Speed/obstruction question
Discussion
my journey to work follows about 20 miles of country A road, it is not the sort of road you would make a habit of overtaking on, recently a woman in a Hyundai has started using this road but she does the whole 20 miles at 25MPH, the queue behind her becomes huge, this has been going on for a couple of weeks now, you can imagine the drivers frustrations behind her, is she actually doing anything wrong?
Yes, BURN THE WITCH!!!! In all seriousness, people have been done for going to slow on the motorway but I'm not sure about an A-road, which if it is not a road you'd be overtaking on sounds pretty fun tight & twisting so you might not get alot of sympathy trying to speed them up.
This thread says that you can get done for driving without due consideration, or receive a S.59
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090524070618AAqpW9q
This one suggests not and cites tractors as an example (see "slacko" post);
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-531447.html
Guy here says that you can under s.163 of the RTA (to stop them for any reason, then discretion re: ticket);
http://www.ukpoliceonline.co.uk/index.php?/topic/19987-driving-too-slow/
That's from the first page of googling. It seems to be at the discretion of the officer and whether they feel like pulling them up... good luck getting them to stop.
This thread says that you can get done for driving without due consideration, or receive a S.59
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090524070618AAqpW9q
This one suggests not and cites tractors as an example (see "slacko" post);
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-531447.html
Guy here says that you can under s.163 of the RTA (to stop them for any reason, then discretion re: ticket);
http://www.ukpoliceonline.co.uk/index.php?/topic/19987-driving-too-slow/
That's from the first page of googling. It seems to be at the discretion of the officer and whether they feel like pulling them up... good luck getting them to stop.
Personally I think you need to report her. The reason for such behaviour needs to be investigated, it could be bloody mindedness, it could be that she can't see very well, it could be that she is habitually a bit pissed from the night before, or it could be that she is simply a bit of a poor driver.
Make the point when reporting it that it is a danger because you consider it could lead to frustrated drivers making unsafe overtakes on a road which sounds as if it doesn't lend itself easily to such manoeuvres. You should be quite clear that your concern is safety, not that some dopey bint is slowing everybody down.
ps don't use the term dopey bint regardless of it being utterly appropriate.
Make the point when reporting it that it is a danger because you consider it could lead to frustrated drivers making unsafe overtakes on a road which sounds as if it doesn't lend itself easily to such manoeuvres. You should be quite clear that your concern is safety, not that some dopey bint is slowing everybody down.
ps don't use the term dopey bint regardless of it being utterly appropriate.
Yes they could be stopped and potentially there's a s3 offence (inconsiderate driving), though I would imagine the courts would be loathe to convict someone on the basis of too low a speed unless it was so low as to be unreasonable. I'm not sure 30mph would cross that threshold, considering tractors would be similar. You cannot prosecute a car driver for doing 30mph on a NSL and not a tractor driver for doing the same.
Like most cases, it would depend entirely on the circumstances of each case.
Like most cases, it would depend entirely on the circumstances of each case.
10 Pence Short said:
Yes they could be stopped and potentially there's a s3 offence (inconsiderate driving), though I would imagine the courts would be loathe to convict someone on the basis of too low a speed unless it was so low as to be unreasonable. I'm not sure 30mph would cross that threshold, considering tractors would be similar. You cannot prosecute a car driver for doing 30mph on a NSL and not a tractor driver for doing the same.
Like most cases, it would depend entirely on the circumstances of each case.
Quite agree that it would be bizarre to convict someone simply for driving a car at the speed of a tractor, but the OP says this problem persists over a 20 mile stretch and a lot of tractors wouldn't be going that far. I don't know, but while the speed alone might not be enough, I would hope that driving this slowly for that far and failing to take any opportunities to pull over and let the queue pass might be sufficient to convict if it came to it (whether they were driving a tractor or a car).Like most cases, it would depend entirely on the circumstances of each case.
SK425 said:
Quite agree that it would be bizarre to convict someone simply for driving a car at the speed of a tractor....
Presumably the conviction would be for causing an obstruction and not being considerate to other road users - rather than simply for travelling at a certain speed. There is no rule in the highway code that specifies how fast you should drive (minimum speed limits aside) - and on an empty road, you can travel at pretty much any speed you like for as long as you like so long as its below the speed limit.
However, if you find that you are hindering significant amounts of traffic because of the speed you choose to drive at - you should periodically pull over and let the traffic pass (see rule 169 above). Not doing so for mile after mile indicates either a serious lack of consideration, bloody mindedness or a severe lack of observation - none of which belong on the roads.
Moonhawk said:
SK425 said:
Quite agree that it would be bizarre to convict someone simply for driving a car at the speed of a tractor....
Presumably the conviction would be for causing an obstruction and not being considerate to other road users - rather than simply for travelling at a certain speed. There is no rule in the highway code that specifies how fast you should drive (minimum speed limits aside) - and on an empty road, you can travel at pretty much any speed you like for as long as you like so long as its below the speed limit.
However, if you find that you are hindering significant amounts of traffic because of the speed you choose to drive at - you should periodically pull over and let the traffic pass (see rule 169 above). Not doing so for mile after mile indicates either a serious lack of consideration, bloody mindedness or a severe lack of observation - none of which belong on the roads.
Put simply, people who indulge in that kind of behaviour are clearly displaying psychopathic tendencies. It must be very difficult to ignore the massive queue of traffic in your wake, and by doing so you're acknowledging that you're deliberately inconveniencing others, probably irritating them greatly, and not doing anything about it. Their perverse Schadenfreude or complete lack of empathy with other road users suggests that they are, in fact, psychopaths and should be dealt with as such.
Or something.
Moonhawk said:
SK425 said:
Quite agree that it would be bizarre to convict someone simply for driving a car at the speed of a tractor....
Presumably the conviction would be for causing an obstruction and not being considerate to other road users - rather than simply for travelling at a certain speed.
. I think 10PS's point was that, if the obstruction you cause in your car is no more than the sort of normal and expected obstruction one can expect to encounter from a tractor unable to do more than 30, it's difficult to imagine that the inconvenience you caused would be sufficient to convict you.It's reasonable to expect the tractor driver to observe rule 169 and it is reasonable to expect the car driver to as well, and as I implied, I would hope that prolonged failure to do so would make a conviction (if anyone bothered to try) rather more likely.
Moonhawk said:
Didn't I kinda make that point further down my post.
Well I wasn't quite sure where you were coming from since you seemed to be reiterating a point I'd already made further down in my post that you responded to too. Probably just me reading too much into things...Shall we just agree to agree and leave it at that?
It does rile me things like this, they must realise they are doing something wrong when there are miles of empty road ahead but a queue of cars bumper to bumper behind as far as the eye can see. Assuming they look in their mirrors, she probably thinks she is the only car on the road.
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