driving slow : your views ?

DirectDebacle

topdaddy wrote: »

So why say it then? Backpeddling suits you.

Because I made no assumptions. You think I did because you didn't understand the previous posts, ie the post I replied to and my reply, which wasn't based on any assumptions. The only assumptions are the ones you invented.

Please try to understand posts before you comment on them.

arcon5

hgotsparkle wrote: »

If it wasn't safe to do so in optimal conditions then it would not be made as such.

So you think for example it's safe to do 60 on a thin windy road subject to NSL? Or on normal roads around bends?
Yet I don't see signs before bends and twists in the road say 60,60,50,40,60,60. Imagine how many signs there would be then?!
Also, motorways are 70 - yet sitting much higher can often be equally safe.

Your comments are very naive. I hope you are not a motorist with logic like this.

notanewuser

arcon5 wrote: »

So you think for example it's safe to do 60 on a thin windy road subject to NSL? Or on normal roads around bends?
Yet I don't see signs before bends and twists in the road say 60,60,50,40,60,60. Imagine how many signs there would be then?!
Also, motorways are 70 - yet sitting much higher can often be equally safe.

Your comments are very naive. I hope you are not a motorist with logic like this.

I do 50-60 on roundabouts.

prowla

AdrianC wrote: »

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...

Sure - perhaps variable limits?

messes

AdrianC wrote: »

Ah, yes, that was the bit I was waiting for you to mention. So, probably, a minority of NSL roads. Even a minority of _straight_ bits of NSL road.

I don't know where you live but in my area there are loads of NSL roads where you can see sufficiently to maintain the speed limit through the bends. (presuming the car is capable)


You could go even faster on the straight bits.

Green_Homer

It seems some people (i.e. OP) don't grasp the concept of 'appropriate speed'.

I have a 60 mile round trip commute most of it motorway with the last 4 miles or so each way on A roads. Unless road conditions (very wet / windy etc) dictate otherwise I will drive at the speed limit apart from the motorway where I stick to a smooth 60mph to take some sting out of my fuel bill!!

On the motorway I will always stick in lane 1 unless I am overtaking and try my best not to slow down traffic in lanes 2&3 - if the overtake is going to take a while (and slow traffic) then I will speed up to match the flow of lane 2/3 before resuming to 60 in lane 1 asap.

It seems the OP has a strange view that slow = smooth! Smooth is forward planning and anticipating what is happening ahead, generally that means leaving appropriate breaking distance rather than speed!

martin2345uk

notanewuser wrote: »

I do 50-60 on roundabouts.

I think my car would end up on its roof if I took a roundabout at 60!

skivenov

I've had a few 4wd cars, and I know what the "roundabout game" is, so I'll take the fifth there.

Richard53

If you want to drive slowly, that's fine by me. As long as:

• you don't hog the middle of the road to make passing you difficult
• you leave a decent gap between you and the car in front
• you don't suddenly make like Jensen Button when there is a straight stretch and try to outdrag me to the next bend.

All simple Highway Code stuff, really.


When I learned to drive, my instructor said that every road user has a duty to help the traffic flow freely and smoothly. That means 'getting on with it' where possible, stopping (if you have to) out of the way of other traffic, going on the next junction rather than doing a U-turn, etc. Drive slowly if you wish, but let the traffic flow past you and you won't upset anyone.

stampede

Years ago, I used to commute about 50 miles each way & my colleague on another shift used to do the same.

He used to drive at 50mph on the motorway all the way, & reckoned to get close to 40mpg in his xr2 (it was in the 90's). To me it's pointless buying an xr2 or whatever is similar if you are going to go 50mph on a motorway. I had a Fiesta diesel & was getting 60mpg & getting to work much faster?

I tried it for a week & found it the most stressful week of driving I've ever had as I was constantly having to overtake & be overtaken by the same lorries. To cap it all I ended up only averaging about 63mpg.

It is getting harder to overtake people these days as councils have put in place many traffic calming measures, which often make people slow down much more than what is actually required.

If everyone went 20% slower, there would be at least 20% more traffic on the road, which raises it's own safety issues.

The only speed limits I think are often too high are town centres set at 30mph - in the middle of the day, you see some people racing through at 30 when the appropriate speed is closer to 15-20mph.

In the end it's all about what the appropriate speed is, & unfortunately the answer all depends on a persons own judgement.

There are also a lot of people on the road driving with medical conditions that may impair their judgement.