Speed limits - people who ignore them

FreddieFrugal

Obviously some places, like the motorway, it is practically the norm that people speed. If you drive on the dot at 70, you'll be overtaken constantly by people going faster.

See generally I always drive at the speed limit, assuming good road conditions, obviously if it's really twisty turns that require a slow down to do safely then I do, or a narrow road with passing places with lots of blind bends

But the people that really, really get on my nerves, are those imbeciles who you'll be stuck behind for miles going at 45 mph in a 60. They will even slow down when they see speed cameras. But then the worst part, not only are they irritating but they become dangerous when you're entering a 30 zone and duly slow down to 30, but they speed off ahead of you. Still maintaining the same speed as before or maybe just slowing to 40.

So they speed through towns and drag their way slowly on open roads. I can't stand them, but they seem very common. One speed fits all.

Do you have any experience of them or is it just me?

orlao

I call them the insular drivers - they have no idea what is happening beyond the 4 corners of their vehicle and rarely use their mirrors.

They stick at the same speed without care or concern for any other road users - in fact, other road users don't even register on their radar, watch them skim past bikes for instance or stand on their brakes when they (finally) notice a speed camera or traffic lights because their observational skills are so poor.

Mind you, have you noticed that they can speed up ok as you go to overtake them?

While I have some sympathy for nervous/hesitant drivers (even if I hate getting stuck behind them!) I loathe the insulars who are just basically road hogs and potentially dangerous at that with their lack of observation.

WellKnownSid

After nearly 30 years and half a million miles of driving I've learned to focus on my own driving / safety rather than worry too much about the other obstacles on the road.

Unlike the other day when I flashed down a motorist who was giving driving instruction to a relative. No L plates, no insurance, and I'm almost certain that the unrestrained 8 year old sat on his knee who was operating the big round turney thing had no provisional licence...

comeandgo

I drive many thousands of miles a year and don't let the way others drive annoy me. They have as much right to be on the road as I have and in fact the slower one may once have been my dad.
I did once have the 40 mile an hour person go through road works with a speed limit of 30 and the police did stop her. She would have to explain to her incredulous family that she was caught speeding!

agrinnall

Your title seems at odds with the content of the first half of your post, people driving at 45 in a 60 limit are NOT ignoring the limit, they have simply chosen not to drive AT the limit. While it may be annoying (I find it so myself) there's nothing wrong with it unless it's on one of the few roads that has a minimum speed posted.

FreddieFrugal

agrinnall wrote: »

Your title seems at odds with the content of the first half of your post, people driving at 45 in a 60 limit are NOT ignoring the limit, they have simply chosen not to drive AT the limit. While it may be annoying (I find it so myself) there's nothing wrong with it unless it's on one of the few roads that has a minimum speed posted.

Dragging through a 60 then speeding through a 30 does suggest that they're driving without regard for the limits.

I apologise if my thread title seems unfitting to you. I hang my head in shame.

angela110660

Find it most irritating when another driver tailgates you when you are doing the correct speed in a built up area. If they persist I try to pull in and let them speed by hoping there is a speed camera up the road to catch them!
BTW - how many folk know that drivers of goods vehicles (includes Citroen Berlingo vans) should drive at 10 miles under the limit on motorways and dual carriageways? My OH found out the hard way and has paid to do a 3 hour education course rather than take the points on licence route. However he still sees Transit vans etc bombing past him down the motorway! very frustrating.

FreddieFrugal

angela110660 wrote: »

Find it most irritating when another driver tailgates you when you are doing the correct speed in a built up area. If they persist I try to pull in and let them speed by hoping there is a speed camera up the road to catch them!
BTW - how many folk know that drivers of goods vehicles (includes Citroen Berlingo vans) should drive at 10 miles under the limit on motorways and dual carriageways? My OH found out the hard way and has paid to do a 3 hour education course rather than take the points on licence route. However he still sees Transit vans etc bombing past him down the motorway! very frustrating.

Yes that too! I've taken to flashing brake lights, without actually slowing suddenly, which does make the less confident tailgaters realise they need to give more room, just in case I'm unpredictable. Doesn't always work though. Hate being tailgated, it's so dangerous, and I'm always driving at the appropriate speed limit. Not speeding for the sake of some rude pillock behind me,

You're right that if it's appropriate you're best just pulling over and letting them pass, saves agro. But it's not always an option.

You always catch up with them anyway when they get stuck behind someone else, or a set of lights or roundabout. So they're speeding for absolutely no reason whatsoever, gains them nothing. Number of times I've been overtaken to then be driving just behind them in a queue.

gilbert_and_sullivan

People who drive at speeds below the limit don't bother me one bit, nor does ''sensible'' speeding, what really gets my goat are the legion of incompetent fools who haven't a clue how to overtake slower vehicles safely, you see them jammed right up the back of tractors for goodness sake for mile after mile, so close they can't see round the thing.

We've even had to raise the open road limits for commercial vehicles from 40 to 50mph in order to make the roads safer...safer how you might ask?...to encourage less suicidal overtakes from those same people when they eventually get frustrated and then overtake in anger/panic.
Now its the lorries that are being held up by those same people.

As Angela, above post, idiot tailgaiters i encourage past asap, let them ram someone else up the back when something goes wrong.

Not as any of it matters, the roads will grind to an eventual halt anyway as the country fills up with ever more people over the next 5 years, then the next 5, and so on.

angela110660

IanRi wrote: »

Yes that too! I've taken to flashing brake lights, without actually slowing suddenly, which does make the less confident tailgaters realise they need to give more room, just in case I'm unpredictable. Doesn't always work though. Hate being tailgated, it's so dangerous, and I'm always driving at the appropriate speed limit. Not speeding for the sake of some rude pillock behind me,

You're right that if it's appropriate you're best just pulling over and letting them pass, saves agro. But it's not always an option.

You always catch up with them anyway when they get stuck behind someone else, or a set of lights or roundabout. So they're speeding for absolutely no reason whatsoever, gains them nothing. Number of times I've been overtaken to then be driving just behind them in a queue.

Ha ha. Made me smile as I remember my old driving instructor John flashing the brake lights at impatient drivers when I was learning to drive in the 70s. And yes, it makes you feel smug when you catch up at the lights or roundabout.

Iceweasel

angela110660 wrote: »

BTW - how many folk know that drivers of goods vehicles (includes Citroen Berlingo vans) should drive at 10 miles under the limit on motorways and dual carriageways? My OH found out the hard way and has paid to do a 3 hour education course rather than take the points on licence route. However he still sees Transit vans etc bombing past him down the motorway! very frustrating.

Something wrong there - the 10mph less than cars or car-derived vans is only on single carriageways (50) and dual carriageways (60)

My 7.5 tonne truck for example has a 70mph limit on motorways.

If your OH thinks he has a 60mph limit on motorways he has not understood this page here:

https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits