Fed up with whinging speeders ?

conradmum

MarkyMarkD, I haven't said anywhere that it's acceptable to be driving too slowly for the road conditions, nor that I'm scared to overtake when I don't need to break the speed limit in order to do so.
Why are you trying to divert the discussion away from whether speeding is dangerous or not onto other dangerous things people do while driving? It's like saying well, it's okay to smoke because drinking to excess is really bad for you, and loads of people do that!
It's a bit disturbing to read that you think it's okay to overtake a whole convoy of slow moving vehicles just through sheer impatience, even though, as you admit, it would be dangerous to do so. Do the other drivers' poor driving skills excuse your own rash actions? Yes, it's frustrating to be in such a situation, but a mature, sensible adult would accept it's better to arrive late than not at all.

Hermione54

why do people who speed do it? It uses more petrol so costs more money. It's unnecessary and unwise. I think I heard somewhere too that on most journeys the speed of the vehicle has far less impact on the length of the journey time than the number of junctions involved, so they aren't actually getting to their destination that much quicker.

I have had a clean licence for 44 years - not so much as a parking ticket (so far!) but I do drive fast, especially on motorways, and I have often asked my self why. It doesn't make that much difference in journey time and I'm never late anyway. It does more damage to the environment and it costs more in fuel. I don't particularly like myself for it, but I think it's down to personality type. I just have a competitive nature and hate to come second in anything. The way I cured myself was to buy a Nissan Micra, but that was just too frustrating so I sold it.

Anyway, our speeds will all be controlled by satellite soon, which sadly will mean the end of threads like this.

MarkyMarkD

conradmum wrote: »

It's a bit disturbing to read that you think it's okay to overtake a whole convoy of slow moving vehicles just through sheer impatience, even though, as you admit, it would be dangerous to do so.

I didn't say that! It's harder work overtaking a convoy of 4 vehicles, but I can do it safely and only do it if it is safe. But that might (sometimes) involve exceeding the arbitrary speed limit on the road as it reduces the level of risk.

You have to accept that driving is inherently risky. You other recent posts illustrates that perfectly. Nobody drives round every blind corner on the assumption that there will be a stationary vehicle there. If they did, nobody would make any progress on country roads at all.

But, on that same topic, how come people don't understand the use of their horns on blind bends any more? I regularly drive along a single track country lane, which has two or three completely blind corners (and one hump backed bridge with no visibility). 90% of the cars I see driving on there NEVER use their horns to warn others of their presence. Complete madness!


Regarding your not saying that you won't overtake where it's safe to do so without exceeding the speed limit, I'm just inferring from your remarks that there are cases where you might think overtaking is unsafe whereas someone else might think it's perfectly safe. The fact that, in the circumstance I'm describing, even when we reach the piece of road where I can overtake all 4 vehicles in one manoeuvre, none of the other 3 drivers in front of me even consider overtaking, is proof that they are just numpties who cannot drive.

And if you suggest that they CAN drive, but merely think that 30mph is quite fast enough, that's rubbish. They are not holding up just themselves, but everyone else on the road and that's driving without consideration for others.

Apologies if, in fact, you WOULD overtake in those circumstances - I expect, if that is the case, that you've never seen me (or someone like me) overtaking you and three other cars all at once?

Optimist

It would seem speed cameras are only accurate up to a 100 meters !

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1774639.ece

Hintza

Hermione54 wrote: »

Anyway, our speeds will all be controlled by satellite soon, which sadly will mean the end of threads like this.

Our whole lives will soon be controlled from chipping our children, to the energy in our houses to how we drive our cars.

I thought we fought two wars for freedom in this country, everything from speed cameras to weigh your vegetables in metric units is the nanny sate taking over. National Socialism is alive and well and we are all living under it!

Big Brother and 1984 is already upon us and in a few years we will all be subservient drones.

Life would be much more bearable if we just let common sense prevail and follow the old adage, do unto others as you would have them do to you.

As for speeding all I know is that the few accidents I have had have all taken place when I have been driving slowly and not giving the road enough attention (at under 30mph).

Some on here need to get a grip and get a life!

conradmum

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Regarding your not saying that you won't overtake where it's safe to do so without exceeding the speed limit, I'm just inferring from your remarks that there are cases where you might think overtaking is unsafe whereas someone else might think it's perfectly safe. The fact that, in the circumstance I'm describing, even when we reach the piece of road where I can overtake all 4 vehicles in one manoeuvre, none of the other 3 drivers in front of me even consider overtaking, is proof that they are just numpties who cannot drive.

And if you suggest that they CAN drive, but merely think that 30mph is quite fast enough, that's rubbish. They are not holding up just themselves, but everyone else on the road and that's driving without consideration for others.

Apologies if, in fact, you WOULD overtake in those circumstances - I expect, if that is the case, that you've never seen me (or someone like me) overtaking you and three other cars all at once?

