driving slow : your views ?

nobbysn*ts

Stoke wrote: »

Of course I don't do 70 all the way. What a stupid thing to say, but my route is mostly made up of NSL zones with a few towns. It only takes a few people driving at 40 and those unwilling to overtake to make my journey significantly longer than it should be. I avoid speeding through the towns but I'm happy to admit i get tempted when I've spent the last 15 miles stuck behind some Dorris in a Ford Ka doing 35 in a 60 with no opportunity to overtake and no interest in letting the people behind past.

So, you've added less than 7 minutes onto your journey, by Dorris, and that's stupid enough to consider speeding through a 30 limit to get a few of those minutes back? Your life must be so important, compared to Dorris? And "those unwilling to overtake" - if you can't have the confidence to go first, why on earth should they go, just so you can find the guts to go second? I really hate those drivers, that imagine they can speed, but can't manage to do it by themselves. If you can't drive well, don't whinge if others can't drive as badly as you, and don't let you tuck in behind.

Stoke

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

So, you've added less than 7 minutes onto your journey, by Dorris, and that's stupid enough to consider speeding through a 30 limit to get a few of those minutes back? Your life must be so important, compared to Dorris? And "those unwilling to overtake" - if you can't have the confidence to go first, why on earth should they go, just so you can find the guts to go second? I really hate those drivers, that imagine they can speed, but can't manage to do it by themselves. If you can't drive well, don't whinge if others can't drive as badly as you, and don't let you tuck in behind.

You really are stupid. Firstly, these things aren't linear. If I'm held up significantly, the traffic in the last two towns intensifies due to school run. As hard as you may find it to believe, 7 minutes can easily make a difference. 15 almost certainly will, so throw in a few traffic lights, a lorry turning in the road and yes, the time it takes has increased significantly.

Secondly, I've got no problem overtaking but when people drive closely or don't like to let you in, it requires a longer stretch. I can easily overtake three vehicles but four? Without hopping there's no chance and unfortunately, people make it harder to hop by tailgating.

prowla

Weyoun wrote: »

Or, to add to your list:
- Driver simply doesn't want to drive at that speed, and doesn't see the need to go fleeing everywhere at top speed for the sake of saving a few seconds.

Call that selfish if you wish, but it's no more selfish than the drivers who, thanks to their frustration, overtake dangerously, or the drivers who go above the speed limit for the sake of their own precious time.

I'm firmly with the OP here. It seems it's socially acceptable to go above the speed limit, yet not below it, despite the fact that the limit is an upper limit, not a lower one.

Yes, it is selfish.

Regarding holding up other traffic and being overtaken, the Highway Code states:

168

Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.
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.

Also,

144

You MUST NOT

• drive dangerously
• drive without due care and attention
• drive without reasonable consideration for other road users.
  Law RTA 1988 sects 2 & 3 as amended by RTA 1991

Deliberately driving slowly and aggravating (or not caring whether you do) other users is not driving with reasonable consideration.

Please don't confuse any of the above with people who are speeding (ie. wish to drive above the speed limit); that is a different matter.

Stoke

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

So, you're saying the consensus of at least four drivers is it's not safe to overtake, but the bleating sheep in fifth place has decided they should all go, so it can follow? I think you'll find it's you that is more than stupid, you're probably actually dangerous. Hopefully, you'll just wipe yourself out, and not take a decent driver with you in your stupidity.

Hypothesize:
Car 1 is too selfish to drive at a reasonable speed, doing say 30 in a 60.
Car 2 is misfiring on one cylinder and is just trying to get home.
Car 3 is too nervous to overtake more than one vehicle.
Car 4 is powerless to overtake because there is unlikely to be a long enough safe stretch or cars in the opposite lane.

That's a perfectly reasonable scenario, so really, you need to get your head out your backside and think more logically here. Unfortunately, you clearly think about these things from a linear point of view, a strong mathematical sense, when driving is rarely like that. Maybe the same motorway stretch every Monday to Friday (excluding the day of an accident of course). I drive the same route every morning without fail. Realistically, it's the only route I can take and luckily, it's the fastest when people observe the speed limits and drive courteously and safely. I can also tell you for a fact that if I get delayed for some reason at home, say, I have a flat tyre or I can't get out for some reason (sometimes people find it fun to park in front of my drive), only 10 or 15 minutes will be the difference between my journey taking an hour to ultimately taking an hour and half or even an hour and forty five minutes. Hell, it's taken two hours once or twice.

