An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

[carlo996]

The same types who stop at roundabouts when they are clear. The age debate can be put to bed easily. Go out on any given Sunday

[Foss62]

carlo996 said:

The same types who stop at roundabouts when they are clear. The age debate can be put to bed easily. Go out on any given Sunday

The Sunday Driver stereotype is undoubtedly true. They are out sightseeing or visiting friends/relatives/garden centres, because the roads are less busy and they are less likely to encounter PPP on the way to one of his catastrophes. They only go out when their declining abilities are adequate for the situations they are likely to find themselves in, and tend to avoid Motorways and other high speed roads. They drive slowly, in daylight and with extreme caution and are relatively unlikely to be involved in serious accidents.
Is this a bit irritating? - yes of course it can be. Is there any reason to take further action? - No I don’t think so. By their actions they are generally sensibly self limiting. There are far more substantial driving issues that cause all of us more problems.

[croyde]

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

[LunarOne]

croyde said:

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

I find Les Frogs to be very good at lane discipline. Never been held-up on a French motorway unless it was another Brit, a Belgian, or a bona fide traffic jam.

[croyde]

LunarOne said:

croyde said:

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

I find Les Frogs to be very good at lane discipline. Never been held-up on a French motorway unless it was another Brit, a Belgian, or a bona fide traffic jam.

I remember driving back from Nice in one hit.

All the way to Calais, perfect lane discipline.

Got off the ferry at Dover to join the M20/26/25/23.......

Jeezuz tatty Christ! I give up!

[wc98]

8IKERDAVE said:

For me, it's not just being held up per se, it's more the braking uneccesarily for corners, taking an age to pull out of junctions / away from traffic lights. It turns what could be a nice smooth drive into a horrible jerky affair.

I remember someone actually getting out of their car and coming over to me at a set of lights some years ago after I had overtaken them 30 seconds prior "that didn't get you very far did it". No but the point being I don't have to sit behind a terrible driver who jumps on the brakes at the first sign of a kink in the road, spends ten minutes pulling out of a junction and can't manage 60mph from a car with 150bhp (or whatever it was).

I have a day every month where I work really late and don't leave the office until around midnight. The drive home from this event is much nicer, I get home quicker and use less fuel because I haven't got the morons to contend with.

I've actually seen a few posts on here stating the same. For me it means i am now in front of them, so every junction, roundabout ,tractor etc i arrive at first and get to deal with first. Quite often i will be doing a 100 mile plus round trip as well, so averaging 20mph more save significantly more time than the "just leave a couple of minutes early" brigade would have us believe.

A regular 56 mile trip (112 round trip) i do can take 1hr 20 mins in the afternoon mid week. The return trip usually in the early hours of the morning has taken as little as 38 mins (i don't have a car that can do that now) but usually between 50 and 55 mins. A regular longer round trip of 360 miles can see the time vary by up to 2 hours depending on the time it takes place during summer.

[Pan Pan Pan]

740EVTORQUES said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

The curious thing, is how someone, wishing to legally drive at the posted limits, has somehow transformed into a Driving God. It must mean that the driving abilities and standards of a dawdler are devastatingly poor.

The reference about being a driving god was more related to delusional self belief than ability.

No,it was you trying to imply that anyone who wanted to travel at the posted limit was some kind of driving God.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Monkeylegend said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Monkeylegend said:

Thankfully we still have the freedom of choice to decide on a personal basis what speed we wish to drive at as long as we are not breaking any laws, and driving below the posted limit is not illegal, so posters who are trying to impose their desires on others can be ignored

And yet you seem to believe that dawdlers who want to impose `their' speed `limit', on others road users who wish to travel legally at the posted limit is acceptable? Strange that
There is a key difference here, in that those who want to travel at the posted limit don't adversely affect the progress of the dawdler, but dawdlers `do adversely affect the progress of those who wish to travel at the posted limit .
Why anyone would want to be so selfish and bl**dy minded, as to want to impede the perfectly legal progress of other road users is the mystery.

Because there are drivers like you behind them.

Please explain what is wrong with someone wishing to travel (legally) at the UK's posted speed limits.

[Pan Pan Pan]

YorkshireStu said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Try saying that, when you are trying to get to the hospital, or an airport by a certain time, and a dawdlers is holding you up. I am sure it will be a lot of comfort to you, when you miss your flight, or your operation.

TBF, if people are so inept as to not plan properly and manage their time accordingly, allowing for all manner of factors beyond their control when dealing with a significant event that they must be on time for, then that is on them.

That said...in countries where people aren't aholes like we find in the UK, things work a bit differently.

My Partner has marvelled at how people local to my Family home in Ballito, Durban generally behave when it comes to this specific type of situation. On the motorways and highways, slower moving traffic will move to the left as you approach...into the hard shoulder...to allow you to pass them. When we do, we give a little thank you. It just works.

There is zero reason why people who want to drive slower than the posted speed limits should be forced to travel faster. Equally, there should be no issues with those who do from overtaking with a little extra help where appropriate from the slower travelling drivers. Any arguments to the contrary is selfish.

Sadly, this doesn't happen though in the UK, as it's everyone for themselves. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Stuff everyone else. Hateful place.

There is zero reason, why a person with defective eyesight, very poor health such that it affects their driving, or a defective vehicle, should be on a public road in the first place .
There is zero reason, why someone should be driving on a public road, at well below a posted limit, with a large queue of other road users built up behind them.
There is zero reason, why someone who has built up a large queue of other road users behind should not pull off the road every few miles to allow the traffic build up to get by. Only they don't do they? They are either driving without due care and attention and have not used their mirrors to see the large queue that has built up behind them, or that `have' seen that queue, but who simply don't care how many other road users (some of whom may have many miles to cover, or must get to a destination by a specific time) they impede.

[M4cruiser]

The Selfish Gene said:

M4cruiser said:

Slightly O/T maybe but you remind me of this: the day my partner's car spat out one of its coil springs. It had a full MoT with no advisory on springs. Luckily it was stationary at the time, because if this happened at 70mph then it could have punctured the tyre and/or the fuel tank, causing ... an accident. So even with 2 new coils, I never drove that car at 70 mph again.

I would have thought the prudent course of action would be to repair the car properly, so it was capable of doing the speed limits rather than being scared of it?

You think your outcome would have been any better at 60? or even 50?

interesting comment and post from a psychological perspective.

It was repaired properly (as it says in my post, 2 new coils). The point is I was worried what the next unexpected failure would be.

[Pan Pan Pan]

heebeegeetee said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Try saying that, when you are trying to get to the hospital, or an airport by a certain time, and a dawdlers is holding you up. I am sure it will be a lot of comfort to you, when you miss your flight, or your operation.

Dear god man, what kind of organisational skills have you got if you think a dawdler is going to cause you to miss a flight or operation?

Both require your presence hours before the event, do they not?

Dear God man, what would you do if you get a call, to say your mum, or dad or other loved one, is in hospital, and has a short time left to live, and that if you want to see them, before they pass away, you should get to the hospital as soon as possible. What sort organizational skills do you need to deal with that?
If you have a long journey to complete, how many minutes/hours do you add, to compensate for coming up behind dawdlers? Exactly how many dawdlers do you expect to encounter that you must make compensation for?
If it is a long journey, do you leave the day before, to make sure you have enough time to compensate for all the dawdlers you calculate you will meet, in order to get to your destination on time? What if your calculations are wrong?
Your problem is that you might be a myopic dawdler, who cannot conceive, that others on the road may have much further to travel than you, or they might have to be at a destination by a specific time, or both, such that they need to be able to travel legally at the posted limits. Just so long as you can selfishly dawdle along, with your pipe, and slippers, in what is for you, is just an extension of your living room, blithely ignoring other road users, and their legitimate need to be able to travel at the posted limits.
No one is asking people to exceed the posted speed limits, only that they take account of other peoples right to legitimately travel at the posted limits as a basic courtesy to other road users.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Wednesday 10th April 09:12

[Pan Pan Pan]

Monkeylegend said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Monkeylegend said:

Thankfully we still have the freedom of choice to decide on a personal basis what speed we wish to drive at as long as we are not breaking any laws, and driving below the posted limit is not illegal, so posters who are trying to impose their desires on others can be ignored

And yet you seem to believe that dawdlers who want to impose `their' speed `limit', on others road users who wish to travel legally at the posted limit is acceptable? Strange that
There is a key difference here, in that those who want to travel at the posted limit don't adversely affect the progress of the dawdler, but dawdlers `do adversely affect the progress of those who wish to travel at the posted limit .
Why anyone would want to be so selfish and bl**dy minded, as to want to impede the perfectly legal progress of other road users is the mystery.

Because there are drivers like you behind them.

What! drivers that legitimately want to travel at the posted limits?

[KTMsm]

M4cruiser said:

It was repaired properly (as it says in my post, 2 new coils). The point is I was worried what the next unexpected failure would be.

So your car had a minor failure which didn't cause an incident. It was correctly repaired but you're now scared to drive it above 70

The issue is not the car, it's you. You clearly have no idea what can happen in the world that surrounds you because if you did, you wouldn't leave your house

I've had 3 cars with complete brake failure and multiple other failures as my father was a classic car dealer and liked the cheap ones - we call this adventure

You might die today, you might not so just get on with it and enjoy your life while you can

I haven't driven a LHD car for probably 10 years, I've never had one with 500bhp yet when I took one in px I gave it a good test drive despite the rain showers - no traction control or ABS either - I could have died but I didn't and that's what makes life fun

[Veryoldbear]

Slightly off topic but ... here in Occupied North Berkshire, the land of The 20 MPH urban limit, there are a lot of rural byways which have no posted lollipops and are technically NSL = 60 MPH. But on a lot of these you would be bonkers to try and progress at 60 MPH except for the very few long straight bits and even then they are infested by potholes of various depths.

