An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

[ninepoint2]

UK drivers must be some of the worst anywhere, and in my native Scotland even worse, I drive in lots of different places fairly regulary, (currently in the Canary Islands) and my heart sinks when I get off the plane and into my car back home, UK is full of oblivious morons who seem to have no idea how to drive.

[M4cruiser]

Pan Pan Pan said:

If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

Thank you, I am perfectly comfortable at speeds above 30mph.
I'm not comfortable when you are 2 yards behind me because I'm doing 30mph in a 30 limit.

[coppice]

ninepoint2 said:

UK drivers must be some of the worst anywhere, and in my native Scotland even worse, I drive in lots of different places fairly regulary, (currently in the Canary Islands) and my heart sinks when I get off the plane and into my car back home, UK is full of oblivious morons who seem to have no idea how to drive.

Not driven abroad much have we ? Try China ...

But the whole thread is hilarious - all this vein popping anger and self righteousness because some drivers drive a bit slower than it is felt they should . So what ? It has always been like that , nothing remotely new at all. Actually what might be new is the sense of entitlement, as if slower drivers were a lesser species to be sneered at Breaking news - many drivers have far more on their minds than driving up to a standard that PH (but not necessarily the law )demands and really don't give a damn if they are driving at 50 in a 60 limit. As they are perfectly entitled to . .

[DonkeyApple]

The Wookie said:

To be fair choosing any means of transport to get into London or most UK city centres is a bit like choosing which orifice you’d prefer to have a red hot poker inserted into

Driving - Misery, expensive, stupid limits, engineered congestion, unpredictable Uber pilots looking to crash into you at every turn

Cycling - Misery, wet in the winter, hot in the summer, sore arse, sweaty when you arrive, not practical for arriving from any significant distance

Train/Tube - Misery, negotiating swarms of fkwits, catch any lurgy that’s circulating, about as reliable as a governmental party manifesto

Bus - Misery, slow, noisy, uncomfortable, possibility of getting stabbed

Helicopter is still OK. The tricky bit is just trying to become one of the De Beers family.

[The Wookie]

DonkeyApple said:

Helicopter is still OK. The tricky bit is just trying to become one of the De Beers family.

Evil flying guillotines with 500 single points of failure

I think the only answer is finding another planet to live on

[georgeyboy12345]

ninepoint2 said:

UK drivers must be some of the worst anywhere, and in my native Scotland even worse, I drive in lots of different places fairly regulary, (currently in the Canary Islands) and my heart sinks when I get off the plane and into my car back home, UK is full of oblivious morons who seem to have no idea how to drive.

Yeah this isn’t true. Have you tried driving in China, Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, etc?

[Pan Pan Pan]

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

Thank you, I am perfectly comfortable at speeds above 30mph.
I'm not comfortable when you are 2 yards behind me because I'm doing 30mph in a 30 limit.

The rough rule is a cars length gap, for each 10 mph. If a person is travelling at the posted limit, then they are doing all that the law requires, consequently there would be no point in travelling 2 yards behind a vehicle travelling at 30 mph Are you one of those who travels at 20 mph in a 30 limit. or are you one of those who deliberately goes out to obstruct other road users? If you are, you should not really be driving on public roads.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Kyp said:

From my own personal perspective, there seems to be an epidemic of insanely impatient drivers more so than dawdlers, and without being sexist, they're invariably women drivers fixated on their phones.

Do you even understand the reason why we use bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses, Hgvs, trains, planes etc?
Since the first upright apes existed. to the present day humans have always looked for ways of getting from point A to point B faster than they could by walking.
First, they worked out that it was generally the fastest amongst them, who managed to avoid being caught, and eaten by predators. Then they realized, that by climbing onto the back of an animal, it gave them advantages when it came to hunting `their' prey, and the fact that they could travel faster, and further, than the could than when on foot.
Later they realized that if they harnessed the power of steam, they could build machines called trains, which let them travel even faster, and even further, than they could on the back of an animal. and it let them carry more of the goods they needed with them.
Next they discovered that personal transport in the form of bikes, cars, and lorries, not only allowed them to travel further and faster, than they could using steam engines, but allowed them to travel door to door in most cases, making journeys faster and even more convenient.
Owing to the very same need to get to places all across the planet, faster than was possible by other means, they also invented other machines such as powered water craft, and aircraft. Can you see that a trend, has naturally developed here?
The bottom line to all this, is that going faster is genetically imprinted into human nature. (Well for most of us at least) and to rail against going faster, is therefore going against human nature.
The whole point and reason for using vehicles, is to go `faster', otherwise they would not have been invented, or used in the first place. The only thing is that they `have' been invented, and in their countless billions. there must be a good reason behind that fact?

