45mph for all occasions

45mph for all occasions

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Discussion

cologne2792

2,126 posts

126 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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They have always been the type of driver I'm most scared of - absolutely no concern for anyone else and / or absolutely no comprehension of their surroundings

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

219 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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I have a theory.

They have their dash set up to display instantaneous MPG - and drive at a constant speed to maximise it.

I see loads of them round my way too. Usually associated with other indications of poor driving (e.g. poor lane discipline, straight lining roundabouts, poor or no signals, undue hesitation at junctions)

zedx19

2,745 posts

140 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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Is this the same person that, after you've overtook in a NSL zone, suddenly reappears glued to your bumper midway through a 30mph zone? If so, this drivers also been spotted round Derbyshire.

LocoCoco

1,428 posts

176 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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What gets me is that most pedestrians don't give a toss about people like these zooming through their villages. When I drive through at 25mph in 2nd gear though, they're jumping up and down waving for me to slow down because my car sounds like it's going fast.

A car that you can hear coming is a lot less of a threat than a faster, quieter car, stupid pedestrians.

Martin_Hx

3,955 posts

198 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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On my way to work - 30 - 50 - 30. People sit on my arse in the 30, disappear in the 50 and re-appear in the 30... EVERY FECKING DAY!! 40 MPH everywhere brigade

Yes its very annoying redcard

IainT

10,040 posts

238 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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AndrewJG said:
Next time I'll check if it's a Rover 45.
If it's not it'll almost certainly have an Arnold Clark warning sticker in the rear window although 45 sounds a little racy for that.

grumpy52

5,579 posts

166 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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Thursdays are the worst day , one down my way drives at 25 mph in a 50 limit along a road that is risky to overtake on . Every thursday at 7.45 am six miles at 25 mph , longest queue behind this numpty was 3 miles long !

IainT

10,040 posts

238 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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grumpy52 said:
Thursdays are the worst day , one down my way drives at 25 mph in a 50 limit along a road that is risky to overtake on . Every thursday at 7.45 am six miles at 25 mph , longest queue behind this numpty was 3 miles long !
They've recently lowered my commute route to 50 from NSL which is annoying as the 35-40 mph drivers are now much harder to overtake in the two reasonable places without risking a ticket.

TurboHatchback

4,160 posts

153 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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Think yourselves lucky, here in gods waiting room (Christchurch) we rarely reach the heady heights of 45mph, 35mph is more like it.

I have a theory of sorts: Old people need different glasses to see close and far away things, to avoid crashing they wear their distance glasses when driving which means they cannot see the instruments at all. As they have no idea how fast they are actually going they therefore drive everywhere at what they think feels a 'safe' speed, i.e. top gear at about 1200rpm.

IainT

10,040 posts

238 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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At least the lighter mornings and evenings mean the plague of drivers who brake when they see oncoming headlights will subside for 8 months.

L1OFF

3,362 posts

256 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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TurboHatchback said:
Think yourselves lucky, here in gods waiting room (Christchurch) we rarely reach the heady heights of 45mph, 35mph is more like it.

I have a theory of sorts: Old people need different glasses to see close and far away things, to avoid crashing they wear their distance glasses when driving which means they cannot see the instruments at all. As they have no idea how fast they are actually going they therefore drive everywhere at what they think feels a 'safe' speed, i.e. top gear at about 1200rpm.
I had this probelem untill I bought Varifocals smile

AndrewJG

Original Poster:

25 posts

110 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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The fuel efficiency theory sounds plausible. As slow as possible in top gear. I know if I need to downshift I'll be doing around 43mph.
Of course fuel efficiency doesn't work like that.
I strongly suspect most if not all of these people are of the elderly persuasion shall we say.

Bradley1500

766 posts

146 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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I leave 5 minutes earlier for work in the mornings now to avoid Mr. 40MPH. The queue that use to build up behind him was astonishing. I thought it was hugely selfish as surely you would notice the massive tailback you’re creating – or are they really that unaware?

