An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

[Caddyshack]

DonkeyApple said:

bigothunter said:

Thanks

From my viewpoint, the car driver misjudged or ignored the position of the truck and made little or no attempt to speed up. Truck driver had limited opportunity to avoid the collision.

Yup. 100% the fault of the individual with the most manoeuvrable vehicle, the clearest lines of sight and the legal requirement to give way.

The real question to be asking is why the driver of a car that can clearly see the enormous lorry and has the ability to either accelerate to be in front of it, brake to go behind it or in an absolute emergency go straight on via the hard shoulder made the decision instead to just drive into it. If they had tagged a car they could have set off a cascading accident with horrendous implications.

It's always a worry that these humanoid potatoes not just walk amongst us but have managed to obtain driving licenses as well as seemingly a fan base to support their actions!

People assume, wrongly, that the slip road has priority. I think I believed that when I first passed my test…it is against all logic that you have been taught as to what the lines on the road say. It needs a “prepare to stop” sign but we have so many signs now that nobody reads them.

When I recently did my bike test after 30 yrs of driving I had to re-learn to pay much more attention to road signs and it has improved my driving no end.

[cobra kid]

I'm second in the queue behind a "35 in a 50" driver. Long line of cars behind me. I do the obvious and pull to the left to show it's not me!

[carpet_9000]

Going to hold my hand up and admit that I was a knob this morning after being stuck behind someone doing 30 in a 60.
Stuck behind a wagon with another car in front of me huge queue behind.
Road opens up.
Clear line of sight for the car in front to overtake.
They don't seem inclined to.
OK I'll go past both then I guess.
Indicate then pull out to overtake.
Wagon suddenly realises where his accelerator pedal is and starts speeding up.
I'm wound up so decide F it I'm coming past regardless.
Car coming otherway rounds bend.
Still room for me to take lorry which I do but I think I scared the life out of the oncoming driver.

All this happened in the space of about 3 seconds mind.

Sorry to the oncoming driver. Wasn't there fault in anyway yet they got caught up in it.

Noticed it more and more often though. People driving way below the limit and then suddenly deciding to speed up as soon as someone trys to pass them.

[Tommo87]

carpet_9000 said:

Going to hold my hand up and admit that I was a knob this morning after being stuck behind someone doing 30 in a 60.
Stuck behind a wagon with another car in front of me huge queue behind.
Road opens up.
Clear line of sight for the car in front to overtake.
They don't seem inclined to.
OK I'll go past both then I guess.
Indicate then pull out to overtake.
Wagon suddenly realises where his accelerator pedal is and starts speeding up.
I'm wound up so decide F it I'm coming past regardless.
Car coming otherway rounds bend.
Still room for me to take lorry which I do but I think I scared the life out of the oncoming driver.

All this happened in the space of about 3 seconds mind.

Sorry to the oncoming driver. Wasn't there fault in anyway yet they got caught up in it.

Noticed it more and more often though. People driving way below the limit and then suddenly deciding to speed up as soon as someone trys to pass them.

I think some people drive slowly to hold up other road users as some form of power trip.
When you started overtaking they sped in an attempt to continue winning an imaginary prize.


It’s not unlike some NP&E regulars who jump on every thread to berate others simply, for the same feelings of power.

[Caddyshack]

carpet_9000 said:

Going to hold my hand up and admit that I was a knob this morning after being stuck behind someone doing 30 in a 60.
Stuck behind a wagon with another car in front of me huge queue behind.
Road opens up.
Clear line of sight for the car in front to overtake.
They don't seem inclined to.
OK I'll go past both then I guess.
Indicate then pull out to overtake.
Wagon suddenly realises where his accelerator pedal is and starts speeding up.
I'm wound up so decide F it I'm coming past regardless.
Car coming otherway rounds bend.
Still room for me to take lorry which I do but I think I scared the life out of the oncoming driver.

All this happened in the space of about 3 seconds mind.

Sorry to the oncoming driver. Wasn't there fault in anyway yet they got caught up in it.

Noticed it more and more often though. People driving way below the limit and then suddenly deciding to speed up as soon as someone trys to pass them.

The person who speeds up when someone overtakes needs points on their licence and a bloody good talking to. If that was all on camera and someone crashed and died they could end up doing prison time.

It happened to me and I was very glad to have the power to continue and also the self restraint not to stop them and batter them.

[DonkeyApple]

Caddyshack said:

People assume, wrongly, that the slip road has priority. I think I believed that when I first passed my test…it is against all logic that you have been taught as to what the lines on the road say. It needs a “prepare to stop” sign but we have so many signs now that nobody reads them.

When I recently did my bike test after 30 yrs of driving I had to re-learn to pay much more attention to road signs and it has improved my driving no end.

There is the dichotomy of basic etiquette v the rules as well. The former does very much dictate that the person in lane 1 with traffic seeking to merge from the slip should of course be fully aware and do what they can to assist those joining but ultimately the actual rules win over every time and of course to be joining from the slip on the assumption that a lorry driver has obviously seen you down there in their blind corner and can manovre as easily as a smaller vehicle is a sign of sheer madness, akin to the idiots on yachts in the Solent who attempt to exert their right of way over a powered ship. It's barely imaginable stupidity but each summer you will see a grown man skippering a sailing boat trying just that.

One plausible solution might be to remark the first 100 yards of the hard shoulder as emergency run off for those incapable of negotiating the joining of a motorway but given how some slips don't have a hard shoulder immediately after them and some even have obstacles like flyovers one has to assume that if someone cannot negotiate a slip road then they would just drive into the flyover as they've failed to notice that particular slip doesn't have a safety run off.

[DonkeyApple]

Tommo87 said:

I think some people drive slowly to hold up other road users as some form of power trip.
When you started overtaking they sped in an attempt to continue winning an imaginary prize.


It’s not unlike some NP&E regulars who jump on every thread to berate others simply, for the same feelings of power.

Yup. Those losers have always existed. The difference today is that the turbo diesel engine has weaponised them and now when they put their foot down their annuity spec executive saloon actually accelerates.

[Boom78]

This is really an old man yells at cloud thread! “Things have got worse, back in my day….”. Nothing has really changed, you’ve just got older and get ticked off easier by simple things. Reality is most of us aren’t any better at driving than someone under 30, or female, or in a run of the mill snotter, or who drives below the speed limit. Maybe that person driving at 50 or 60 on the motorway has read the conditions, road or traffic better than you? Maybe the person doing 30 on a 40 has just got their license and building confidence?

[Pan Pan Pan]

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

M4cruiser said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Anyone who deliberately drives at below the posted limits, when there are other road users on the roads with them, is just a selfish, ignorant individual, who for some strange reason feels the need to upset and delay other road users.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Tuesday 19th March 12:38

Doesn't always work like that. The queue that's moving at 40 in a 60 limit isn't caused by the first car at the head of the queue, it's caused by the second one who's driving so close to the bumper of the first one that it wouldn't be safe to go any faster. This is what happens when I'm "caught up" by a speeding driver in a 40 limit.
And yes I do look for somewhere to pull in and let the idiot pass, and I usually get a horn blast for being kind and safe, wtf.
No point in just stopping at the side of the road if there's oncoming traffic, that would hold them up even more.

Some describe the roads as the veins and arteries of the country. If this is true, then you would be the equivalent of a thrombosis,
If a driver is driving at the posted speed limit, they are NOT speeding. The idiot, is not the one who wants to drive at the posted limit, it is you.

Not sure what point you are trying to make, but your "reply" post doesn't seem to relate to the situation.

The point was that the `idiot' in the situation you described above, was you, and not the person who had to overtake you because you were dawdling.
If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

[popeyewhite]

Boom78 said:

This is really an old man yells at cloud thread! “Things have got worse, back in my day….”. Nothing has really changed

Apart from there's over double the vehicles on the road, so potentially double the amount of idiots?

(2023 41.3 million, 1980s 19.2 million licensed vehicles on the road)

[DonkeyApple]

popeyewhite said:

Boom78 said:

This is really an old man yells at cloud thread! “Things have got worse, back in my day….”. Nothing has really changed

Apart from there's over double the vehicles on the road, so potentially double the amount of idiots?

(2023 41.3 million, 1980s 19.2 million licensed vehicles on the road)

And much of the doubling stems from the affordability of motoring meaning lots more chaps who previously would have struggled with walking let alone operating non static machinery. . We also have a large aging population that is driving, neither were the case historically.

There are many differing reasons but denying that change has occurred and that it is a figment of aged minds isn't a robust argument anyone can take all that seriously.

[The Wookie]

DonkeyApple said:

It's always a worry that these humanoid potatoes not just walk amongst us but have managed to obtain driving licenses as well as seemingly a fan base to support their actions!

It's the state of where we are as a society now, people would rather agree with the idiots than take responsibility or change their behaviours

[Monkeylegend]

Pan Pan Pan said:

The point was that the `idiot' in the situation you described above, was you, and not the person who had to overtake you because you were dawdling.
If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

[Caddyshack]

Monkeylegend said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

The point was that the `idiot' in the situation you described above, was you, and not the person who had to overtake you because you were dawdling.
If you are not comfortable at speeds above 30mph, get the bus. That may still be going too fast for you, but at least you wont be doing the driving. A driver who is staying within the speed limit is NOT speeding. That term is usually applied to drivers who are exceeding the posted limit.

Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Thursday 21st March 09:36

You would fail your driving test if taken today and drove at 40 in a 60. The examiner is looking for a mirror check as you approach the new limit sign and then an increase to the limit or a few mph under as soon as safe to do so and then maintain that speed.

I received a minor on my recent bike test for not squeezing past a row of cars to effectively access a turn left lane when the other cars were turning right...the odd thing was that I did squeeze past it was just that the examiner said I hesitated too long to decide to do it. I was nervous that it would be seen as an "undertake".

[768]

DonkeyApple said:

If the lane were to start as a wholly benign and safe second lane but then become a head on collision point half a mile later ...

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't do it like that, just separated by a single angled line of paint.

I'd perhaps swap them over at a roundabout exit, bit of armco, something like that, how lanes are normally merged.

[Honourable Dead Snark]

carpet_9000 said:

Going to hold my hand up and admit that I was a knob this morning after being stuck behind someone doing 30 in a 60.
Stuck behind a wagon with another car in front of me huge queue behind.
Road opens up.
Clear line of sight for the car in front to overtake.
They don't seem inclined to.
OK I'll go past both then I guess.
Indicate then pull out to overtake.
Wagon suddenly realises where his accelerator pedal is and starts speeding up.
I'm wound up so decide F it I'm coming past regardless.
Car coming otherway rounds bend.
Still room for me to take lorry which I do but I think I scared the life out of the oncoming driver.

All this happened in the space of about 3 seconds mind.

Sorry to the oncoming driver. Wasn't there fault in anyway yet they got caught up in it.

Noticed it more and more often though. People driving way below the limit and then suddenly deciding to speed up as soon as someone trys to pass them.

This is why I am much more hesitant to overtake in certain situations now that I am in a slower car and why I think it is safer overtaking as quickly as possible, even if it does mean exceeding the speed limit a fair bit.

The issue is, those idiots that like to dawdle and then speed up once they notice they’re being overtaken don’t usually have the power to make it an issue for those that do. With more people however now having access to more power, particularly in the form of EVs, I think there could be more incidents.

[bigothunter]

The Wookie said:

DonkeyApple said:

It's always a worry that these humanoid potatoes not just walk amongst us but have managed to obtain driving licenses as well as seemingly a fan base to support their actions!

It's the state of where we are as a society now, people would rather agree with the idiots than take responsibility or change their behaviours

National lethargy seems to have taken hold. We've accepted that Britain is in managed decline but feel powerless to do anything about it. Insanely slow driving is just another symptom of the disease.

[mwstewart]

DonkeyApple said:

There is the dichotomy of basic etiquette v the rules as well. The former does very much dictate that the person in lane 1 with traffic seeking to merge from the slip should of course be fully aware and do what they can to assist those joining but ultimately the actual rules win over every time and of course to be joining from the slip on the assumption that a lorry driver has obviously seen you down there in their blind corner and can manovre as easily as a smaller vehicle is a sign of sheer madness, akin to the idiots on yachts in the Solent who attempt to exert their right of way over a powered ship. It's barely imaginable stupidity but each summer you will see a grown man skippering a sailing boat trying just that.

It's also recognised by the insurers, and if I'm not mistaken also by legal parlance: the state of being established.

Then again it is most common to find people attempting to barge into an entrance without waiting for those already there to leave, so no surprise at the lack of manners on the roads.

[Kyp]

From my own personal perspective, there seems to be an epidemic of insanely impatient drivers more so than dawdlers, and without being sexist, they're invariably women drivers fixated on their phones.

[LunarOne]

mwstewart said:

DonkeyApple said:

There is the dichotomy of basic etiquette v the rules as well. The former does very much dictate that the person in lane 1 with traffic seeking to merge from the slip should of course be fully aware and do what they can to assist those joining but ultimately the actual rules win over every time and of course to be joining from the slip on the assumption that a lorry driver has obviously seen you down there in their blind corner and can manovre as easily as a smaller vehicle is a sign of sheer madness, akin to the idiots on yachts in the Solent who attempt to exert their right of way over a powered ship. It's barely imaginable stupidity but each summer you will see a grown man skippering a sailing boat trying just that.

It's also recognised by the insurers, and if I'm not mistaken also by legal parlance: the state of being established.

Then again it is most common to find people attempting to barge into an entrance without waiting for those already there to leave, so no surprise at the lack of manners on the roads.

See also trains, tubes. People are so self-absorbed and entitled these days that it never crosses their little minds that it's better for everyone to let passengers off at stops before attempting to board.