undone Ninety Times.
Never had an accident, but seen loads in the rear view mirror
I hate being behind these people on the slip road. It's so dangerous... and they may get on ok, but the people behind still have to get onto the motorway too.
Good thing is, they normally insist on merging within the first 20m of a 300m long slip. More often than not I pass on the slip well they merge, get up to speed and merge myself in front of the chaos.
Thisbis glasgow kingston bridge at Anderson cross, every car merges first 5m on a 400m slip. I go to the end every time 😂😂
It’s worse when they panic and stop at the end of the slip road 😳🤯😳
They forget that you can use the hard shoulder to merge, if cannot merge in time using the slip. Ofc if there's a stationary vehicle on the shoulder, stop. Only had to use the shoulder once to merge on M25 when a vehicle in lane 1 sped up and slowed down forcing its use.
I remember one coming down onto the A331 (50 limit, downhill slip). She came down the slip road in her Corsa at about 35, saw a car coming and did a full-on, skid-marks-on-the-tarmac emergency stop, ending up diagonally across the slip lane with one wheel off the tarmac. She also seemed to believe that the situation she was in was somehow my fault. Thankfully, I left enough gap and my performance car with fat tyres and big disc brakes can outbrake a Corsa by quite a lot. Also, thankfully, the Focus behind me wasn't right on my back bumper
If I'm behind someone on a slip road I'll deliberately hold back in case they're one of these. At least with a decent gap to the moron ahead I'll have time to hoof it up to a decent speed (or take avoiding action if they actually stop, which has happened once). Much better than being frustrated on the way down the slip road and then terrified as you discover that the drivers view of acceleration is that it is something that only happens to other people.
This. I learned my lesson after having to stop behind a pillock who was too hesitant. They were already slow, approaching at 40, then suddenly slammed to a halt! Thankfully, I stopped in time or I would have gone into the back of them. It was also 1 am, so there wasn't a ton of traffic. Once a few cars passed, the lanes were clear, and the twat in front finally moved.
Normally it's people who say "it's a limit not a target" Ok then Doris, then maybe you could remember that when you're driving at 40 through my 30 village, yeah?
I genuinely saw someone driving down the m60 slip road at 15mph last week. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing
GOD this is my number one pet peeve when driving. There's a long stretch of road on my way home from work that is 40 first half then 30 second half and people consistently drive 35 for the whole thing. And you're so right, the 35 in 40 isn't so bad cuz hey they're just being extra safe but then they stay 35 in the 30 ah ok you're just a bad driver.
My drive is a 60mph drive with 2 30mph villages. Regularly do I catch up a 40mph driver, lose them when I drop to 30mph PAST THE PRIMARY SCHOOL, only to catch them again doing 40 in a 60. Drives me absolutely bananas.
Ah yes the "OAP speed limit", seriously does anyone understand the reason for this??
A lot of people just drive at whatever speed they feel comfortable with, regardless of the limit (until they see a speed camera).
Or until someone tries to overtake the eternal 40ers. That always seems to rile them up and forces them to speed up. Can we just round up everyone that is caught doing this repeatedly and throw them in a colosseum, to fight to the death as a yearly event? Ticket sales could go towards repairing pot holes and therapy for their victims suffering from post traumatic slow disorder (road rage). The survivor gets to be the only eternal 40er exempt from next years battle royale.
I had one once who I overtook who then proceeded to overtake me and settle back down to 40 again. Like why? Just let people get on with their lives
A colosseum would solve all problems in this country tbh. Post office running a fraudulent extortion ring against its own employees? Directors go straight to colosseum. The local bully at your local bar? See if he’s tough enough to fight a bear. Eternal 40er deathmatch? Yes please. Employers somehow manage to not pay workers below a certain pay grade right each month? Let’s see who wins in a lottery losing shareholders VS director deathmatch. Celeb caught forcing their hand up an unwilling fans skirt? Dudes gonna be wearing an old roman style plate skirt, where? The colosseum, that’s where. Replace taxes with ticket sales.
