driving slow : your views ?

AdrianC

KatieDee wrote: »

Although grudgingly, if I saw somebody trying to overtake who needed to pull in, I would let them. Generally, I leave at least a two car gap between me and the car in front. I see your point though...I'm going to keep this in mind in future.

Why "grudgingly"?

And, if by "two car gap", you mean two car lengths - ten metres - then, even at 30mph, that's less than a one second gap. "Only a fool breaks the two second rule" applies to all roads, not just motorways.

Stoke

DUTR wrote: »

Not a knock on Corsa's, it may not have had the ability to overtake quickly and safely, I remember a few years back I was returning from Torquay, nice easy cruise up the M5, I remember I used to get frustrated with those not passing where it appeared to me that they could, or that once they overtook the vehicle they did not quickly return to the inside lane. The next day I had a meeting in Brentford, but was to use a hire car, the car given was a 1.4 Rover 213, now that car struggled to pass coaches and lorries, the rate of change of speed of some cars is lacking and the wind affects them to hinder swift safe progress.

Come on dude, this tractor was going about 25 miles an hour. The only reason this Corsa might not have been able to overtake is if it was misfiring on two bloody cylinders. I'm not saying Corsa's are quick, they can barely pull the skin off a rice pudding, but they're quicker than a bloody tractor!! I did peek a glance at the young man driving and he looked somewhat nervous and perhaps had only passed his test. Fact is though, without pushing your abilities you can never really improve. I guess as he get's more confident he'll start to take more risks and become better.

sinbad182 wrote: »

I'm surprised you're not sticking up for the OP Stoke - you must be frequently victimised by faster drivers due to the fact your ageing run down shed of a kids car can't get above 45mph.

Aww, I love you too! :iloveyou: Sinbad

In fact, my ageing run down shed of a kids car can safely reach speeds of up to 100Mph Not that I've ever gone that fast of course

motorguy wrote: »

What part of the world do you live in that you only have a "few" HGVs on your motorways?

In mine theres a continuous flow of lorries buses and vans, all speed limited to 56MPH, so whats the issue if a car driver does the same speed as those?

And the issue with motorways is that people view the outside lane as "the fast" lane and that gives them carte blanche to drive along at 70mph in it, often with no traffic in the middle / inside lane, rather than pulling back over a lane.

I guess the part of the world I live in wasn't clear enough... I live in Stoke...

My point was that she is suggesting she actually goes slower than the HGV's.

Regarding those who drive all the time in the fast lane, that seems to be reserved for Range Rovers, Mercs and Audis. :j

DUTR

Stoke wrote: »

Come on dude, this tractor was going about 25 miles an hour. The only reason this Corsa might not have been able to overtake is if it was misfiring on two bloody cylinders. I'm not saying Corsa's are quick, they can barely pull the skin off a rice pudding, but they're quicker than a bloody tractor!! I did peek a glance at the young man driving and he looked somewhat nervous and perhaps had only passed his test. Fact is though, without pushing your abilities you can never really improve. I guess as he get's more confident he'll start to take more risks and become better.

Aren't many 3 cylinder? Which would leave one cylinder , seriously though, it's things like the rate of change from 50-70 and the other way around, In my own car (GTI) you check the lane is clear, add a bit of accelerator, pass the offending vehicle , check it is clear to re-enter the lane and continue on the journey until the next vehicle.
With the 214 it was a different affair, check that the lane behind is clear, enter the lane then try and pass the vehicle, the process took possibly a minute (seriously) and by then another vehicle would be behind you, the tail wind from the lorry/coach held the vehicle back and even after you passed it, it was a while before you felt safe enough to pull back in as the wind really held you back. You really had to be 120% sure that the overtaking manouvre was possible.

GabbaGabbaHey

Stoke wrote: »

Come on dude, this tractor was going about 25 miles an hour. The only reason this Corsa might not have been able to overtake is if it was misfiring on two bloody cylinders. I'm not saying Corsa's are quick, they can barely pull the skin off a rice pudding, but they're quicker than a bloody tractor!! I did peek a glance at the young man driving and he looked somewhat nervous and perhaps had only passed his test. Fact is though, without pushing your abilities you can never really improve. I guess as he get's more confident he'll start to take more risks and become better.

The Corsa driver did one thing right - he didn't overtake when he wasn't confident of being able to do so safely.

The real pity was that he obviously hadn't been taught that, in such circumstances, he should leave a large enough gap between himself and the vehicle in front (the tractor) so that the vehicle behind him could overtake him and then the tractor in two separate manoeuvres, rather than having to wait for an opportunity to pass both at once.

I'm a fast driver and I find it immensely frustrating how often I arrive at the tail end of a procession of cars, all driving at the speed of the front car, but where nobody is willing to overtake. However the cars are so bunched up that there's no chance for me to "leapfrog" them one by one.

If people kept a reasonable distance between themselves and the vehicle in front, then those who want to overtake could do so safely, and those who don't could continue driving at a speed at which they feel comfortable.

prowla

Stoke wrote: »

Regarding those who drive all the time in the fast lane, that seems to be reserved for Range Rovers, Mercs and Audis. :j

Oi! What about us beemer drivers????!

Stoke

prowla wrote: »

Oi! What about us beemer drivers????!

That put a smile on my face

jozxyqk

It sometimes seems I'm the only driver in my area that obeys the speed limits. Doing 30 past a school with someone tailgating me is a regular occurrence. It's probably wrong of me to then ease down to 25, purely to be safe of course...

I have a long commute up some less than pleasant A roads, so I tend to do about 60 and try to get the average mpg up.

petersharper

Interesting read, but as stated, and as you requested OP, from a legal point of view:

If you are seen to be holding up or driving without due car, you WILL get pulled over and you WILL get points, simple as.

From a personal point of view I do not agree with your roundabout and motorway rules, although I'd be ageeable with your 30 zone rule

prowla

jozxyqk wrote: »

It sometimes seems I'm the only driver in my area that obeys the speed limits. Doing 30 past a school with someone tailgating me is a regular occurrence. It's probably wrong of me to then ease down to 25, purely to be safe of course...

I have a long commute up some less than pleasant A roads, so I tend to do about 60 and try to get the average mpg up.

Actually, though I think that 30 means 30 and not 25, I also think that the speed should be 20 by schools.

AdrianC

prowla wrote: »

I also think that the speed should be 20 by schools.

If the kids are milling around and the road outside the school is triple-parked (as usual at kicking-in/out o'clock), then 10mph may well be too fast. If it's not kicking-in/out o'clock, then does it matter whether the building's a school, a factory, a house, or whatever?

I'll decide an appropriate speed based on what's happening outside the windscreen, not on a sign that almost certainly tells me a default limit decided decades ago...