People overtaking in a 30
Discussion
Hi PH!
I've had this a couple of times lately. I'm driving along doing 32~ in the 30, in a built up area, and the person behind just goes tanking past me doing about 50.
Worse still this evening, in a town centre, a superbike goes past me doing about 70 in the 30!
It seems to be happening more lately, what's wrong with people?! I'm all for a bit of speed but this just seems ridiculous...
I've had this a couple of times lately. I'm driving along doing 32~ in the 30, in a built up area, and the person behind just goes tanking past me doing about 50.
Worse still this evening, in a town centre, a superbike goes past me doing about 70 in the 30!
It seems to be happening more lately, what's wrong with people?! I'm all for a bit of speed but this just seems ridiculous...
AllOurYesterdays said:
Hi PH!
I've had this a couple of times lately. I'm driving along doing 32~ in the 30, in a built up area, and the person behind just goes tanking past me doing about 50.
Worse still this evening, in a town centre, a superbike goes past me doing about 70 in the 30!
It seems to be happening more lately, what's wrong with people?! I'm all for a bit of speed but this just seems ridiculous...
What road?I've had this a couple of times lately. I'm driving along doing 32~ in the 30, in a built up area, and the person behind just goes tanking past me doing about 50.
Worse still this evening, in a town centre, a superbike goes past me doing about 70 in the 30!
It seems to be happening more lately, what's wrong with people?! I'm all for a bit of speed but this just seems ridiculous...
I'm not a "Road Captain" (+1000 PH points and beer if we ever meet to anyone who can quote the full sticker) by any stretch of the imagination, but having a couple of learner lads on 125's scream past me while I'm doing 35 during school kick out time is a bit silly.
I understand the frustration of being sat behind a coffin dodger at 26 mph in a 30 but in the whole scheme of things although frustrating, i'm only going to be 2 minutes later, making me 10 mins earlier rather than 12, if you get my drift.
Careless overtaking gets my goat though. Plenty of room, be my guest. Trying to beat an oncoming Bus and cutting me up, then you're a
.
I understand the frustration of being sat behind a coffin dodger at 26 mph in a 30 but in the whole scheme of things although frustrating, i'm only going to be 2 minutes later, making me 10 mins earlier rather than 12, if you get my drift.
Careless overtaking gets my goat though. Plenty of room, be my guest. Trying to beat an oncoming Bus and cutting me up, then you're a
.On the other hand, plenty of 30 zones were 40, 50 or even 60 zones not so long back and some drivers insist on sticking to stupidly low speed limits on wide open roads with no hazards on them.
Not suggesting that this is the OP's situation but myopically sticking to an arbitrary limit may be entirely legal and correct but it's also highly frustrating to drivers who are willing to apply careful judgement about their speed but would prefer not to be overtaking.
Not suggesting that this is the OP's situation but myopically sticking to an arbitrary limit may be entirely legal and correct but it's also highly frustrating to drivers who are willing to apply careful judgement about their speed but would prefer not to be overtaking.
CraigyMc said:
What road?
Whilst probably not the road the OP was going on about, this used to regularly happen in the main road coming out of Marlow, heading towards Henley on Thames, Bucks. There would often be TrafPol (hiding) along there so I was always careful but no end of times people would overtake at speed - shame there was no TrafPol there on those days!ShadyDuck said:
I suspect that with falling police budgets and a lack of enforcement by traffic police people think they can get away with it. In London there also seems to be more and more people jumping lights. Its getting really rather dangerous.
Or the Police in London have more important things to deal with than a bit of bad driving. Steve H said:
Not suggesting that this is the OP's situation but myopically sticking to an arbitrary limit may be entirely legal and correct but it's also highly frustrating to drivers who are willing to apply careful judgement about their speed but would prefer not to be overtaking.
What are you suggesting these people do? Break the law just because the people behind can't handle their frustration?Sometimes it's to get away from a bad driver?
An older driver pulled out in front of me without looking at the weekend when I was on the bike. I stopped followed as they were heading the same way I was. Very hesitant on junctions waiting until the whole road was clear, took ages to get to 26-30mph in the 30. After 5 mins of this, sometimes it's just easier to nip past then slow back down to the speed limit.
An older driver pulled out in front of me without looking at the weekend when I was on the bike. I stopped followed as they were heading the same way I was. Very hesitant on junctions waiting until the whole road was clear, took ages to get to 26-30mph in the 30. After 5 mins of this, sometimes it's just easier to nip past then slow back down to the speed limit.
