An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

[8IKERDAVE]

Yes things have certainly slowed down significantly over recent years. Absolutely fine when I'm on the bike but in the car it becomes very frustrating.

Could possibly have something to do with the influx of cameras everywhere, potholes and shocking driving standards. The government have put the message out that if you are keeping within the speed limit then you are driving safely and people seem to be buying it in vast swaves. Also there is a massive unpredictability in speed limits. A Roads used to all be 60mph single carriageway and 70mph double where as now they drop down to 50 in some, 40 in others so people just choose the lowest to be safe and protect their license. There's a camera van parked anywhere they can make a few quid so those drivers that aren't particularly 'on the ball' will just drive way under the limit on the off chance the limit changes without them noticing.

[ATG]

Tom8 said:

You then get the slowies who won't keep up with the tractor or lorry so leaving too big a gap to get past both when you have a chance and no enough space to leap frog without having to push in.

I live in Worcestershire and the "Worcestershire Hatchback" is the bain of my life for just this.

I joined the back of a short queue behind a tractor on a local A-road last week. Except, when we got to a tighter bend, I could see the tractor itself was being held up by a car in front of it. And part of my soul died.

[monkfish1]

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

Think you are right.

Because it doesnt have numbers, its ignored. So they just keep driving at whatever the last numbered sign they saw.

Ive been on two speed awareness courses 15 years apart. The level of understanding of speed limits, never mind any other road laws is dire.

Incidentally, both courses started the same way. Im going to show you some pics (4) If everyone gets the speed correct, we will wrap it up and go home. Needless to say, we didnt go home. On niether course did everone even get the motorway speed limit right. How hard can it be!

[Discendo Discimus]

Tom8 said:

You then get the slowies who won't keep up with the tractor or lorry so leaving too big a gap to get past both when you have a chance and no enough space to leap frog without having to push in.

I live in Worcestershire and the "Worcestershire Hatchback" is the bain of my life for just this.

Me too, also called Tom coincidentally.
The Droitwich road from Kidderminster to Junction 5 of the M5 is a killer for this. Same as the road from Kiddy to Bromsgrove.
Great fun on a bike, if you're in the car though you might as well stick a podcast on and settle in for a 40mph snore fest.
Shame because those roads are fantastic fun if you push on a bit.

[CLK-GTR]

Around me it's very often electric SUVs and Range Rovers. Not sure if they're concerned about range or their cars are so detached from the driving experience they are just not paying attention. They rarely slow down in 30 zones so i can only assume it's that rather than any fear of speeding.

I moved abroad for 10 years and since returning its incredible how poor driving standards have become, especially on motorways.

[Stu0221]

Discendo Discimus said:

Tom8 said:

You then get the slowies who won't keep up with the tractor or lorry so leaving too big a gap to get past both when you have a chance and no enough space to leap frog without having to push in.

I live in Worcestershire and the "Worcestershire Hatchback" is the bain of my life for just this.

Me too, also called Tom coincidentally.
The Droitwich road from Kidderminster to Junction 5 of the M5 is a killer for this. Same as the road from Kiddy to Bromsgrove.
Great fun on a bike, if you're in the car though you might as well stick a podcast on and settle in for a 40mph snore fest.
Shame because those roads are fantastic fun if you push on a bit.

I'm glad it's not just me - also from Worcester area - who has noticed this. The absolute worse part for me is the slip road M5 J7 heading towards Droitwich. Why does everyone attempt to join a motorway flowing at 70 mph at 40 mph?! Does no one in Worcestershire (you two exempt) understand the point of a slip road.

[bigothunter]

Julian Thompson said:

Generally inexperienced track drivers over brake for fast corners and under brake for slow ones. I think this is a manifestation of this idea about weight over the nose.

Not relevant to road so much but there we are.

Forward weight transfer definitely improves turn-in whether induced by a slight throttle 'lift' or tapping the brakes.

But I was joking. Totally irrelevant to this thread.

[garypotter]

Driving many many miles over the last 36 years and all over the country road driving standards are getting worse, IMHO due to the mass number of cars on the road, multi cultural (careful....) on my commute in the morning the number of students with Black boxes, phone apps on their insurance policies they do not want to do 30 in a 30 rather 27.

