Driving safely can make you feel...

[rasputin]

... a right , sometimes.

30mph roads, being followed by large 4x4 very closely, no doubt thinking I'm sitting at 30 just to get at them .
40mph country road coming up - normally would only take it at 30-35 in the dark and wet, but then this car will stay up my bum so I'd have to slow right down for the bends.
So take brain up a gear and car up to 40mph. Gap opens up () for a few seconds () while 4x4 driver struggles to come out of coma... And then there he is right up my bottom again.

40mph on this road, in the dark and wet, with a car weighing roughly 3 times as much as mine - I didn't fancy my chances of stopping if there was a broken down car or wildlife (lots of deer in the area) around a bend.
So down I go to 30mph which I judged was a sensible speed considering limit points, road conditions, etc.

Cue passenger (and owner of car) telling me off for purposely trying to piss off driver behind, when they live nearby and it is a distinctive car.

Reach 30mph zone after a minute, at which point 4x4 driver decides to be a big man so overtakes and disappears at around 50mph round the next bend.
Cue car behind him overtaking.
And car behind him.
And guess what - yes, car behind him as well.

And me tootling along at 30mph in a car that could whip their bottoms around the local bendy roads with annoyed passenger.




Incidentally, this is precisely the reason I've been hesitating to get an IAM sticker on my car. All other drivers already hate me enough as it is





[/rant mode]

Edited by rasputin on Wednesday 6th February 14:49

[rasputin]

I always have to wonder, when I rant on about this topic and am given advice to just pull over... Have you ever (really) tried driving constantly at 30mph on wide, smooth roads with good visibility?

I have a lot to learn yet, but AFAIK when I'm doing 30mph in a straight line I'm not that different to anyone else doing 30mph in a straight line. Does nobody else find that at least 50% of drivers are not happy following you at that speed? If I pulled over every time someone drove too close I'd quite literally never get anywhere.


Passengers (and no doubt other drivers) must think I'm messing around as they are not used to driving as slowly as I sometimes do. Or maybe they are fed up with my schitzophrenic driving - granny mode where needed and bat out of hell with a red hot poker up its bottom on NSL roads where conditions allow




Oh and hi Adam

Edited by rasputin on Wednesday 6th February 16:05

[rasputin]

You are absolutely correct and I will speed up and get rid of this chip on my shoulder.

May I just say you have some mighty strong shoulders there supermono... But Ireland would like their potatoes back now.

[rasputin]

My opinion is that slowing down to accomodate the extra braking distance required when someone behind is too close - in most cases improves safety.

Perhaps my opinion differs from others and if so I unreservedly apologise for offence caused through incorrect use of the word "safely" and any concept of safe driving therefore implied.





Can I get back to my ranting now?

Edited by rasputin on Thursday 7th February 14:57

[rasputin]

supermono said:

Well I think you probably brought on this latest problem (and be honest you must see it quite often) by presenting an image of a pompass "advanced driver". You passenger even told you about it and he/she was there.

I do like the word pompass, however my passenger never told me I was any kind of ass.


Your post details the very best way of bringing on trouble: driving at EXACTLY the speed limit, not a thousandth of a mile an hour faster. Speeding up hard to EXACTLY the next limit to teach the obligatory "tailgater a lesson", and making some random adjustments of speed citing contrived "safety" issues.

Yes I appreciate that to some, slowing and accelerating to meet speed limits may seem random - not everyone looks at the speed limit signs after all. I have no interest in teaching tailgaiters any lesson or driving their cars for them.


It seems in this case your driving was so incredibly advanced that you managed to upset a whole train of people not just one.

If aggressive idiots are upset by my granny driving then they bring their stress on themselves. As far as I'm concerned it is an added bonus but certainly not what I was intending


But then you present the whole thing as being their fault for not understanding that what they were witnessing wasn't an erratic fool playing childish games with an idiot tailgater, but an Advanced Driver. An Advanced Driver saddled with the tiresome responsibility of being so good that people get annoyed...

Why "fault"? As far as I can see nothing happened that would bestow any fault on anyone. Just another day and another drive

Or did I misread something?

Perhaps.

[rasputin]

I'm beginning to think my [/rant mode] tag had no effect.

[rasputin]

supermono said:

I guess I'm just wondering why after the events you've described all those people overtook you in excess of the speed limit? Why do you think they did that?

At a guess, the first driver was in enough of a hurry to warrant 50mph in a 30mph residential area.

And the rest probably see this when they look in the mirror:

supermono also said:

I'd also like to know why your passenger felt the need to ask you to stop annoying the following driver? Why do you thing they did that?

This was an exaggeration - as allowed by the guidelines set in the Internet Rant Act 1997 which I believe I adhered to above.
My passenger didn't realise why I slowed down (how could they - without even a rear view mirror), I explained.
It's not too long since we both saw Bambi being turned into fox food on this very road by an oncoming car. I was being closely followed at the time and would have had no chance of keeping my bumper intact if I was over 30.
I like my bumpers. My passenger likes Bambi. Everyone happy.

supermono - mind if I ask why this bothers you so much? Get held up by slower cars much, do you? Have you considered advanced driver training to get over your hesitation to overtake?
You're lucky you know - I wish I had more opportunities to overtake, it's a fantastic feeling when done just right

[rasputin]

supermono said:

You just made this up didn't you? Because if that actually happened you'd surely have cited it as justification in your first post.

Unfortunately for Bambi I did not. I thought at the time it had a lucky, if sore, escape. It got up (off my side of the road where it landed) and walked away. I was happy to have stopped in time and quite proud of myself - until the next day when I realised it only made it a few paces off the road.

This is not rare around my area and something I expect on most local roads. It is the first time I've seen a deer being hit though - I usually see them hop in front of me (those lucky buggers chose the right car ), or already lying at the side of the road.

I saw no need to cite this reference in my original post as it could just as easily have been a fox, rabbit, frog, cat, dog, child, broken down car, nothing at all or all at once.

Thanks for your correction. I will be sure to refer to a full reference citation list with dedications and legal exclusions, terms and conditions in all future rants.





I wish I was as advanced a driver as I am being accused of

[rasputin]

At the speed I was doing I didn't see a danger. Although his stress levels may have been a danger to his health and wellbeing which is no concern of mine. If my slightly reduced driving speed was the biggest problem he has to deal with then he's a lucky man

If he was being aggressive rather than simply driving too closely, then, well I'd be curious why he can't overtake if I'm driving so slowly... But yes I would have pulled over (not on that road - I couldn't... but somewhere nearby)

Edited by rasputin on Friday 8th February 11:00