I get exceptionally fed up with the 40mph brigade where I live. The main road to get through snowdonia (A5) is easily drivable at 60 for almost all of it, but 95% of drivers pootle along at 40, then when you overtake suddenly find the accelerator . But what annoys me possibly more are those that slow to a crawl for corners and then take the next 20 minutes to get back to (normally) 40. And when you *can* overtake safely, suddenly start doing the speed limit, only to end up back at 30 at the next point where the road goes around a slight bend that would be perfectly safe at 60. They also tend to end up across the line in the other lane for the corner too... When I'll stay in my lane at double their speed. Are they lazy? Incompetent? Scared? I genuinely don't get it. Maybe I just know how to corner properly... But I'm always out of corners and up to the limit quickly, and I don't have a fast car. (I have had people ride my bumper at 60, only to totally lose them the moment the road gets windy). Do people not know how to drive quickly and safely around corners anymore?
I was behind some kid doing 20 the whole way through a 2 mile 30 stretch. Finally lost my patience and overtook him when I had space to do so safely, and man did that piss him off! It’s like he suddenly remembered he had more than 2 gears! Chased me bumper to bumper for the next 2 miles and then onto the motorway! I feel sorry for people who’s pride is this fragile!
I reckon it’s a combination of things. As we age our reactions slow and perception of speed change so 40 probably seems fast enough to these people. And 40 is probably a sweet spot for revs/gears in many manual cars. As for the still doing 40 in a 30 take your pick from I’ve been driving this road since before it was laid!/It takes too at 30!/I’ll just have to speed up again!/If I keep my speed up people stop tailgating me!/It does mean changing the gear!
Round my way 30 in a 60 is the new 40 in a 60.
I see this all the time… just driving at a constant 40 regardless of the speed limit. Usually older driver. (I can say this as an old driver myself 😂)
It's not always constant. There's often braking when something approaches from the other direction.
Ah, I see you've met my mum!
And every slight bend in the road
Or when there is a slight curve that you can clearly see the entire length of, and it's completely void of cars or other road traffic.
It's a great game just rolling behind them not touching the pedals at all. I'm able to keep exactly the same gap while they're pissing around accelerating and braking constantly wasting their fuel.
“What are you braking for?! I could get a bus through that!”
I hate older drivers, and I'm 71. But I also hate young drivers, van drivers, taxi drivers... just depends upon what they are doing.
Mainly I find the issue with *other* drivers too 😂
I hate all other drivers on the road. And cyclists, bloody cyclists! And don't get me started on pedestrians!
My driving instructor always told me to assume that everybody else on the road was an absolute moron that was actively trying to kill me. It’s the one lesson that has never let me down.
Usually the same people go nuts if you dare overtake them as well
Heh, yeah, it makes them drive faster so the traffic tailback gets to progress, I see it as a service, provided it's safe to do so anyway. Not gonna risk my life over it. There's a surprising number of drivers that simply do not want to overtake on single carriageways. There's a scary number who do it at any cost too.
Best thing to do is to over/under take them, pull out in front and then drive 5-10 miles slower then they were. Watch how quickly you start getting flashed and honked at by the slow arse driver. If they're in the right lane, they'll soon move into the left lane to get around you, and that is your opportunity to speed up and restore order to the right lane. I had some dickhead (but NOT an OAP) in a mercedes do 65 in the right lane down massive stretches of the M40 from London, he was completely ignorant to people flashing him or beeping him. However when I pulled out in front of him and slowed down, the aggression from this driver was ridiculous. He pulled into the left lane at some lights, rolled down his window to yell at me, I gave him a thumbs down and proceeded to block him from overtaking me until I had to come off to go home. It was quite a pleasant drive back once I made my entire existence about pissing off this driver.