Also individuals attitudes, this is my 4x4 and i am not letting anyone pass me or let anyone out of a side road, i will pull across the junction - that also apples to drivers of EV as they are saving the planet and all UBER drivers

[bigothunter]

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

It's the old Derestriction sign (ie no limit). Sadly that has been corrupted now.

[G321]

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

On a speed awareness course a few years ago, we had to write down what certain signs meant. when presented with this one the woman next to me wrote 'no entry'

[Master Bean]

I blame the cyclists.

[Skeptisk]

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

Warning - giant liquorice allsort ahead?

[Skeptisk]

Probably many reasons for people driving slower. I would suspect congestion plays a big role. I’ve notice that myself. I used to overtake more in the past but nowadays it hardly seems worthwhile because you just end up behind a load of other drivers going slowly (unless I riding a motorbike where you can still make progress despite the traffic).

[croyde]

ATG said:

I joined the back of a short queue behind a tractor on a local A-road last week. Except, when we got to a tighter bend, I could see the tractor itself was being held up by a car in front of it. And part of my soul died.

[Hoofy]

av185 said:

Hoofy said:

av185 said:

Hoofy said:

in the slow lane

Is the 'slow lane' speed limit lower than the 'fast lane' limit in a 50....

You know what I mean. It's the lane where slow drivers like me should drive. Anyone who wants to break the limit can use the other lanes. I was taught to stick to the left lane unless overtaking.

Yes I was only being pedantic but reference to slow and fast lanes makes the problem worse especially on motorways.

Not if people think like me. If they want to go slow, then go in the slow lane. Someone doing 60 in a 70 when everyone else is driving past them has to know they're slow. If they don't then they probably shouldn't be driving at all.

[T_S_M]

I thought it was just me that had noticed this.

I have a 20 mile commute along an A-road (60mph) and without fail I'll get stuck in a line of traffic doing 35mph with a slow car at the front. It's fking infuriating! This is a wide open road where 44t lorries will sit at 50mph all day long. Yet these selfish fks in their Honda Jazz hold up 30+ vehicles because they wont go above 35mph, ever. You can't even overtake them either. Had one the other day, I was 8th in the "queue", and between the front and me were 4 artic's who clearly aren't going to overtake, so you're then stuck in this ever growing line of traffic.

My 30min journey regularly turns in to over an hour because of them. If you drove at half the speed limit on your driving test you'd fail due to a lack of competence.

Ironically, they usually have a dashcam as well.

[RDMcG]

Born in Ireland and left for Canada when I was 25. Prior to that I spent a couple of years in London. In my youth I recall a flat out run in an Aston-Martin DBS ( not mine, was a passenger) on the M1.

I get to London now and then and would never rent a car in the UK anywhere now. I do ship a car occasionally from Canada to continental Europe for a few weeks on the road and tracks and there is adequate opportunity for reasonable speeds depending on the country. Am shipping one there this year for some Autumn events and track days.

Spend a lot of time in the US Southwest where there are endless empty roads and highways if you know your way around.

I have some reasonably fast cars and would not enjoy driving in the UK any more with little opportunity to use them. If there is no opportunity to drive more than 60MPH (if that) on the average day, why bother?. My memory of driving in the UK in my youth predates the camera surveillance nightmare that exists now. Not the only place of course- will be in Switzerland in September and they also seem to have a massive amount of cameras. I do find that driving on Canadian plates is good, though.

[Bonzo1930]

G321 said:

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

On a speed awareness course a few years ago, we had to write down what certain signs meant. when presented with this one the woman next to me wrote 'no entry'

I had the same question on a speed awareness course a few years ago, apparently my answer of "knock it down a gear & get ready to go" was incorrect!!

[Castrol for a knave]

We also seem to have re-allocated the lanes in the 4 lane motorways.

Lane 1: HGV's, EV utlramilers, terrified old ladies and 50% of young girls in fiat 500's

Lane 2: empty

Lane 3: The type of people who have silver furniture and watch Love on the Beach, doing 57 mph.

Lane 4: People who have silver furniture and watch Love on the Beach, overtaking people with silver furniture and watch Love on the Beach, at 59 mph.....plus normal people and the other 50% of young girls in Fiat 500's, 2 feet off the back bumper of a normal person.

[super7]

king arthur said:

I'm convinced that most drivers on the roads these days do not understand what this sign means:

That means go as fast as you like.....???????