Like I said, these things aren't linear, there's far too many variables for them to be linear. To put it into context, when it's half term, my journey can take less than an hour, incredibly. That's how much of a difference school traffic can make, and that's school traffic alone. Chuck in other people getting to work and then you understand how it's a rather complex mathematical formula. When people drive unnecessarily slowly, I begin to worry that I'll get caught in the school traffic, making me late for work. Luckily, my workplace is reasonable and understand that I travel a decent distance, but that's not really an excuse to take the !!!!. I need to get to work. It's not about rushing, or speeding, it's about trying to make progress at the safest + fastest speed possible which in most cases is the speed limit. Only when conditions are not suitable for the speed limit, should people drive slower.

AdrianC

Stoke wrote: »

Hypothesize:
Car 1 is too selfish to drive at a reasonable speed, doing say 30 in a 60.
Car 2 is misfiring on one cylinder and is just trying to get home.
Car 3 is too nervous to overtake more than one vehicle.
Car 4 is powerless to overtake because there is unlikely to be a long enough safe stretch or cars in the opposite lane.

Then if car 2 leaves a reasonable gap between themselves and car 1, car 3 can pass car 2 then car 1 one at a time. Car 4 can then do likewise.

So the driver of car 1 is being selfish, yes, but so is the driver of car 2. One person makes one small adjustment, four people are happier.

The driver of car 1 hasn't got a queue right on their chuff.
The driver of car 2 doesn't feel pressured to pass car 1, and should the misfire develop, they haven't got to consider the queue right on their chuff.
The drivers of car 3 & 4 can now make reasonable progress without having to try to pass two cars tight together.

Stoke

AdrianC wrote: »

Then if car 2 leaves a reasonable gap between themselves and car 1, car 3 can pass car 2 then car 1 one at a time. Car 4 can then do likewise.

So the driver of car 1 is being selfish, yes, but so is the driver of car 2. One person makes one small adjustment, four people are happier.

The driver of car 1 hasn't got a queue right on their chuff.
The driver of car 2 doesn't feel pressured to pass car 1, and should the misfire develop, they haven't got to consider the queue right on their chuff.
The drivers of car 3 & 4 can now make reasonable progress without having to try to pass two cars tight together.

Agreed, sorry Adrian. I said earlier, that's one of the biggest problems I face. On occasions when it does backup, most of the time, the first few cars get very tight to each other. I'd happily hop if I could see the gaps, but sometimes, there won't even be a car length between the vehicles which means it just isn't safe to overtake without forcing your way in or going for broke.

Norman_Castle

prowla wrote: »

Deliberately driving slowly and aggravating (or not caring whether you do) other users is not driving with reasonable consideration..

So whats the definition of driving slowly?. Any speed below the maximum?.
Shouldn't slower drivers be giver reasonable consideration.

nobbysn*ts

Norman_Castle wrote: »

So whats the definition of driving slowly?. Any speed below the maximum?.
Shouldn't slower drivers be giver reasonable consideration.

Guess the answer to that is me. I have an accurate speedo, so all the rubbish about driving over because they're always wrong is out. It's a maximum, so I don't make it a game of trying to be dead on the speed, and spending all my attention watching the speedo. So I aim for between 50 and 60, not 70, on single lane roads. 25 to 30 in towns, not 30 to 35, and 35 to 40, not 40 to 45. If the driver behind doesn't like it, tough really. Put your money where your mouth is, Phone 999 and complain the driver is front won't speed, and see how far you get.

nobbysn*ts

"168 - Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle" - I'll do that, I won't speed up, and if you tailgate, I will certainly slow down to help you pass. Problem is most drivers don't want to, and won't choose to speed from the front. So I guess I comply with the highway code to the letter.</p>

Stoke

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

Guess the answer to that is me. I have an accurate speedo, so all the rubbish about driving over because they're always wrong is out. It's a maximum, so I don't make it a game of trying to be dead on the speed, and spending all my attention watching the speedo. So I aim for between 50 and 60, not 70, on single lane roads. 25 to 30 in towns, not 30 to 35, and 35 to 40, not 40 to 45. If the driver behind doesn't like it, tough really. Put your money where your mouth is, Phone 999 and complain the driver is front won't speed, and see how far you get.

So you're saying you have that little control over your throttle you can't cruise? You can't feel/hear the engine and judge your speed based on that? Once I'm up to 60Mph, I could happily drive like that for miles without ever having to look at my speedo and know that I'm doing roughly 60mph give or take maybe 1 or 2 mph at the very most. It doesn't take a genius, and you don't need cruise control, it just needs a driver who understands how their car engine sounds and feels when it's accelerating and then when it's cruising. The difference is particularly noticeable on a diesel, but you should be able to tell on a petrol.

I would have thought someone who talks like they have as much experience as you do, would understand how to cruise their vehicle... without the need for cruise control. Maybe I'm wrong.