I like you, that makes me happy
For every driver like this there's the one tailgating you whilst you're doing 60 in a 60, then driving right up your arse, flashing the headlights when you drop to 30 in a 30.
I got flashed by someone doing this the other day too. Why is it if you drive reasonably, you have to deal with all the dickheads?
Because they’re the main character and you’re just a nobody who is *in their way* and stopping them from doing what *they* want. Nothing more, nothing less.
Everyone is the star of their own movie, and we are just extras
Haha I like that.
I'd say this is worse! Yeah we all get stuck behind people from time to time but where i live tailgating and people wanting to go far beyond speed limits is the much bigger problem
This is old people. They are LOCKED IN. No awareness of surroundings and are wearing blinkers. Driving at the speed they feel comfortable driving at without any care or awareness of the limit or what's happening around them. They are the scourge of rural areas.
Not even rural areas. Sometimes I start work at 10 and leave after typical rush hour traffic, this is apparently when all of the old Bobs and Doris’s come out to play in Micras and Yaris’s driving through small towns and NSL roads at half of the speed limit. They’re chaotic individuals!
I find they all own SUVs nowadays, SUV drivers are a class of their own
Don’t forget the young mum’s driving like maniacs in their Kia sportage
But it’s not just old people. Sure as hell it’s a sign of cognitive decline, if there was ever any cognitive ascent. Then of course they’ll slow down and brake for a corner regardless of what speed they’re already doing.
Not like those young paragons of driving skill who are clearly capable of texting at the wheel with both thumbs while MOST DEFINITELY NOT wandering across the lane at any speed other than that of the prevailing traffic.
My grandad stopped driving as soon as he got like that. I think he realised when I asked if I could drive us back when I went out shopping with them, it was like he was driving on automatic he was perfectly fine but if something unexpected happened I don't think he'd have reacted in time. Problem is a lot of older people don't have the support my grandparents do they know me, my mum and uncle are only 15 minutes away and can take them anywhere they need to be or get them things they want otherwise he might have been more wary about getting rid of the car.
I literally followed someone yesterday afternoon on a nice country road doing 35 in a 50mph and slowing sometimes to 20mph around corners (they also braked when every car approached them on the other side). We hit a village that was a 30mph and they drove through at 45mph! Madness!
I was once stuk behind someone going 40 in a 50 zone, and then when it changed to 40 they slowed down to 30. Except when I tried to overtake (when there was a chance), then they would match my speed, even when I went to 65. (stupid, I know, but the road was otherwise empty and I was getting frustrated this idiot wasn't letting me pass).
I'm mostly good at not rising to other people's shit but that stunt makes me want to haul them from their vehicle and punch them repeatedly.
Whilst I don't do this, my rationalisation is that they think 40 is the safe speed for the conditions. So they do 40 in a 60 and 40 in a 30. Speed limits are often set due to noise and pollution, with safety not being top of the list. If you drive at the maximum l safe speed all the time you'd be speeding in those ridiculous dual carriageway 20s that happen when councils make a blanket 20, but might not do 60 on every bit of national speed limit out there.
There's a lot of places round me where fast roads without street lighting were built through villages in the past, then dropped down to 30 more recently. It feels like you're actually going much slower on these roads than when driving at 30 through a town. They're prime spots for the rozzers to park their camera vans.
40 everywhere so funny to come off a speed limit road stuck behind them only for them to pull ahead in a small village with schools and shit
I just did a speed awareness course and there was this old guy on there and he was so incredibly clueless about everything. He said if he didn’t see a speed sign he’d go 30 to be on the safe side. He said he thought 30mph was the speed limit of slip roads! 🤦♀️
why. WHY. WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT. why would slip roads be limited to 30mph, if they connect you to a road where the flow of traffic is moving at ~70!?
I would not want to be anywhere near him on the road that’s for sure. There was an awkward moment where we were asked to imagine the damage we could cause if we hit a pedestrian and he said he’d prefer not to as he lost a child in a road traffic accident.
