Miniman

iTrader: (2)

It's dangerous to stick to the speed limit I've found out. After a disagreement about the particular limit on a road, I've slowed down over the last few months and try to, where possible, stick to the speed limit now (or under it). My previous driving style was not dangerous (IMHO), however where I considered that road conditions,traffic and weather etc allowed faster speeds than the posted limit I would not stick rigorously to the posted limit and instead use my judgement. 19 years of driving and no accidents has stood me in good stead so far.

So for the sake of my licence I have tried to stick to the limit properly. But I've found three problems, which I think are quite frankly dangerous, but I've no choice.


I watch the speedo a lot more than I used to. With people getting busted for 33mph in a 30 or 46mph in a 40, I have to ensure I am never over the speed limit, Surrey is rarely flat and hills and climbs mean the speed needs a constant check. I find myself thinking, "how much was I watching the road back there rather than the speedo", clearly I'd rather be watching the road.


On "main roads" limited to 30 or 40 I get people sticking right on my bumper. You know the type of road, wide, straight, good visability, usually in a town with wide pavements and pedestrian crossings, no parked cars etc. Peds know they are main road/fast road. But they are only 30mph (or 40) limited due to being in a built up area. If I stick at these speed regardless, I find that some people are right up to the rear of my car, in a kinda "move faster slow coach" attitude. Several times following cars have had to brake very sharply to avoid hitting me. This never used to happen.


70 MPH on a motorway during rush hour is dangerous. Regardless of the highway code, inside lane is for lorries, middle lane for those driving 60 - 70 and the outside lane for driving at around 80. I find myself constantly weaving into and out of traffic. I don't want to go up to 80 (breaking the limit you know), but I don't want to stay in the middle lane (they usually tend to slow down for hills and overtaking lorries, plus sometimes they have ridiculously small gaps between cars), all I want to do is make good progress at a constant 70MPH, while also avoid causing a delay to those who want to travel faster. I end up constantly changing lanes which in heavy traffic is verging on dangerous at times. The "sticking at speed" idea during heavy traffic appears to be so much safer, but there is no place for me. You either have to travel at 80 or at least be prepared to break the national limit, or be someone who simply does not want to do 70MPH in the middle lane.


So my driving has gotten worse, rightly or wrongly, by sticking to the limit and not going above that. Still, the government and road safety campaigners know best and tell me it's safer to stick to the limits, so I have no choice.

Fantom

I've always found that the faster I go the more I pay attention and concentrate on whats going on. When I drive at 30 it seems too easy to pay less attention and worry about other things so I know exactly what you mean.

NotoriousREV

I personally find it easy to stick to any given speed, regardless of it's relationship to the speed limit. I don't watch the speedo any more or less driving at 85 than I do at 70. The main difference is that if you need to plan further ahead when overtaking slower traffic if you don't want to break the 70 limit to not end up boxed in or causing faster traffic to slow down.

WRX_Dazza

you know what i do now with people up my chuffer in a 30, i slow right down gently, then indicate left just before stopping and then pull over.

its kind of annoying for them, but not endangering anyone.

you get some funny looks but hey thats their problem.

i only do this with a particular type of idiot.
if the conditions allow i have been know to just floor it !!!! lol
also going along in second with the anti lag banging is apparently a good deterrant, but i wouldn't know about that!

i tend to drive between 60 and 80 on the motorway to relieve the boredom more than anything else!!

i share your feelings though in all these situations

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

It's what we've been saying all along: innappropirate speed (too slow as well as too fast for the conditions) innattention, poor hazard awareness and inconsiderate driving causes accidents, NOT just speed per se.

Ns04

vindaloo

On the motorway, I drive based on gaps and space. I'm quite happy toddling along in heavy traffic @65 slowly creeping up on a lorry. When I need to overtake, I identify a nice gap, speed up, overtake, then pull back in.

Trying to maintain a constant speed is nice but not practical on today's heavily used roads. Though if you have cruise control, it does make matters easier.... There's probably some psycho-babble regarding the imperative behind the right foot. But whenever I'm on cruise and the right foot is resting. I seem to drive in a far more relaxed fashion.


J.

53

iTrader: (41)

You will be ok at just under 80 on the motorway as your speedo probably reads over and you're nearer 75 most of the time. Interestingly on both my spec D and classic I am 4mph over on the speedo.

I used to undertake all the time in my people carrier with the cruise control on. 66mph and you would go passed people doing 60 in the middle

Leslie

I stick to speed limits now, since it is a lot cheaper with regard to the fines and I want to keep a clean licence anyway.

It is the people doing the tailgating who are at fault. If you are driving at the speed limit they have no excuse for it and are not worthy of any consideration. They are the ones who are being dangerous in fact.

I consider that the motorway speed limit is too slow at 70 mph. I think it should be 85 or so. This would hopefully cause less bunching of traffic which in itself would be a safer way of things. Exceeding this speed should be dealt with severely, it should not be taken as an excuse for driving at 3 figure speeds. We need more traffic police instead of liably innacurate speedcams.

It is unwise to assume your speedo over reads. My speedo is very accurate, in fact it agrees with the GPS all the time. I also think it is very silly to make a habit of overtaking at speed on the left hand side. That certainly is dangerous since it is against the law and people do not expect it to happen. You are asking to get someone turning into from the right of course. It is certainly not clever anyway!

It is true that cruise control is less fatiguing on a long drive.

Les

Diesel

Lots of sense in what you say.

I hate being bunched up on the motorway with vehicles surrounding me on all 4 corners. Far more dangerous than doing 80 and being further away from many potential and constantly lane swapping vehicles at 0.5mph differences of 70mph. Also a lot less hassle continually monitoring all 3 mirrors to see what everyone is up to (inc the tailgater). D

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

i pretty much agree mate with most of it, but if your doing the speed limit and somebody is right up your ****, then surely they are the ones causing a dangerous situation by either speeding or at least wanting to speed, therefore speeding is the cause (if that makes sense ).

