Brand new Vauxhall Corsa - help! DPF!

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

iolanthe07 wrote: »

motorway driving at 55mph.

And a menace to lorry drivers. There is no excuse for cars to go this slowly on a clear motorway.

Actually, 55(ish) is slotting nicely in with lorries, no menace there.

What is this myth that people are obliged to drive at the limit? There is every excuse to drive at 55 if you are so inclined, it is the speed lorries will be going, so it is not excessively slow (I would be expecting the boys in blue if I were to do 40-45), and if someone has no better way to spend their time and want to save a few pounds on petrol then why shouldn't they as long as they are keeping to the correct lane? Where in the Highway Code does it say that car drivers should drive as close to 70mph as possible?

The real problem is that too many drivers are impatient and judgemental, causing themselves stress.

The only caveat I would make is that driving at 55mph is not an alternative to driving attentively, and also if you speed was causing issues (e.g. playing 10 mile overtake with a lorry) then the driver should be aware enough that they alter their speed to ensure that they are not causing an obstruction, a couple of miles an hour adjustment is likely all that is needed.

Comtesse

darkmatter101 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I have driven the new Corsa as a rental and it was terrible. Felt like a cardboard box with NO driver feel whatsoever.

Each to their own eh, what you like and what I like in a car are clearly very different things

custardy

iolanthe07 wrote: »

motorway driving at 55mph.

And a menace to lorry drivers. There is no excuse for cars to go this slowly on a clear motorway.

explain please.

JustinR1979

You should make good progress, which means drive up to and on the speed limit where appropriate.
People get carried away saying the speed limit is not a target, but in perfect conditions, why would you ponce along well below it? You would fail your driving test doing so.
55 is a menace to lorries, and 55 on the speedo is about 52 on a lorrys tachograph as it's accurate. Many lorries do nearer 56.


Anyone holding up a lorry, or getting overtaken by one, should send their licence back.
Just do a couple mph more and keep out of everyones way.
I get held up by cars much more often than they hold me up in a lorry, 35-40mph on A roads, what's that all about?
Is ridiculous. Get off the roads if you can't go at a reasonable speed.

JustinR1979

IanMSpencer wrote: »

What is this myth that people are obliged to drive at the limit? There is every excuse to drive at 55 if you are so inclined, i

http://www.theorytestadvice.co.uk/driving-test/marking/progress.htm


Myth is point 1, after the text explaining it's dangerous to drive well below the speed limit.
Then there is this passage below it:
Appropriate speed:

• Makes no attempt to achieve maximum speeds for the road when safe to do so

Hope this helps

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

JustinR1979 wrote: »

http://www.theorytestadvice.co.uk/driving-test/marking/progress.htm


Myth is point 1, after the text explaining it's dangerous to drive well below the speed limit.
Then there is this passage below it:
Appropriate speed:

• Makes no attempt to achieve maximum speeds for the road when safe to do so

Hope this helps

The test is to show that you can drive at speed, not that you must. There is no compulsion to drive at 60mph on a NSL road even if it is safe to do so, though you should be aware of the impact on traffic around you. On a motorway, I would like to know why someone would say it is unsafe to drive at the same speed as lorries: it is a myth. As long as you drive being aware of the impact on those around you. I find it odd that many of the people who think that driving at the same speed as other traffic is limited to would be dangerous yet think that driving at 30mph or more faster than that limited traffic is not in any way dangerous.

People of my era have had times when we were explicitly told to drive at low speeds for fuel economy - at one point in the 70s there was a blanket speed limit of 50mph. The 60mph on single carriageway roads is a leftover from those reduced limits, the NSL in the 60s was 70mph. So there are plenty of drivers around who drive in such a manner because they were encouraged to do so by the Government.

As I said, it is not an excuse for driving inattentively and as a car is more able to adapt I would expect a car driver to adjust their speed to help other motorists move freely around the roads, but the attitude that other drivers are obligated to drive at the speed limit is the sort of thing that ends up in people doing silly things on the road.

AdrianC

JustinR1979 wrote: »

55 is a menace to lorries, and 55 on the speedo is about 52 on a lorrys tachograph as it's accurate. Many lorries do nearer 56.

56mph/90kph is the maximum a speed limiter can be set at. Many companies set it slightly lower, to prevent their trucks being caught in "elephant racing", or just to save fuel. Perhaps you should tell those transport managers that they're a "menace" to their colleagues?

JustinR1979

So nothing has moved on in 40 years?
Well that's blown my argument out of the water then.


If you did 55 in a 70 when it was safe to do 70 on your test would you pass?
Well you would, you'd say it was to save fuel due to something that happened 40 years ago, and the examiner would say yes you're right, here it is written on the test paper, enjoy driving your mk1 Cortina.

JustinR1979

AdrianC wrote: »

56mph/90kph is the maximum a speed limiter can be set at. Many companies set it slightly lower, to prevent their trucks being caught in "elephant racing", or just to save fuel. Perhaps you should tell those transport managers that they're a "menace" to their colleagues?

What's that got to do with idiots in cars mincing along at low speeds??
Europe dictates this 90 kph limit, not my transport manager.

Comtesse

Being honest,my husband drives a van with a limiter and it's set to 56mph... It's possible to push that to 60, but it doesn't like it