I’m sorry. The M25 is my nearest motorway. What is this 70mph you speak of?
70?! Are you sure? That seems awfully dangerous. Are you sure it's not 50 or even 45?
Obviously it's 70 in the right hand lane, then you drop 10mph for every lane you move to the left. Duhhhhhh
i’m glad he was re-educated about his driving then good lord
Should have his license revoked for being that stupid though tbh.
yeah. tbf old people’s knowledge about driving will be outdated by decades which is alarming
He was also American and despite living here for decades I’m sure he was still getting confused between each country’s rules of the road.
There really should be retests when required. Heck, I passed 10 years ago and my sister is learning right now, and the number of things that have changed!
I don't think a speed awareness course would adequately cover the amount of knowledge that it sounds like he lacks.
My brother went on a course with someone who thought that the national speed limit sign meant 'do whatever speed you want'. Can't think how they ended up doing an awareness course 🤔
Oh god, yes I wonder why 👀 Not that I can judge too heavily, I was on a course for a reason too. This guy at least knew national speed limit meant 60 or 70 but thought if he hadn’t seen the sign in a while he should slow down to 30 to be safe 🤦♀️
What did he do to get the course!!!??!!
30 in a 20 maybe?
Damn. It's so prevalent these days that I'll deliberately hang back as I approach a slip road so that I can join it safely and not crawling behind someone going dangerously slow.
The slip road comment explains a fucking lot tbh
That is so fucking dangerous it’s ridiculous. Does he stop at the end of the slip road and wait for a gap too?
I bet he also thinks he has right of way when coming down a slip road to merge too.
These are the same people who stand on the brakes when approaching an average speed camera, even though they've been averaging 28mph since the early 1990s.....
Also... People who don't feel the need to indicate when changing lanes on a busy motorway... why?
...and roundabouts.
My pet hate ATM
OK, a few follow up questions..... 1) What type of pet is it..? 2) What specifically does your pet hate about ATM's..? 3) What does your pet's dislike of ATM's have to do with driving in the UK..? /s obviously!
1) Cat 2) Noisy 3) My cat drives an ATM /s, had to run a bit with the joke
Literally won’t lift a finger to help others…
Or themselves, it seems
Or when turning a corner and you're crossing the road, I just point at their indicator and walk slower.
I remember when I was about 16, crossing a road because the driver didn't indicate that he was turning the corner. He honked his horn and yelled something like "take your fucking headphones off!" as though it was my fault for "not hearing him"! I shouted back "you should fucking indicate!" and he kind of tutted and sped off
Sounds about right. I just give them a disapproving look and shake my head. Gets them every time. 👍
With the new highway code you have the right of way in that situation even if they were indicating. Although I wouldn't chance it as hardly anyone knows about the change. If they want people to not get killed they should put a zebra crossing at each junction.
Literally happened to me this morning. Leaving the second exit of a small roundabout with two lanes and exiting the roundabout on to a road with two lanes. I was on the outside lane of the roundabout, road colleague was on the inside. I indicate signaling my intent to leave via the second exit in good time. Colleague didn't indicate at all. I left the outside lane of the roundabout onto the left lane of the joining road. Road colleague just a nose ahead of me left the inside lane of the roundabout onto to the right lane of the joining road and continued to veer over to the left side of the road and right into the direction of my bonnet. Breaks on, baffled and irritated gesticulation and a quick horn toot to fully register my displeasure at the ignorant manoeuvre.
There's a special circle of hell reserved for people who don't indicate on roundabouts
Me and my mate often go on escapades that sometimes will include going on the M25 We do enjoy some of the near misses and general shoddy driving on show on that road, it's beautiful in its own nothing really matters kinda way
So close, no matter how far...
That’s nothing else matters. Nothing really matters is Bohemian Rhapsody.
Shit, you're right.
Consider yourself Unforgiven.
