Old people going really fast..

Old people going really fast..

Author
Discussion

andysgriff

Original Poster:

913 posts

259 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Took the 'quicker car' to work this week (Derbyshire to Suffolk) as weather has been decent. I'm amazed at the number of times I felt i should pull over to let cars past on the A1 whilst I am doing 80+ units/hour. What amazed me more was a) the age of some of the speed freaks, (over 70??), b) the cars they were driving (small/city cars)..

Feel like a bit of a twit pulling over for granny smith in her 1.3 L but what do you do? Whats going on?
Rant over..

Edited by andysgriff on Thursday 24th July 00:44


Edited by andysgriff on Thursday 24th July 00:46

Nigel Worc's

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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"WE" (well I'm not quite that old), learnt to drive when speed limits were considered to be advice, rather than the absolute limit one could travel at.

The truth is nobody really cared as long as you didn't hurt anyone.

And ......... most importantly, no had invented scameras, so the fuzz had to put their doughnuts down and catch you.

Captainawesome

1,817 posts

162 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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worst 'I've got a GTR thread' ever???

Matt UK

17,649 posts

199 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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andysgriff said:
Took the GTR to work this week (Derbyshire to Suffolk) as weather has been decent. I'm amazed at the number of times I had to pull over to let cars past on the A1 whilst I am doing 80+ units/hour.
Were you staying in the outside lane? Were you expecting to be able to stay in the outside lane? Because you are doing 80+ units/hour?

andysgriff said:
Feel like a bit of a twit pulling over for granny smith in her 1.3 L but what do you do?
Err, you just move over regardless of what car it is? Or do you look in your mirror and make a decision whether to let people overtake you based on the car they / you are driving at the time?

Sorry for so many questions smile

tali1

5,265 posts

200 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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i wonder if a granny smith is posting on some OAP forum about overtaking a GTR in her 1.3 L biggrin

andysgriff

Original Poster:

913 posts

259 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
Nigel Worc's said:
"WE" (well I'm not quite that old), learnt to drive when speed limits were considered to be advice, rather than the absolute limit one could travel at.

The truth is nobody really cared as long as you didn't hurt anyone.

And ......... most importantly, no had invented scameras, so the fuzz had to put their doughnuts down and catch you.
I hear you, i just don't feel comfortable at those speeds these days with so many lorries, cameras, roadworks, etc etc trying to either kill you or take your money, license etc

andysgriff

Original Poster:

913 posts

259 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
Matt UK said:
Err, you just move over regardless of what car it is? Or do you look in your mirror and make a decision whether to let people overtake you based on the car they / you are driving at the time?

Sorry for so many questions smile
No problem with questions, thats what forums are for i believe.

The observation was to do with the perception of older drivers being slow when what I saw today made me question that stereotype.

Why should i move over when I'm doing over the speed limit with a car at a safe distance ahead and to pull over would be difficult with a stream of cars (with no gap) on the nearside? i.e i'm being tailgated on a busy road..

I always look in the rear view in case someone really important wants to either pull me over or get past. (i.e police, unmarked, bank robber, supercharged BMW's etc).
Makes no difference what car i am driving, why should it?




Edited by andysgriff on Thursday 24th July 00:43

mygoldfishbowl

3,691 posts

142 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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FFS

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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andysgriff said:
Why should i move over when I'm doing over the speed limit with a car at a safe distance ahead and to pull over would be difficult with a stream of cars (with no gap) on the nearside? i.e i'm being tailgated on a busy road..
The Highway Code said:
264

You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.
If you are managing a steady 80 and Doris* is managing more than that, lane 3 has to be very free flowing. That usually means that there isn't a lot of traffic in lanes 1 and 2, because generally people decide to get into lane 3 and sit there, regardless of how fast they are going, because it avoids the elephant racing in 1 and 2.

*not her real name

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

254 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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I am the fastest old fart in the west. May I help you?

ruff'n'smov

1,092 posts

148 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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Some younger people may wish to pay homage (French accent) to you with your driving gloves and Rapid Datsun. However the likes of my old Dad... 80 this year will not have a clue what you are driving and gladly swat you aside in his B max .......as he mumbles look at that tt sat in lane 2 and what the Hell is he doing on the A1, unless he's avoiding the shocking roadworks around Kettering on the A14. biggrintongue out

HenryJM

6,315 posts

128 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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davepoth said:
If you are managing a steady 80 and Doris* is managing more than that, lane 3 has to be very free flowing. That usually means that there isn't a lot of traffic in lanes 1 and 2, because generally people decide to get into lane 3 and sit there, regardless of how fast they are going, because it avoids the elephant racing in 1 and 2.
3 lanes? A1? Not much of it.

p1esk

4,914 posts

195 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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Nigel Worc's said:
"WE" (well I'm not quite that old), learnt to drive when speed limits were considered to be advice, rather than the absolute limit one could travel at.