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Friday 22 March 09:55

[T_S_M]

coppice said:

ninepoint2 said:

UK drivers must be some of the worst anywhere, and in my native Scotland even worse, I drive in lots of different places fairly regulary, (currently in the Canary Islands) and my heart sinks when I get off the plane and into my car back home, UK is full of oblivious morons who seem to have no idea how to drive.

Not driven abroad much have we ? Try China ...

But the whole thread is hilarious - all this vein popping anger and self righteousness because some drivers drive a bit slower than it is felt they should . So what ? It has always been like that , nothing remotely new at all. Actually what might be new is the sense of entitlement, as if slower drivers were a lesser species to be sneered at Breaking news - many drivers have far more on their minds than driving up to a standard that PH (but not necessarily the law )demands and really don't give a damn if they are driving at 50 in a 60 limit. As they are perfectly entitled to . .

We're not talking about doing 5mph under the limit or because people don't sit bang on 60mph on a 60mph road. The annoyance is due to people doing 20mph in a 40, 35 in a 60 etc.

Why should I (and many others in the long queue of cars) have to give up extra time in my day just because someone is too oblivious/scared/whatever to get even close to the speed limit which has been deemed safe for the road?

I was late picking my daughter up from school the other day. It takes 30 mins to get there from work, I allowed for 45 mins for traffic etc. It took me over an hour to get there because some selfish fk wouldn't go above 30mph on the 60mph road the whole way back.

[Unreal]

Pan Pan Pan said:

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

Thank you, I am perfectly comfortable at speeds above 30mph.
I'm not comfortable when you are 2 yards behind me because I'm doing 30mph in a 30 limit.

The rough rule is a cars length gap, for each 10 mph. If a person is travelling at the posted limit, then they are doing all that the law requires, consequently there would be no point in travelling 2 yards behind a vehicle travelling at 30 mph Are you one of those who travels at 20 mph in a 30 limit. or are you one of those who deliberately goes out to obstruct other road users? If you are, you should not really be driving on public roads.

Tailgaters are a far bigger problem than slow drivers.

I won't exceed urban 30mph limits - I'll drive at that indicated speed or fractionally above - and I do that because it's an appropriate speed as much as a legal limit. That doesn't seem to be enough for a legion of van drivers, school runners or Fiesta ST drivers though. It's an every day, every drive occurrence whereas being held up by someone driving below the limit is rare. When it does happen it's usually a learner or someone who appears unfamiliar with the area. I'm not talking about the tailgating that we all do in nose to tail crawls at busy times but when traffic is free flowing. I'd love to hear a justification from a someone who tailgates drivers at the legal limit but I reckon there won't be any on here, which is remarkable since PH is supposed to be so representative and tailgating is endemic.

I've got no time for people that drive significantly below the limit in 60/NSL roads except in those situations where driving to the limit is dangerous. These tend to be country roads where I am seem quite unusual in being concerned about whether tractors/horses/cyclists/walkers/oncoming vehicles might be around that next corner. These are pretty rare situations though. Road captains are dangerous idiots. These are the people that hate merge in turn and will obstruct, inconvenience and provoke other drivers at every opportunity, whether it's enforcing speed or blocking overtakes.

FWIW I don't drive a Jazz but I do spend a fair bit of time driving a Yaris.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Unreal said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

Thank you, I am perfectly comfortable at speeds above 30mph.
I'm not comfortable when you are 2 yards behind me because I'm doing 30mph in a 30 limit.

The rough rule is a cars length gap, for each 10 mph. If a person is travelling at the posted limit, then they are doing all that the law requires, consequently there would be no point in travelling 2 yards behind a vehicle travelling at 30 mph Are you one of those who travels at 20 mph in a 30 limit. or are you one of those who deliberately goes out to obstruct other road users? If you are, you should not really be driving on public roads.

Tailgaters are a far bigger problem than slow drivers.

I won't exceed urban 30mph limits - I'll drive at that indicated speed or fractionally above - and I do that because it's an appropriate speed as much as a legal limit. That doesn't seem to be enough for a legion of van drivers, school runners or Fiesta ST drivers though. It's an every day, every drive occurrence whereas being held up by someone driving below the limit is rare. When it does happen it's usually a learner or someone who appears unfamiliar with the area. I'm not talking about the tailgating that we all do in nose to tail crawls at busy times but when traffic is free flowing. I'd love to hear a justification from a someone who tailgates drivers at the legal limit but I reckon there won't be any on here, which is remarkable since PH is supposed to be so representative and tailgating is endemic.

I've got no time for people that drive significantly below the limit in 60/NSL roads except in those situations where driving to the limit is dangerous. These tend to be country roads where I am seem quite unusual in being concerned about whether tractors/horses/cyclists/walkers/oncoming vehicles might be around that next corner. These are pretty rare situations though. Road captains are dangerous idiots. These are the people that hate merge in turn and will obstruct, inconvenience and provoke other drivers at every opportunity, whether it's enforcing speed or blocking overtakes.

FWIW I don't drive a Jazz but I do spend a fair bit of time driving a Yaris.

When the vehicle in front is driving at the posted limits, there is no justification for tail gating.
There is equally, no justification, for someone driving well below the posted limits, when vehicle, road conditions, and weather conditions would allow them to do so, and particularly, when there are other road users around them, who legally wish to travel at the posted limits.
If a person cannot travel at the posted limits, in a sound vehicle, there is some question, as to whether they should be driving on public roads at all.

[Fleckers]

near where my dad lives there are lot of 20 mph roads and everyone seems to be happy doing just under 20, when you get to the odd 30 zone people just don't speed up they are still doing their 17/18 mph

the bit that gets me is doing 17/18 mph in a 30 where there is a speed camera they still brake so clearly they have no awareness of their speed or the road limit

it seems to take forever to get anywhere nowadays

[Pit Pony]

DonkeyApple said:

Caddyshack said:

People assume, wrongly, that the slip road has priority. I think I believed that when I first passed my test…it is against all logic that you have been taught as to what the lines on the road say. It needs a “prepare to stop” sign but we have so many signs now that nobody reads them.

When I recently did my bike test after 30 yrs of driving I had to re-learn to pay much more attention to road signs and it has improved my driving no end.

There is the dichotomy of basic etiquette v the rules as well. The former does very much dictate that the person in lane 1 with traffic seeking to merge from the slip should of course be fully aware and do what they can to assist those joining but ultimately the actual rules win over every time and of course to be joining from the slip on the assumption that a lorry driver has obviously seen you down there in their blind corner and can manovre as easily as a smaller vehicle is a sign of sheer madness, akin to the idiots on yachts in the Solent who attempt to exert their right of way over a powered ship. It's barely imaginable stupidity but each summer you will see a grown man skippering a sailing boat trying just that.

One plausible solution might be to remark the first 100 yards of the hard shoulder as emergency run off for those incapable of negotiating the joining of a motorway but given how some slips don't have a hard shoulder immediately after them and some even have obstacles like flyovers one has to assume that if someone cannot negotiate a slip road then they would just drive into the flyover as they've failed to notice that particular slip doesn't have a safety run off.

The things I taught my kids on passing thier test.

Accelerate hard on the slip road. It will be easier to slot in if you are already going faster than lane 1
Look down the hard shoulder. Is there anything there ? If not, then it's better to use it than have to stop at the end of the slip road, when there's the possibility of being rear ended. If there is, keep out, otherwise you'll die.

[Pit Pony]

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

Thank you, I am perfectly comfortable at speeds above 30mph.
I'm not comfortable when you are 15 yards behind me because I'm doing 27 mph in a 30 limit.

Edited for potential accuracy.

What's worse? Going slightly less than the speed limit on a clear road or tailgating. I think it's the later. As do most of PH.

If someone is tailgating you in traffic, slow down and create a 4 second gap between you and the car in front (as explained in speed awareness course)

[CT05 Nose Cone]

Roundabout discipline seems to have fallen off the cliff recently, twice this week I've had to take avoiding action because people are incapable of staying within the lines and are oblivious to what they did wrong.

[heebeegeetee]

popeyewhite said:

Locking the world out also means not being poisoned by fumes from other traffic, brake dust. rubber carcinogens etc, as when on a pushbike. Which is the reason I don't cycle.

I'm not sure about that.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/1...

https://airindex.com/emissions-ratings/cabin-air-q...

https://youtu.be/5hkMeZnVAh4?si=aEsGrvWDhHb661fb

Etc etc.

[Beeroklaunch]

Try living in Wales.

Speed limits reduced to 20mph so people drive 15-17mph

😩

[Caddyshack]

CT05 Nose Cone said:

Roundabout discipline seems to have fallen off the cliff recently, twice this week I've had to take avoiding action because people are incapable of staying within the lines and are oblivious to what they did wrong.

Yes, that is another regular area of poor driving. People seem to straight line them without any knowledge of you being next to them.

[Pica-Pica]

Beeroklaunch said:

Try living in Wales.

Speed limits reduced to 20mph so people drive 15-17mph

??

Where is that precisely?
Very little issues in Gwynedd.

[Pit Pony]

Caddyshack said:

Yes, that is another regular area of poor driving. People seem to straight line them without any knowledge of you being next to them.

I straight line some of them, but only when it's safe to do so.