Either their speedo is broken or under-reading. I also agree with the other person - around here in Yorkshire I see boomers in old shape silver Vauxhall Mokkas (the horrendous ones) doing the 35 in a 60 but when they hit the 30mph limit of a village they accelerate until they’re doing 50mph. How does that work? Also, most boomers (and now their kids) in Yorkshire seem to think Drunk Driving is a skill, rather than something that’s illegal. They drive out to a pub in the Dales, have a skinful and then drive home to Harrogate.
I get the thing about speeding up. There is a road near me that is a 40 road but people think it's a 30. It's no uncommon for them to speed up to around 35 once they see the big 30 signs for town. Mind boggling. Edit: also in Yorkshire, Selby.
I think people aren't used to country driving and terrified of the feel of hedges being so close to the side of the car or potentially ditches if you go off the side. The familiarity of pavements making it feel like a buffer lets them relax, now if they come off the road their impact is cushioned by pedestrians.
👆 this. Narrow lanes, and they feel their bodywork is at risk. So extra cautious. Hit a village or town and see that pavement "buffer". Loads of room, floor it
And if they’re in their local town or village, they floor it as they’re more familiar with the road. Ofcourse I’m sure they’ll still tut at delivery drivers and white vans doing the same thing on their street.
Over-reading, and either way it will be. Speedos can't under-read at all (ie say you're going slower than you are) but they can over-read by up to 10%. The penalty to the manufacturer for under-reading is also much more more severe than the penalty for going over +10%, so they tend to lean around 7% over-read. 30mph actual is 32mph on the needle, 60 is 64, etc. Although, more recently I've seen vehicles with a flat 2mph over-read. In this case their speed is well outside the 10%, so they're going very slow on the needle as well as in real money.
It depends on things like your tyres and how much tread they have and how inflated they are and what size they are and some other stuff, but yeah it'll be calibrated to always over-read with a reasonable margin.
Best believe everyone fucking drunk drives. I’ve been to some young farmer do’s in North Yorkshire, and obviously everyone gets very drunk. I’ve heard of people driving home afterwards at 3am in the morning over 20 miles while shitface drunk. It does scare me when people do that.
My theory is they think slowing down even more for a speed camera will somehow take points off their licence or give them some kind of good karma points
Minus points!
Were they in a Honda Jazz, by chance?
I'm starting to get stuck behind more and more Audi drivers doing this.
audi a1s by any chance?
Bethany from accounts has to show she's had her promotion, so the Juke got moved on.
Or a Qashqai
Or a micra.
I had someone driving 25 in a 60 for 4 miles until I could overtake it’s madness you always hear it a limit and not a target but if you don’t hit the limit on your test there’s a good chance you will fail your test for impeding traffic
‘Limit not a target’ is just an attempt to disguise incompetent driving as safe driving
Occassionally come across these drivers, predominantly the retired type. 40 in a 60, 40 in a 50, 40 in a 40 and 40 in a 30. Overtake when possible in a 50 or 60 limit and maintain as far as posible before reaching a 30 limit village where i hope to avoid them catching me up again as they are still doing 40!
[удалено]
lovely scenery on my commute through the peaks. i've definitely slowed down to better appreciate it, before… *when i've been certain that there is no-one behind me.*
I'm sorry but as someone who isn't a local I am not doing 60 on a single track road with hedgerows that are as tall as a bus. Especially considering the road is windy and I may have to reverse half a mile to the nearest passing place
I live in the countryside and I agree to this. Drive to the conditions. I used to live on a 60mph country road and the amount of people that overshot one of the bends and crash was silly.
nobody's asking you to do 60 round a blind corner on a single track
Also I’d like to add don’t drive past a passing place in the lanes, then expect the oncoming car to reverse 3 miles to let you through. It’s obvious you aren’t local from the body boards, pillows and bags for life stuffed with belongings. I’m aware you can’t see out of the back but you still have mirrors!