I think we would all agree that we have different ideas of what's safe and what isn't, but that's why we have rules for driving, so that we all do what's been decided is safe, whether we personally agree or not. Is it acceptable to break other laws because we don't personally agree with them?

I'm by no means suggesting that they can drive - in fact my post implies they have poor driving skills.

I judge each situation individually. I doubt I would overtake 4 vehicles on an A road unless I could see a good long way ahead - not the case on the majority of roads I drive on.

I try to have the same attitude to driving and other drivers as I have to being out in public with strangers. Okay, some old lady with arthritis is walking ahead of me and I can't get past. Does that mean it's okay to shove past her? Should I elbow my way through the crowds because I'm so much more important than everyone else?
I think the problem with speeders is that they think they have to get wherever they're going in the shortest amount of time possible, that speeding is a sign of being a good driver, and that driving is some sort of competition they have to win. To me a good driver is someone who doesn't have, or cause, any accidents, not the person who gets home from work first.

tomstickland

Why don't I have the patience to follow someone at 45mph on a NSL A road? Matter of principle I think. If there's a job to do then I want to apply myself to the job and do it efficiently. I'm mega alert when driving, observing hazards, watching the traffic behind in the mirror, checking speed etc. When in this mindset it is extremely frustrating to endure following someone who is daydreaming, usually wandering from side to side, cutting corners for no apparent reason. Of course, when you reach the 30 limit they dissappear off into the distance at 45mph. They're not travelling at 45mph as the result of any decision making. They just drive at that speed everywhere.

The limit is 60mph. If the road is wide and clear then why would someone choose to travel significantly slower than they need too? Do they ever wonder about the queue forming behind them? Do they even see it.
If it's a lorry or learner etc then I can understand, but when there seems to be no other explanation than "absent minded" then it's frustrating.

It's the same as walking along a busy street. I'll want to be getting where I want to go efficiently, fitting around other people, making decisions, getting on with it. Many seem to prefer just drifting along, suddenly stopping in busy doorways etc. Personality type maybe.

MarkyMarkD

I think it shows an interesting attitude, conradmum, that you associate shoving past grannies with overtaking.

The two are very dissimilar.

Most overtaking doesn't involve any sort of shoving or intimidating of the other driver.

Some overtaking might make the first driver FEEL like they are being shoved, but only if they were wandering outside their side of the road and generally getting in the way. If that's the case, they should consider their own driving standards, not feel aggrieved. Case in point here is single carriageway minor roads which are plenty wide enough for two cars. For some reason numpty drivers think it's OK to drive in the middle of this sort of road, and feel aggrieved if they are overtaken. But they are quite happy to move over when an approaching car passes them - at a relative speed of say 100mph or more. It's just lack of observation and consideration of the car behind them.

Back to the shoving issue. The worst, and most frequent, "shoving" on single carriageway roads is the people who are queuing 10 feet behind the first car going 30mph, and the one behind that, and the one behind that.

If you remember my "overtaking 4 cars at once" move. That's normally only necessary because the 4 cars in front are all driving SO close together that you can't overtake one or two of them. And if you DO overtake one or two of them, and then pull in, they almost always FLASH and TOOT at you because you've "cut them up". Er, excuse me. I've not cut you up. I've pulled in to a gap which should have existed had you not been driving like a moron 10 feet behind another car.

I've said previously that people should drive to the conditions and to the speed limit, where it makes sense to do so.

Let me qualify that. I accept that if someone is a dismal driver and cannot overtake anyone at all, they can drive along at 30mph behind the other dismal driver who's driving at 30mph. But they should leave at least 100 yards between them so other drivers can safely overtake them one at a time. No benefit is served by tailgating.

conradmum

I was using the old lady analogy more as an example of attitudes to other people who may be acting differently to you, even delaying you, but where it would be nicer to be reasonable than impatient. I don't personally feel as though I've been shoved if I'm overtaken. I'm usually pleased if it's a speeder as I'd rather not be driving in the same road space as them.
Again, I am not trying to excuse other kinds of poor driving.
Tom Stickland - I liked your former avatar better, though it made me a bit dizzy sometimes! The difference between the two scenarios you've cited is that roads and cars are far more dangerous than your average shopping centre. That's why all drivers should stick to the rules - including the dawdlers - as much as they can.

Errata

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

i've been stopped a few times, had 6 points on my license a while back (came off my insurance 2 years ago) and was stopped the other week.
It hasn't really affected my driving as like i said i don't even realise i'm going over the speed limit sometimes and when i do it's usually within 5mph or so. It's not a decision i make (apart from on the motorway) that i'm going to deliberately break the speed limit. I get in the car, start the ignition and drive.

You DO make a decision to deliberately break the speed limit, otherwise you'd be able to point out to us that you also often drive at 5mph under the limit without realising !