In the same way that people still use their mobile phones even after an increase in penalty, there are still plenty of people willing to speed at stupid levels on a daily basis.
On probability - they will get away with it. For every one person that gets stopped, thousands do not and people "like those odds".
I'm no saint, but for me 30 and 40 means 30 and 40.
I've lost count on the number of times I've been overtaken in these zones. In a morning I've got a long NSL run which becomes a 30 as it goes into a village.
I'll be following car/s into this zone and as we approach the 30 I'm slowing so I hit it at 30 - the cars I were following are in the distance, the speed alert signs all flashing in the distance.
This isn't the action of someone on 9 points or on someone who thinks there is realistically a chance of being caught.
On probability - they will get away with it. For every one person that gets stopped, thousands do not and people "like those odds".
I'm no saint, but for me 30 and 40 means 30 and 40.
I've lost count on the number of times I've been overtaken in these zones. In a morning I've got a long NSL run which becomes a 30 as it goes into a village.
I'll be following car/s into this zone and as we approach the 30 I'm slowing so I hit it at 30 - the cars I were following are in the distance, the speed alert signs all flashing in the distance.
This isn't the action of someone on 9 points or on someone who thinks there is realistically a chance of being caught.
In the two cases I've described, there are no national speedlimits nearby, and both were in busy town centre areas. Definitely a 30 limit.
It's reckless driving, hopefully the police catch up with them at some point. I'm not sure how 70 in a town centre 30 limit is defensible in any way, shape or form!
It's reckless driving, hopefully the police catch up with them at some point. I'm not sure how 70 in a town centre 30 limit is defensible in any way, shape or form!
ShadyDuck said:
... falling police budgets...
Eh, what?Where I live the police budget has gone up this year.
If you see "police grants shrinking" then please be aware that's not the whole story.
There's a long term shift from funding via the various central government grants towards localised funding from council tax income. Where I live, these two are 62% and 38% respectively of the force funding, but (for example) 2 years ago it was 64% and 36%.
If you see headlines and don't look up the actual numbers, I'd not be surprised if you were reading only about the central government grants.
Totals for Thames Valley:
2015/16 funding was £382m.
2017/18 funding is £392m.
Source: https://www.thamesvalley-pcc.gov.uk/information-hu...
CraigyMc said:
ShadyDuck said:
... falling police budgets...
Eh, what?Where I live the police budget has gone up this year.
If you see "police grants shrinking" then please be aware that's not the whole story.
There's a long term shift from funding via the various central government grants towards localised funding from council tax income. Where I live, these two are 62% and 38% respectively of the force funding, but (for example) 2 years ago it was 64% and 36%.
If you see headlines and don't look up the actual numbers, I'd not be surprised if you were reading only about the central government grants.
Totals for Thames Valley:
2015/16 funding was £382m.
2017/18 funding is £392m.
Source: https://www.thamesvalley-pcc.gov.uk/information-hu...
Number of Police Officers at their lowest for 11 years according to this piece. We can thank the PM.
www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/31/number-police-o...
MarshPhantom said:
The budget and the number of officers isn't the same thing.Byker28i said:
Sometimes it's to get away from a bad driver?
An older driver pulled out in front of me without looking at the weekend when I was on the bike. I stopped followed as they were heading the same way I was. Very hesitant on junctions waiting until the whole road was clear, took ages to get to 26-30mph in the 30. After 5 mins of this, sometimes it's just easier to nip past then slow back down to the speed limit.
I think I'd rather have people like this in front of me than behind me than run the risk of being arse ended because of their poor awareness, especially if I was on a bike.An older driver pulled out in front of me without looking at the weekend when I was on the bike. I stopped followed as they were heading the same way I was. Very hesitant on junctions waiting until the whole road was clear, took ages to get to 26-30mph in the 30. After 5 mins of this, sometimes it's just easier to nip past then slow back down to the speed limit.
IanCress said:
What are you suggesting these people do? Break the law just because the people behind can't handle their frustration?
Stop dawdling. Use their brakes properly. Don't brake mysteriously on a main road to flash people out of side roads. Overtake a cyclist when you have a reasonable chance, not when the opposite lane is clear as far as the eye can see. Recognise that 25 on your speedo is about a real 22 and there's now frustrated drivers in those ten cars behind, one of whom might make a risky overtake. Drive to the conditions really. And that means if you pull out for no reason other than you can't be bothered to wait in front of a line of cars all doing 35 in a 30 then you do 35 as well.Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff