Slowsters -- the fastest growing danger?

[supermono]

There are a few people who believe that speed kills. No really there are. And the trouble is they are joining the ranks of 40mph HGVs* on our s/c roads causing often tens of nose to tail followers.

When you get a few tailgaters in the line who don't want to leave enough space for those with ambition to thread their way past, you get frustration related dangerous overtaking.

Are there any studies being made into the impact of this behaviour into the number of people being killed on our roads? I believe this is another of the ways the "speed kills" mantra is sending more of us to the morgue.

SM
*Yes I know it's the speed limit.

[supermono]

Indeed. But it's just as hard to overtake the 45 nose-to-tail cars following that Corsa as it is when they're behind the HGV.

Fact is, the Corsa just like the nutter in his rocketship shouldn't be on the road unless he can drive at an appropriate speed. And I'm reckoning there are far more of those 30mph Corsas than nutters from what I'm seeing on the roads, and the numbers are growing.

SM

[supermono]

So I've decided it's my right to drive at 25mph on a derestricted A road. I always have a string of cars behind me and I see all kinds of desperate overtaking and the occasional head on. But that's just because they're intolerant isn't it?

I absolutely agree that we have drivers of all abilities and ambition on the roads and we must make allowances, however I cannot for the life of me see somebody's point of view who decides it's ok to drive at 40mph or sometimes less on a derestricted trunk road when there are sometimes miles of frustrated drivers swarming behind like angry bees.

They should recognise that everybody in that queue behind them wants to go faster (after all they caught up with the end of the queue) and that a small percentage of these people will raise their risk threshold to try and get past.

And if they (for some reason) must cause congestion the Highway Code says they should pull over, but they never do.

The numbers of these people are increasing. I often have the misfortune of being amongst them driving about Norfolk and Suffolk and it seems to be getting worse.

If there was a study finding people were getting involved in frustration related accidents (as I suspect they are), then it would be to everyone's benefit to highlight this -- firstly to make people consider being more patient, and secondly to make people realise that they might be causing a danger by driving too slowly and they could consider going faster or planning their pedestrian sight seeing trips at less busy times.

SM

>> Edited by supermono on Wednesday 27th July 16:36

[supermono]

You know I reckon that radar combined with ANPR could quite easily figure out people driving at 40mph with nothing in front of them and plenty behind.

Now how sweet would that be hearing the grey haired old duffers getting driving bans for actually driving dangerously.

Oh happy thoughts

SM

[supermono]

Ok, for the sake of the egos on this forum, lets acknowledge that everyone here is far bigger and better than to get frustrated in a line of cars. We're all first class drivers and inclusive of all abilities and ambitions on the roads.

Now back to my point:

Are more people being killed on our roads because they overtake dangerously in the lines of closely spaced cars following an increasing numbers of slowsters driving 20+ mph under the speed limit? And if there are, what is being done about it?

SM