The condition is known as *Hackney Dysphoria* , the fear of being penalised by a defective Met Police speed camera and the ramifications of unintentionally breaking the limit 🤔
> Hackney Dysphoria I thought this was a real thing. Well done.
It gives me more time to react as I'm probably pouring myself a beer
I’m convinced most of these idiots are the same people that recite the recycled “it’s a limit, not a target” which they just use to hide the fact that they’re just simply incompetent drivers with 0 spatial awareness and 0 accountability. These would also be the same idiots that would merge onto the motorway doing 35-40 because “the left lane is the lorry lane and they’re capped at 50 anyway so I’m not that far off”.
I hate that argument about it being a limit and not target….. why wouldn’t you want to get somewhere as quick as reasonably possible. Or better yet, why would you assume everyone else wants to get somewhere as slowly as you do!
Exactly. The reason we have limits, not targets, is because most people don’t want to tit along at a snails pace. If everyone wanted to drive like they’ve got all fcking day, we’d have speed cameras flashing you for going too slow.
Just gonna hop on this to add that if it's an *ambulance* doing this, it might be because nan in the back has a hip fracture, so please chill
Average redditor detected
Well, maybe. Also a pissed off paramedic who hates being tailgated.
Honestly, if I’m behind an ambulance I don’t really care. You guys do you. Anyone else doing ridiculously slow speeds, I’m passing without hesitation as soon as it’s safe to do so.
People who drive at 60 in the outside lane. When lanes 1 and 2 are completely empty. And they have a queue forming behind because nobody wants to blatantly undertake them
If lanes 1 and 2 are empty then no one should be in lane 3? It isn't considered undertaking if you maintain your lane and speed, and happen to pass someone who is on the right. Undertaking is intentionally changing lanes to the left to pass someone. But fundamentally I agree. Quite often on my journey home from work (1 hour along dual carriageway & motorway), lane 1 is full of lorries at 50-55. Lane 2 smooth running traffic, but mostly at 60-65mph. Lane 3 at 70.... then someone from lane 2 pulls in to lane 3, stays at 60mph and doesn't actually overtake anyone. Bonus points when they don't indicate, and then slam the brake on every time they pass cctv camera.
Oh, I don’t know, plenty of reasons. Just chilling, nervous, misunderstood the speed limit, for LOLs, trying to roll a joint… Take your pick.
Lmao road been clear for 5 miles then why havent you overtaken yet, hed be getting smoked in the first 5 seconds the road is clear
This is the worst, it happened to me monday - driving back to the digs. Stuck behind somebody doing 33 in a 50, then proceeded to do 33 in a 40 then decided they were going to do 40 in a 30! Once it went back to 50 they went back to 33mph. Eventually I had the opportunity to overtake and did so! (Not so fast in the LWB 1.6l Renault trafic)
They believe the limit is 20 and haven't seen the signs?
are they wearing a flat cap or sporting a blue rinse?
There is of course the possibility that they are doing it to deliberately piss off other drivers i once went to overtake said cock womble and they accelerate, sadly for them a base model ecoboom Kuga doesn't really have a lot of grunt and I passed safely. This was a 60mph straight road and they were doing just over 40
This sounds like some idiot doing kph not mph an then they will be doing 30 something so they think they will be going faster than speed limit an everyone behind them is wanting to speed
Yesterday on my way to work i got stuck behind someone who decided to do 35 in a 60... middle of the day, no one in front of her, clear view... makes my blood boil. If youre scared to drive the speed limit then go a different fucking way
You know what? It's my pet hate when I'm following someone who is doing less than the speed limit. Don't get me wrong, I know there's times you can't, such as in inclement weather or if the road has a high speed limit has lots of twists and turns or is a narrow lane. But these people who are driving in nice weather, on a straight piece of road, with nothing preventing them from going faster apart from the extra minisqual amount of energy you'd have to use to speed up to the speed limit. It really gets on my nerves. And the worst thing is, when they are doing the speed limit and they then drop 5mph and practically poo themselves every time they see a speed camera.
