Speed limit and tail-gating

[ALFAitalia]

Some people do seem to think that they are the Police and its their job to enforce the speed limits and they wont let anyone pass if they are do 70 on the motorway....."70s the limit....they can wait....they wont get there any faster!!!"....we all know the sort....the self righteous . A friend of my father is like that....he learnt his lesson when a car he would not less pass in the right lane (not fast lane....speed limit is the same in all lanes!) turned out to be an unmarked Police car! He got done for "careless driving"......his defence that he was already at the limit and no one should want to come pass was instantly dismissed. The magistrate said that he should have moved over as it was safe to do so (they had video evidence) and even if the car had not been a police car, as much as that car could have been prosecuted for speeding, it was no his job to enforce the lawn and two wrongs don't make a right. This was a while back and he still moans about the "miscarriage of justice"....LOL...The Police around here are clamping down on it around here (and middle lane hogging)....largely because of the safety implications of people being forced to undertake and the effect it has on overall traffic flow especially in the congested South..

 

[JHS]

I think that one has to distinguish between driving at/below the limit on motorways/ dual carriageway roads and urban roads.
I try to stay at or just below 30/40/50 where it is signed but feel comfortable at around 60 on motorways, less stressed. I am not averse to speeding to overtake, but always slow afterwards and keep as far left as possible with regard to traffic in lanes 2 and 1.

 

[Spider10]

60 on a motorway is ridiculous

 

[MrGreedy]

60 on a motorway is ridiculous

Agreed. It should be 56mph to flow with the trucks in lane 1 (or lane 1, 2 and 3 it seems on 4 lane motorway ), or 65+ to actually overtake the trucks quickly.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Has anyone noticed the general reduction in driven speeds since the fuel shot up in price.....never seen too many people happy to sit in line with the trucks in lane one at 50 to 55 mph! Understandable I guess.

 

[190]

Agreed. It should be 56mph to flow with the trucks

Agree with your sentiment but I thought the HGV speed limit is now 60mph along with several other classes of vehicles so you would have a fair amount of company cruising at 60 mph in lane 1 which makes it not ridiculous at all.

 

[MEMERC7]

Having just had 2 speeding fines for travelling at 36 in a 30 limit, I reserve my right to stay under the speed limit, whatever that may be. My fault for not reducing my speed quickly enough.
If it pisses off the various driving gods that infest our roads, so be it.
Our village is a so called "linear" village, as there is but one road through it. It is a rat run for those who want to save a few minutes on their daily commute. No problem with that, but the residents, through necessity, park on both sides of the road, thereby reducing the width. We also have a 30 limit, which a majority seem to think is the lower speed limit. When I enter the village, I reduce my speed to an indicated 30 until I turn off to our property. This severely infuriates the F1 wannabes, who seem to think that driving between 2 rows of cars on a reduced width road at warp speed is acceptable. 2 recent accidents have proved them wrong.
All that is just to say that there are lots of reasons for driving at a given speed.
For those that are about to post that indicated 30 is probably 28, nowhere in my car handbook or on my dashboard, that I have to apply an allowance to the indicated speed.

If residents HAVE to park on the road then doing so in such a way that it reduces the road width to one lane then good for them. Ideally such cars are not theirs, maybe company issued or just old bangers so who cares if they get scraped. However be warned - some years ago in a very snobby area of a seaside town that's what residents did, trouble was their posh cars were attacked in the middle of the night & every car was keyed - so somebody was very annoyed. My village is used as a rat-run & the 20mph limit ignored & many residents ensure THEY travel at no more than 15/18mph. Better still the pedestrian operated lights get used a lot, the sleeping policemen are wide awake & BIG so they have to be negotiated at walking pace or less all of which pisses off the rat-runners no end. Then there are regular road works & temporary traffic lights - Oh the fun is just too much what with shouting, revving of engines & beeping of horns.

 

[JHS]

60 on a motorway is ridiculous

Not with a caravan on the back it isn't. Context is everything.

 

[Spider10]

Who mentioned a caravan do you tow it permanently

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Who mentioned a caravan do you tow it permanently

Just 60 MPH towing a caravan? Move over I’m coming through.

 

[JHS]

Agreed. It should be 56mph to flow with the trucks in lane 1 (or lane 1, 2 and 3 it seems on 4 lane motorway ), or 65+ to actually overtake the trucks quickly.

