Bad Drivers

artbaron

Azari wrote: »

Yes, there's definitely a threshold below which the police will consider prosecution.

It's all relative and dependant on conditions.

Which is part of the reason I rarely take note of speed limits and instead just drive at what I consider a safe speed. Speed limits are necessary for reasons of legality and quantification but the information they convey to me is worthless at best, misleading at worst. Close by the house there's a winding section of single-track road in between tall hedgerows. I travel at 20 - 25 round this section of road; 30 would be fast and 40 would be reckless, yet the speed limit is 60. A few miles further on the limit is still 60 yet the road is wide and straight and it's perfectly safe to do 90, conditions allowing.

JohalaReewi

So you are driving at 60 on a wide straight NSL road in the dry. How fast are you really going? Vehicle speedometers always show that you are going faster than you really are. But do you know how much faster yours is?

The thing that comes across from posters claiming that vehicles doing 40 in a 60 are being inconsiderate, is they give the impression they have right of way over the traffic in front because they are going at the speed limit. It is interesting the words they use to describe the other drivers. Saying "you are being inconsiderate by holding me up" is a tad inconsiderate itself.

It's a journey, not a race.

vassa

stephen77 wrote: »

While its up to me to over take. If I choose incorrectly to over take and crash, while I was out fault and no court would say your guilty. Think of the car I just have had a head on crash with, it was not there fault.

No, it would be yours.

The thread about bad driving is not talking about motorbikes or lorry's that are restricted to slower speeds. We are talking about vehicles that can go drive at 70mph.

Doesn't matter what the vehicle is, the debate here is speed.

I would not feel safe going 45mph on a dual carriageway if every one else was driving 60+ mph. I think that is dangerous. It may be legal, but still I would choose a different route.

It's not dangerous just because you think it. Show me stats that back up doing 45 in a 60 zone is dangerous.

Most cars are more economical going faster than 30mph as well.

Depends on engine size, number of gears, tyre pressures, wind resistance, road surface, number of passengers etc.

Some engineer in India managed to break a world MPG record by keeping his engine at 1500 rpm, getting approx 47 miles per LITRE.

I adopted this this last week. Last week i drove my normal style, slow steady acceleration, soft breaking and sticking to the limits, and i did a full tank in. I got home 15 minutes ago and have used half a tank this week.

It saves me money, so if it's too slow for others i don't care one bit, they can go round me.

Where i do agree it's dangerous, is if you merge into moving traffic and only do 45 in a 60 zone, because then people have no choice but to take preventative action to avoid a crash. If you're cruising in moving traffic on a 60 road at 45 it's not dangerous at all if the person behind you has any ounce of road sense whatsoever, it's not really even a debate.

vassa

Also will be interesting to see if the 'you go 10mph under the speed limit so you may as well be holding my kids over a balcony' brigade begin to chastise someone who admits speeding. And btw, i would be very careful, forum or not, admitting speeding, a few bikers have been prosecuted for doing the same as far as i'm aware.

Although i do agree that going FASTER than the speed limit isn't necessarily dangerous either, it's just stuff that governments set to control the flow of traffic/administer fines/try to bring a degree of safety etc etc, BUT (although i don't see where you've slated the slow drivers, so i'm not accusing you of double standards) the flip side works as well, if going 10mph under the limit is grossly dangerous to some, going 10 over is the exact same situation, except the car's reaction time is worse.

Nicki

pinkshoes wrote: »

2. The national speed limit on single carriageways is 60mph. Not 50mph, and definitely NOT 40mph. If you can't drive at somewhere near the speed limit in good driving conditions, you should re-think the whole driving thing.

In Northern Ireland drivers are not allowed by law to drive faster than 45mph whether it is a single or dual carriageway, and nor are any members of their family driving their car with R plates displayed irrespective of how many years they have held a full driving license.

So not everyone, even the legislators, agrees with you that it is necessary, or even desirable, to roar along at 60 just because you can. As pthers have said 60 is the maximum speed limit not the compulsory or even target speed limit, and if you are unable to adjust your driving to the road conditions, which includes the speed of the traffic ahead of you, perhaps you aren't the awesome or even the competent driver you believe yourself to be.

artbaron

JohalaReewi wrote: »

So you are driving at 60 on a wide straight NSL road in the dry. How fast are you really going? Vehicle speedometers always show that you are going faster than you really are. But do you know how much faster yours is?

+2mph if you were asking me.

bod1467

Indicated 75 is actual 69/70 (it toggles between them) for me (according to my satnav). I have cruise control so can precisely set my target speed.

martinsurrey

vassa wrote: »

That's their problem.

Azari wrote: »

Can any of those who seem to think that there is some requirement to drive at or near the speed limit post links to either the highway code or the road traffic act where this requirement is stated?

I'm aware that people have been prosecuted for driving absurdly slowly but, until reading this thread I wasn't aware that anyone thought there was any requirement to travel close to the limit.

Azari wrote: »

LOL, you didn't answer my question.

You may have decided that not driving at or near the speed limit is 'driving without reasonable consideration for other road users' but that is not what the highway code says.

I have suffered as much as anyone from dodderers doing 30 mph on NSL backroads, but I don't believe they were driving in contravention of the highway code. (The roads in question being quite bendy.)

Damned annoying, though, particularly as you would see their brake lights come on half way round every bend.

People who have been prosecuted tend to be doing under thirty on straight, dry, uncluttered, roads, in daylight.

here is the relevant part of the highway code

169

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.


I assume that everyone who does 40 in a 60 does this? checks thier mirrors and pulls in once they have a que of cars behind them? If not they are not driving with due care and attention.

Norman_Castle

bod1467 wrote: »

This is the real world ... one of my colleague's husband took his motorcycle test yesterday (direct access, so riding a larger bike for the test even though his own bike is a 125cc).

He failed.

Why? He was riding TOO SLOW for the conditions and road speed limit.

(I don't have any details as to HOW slow he was going, but I don't imagine it was anything like 15 in a 30 - probably more like low 20s in a 30, or 30 in a 40).

Is our theoretical "slow" driver taking a test?. Is there an expectation or requirement that qualified drivers will always drive as though they are taking a test?. Do you?.

vassa

martinsurrey wrote: »

here is the relevant part of the highway code

169

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.


I assume that everyone who does 40 in a 60 does this? checks thier mirrors and pulls in once they have a que of cars behind them? If not they are not driving with due care and attention.

A car isn't a 'slow moving vehicle', i think you've misunderstood it.

It refers to things like mopeds, tractors..

The person who is driving so badly that someone in front of them doing 40 in a 60 zone now becomes 'dangerous' is the one driving without due care and attention.

And the 'queue of traffic' thing isn't measurable so your posting of that is pointless.