Slow drivers on country lanes
Discussion
MuZiZZle said:
All that jazz said:
For all those of you that non-stop complain about trucks being in your way on d/cs and motorways, that chap right there is one of the major causes ^.
Beacuse I'm doing the same speed as the trucks?How fast should I be driving? sometimes I like to sit in the inside lane and avoid the wacky races
It does irritate me slightly as I don't think lorries should have to overtake cars; but far far far better than bloody middle lane drivers - now that makes my blood boil.
Snollygoster said:
He doesn't sound like a hooning drive to be fair. He did also say "Now I dont want to drive like an F1 driver but I do want to travel at a reasonable pace and enjoy the car, In the end I was nearly screaming. Do these people not realise the frustration they cause.".
Bet the women (assuming here) was doing about 20-25 if it's like the country lanes near me.
Why are you assuming the driver was female? Just a genuine question, is it like a "womens carnt dirve mega lulz now da ladz will larf at me" kind of sentiment? Bet the women (assuming here) was doing about 20-25 if it's like the country lanes near me.
All the slow drivers round here are men anyway. Mostly with horrid fat saloon cars.
MagneticMeerkat said:
Why are you assuming the driver was female? Just a genuine question, is it like a "womens carnt dirve mega lulz now da ladz will larf at me" kind of sentiment?
All the slow drivers round here are men anyway. Mostly with horrid fat saloon cars.
Where I live, for me it's mainly girls in their C1's and little cars like that who stick halfway out in the middle of the road so you cant't overtake, and potter around at 20mph.All the slow drivers round here are men anyway. Mostly with horrid fat saloon cars.
The other main culprits as suggested, are the oldies in the Jaguars.
saaby93 said:
Blakewater said:
the link to the 2002 study that's often quoted but rarely foundhttp://apivir.org/acrobatpdf/taylorvoiesetrisques....
I don't think it is helpful to talk about a particular speed being appropriate for roads like this.
On my commute to work there are bits where I'm doing 10 mph and bits where I could go as fast as I liked.
The golden rule is to be able to stop in half the distance you can see, anything else is fair game.
On my commute to work there are bits where I'm doing 10 mph and bits where I could go as fast as I liked.
The golden rule is to be able to stop in half the distance you can see, anything else is fair game.
Boosted LS1 said:
jmorgan said:
Whilst there can be the too slow, the limit is not a target. When I used to drive an elderly relative, slow was always best.
Slow can also be inconsiderate to other road users which can cause frustration and dangerous overtakes. I guess you could pull over occasionally to let them pass. When I was taught to drive the speed limit was a target. I was taught to accellerate up to it.Three cars I have have all behave differently, the SAAB is useless in the twisties, it is a M way cruiser but the toy is just a dream in them.
The frustration and dangerous overtakes are from a bad driver I would suggest, though a few years ago I would have been miffed as well, mellowed a bit now. Don't remember being taught the limit as a target, rather the limit depending on conditions.
saaby93 said:
Blakewater said:
the link to the 2002 study that's often quoted but rarely foundhttp://apivir.org/acrobatpdf/taylorvoiesetrisques....
http://www.abd.org.uk/trl511.htm
Excessively Slow drivers can be a nuisance but the drivers who are incapable of overtaking them (or overtaking tractors, bikes etc), but nevertheless drive close to them and constantly jab the brakes are even worse.
Incapable overtakers driving nose-tail make it difficult for the drivers 2 or 3 cars back to overtake.
Motorbikes can overtake far more easily, but when doing so (not cutting-up or too closely) I was beeped at the other day by a "35mph in an NSL'er" trundling along with a column behind them. It might have been as a result of surprise, as they were probably unaware of what was going on around them.
Incapable overtakers driving nose-tail make it difficult for the drivers 2 or 3 cars back to overtake.
Motorbikes can overtake far more easily, but when doing so (not cutting-up or too closely) I was beeped at the other day by a "35mph in an NSL'er" trundling along with a column behind them. It might have been as a result of surprise, as they were probably unaware of what was going on around them.
Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 21st September 10:58
I live in a rural area and you get two types of non local drivers:
1. slow bimble regardless of the road conditions not paying attention to anything
2. lunatic driving too fast around blind bends who will one day meet a combine filling the whole road and die in a firey ball of pain and squished body parts
Driving in lanes is just like driving anywhere else. Your speed should be suitable for the conditions and the distance youcan see. ie slow down for bends. You also need some extra awareness as field gates are rarely visible, so keep an eye out above hedges for tractors in fields that may be close to turning out of a gate.
The only benefit in going slowly is that you won't hit the deer that leaps over the hedge in front of you quite so hard.
There are also diferent types of lanes. ie Devon, narrow and winding so even 30mph seems fast. Cambridgeshire, long and straight with unimpeded views of all the surrounding fields, 70mph feels slower than 30mph in Devon
1. slow bimble regardless of the road conditions not paying attention to anything
2. lunatic driving too fast around blind bends who will one day meet a combine filling the whole road and die in a firey ball of pain and squished body parts
Driving in lanes is just like driving anywhere else. Your speed should be suitable for the conditions and the distance youcan see. ie slow down for bends. You also need some extra awareness as field gates are rarely visible, so keep an eye out above hedges for tractors in fields that may be close to turning out of a gate.
The only benefit in going slowly is that you won't hit the deer that leaps over the hedge in front of you quite so hard.
There are also diferent types of lanes. ie Devon, narrow and winding so even 30mph seems fast. Cambridgeshire, long and straight with unimpeded views of all the surrounding fields, 70mph feels slower than 30mph in Devon
MC Bodge said:
Excessively Slow drivers can be a nuisance but the drivers who are incapable of overtaking them (or overtaking tractors, bikes etc), but nevertheless drive close to them and constantly jab the brakes are even worse.
I have no issue with the former, since they're easy to overtake if they are that slow. Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 21st September 10:58
The latter are the frustrating ones, blocking others who do want to make progress.
Devil2575 said:
MuZiZZle said:
All that jazz said:
For all those of you that non-stop complain about trucks being in your way on d/cs and motorways, that chap right there is one of the major causes ^.
Beacuse I'm doing the same speed as the trucks?How fast should I be driving? sometimes I like to sit in the inside lane and avoid the wacky races
It's perfectly possible to keep pace with an HGV in the inside lane and not cause any issues at all.
Isn't part of the problem that both sides are unfortunately unaware / uncaring of the reason why the other driver may be wishing to go at a different pace, be that faster or slower.
For example the other evening I was going down a winding road, locally known as the switchback, and one that I normally like to punt down at a good pace. Usually one of the quicker down there even in a diesel Freelander 2, or the snotter 1.4 Fabia, without even thinking about the techno Beetle.
However that evening I was probably going at a pace that the OP and myself would have found slow. Reason was trying to acclimatise a young puppy to car travel and on winding roads he has a tendency to puke. So it was just taking it very steady.
Now to be fair to the A4 that caught me up quite rapidly he kept a good following position as there aren't many overtaking spots on that road, and the flowers left along the few where an overtake can be on shows that too many get it wrong.
Anyway suitable entrance to a caravan site made it easy to pull in and let him by.
Funnily enough even at my slow pace he didn't get that far ahead. Puppy still puked unfortunately.
Point is so many examples of stereotyping on this thread and it does none of us any favours.
Everyone on the road is just some gump trying to get somewhere and at times people should recognise that and have abit of give and take.
Yes it's frustrating when the slow coach in front is all take and no give but life is too short to allow blood pressure to rise on something which in reality is so trivial.
For example the other evening I was going down a winding road, locally known as the switchback, and one that I normally like to punt down at a good pace. Usually one of the quicker down there even in a diesel Freelander 2, or the snotter 1.4 Fabia, without even thinking about the techno Beetle.
However that evening I was probably going at a pace that the OP and myself would have found slow. Reason was trying to acclimatise a young puppy to car travel and on winding roads he has a tendency to puke. So it was just taking it very steady.
Now to be fair to the A4 that caught me up quite rapidly he kept a good following position as there aren't many overtaking spots on that road, and the flowers left along the few where an overtake can be on shows that too many get it wrong.