"At around 60 on motorways"

Who mentioned a caravan do you tow it permanently

Who mentioned a caravan do you tow it permanently

Who mentioned a caravan do you tow it permanently

As I said, context is everything. Generalising is just plain lazy.

 

[Spider10]

Never seen 60 on a motorway

 

[JHS]

Never seen 60 on a motorway

But you are obviously a driving God, which I do not claim to be.

 

[Spider10]

Not in the slightest ,I drive to the limit ish if the conditions allow there's nothing more annoying than driving miss daisy in the outside lane

 

[JHS]

Not in the slightest ,I drive to the limit ish if the conditions allow there's nothing more annoying than driving miss daisy in the outside lane

"I am not averse to speeding to overtake, but always slow afterwards and keep as far left as possible with regard to traffic in lanes 2 and 1."

 

[Wolfie1]

Some people do seem to think that they are the Police and its their job to enforce the speed limits and they wont let anyone pass if they are do 70 on the motorway....."70s the limit....they can wait....they wont get there any faster!!!"....we all know the sort....the self righteous . A friend of my father is like that....he learnt his lesson when a car he would not less pass in the right lane (not fast lane....speed limit is the same in all lanes!) turned out to be an unmarked Police car! He got done for "careless driving"......his defence that he was already at the limit and no one should want to come pass was instantly dismissed. The magistrate said that he should have moved over as it was safe to do so (they had video evidence) and even if the car had not been a police car, as much as that car could have been prosecuted for speeding, it was no his job to enforce the lawn and two wrongs don't make a right. This was a while back and he still moans about the "miscarriage of justice"....LOL...The Police around here are clamping down on it around here (and middle lane hogging)....largely because of the safety implications of people being forced to undertake and the effect it has on overall traffic flow especially in the congested South..

With a sticker on their car with something along the lines “you are now playing follow the honda” sorry honda owners it was just an example

 

[sgregory124]

Discretion is the better part of valour so yes let them go whenever you can. I adopt the principle: THE NEARER YOU COME THE SLOWER I GO. Therefore without touching the brakes I ease off speed as soon as I get tailgated to maximise the opportunity to be overtaken & minimise impact should there be a collision. Constant tailgating in built-up areas means I drive at 5mph below the posted speed limit, let all side road traffic out, slow down well before junctions & traffic lights & take a very long to time to move away from a standstill which works best when driving an old Honda Jazz. In my nice Mercedes sports car with the roof stowed of course, I have been known to pull in & wave a tailgater by, usually with a cheerful smile & a dismissive underhand wave as if dismissing an insect. Doing so I suspect annoys them because I have shown that I don't have an ego or a need to prove anything & have destroyed their need to express superiority, power or competitive spirit - sort of taking wind out of the sad sails of their crappy van, dull saloon or vulgar big-wheeled gangster glass Yobmobile. I then continue on my way enjoying the fresh air & with a big smile on my face.

You claim not to have an ego, nor want to express your 'superiority' etc etc. But, could your chest be puffed out any more with the description of your car do you think? -'SLK 250 AMG Sport 125 Ltd Edition'

Screams inferiority complex to me.....rather loudly.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

You claim not to have an ego, nor want to express your 'superiority' etc etc. But, could your chest be puffed out any more with the description of your car do you think? -'SLK 250 AMG Sport 125 Ltd Edition'

Screams inferiority complex to me.....rather loudly.

What about someone who lists 3 or 4 cars (presumably only one currently owned) in their profile?

 

[Deleted member 126251]

...................... A friend of my father is like that....he learnt his lesson when a car he would not less pass in the right lane (not fast lane....speed limit is the same in all lanes!) turned out to be an unmarked Police car! He got done for "careless driving"......his defence that he was already at the limit and no one should want to come pass was instantly dismissed. The magistrate said that he should have moved over as it was safe to do so (they had video evidence) and even if the car had not been a police car, as much as that car could have been prosecuted for speeding, it was no his job to enforce the lawn and two wrongs don't make a right. This was a while back and he still moans about the "miscarriage of justice"....LOL.........................

I wish there was more of that !

 

[BigJase88]

Its those that drive at 45 mph on a single carriageway and when it opens up to an overtaking lane they gun it to 60 mph.

They bug me