The truth is nobody really cared as long as you didn't hurt anyone.

And ......... most importantly, no had invented scameras, so the fuzz had to put their doughnuts down and catch you.
Wot 'e said. Actually, when I started driving there was no speed limit outside built-up areas, and that's how it should be.

Hiya Nigel, you OK there? smile

Best wishes all,
Dave - once known as TripleS, before something got cocked up (but never explained or corrected) at PH. tongue out

PS. I expect I'll get banned (again) now. rolleyes

itcaptainslow

3,694 posts

135 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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Maybe they're in a rush because of the little time they have left? wink

The OP would whinge if they were holding him up so they're damned if they do...

Phatboy317

801 posts

117 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
andysgriff said:
Why should i move over when I'm doing over the speed limit with a car at a safe distance ahead and to pull over would be difficult with a stream of cars (with no gap) on the nearside?
If you're taking longer than a few seconds to pass another vehicle then you're going too slowly - regardless of what speed you're actually doing.
If you can't or won't speed up to get past the traffic in a reasonable time then you need to question why you wanted to overtake them in the first place.
You probably get irritated when lorries take ages to pass each other on a d/c, so why do it to other people?

HenryJM

6,315 posts

128 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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Phatboy317 said:
If you're taking longer than a few seconds to pass another vehicle then you're going too slowly - regardless of what speed you're actually doing.
If you can't or won't speed up to get past the traffic in a reasonable time then you need to question why you wanted to overtake them in the first place.
You probably get irritated when lorries take ages to pass each other on a d/c, so why do it to other people?
He didn't say that he was crawling past the people on the inside, but there was a constant stream of them. So staying in the outside lane until there was a decent space on the inside is perfectly normal.

GTIR

24,741 posts

265 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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What insaniac commutes from Derbyshire to Suffolk!

In a GTR!

coppice

8,562 posts

143 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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As somebody who shares a birthday with Nelson Piquet (a Brazilian racing driver who did quiet well in he 80s , younger readers) the patronising tone of OP made me smile. Does he think he has a monopoly on going quickly? Some of us old gits even drive fairly hardcore sports cars - and others, like Derek Bell and scores of other older racers would leave 99.99% of drivers- especially GTR ones- for dead.

DonkeyApple

54,923 posts

168 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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coppice said:
As somebody who shares a birthday with Nelson Piquet (a Brazilian racing driver who did quiet well in he 80s , younger readers) the patronising tone of OP made me smile. Does he think he has a monopoly on going quickly? Some of us old gits even drive fairly hardcore sports cars - and others, like Derek Bell and scores of other older racers would leave 99.99% of drivers- especially GTR ones- for dead.
This is very true. But the majority are idiots who haven't noticed that the world has changed in the last 40 years or that their ability to react or see has also declined. biggrin

I don't think its a coincidence that the majority of people who end up going the wrong way on a motorway or Bypass are OAPs. smile. I had one on the A44 a few months back. She was very angry at all the cars flashing her but not as angry as the driver of the car which was up the embankment. smile

My father and the majority of his living friends (the ones who haven't lived too well) are all racers from the 50s & 60s. They've all slowed down dramatically because they are smart enough to know that they are not at all good any more compared to how they were. The residual ability still means they are better than the majority of road users though.

I would suggest that in some case the fact that modern cars are so much better there may be plenty of instances where older people who have had an old car for donkey's years and suddenly switch to a Motability deal will end up travelling a lot faster to experience the same speed sensation. Ie 70 mph is a new Hyundai is probably smoother and quieter than say 50 in an old Micra etc. as such, I imagine it is all too easy to end up driving faster than you logically would as a result.

Of course they could all be newly widowed old biddies who are reveling in not having some old codger shouting at them to slow down every 30 seconds.

In short there are plenty of possible reasons but we do know that all reactions and senses decline with age so unless someone once had superior skills then arguably driving speeds ought to be reduced to compensate for these steady losses.

y2blade

56,029 posts

214 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
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Wow you lot moan about "doddery old drivers" too........ rolleyes