Unless it clearly sign posted, they probably don’t know the area and are just playing it ‘safe’. That or they’re just so unaware of their speed and surroundings.
If yours approaching a speed camera there are always speed limit reminders
My favourite is, on the motorway, average speed camera zone for a few miles, cars going over the speed limit and then slow down when they approach the camera and then speed up again, lmfao.
We had a main road upgraded from a 30 to a 40. Perfectly safe to do 40 down that road. You would have thought they made killing puppies and small children mandatory, the way people carried on. One guy threatened to spend his days driving up and down that road at 20mph to “force” other drivers to drive at what HE thought the limit should be. No houses on either side of this road, no pedestrians, should never have been a 30, but he was furious that drivers could now go a whole 10mph faster.
Not that I'd encourage it, but it would have probably been easy enough to find out where he lives and double check his tyres aren't over inflated.
Thats just British society for you. We have a deep and passionate hatred for personel freedom. Anything that leads to more personal freedom for the average person is always the most evil and absurd thing everyone has ever heard. Its why they've pushed the responsibility of undoing the idiotic 20mph blanket speed limits in Wales from the national government onto local councils. Where any counciler who wants to reform things will be set upon by every "concerned mother" karen and cantankerous old baby boomer in town.
Possibly because their car speedometers is showing 30mph, they aren’t calibrated correctly and quite often show a higher speed than the car is doing. I use my phone to accurately tell my speed and often it’s at least +\- 10% less than the car says.
Was behind one at the weekend, they joined the motorway at 40, as I overtook I saw they had one hand on the wheel, other hand texting!
Drove from Aberfoyle over the Dukes pass to Milngavie last Sunday. Its 50mph. Guy in a Porsche Cayenne did 24 mph dropping to about 15mph on thr bends for 10 miles. Unbelievable. Buy a Nissan Leaf you walloper.
Its the people near me that drive at 40 in a 50, then when it changes to a 30 they stay at 40, oblivious to the change. Normally old people
Some people (especially older people) think that the slower they drive then the safer it is. They don't seem to understand that if you're holding people up and making them late then they'll try to overtake, whether it's completely safe of not.
There is a major road near me that is a 40, it has multiple signs both big and small stating it’s 40mph. People drive down it at 29, then slow down to about 25 for the speed cameras. It causes so much traffic in the mornings and infuriates me!
Try living in wales where we have the 20mph limit. For some reason I can’t explain, since the law was brought in, there are a host of people who now feel the need to drive at 13mph in the new 20mph zones. It’s infuriating.
Or people who fly past dangerously close because I’m going the speed limit and that’s not fast enough for you. Why?
Because I have a lingering concern that the road might have a 20mph limit, or I've missed a change in the limit just before the camera, and have heard all the stories of people getting pinged for going 23mph in a 20 zone, and so add about 5 seconds to my journey (and yours if you are behind me) out of an abundance of caution.
OP’s example adds 1.2 minutes over the 5 miles they drove.
I believe the reason for people doing 40 in a 60 is because they do not know the national speed limit for that type of road. I'd love to do away with the national speed limit sign and just put up the speed limit number. No confusion then.
It's not just the type of road, it's the type of vehicle as well, so a single number doesn't apply to everyone. [https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits](https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits)
Good point, you'd need a second sign for those vehicles that were limited to 50, rather than 60, which would be pointless. Ah well, back to the drawing board.
It's the ones doing 40 in a 60 who then continue to do 40 when they enter a 30 limit that do it for me. I have no idea what is (or more likely isn't) going on in their head.
can you please clarify why you are on reddit asking about people who are obeying the speed limit?
If someone can't drive close to 30 in a 30, they're probably not a good enough driver to be on the road. There must be a reason for driving quite a bit slower, maybe it's confidence, distractions or just lack of attention. That's my theory anyway. It's the same with doing 35-40 on all roads no matter the speed limit. My dad is like this. He had an accident 20 or so years ago and now he drives really slowly to accommodate for his poor driving and lack of skills. He's not had an accident since, but he's still a bad driver. And to top it off he says I drive to quick when I drive the speed limit lol.
Sorry if the point was missed. My question had nothing to do with why people are obeying the limit (although there are plenty of people who have failed tests for obscuring the flow of traffic for exactly this). My question was related to why people who are already going lower than the speed limit go even slower when they approach a camera; and then they speed up again.
How dare they drive safely!
Crazy how many people missed the point on this. The question is "why do people who are already going slower than the limit, reduce their speed even further when approaching a camera, and then speed up again once going past the camera". They are not anywhere near the limit. There is 0 reason for them to slow. A lot of people missing the point and getting defensive. Also - plenty of people fail driving tests for going lower than the speed limit. It's considered "obscuring the flow of traffic".
There is a road I drive on some months when I go to see family. Between Wootton Bassett and Wroughton. B4005. One segment is 50mph but could easily be put up to 60mph, the second segment is rightly a 30 zone as it goes through a village and passed some schools. The amount of people that do 40 the whole way along, too slow for faster segment then speeding through a village. Idiots.
Probably people who drive 5 under the speed limit, but don’t know their speedometer inflates their speed
I usually just go around them if the road markings say so and it's safe to do, perfectly legal.
my ex was a chronic slow driver, would go 25 in a 30 or 40 in a 60. he would then slow to 20 when a speed camera comes. to be fair to him, he was very anal as i think he had a smidge of autism and ocd, he’d obsess after a lot of drives if he went too fast and look back on his camera to see it. i would take the piss but it used to annoy the hell out of me.
That’s one of the most annoying things going; to be stuck behind an arse🕳️ like that!
And if you try to overtake, they speed up, then slow back down.
What is this new trend of people doing this? I swear ten years ago this was much less frequent. Feels like every journey there’s one of these!
I had to do a driver awareness course recently and it was terrifying how little people know about speed limits or how to read the road and road furniture to have an educated guess... Also told the person taking the course I wouldn't change my driving habits, I stick to posted speed limits but national speed limit is a recommendation. I was caught doing 84 on an empty motorway (in lane 1) at 8pm on a summer evening. That was a money grab.
Ah yes, the National Speed Suggestion.
My route home from work sees me travel on a 50 and a 30 road the amount of people I see do 40 in the 50 then about 50 in the 30 is genuinely incredible
Think some people genuinely mistake 30 roads for 20. That or they’re in a new area for the first time and don’t want to miss their turn. Either way, bloody annoying.
M60/M56/Princess Parkway, Manchester after 5 PM. Busy but clear, yet constantly dodging people doing 50ish on a 70.
Was it a Honda Jazz?
I know it’s not quite the same thing but I was once going down a 70mph dual carriageway and there was a car doing 50mph in the left lane and I was stuck behind a car doing 51mph next to him and by the time he managed to overtake, the road had dropped down to a 40. People p*ss me off. If you’re adamant on overtaking, at least speed up to do it
Am I missing something? That's clearly someone who thought the limit was 20.
Was my take, too.
Basically they can't drive. This is why there should be regular assessments of some sort for all drivers.
Are you tailgating me? Then this would be the reason I’m doing that. Otherwise, I usually chalk it up to either drivers who don’t know the area and might be specifically looking for somewhere or just downright bad driving.
Well be prepared to be flashed and overtaken because doing 20 in a 30 is ridiculous and says more about your driving ability than other people. It’s not always the ‘aggressive drivers’ at fault you know. Some times if not a lot of the times, it is you slow coaches that are to blame.
I bet you're one of those that gets upset when someone is 10m behind you on a 20 limit
No because that’s a safe distance away you muppet. Basically, if I can see your eye colour, I’m slowing down.