Aaron

rabbos

Undertaking would be fine and safe if people practised good observation. Unfortunately that isn't the case, as it would halve congestion!

Leslie

That is a totally incorrect observation to make.

You must know well enough that is against the law except in slow moving traffic or when the car ahead is turning right.

You are not in the position to criticise other drivers when you are breaking the law by overtaking them on the left hand side. You in fact are driving dangerously and would be at fault if there was an accident.

Les

richs2891

Lane discipline in this country is a joke, if using the motorway like it should be ie returning to lane 1 or when its clear - no one want to let you out, so its very hard to keep a constant speed for either you or others around you.

And if the person in lane 2 or 3 is just sat there ignoring the empty lane - I dont feel there is a problem with undertaking them after giving them a chance to move - with the aid of flashed headlights and or the horn.

Personally I prefer to have idiots like the above behind me. But I would love to see continuous driver education as well as police patrolling the motorways

Richard

Leslie

You are quite right about returning to lane 1.

That is still no justification for overtaking people on their left though and breaking he law.

Les.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

If it's illegal to undertake then it must be illegal to hog the middle lane when you could return to lane 1?

TX.

Diesel

The only caveat about lane 1 is (and I hate hoggers as much as the rest of us) it is so rutted that my fat tyred car meanders all over the place - never again shall I try for 50mpg at 65mph! It was plain dangerous and I had to change lane hundreds of time more than doing a nice safe indicated 80 in lane 3.. D

swampster

iTrader: (1)

I think you missed his point Les...

Undertaking would be perfectly fine if people did practice good observation, courtesy and obviously if it were legal. There is nothing inherently dangerous about overtaking on the inside, they manage to do it in the US perfectly fine.

The problem in this country, is that many people tend drive in their own little 'bubble' oblivious to much of what is happening around them and they can barely tolerate being overtaken legitimately as it stands.

Rab is probably right in that it would improve traffic flow however if it were common practice.

richs2891

Swampster is right too many people driving in their own little "bubble", some of them seem to be intent of up keeping the law in their eyes and sticking to 69 mph in lane 3. Oblivious to tail back they are causing - some do it in their belief they are saving the planet etc. Most are just incompetent drivers who want no one pass them and refuse to move over regardless to the fact that the car behind can easily get back to speed a lot quicker they can. I see this behavior every day on the motorway.
Traffic would flow better if people moved back to lane 1 or 2 and moved over for people wanting to overtake

Richard

Abdabz

The phrase "Speed Limit" has the word "limit" in it... It is not called a "Speed Target"
Travelling at or under the speed limit is not hard and is not dangerous. If a driver struggles to maintain a legal constant speed to the point where they have to take their eyes off the road to constantly look at the speedo then they need to question whether they should be driving at all.

As it is a speed limit, the driver overtaking in the outside lane at 69mph should have no tail back whatsoever and if he has, he shouldnt have to give a flying toss about those impatient, incompetent retards he might be holding up.

The idea of increasing speed limits on motorways is absolutely bonkers. I accept that all of us on scoobynet are the best drivers in the world with incredibly high driving skills, but average Joe out there is a feckin health hazard to all when the speed limit is 70... Not indicating, holding phones to their ears, spending half their time looking at their passengers while talking to them, tailgating, braking late, undertaking... Sweet jesus anyone with half a sense of wellbeing would be too scared to go anywhere !!

Diesel

I think the 'bubble' mentality some were mentioning proved perfectly there.

What a ridiculous, dangerous and selfishly impractical attitude to have.

D

Leslie

Its not clear from his post unfortunately. He has not replied to what I said though.

Overall I have to say that our system is safer as it is. I think it would be pushing it a bit to have overtaking on either side since there are so many people driving a lot faster than others so it is better to stick with our rule of overtaking on the right. It is important however that people do move back to an inside lane after overtaking.

In the States, people seem to drive at similar sppeds most of the time anyway so the problem of undertaking is not severe. A driver will usually signal you to overtake on his right( other side to us of course) by use of his indicator which can be even more confusing until you are used to it.

Les

r32

I thought it was?

OllyK

By law your speedo must be between +0-10%, it may not underread at all. Most cars overread closer to the 10% to allow for variation in tyre diameter due to wear.

OllyK

Strikes me that's the case fo getting people driving properly rather than allowing undertaking. If people were driving correctly, you wouldn't be able to undertake anyway.

Klaatu

Australia is terrible for speeding. I don't drive much here, fortunately (Cos road users here are assh@les) but I find on a long trip of only 150ks or so, you are forced, because of the variable speed limits, to look more at the speedo than the road. Very dangeraous! Oh and hang on, they have pretty terrible road safety stats here! No wonder!

Klaatu

Hear hear!

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

anybody else find that when they're on a stretch of motorway with a 50mph limit (roadworks) and everybody is pretty much doing the exact same speed they totally switch off? I've noticed I do to the extent I feel sleepy. It's almost hypnotic I'm sure. Maybe I'm opening myself up for criticism but I've been driving 13 years with zero points and one non fault accident so consider myself to be at least of average driving ability on Uk roads.

Klaatu

Open the window, or pull over if sleepy!

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

My point is I'm not tired but the monotony of it makes me feel that way. I'll do that though in future.

Klaatu

And my point is, after many more years than you at the wheel, and after significant training and competition, that if you FEEL tired, open a window and/or pull over and STOP!

Stop! Revive! Survive! (Shame it's wasted on Aussie "drivers").

I had a B-double up my date the other week, woman driver, 100kph, smoking and on a mobile! Truck knows what (Of/on her) was steering).