He drives a battered MKIV Volkswagen Golf TDI so I assumed this religious sticking to 40MPH was to maximize fuel economy. Oddly enough whilst stuck behind him one time it looked as if he had removed most of his interior, removing excess weight for more fuel economy perhaps?

rs1952

5,247 posts

259 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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Slidingpillar said:
He's been around since the early 80's, used to annoy the hell out of me doing my cross country route on Friday evenings.
Been around longer than that although, now you come to mention it....

It was probably his father or grandfather, wearing a Trilby hat and driving a Wolsey 1500 at 35mph

GuitarPlayer63

198 posts

149 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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There's a variation on this 45mph for all occasions theme too.

45mph in the 30mph zones, because they can see far enough ahead, and then when they get onto the NSL roads they slow down because they can't see whats round the corners. I wonder if they have an imaginary egg on a saucer on the bonnet that they're trying to protect at all costs.

Of course it goes without saying that these models of cars are neither fitted with mirrors or indicators as they would simply add to the complexity of the task of driving. On top of that, you know that when they get to their destination they comment that either "the roads were remarkably clear today" or "there are some really aggressive drivers on the road these days..."

Variomatic

2,392 posts

161 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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zarjaz1991 said:
There's an awful lot of these people about. It's more commonly 40mph in my experience, and on country roads they continue at this speed through all the sall 30mph villages.

They are a complete pain, and they cause accidents by making people behind them get so frustrated that they make risky manoeuvres to get past them.

Of course, if you do overtake them, even entirely safely, they then flash at you aggressively.

I'd love to get to speak to one of these people, in order to ask them, in a very friendly and civil manner, exactly what they think they are playing at. Perhaps they aren't aware of speed limits, or something.
Agree with most of this, and do find these drivers (mildly) irritating at times, but not the part I've highlighted - which seems to be repeated far too often. Any risky manoeuvres someone makes to get past are entirely the fault of the person making them.

Essentially, if someone can't control their own annoyance enough to avoid making a risky overtake then they're in absolutely no position to comment on the driving abilities of the 40 mph'er.

Hackney

6,841 posts

208 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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FurtiveFreddy said:
mph999 said:
There Toyota prius that does 36 in a 60 on my way to work sometimes ...
Sorry, but that in my book is totally unacceptable.
I'm pretty sure 36 is the fastest a Prius can go, having followed several going no faster than that.
You've clearly never seen a Prius minicab. They can't go *below* 36 and do all speeds at 7,000 revs.
Electric power is simply for reversing.

GadgeS3C

4,516 posts

164 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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My theory is they just drive at a speed they feel safe at. They have no hazard awareness so 40 in a 30 is no problem. But any faster and they think the car might jump off the road, so 40 in a 60.

Anyone going any faster is a dangerous idiot as they will obviously fall off the road at any moment.

The "40mph everywhere club" has been around far longer than most folks have had cruise control. I know because I've been calling them the 40mph everywhere club for long enough!

Red Devil

13,060 posts

208 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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GuitarPlayer63 said:
I wonder if they have an imaginary egg on a saucer on the bonnet that they're trying to protect at all costs.
Close but no cigar. smile In another thread:

R_U_LOCAL said:
Jackie Stewart used to teach using a big shallow bowl-type-thing attached to a cars bonnet with a tennis ball in it. He used to teach people to drive around a racing circuit without the ball coming out of the bowl. I thought it was a very nice teaching aid.
I remember JS demonstrating this on a TV programme many years ago. All the monospeeders must have watched it but missed the real point.

R_U_LOCAL said:
Or you could drive round with a bowl of water on your knee and try to stay dry.
That one was in the 'Cheap coupés that aren't Porsches challenge' - Top Gear Series six Episode 2.


Phatboy317

801 posts

118 months

Sunday 29th March 2015
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Variomatic said:
Agree with most of this, and do find these drivers (mildly) irritating at times, but not the part I've highlighted - which seems to be repeated far too often. Any risky manoeuvres someone makes to get past are entirely the fault of the person making them.
The point is that people do just that. Where the blame lies is beside the point.

Variomatic said:
Essentially, if someone can't control their own annoyance enough to avoid making a risky overtake then they're in absolutely no position to comment on the driving abilities of the 40 mph'er.
Are you sure you're talking about the same people here?