Anyway suitable entrance to a caravan site made it easy to pull in and let him by.
Funnily enough even at my slow pace he didn't get that far ahead. Puppy still puked unfortunately.
Point is so many examples of stereotyping on this thread and it does none of us any favours.
Everyone on the road is just some gump trying to get somewhere and at times people should recognise that and have abit of give and take.
Yes it's frustrating when the slow coach in front is all take and no give but life is too short to allow blood pressure to rise on something which in reality is so trivial.
Snollygoster said:
RichB said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
If it is a dual carriageway, NSL is 70. NSL B roads can be be dual carriageways, even with just one lane in each direction.
You've been on your speed awareness course 
My guy taking mine actually said a dual carriage can be as much as traffic cones down the middle; it does ot even need to be a solid barrier. coppice said:
I live on a country lane and by far the worst problem are people in denial that the road, like many in the sticks , is 1.75 cars wide which means passing oncoming traffic is consensual or involves banging your car up the verge.Worst offenders- not MX 5s but idiots(often local farm lads) in F** You Pickups and 30 something women in designer shades(regardless of weather)in Audi S3s who are often appallingly inconsiderate .Being slow in the right places is essential - I see several prangs a year caused by people blindly (literally ) assuming there will be nothing around the corner. One wan**er I worked with drove straight into a tractor around a blind bend and blamed the tractor driver.....
I have a beaten up old Jimny. Quite happy to bring it to a complete stop if consent is taken rather than given. Evoqes reqlly can go off road it seems!TwigtheWonderkid said:
Devil2575 said:
MuZiZZle said:
All that jazz said:
For all those of you that non-stop complain about trucks being in your way on d/cs and motorways, that chap right there is one of the major causes ^.
Beacuse I'm doing the same speed as the trucks?How fast should I be driving? sometimes I like to sit in the inside lane and avoid the wacky races
It's perfectly possible to keep pace with an HGV in the inside lane and not cause any issues at all.
People will drive at different speeds on roads for different reasons and there's no problem in itself if people overtake carefully and the slower drivers facilitate them rather than hindering them and reacting aggressively to them. The problem is advice like that from BRAKE which tells everyone to drive very slowly and "Avoid overtaking at all costs." At what point are we supposed to take this literally? Does it mean we have to stay behind tractors? How about cyclists and horse riders? It's all overtaking and even at 20mph you'll want to past horses and the slower cyclists. People who think overtaking is wrong never learn how to do it and so when they come up against horses and cyclists they don't think of getting past as the process of overtaking just like getting past a slower car. They just maintain their speed and drive past where they catch up, even if it's by a traffic island or on a blind bend and they're getting to close to the slower party and conflicting with what's coming the other way.
Then when they see people trying to get past them they enforce their anti overtaking rule by preventing an overtake. They disregard the Highway Code by acting unpredictably and altering speed and course making what would have been a safe overtake dangerous, thereby confirming their belief that overtaking is dangerous. Any resulting accident will be blamed on the person overtaking unless there are witnesses who'll back them up and speak against the person they were trying to overtake which is probably unlikely.
Then when they see people trying to get past them they enforce their anti overtaking rule by preventing an overtake. They disregard the Highway Code by acting unpredictably and altering speed and course making what would have been a safe overtake dangerous, thereby confirming their belief that overtaking is dangerous. Any resulting accident will be blamed on the person overtaking unless there are witnesses who'll back them up and speak against the person they were trying to overtake which is probably unlikely.
My biggest gripe with single track roads is not people going too slow or too fast; it's the drivers who can't or wont reverse to a passing place. They just sit there staring at you gormlessly when there is a passing place less than 100ft behind them and clearly visible. Expecting you to reverse round a couple of tight bends instead of them having to reverse a tiny bit.
Towing a caravan is not and excuse. If the farmer in his Defender towing a livestock trailer can reverse to a passing place then the bloke towing his house on wheels should be able to.
Towing a caravan is not and excuse. If the farmer in his Defender towing a livestock trailer can reverse to a passing place then the bloke towing his house on wheels should be able to.
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