On the wiggly bits prudence dictates a slower speed, simply because outside your very limited Limit Point there may be large horse, an agricultural engine, or (particularly on Sunday mornings) a phalanx of lycra clad cyclists ... and the prevelance of wet muddy roads can mean your ABS may have limited benefit.

[Greenmantle]

Exceeding the speed limit on a road is being SELFISH
Driving on a road not making good progress is being SELFISH
Both of these two ends of the spectrum can be considered as erratic.

we have all been their - standing in line at the Post Office, Screwfix, Train Station whilst:
(i) the person at the counter is asking unnecessary questions
(ii) chatting
(iii) not having their paperwork at hand
while the queue is already out the door.
Equally we hate queue jumpers!

It is only reasonable for everyone to be mindful of others when they are driving and to be self critical of their driving abilities. Just because you considered yourself a decent driver 20 years ago doesn't mean you still are.

I have good and bad days driving. Some days I think yes I was on the ball others I think I drove like an idiot.

There are too many people on the road to day complacent about how much effort and CONCENTRATION is required when driving and yes concentration also means being mindful of other drivers and other road users.

[simon_harris]

M4cruiser said:

The Selfish Gene said:

M4cruiser said:

Slightly O/T maybe but you remind me of this: the day my partner's car spat out one of its coil springs. It had a full MoT with no advisory on springs. Luckily it was stationary at the time, because if this happened at 70mph then it could have punctured the tyre and/or the fuel tank, causing ... an accident. So even with 2 new coils, I never drove that car at 70 mph again.

I would have thought the prudent course of action would be to repair the car properly, so it was capable of doing the speed limits rather than being scared of it?

You think your outcome would have been any better at 60? or even 50?

interesting comment and post from a psychological perspective.

It was repaired properly (as it says in my post, 2 new coils). The point is I was worried what the next unexpected failure would be.

You seem to have interactions with a disproportion number of vehicles with mechanical defects, I wonder what the common denominator is...

[andy43]

croyde said:

LunarOne said:

croyde said:

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

I find Les Frogs to be very good at lane discipline. Never been held-up on a French motorway unless it was another Brit, a Belgian, or a bona fide traffic jam.

I remember driving back from Nice in one hit.

All the way to Calais, perfect lane discipline.

Got off the ferry at Dover to join the M20/26/25/23.......

Jeezuz tatty Christ! I give up!

This. As soon as I leave the eurotunnel onto that concrete motorway full of idiots I can feel my shoulders seizing up and my grip on the wheel tighten. European lane discipline is generally ace.

[DonkeyApple]

andy43 said:

croyde said:

LunarOne said:

croyde said:

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

I find Les Frogs to be very good at lane discipline. Never been held-up on a French motorway unless it was another Brit, a Belgian, or a bona fide traffic jam.

I remember driving back from Nice in one hit.

All the way to Calais, perfect lane discipline.

Got off the ferry at Dover to join the M20/26/25/23.......

Jeezuz tatty Christ! I give up!

This. As soon as I leave the eurotunnel onto that concrete motorway full of idiots I can feel my shoulders seizing up and my grip on the wheel tighten. European lane discipline is generally ace.

Less traffic is a major contributor. You can watch all French discipline turn to crap as you approach the outskirts of Paris.

The middle lane muppet does seem a very British trait as the not being able to drive under any circumstances is a Belgian one.

[Oilchange]

Greenmantle said:

Exceeding the speed limit on a road is being SELFISH
Driving on a road not making good progress is being SELFISH
Both of these two ends of the spectrum can be considered as erratic.

My solution is, therefor, to drive at the speed limit where it is safe and prudent to do so, not dawdle on a fast road holding the traffic up or rocket around like I have a missile up my a***.
At least that's what I do now.

[andy43]

DonkeyApple said:

andy43 said:

croyde said:

LunarOne said:

croyde said:

I was impressed at the driving on the motorways of Tenerife.

Lane discipline was damn near perfect.

That's all I'm asking for. Slow or fast, just be attentive!

I find Les Frogs to be very good at lane discipline. Never been held-up on a French motorway unless it was another Brit, a Belgian, or a bona fide traffic jam.

I remember driving back from Nice in one hit.

All the way to Calais, perfect lane discipline.

Got off the ferry at Dover to join the M20/26/25/23.......

Jeezuz tatty Christ! I give up!

This. As soon as I leave the eurotunnel onto that concrete motorway full of idiots I can feel my shoulders seizing up and my grip on the wheel tighten. European lane discipline is generally ace.

Less traffic is a major contributor. You can watch all French discipline turn to crap as you approach the outskirts of Paris.

The middle lane muppet does seem a very British trait as the not being able to drive under any circumstances is a Belgian one.

Vast majority of the roads I drive on in yerp have two lanes. Maybe offering people three options, or worse, four to choose from, is where we’re going wrong.