People driving slower?

[NST]

My usual commute to work is all motorway, i usually drive in the bottom lane as it is the lane that moves at a constant speed.
Recently i've been driving in the 2nd/3rd lane.. over taking cars tootling along at 50.. i'm finding lorries are over taking this slow drivers.. I'm not referring to old bangers or white van man in his 20year van that struggles to keep 50, but new cars! in particular diesel drivers (generally Audi but also 3 series/skoda octavia etc)

So who is driving slower due to fuel prices?

NST

[bull996]

Not me.

The slower they go, the easier they are to overtake.

[kambites]

[redacted]

[RobM77]

I've definitely noticed people driving slower on the motorway too. Lane 1 used to move at 70-75mph around here (M3/M4), but now it's more like 65mph. I've always cruised at 65-70 on the motorway if I'm not in a hurry, and in the past that meant lane 1 and overtaking the odd lorry, whereas now I find I'm moving out to overtake a lot of cars as well.

I haven't noticed less traffic though, although the weekends seem a little less busy on the motorways...

[pilchardthecat]

A lex said:

The petrol prices in the UK still have a way to go before catching some of the more expensive places on the mainland.

Edited by pilchardthecat on Thursday 17th March 10:15

[V88Dicky]

I only mentioned this to the wife last week, I've noticed it here in the North East on the main arteries, people actually driving slower than the artics!

Come on folks, can we all drive at at least 60 on the dual carriageways/motorways? and FFS, KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING!



Oh, and with the recent foggy conditions, at least put your fking lights on, you s.

[RemainAllHoof]

I tend to stay at speed limits or lower (on motorways) these days. (1) I can't afford to lose my licence (2) my roof makes an unnerving noise at speed (3) my engine smells funny at high revs.

[trackerjack]

Yes I think there are many going slower and more anger too by those that do not want to go slower.
Something else has happened too, have you been flashed with headlights merely because you overtook, safely.

[y2blade]

RemainAllHoof said:

I tend to stay at speed limits or lower (on motorways) these days. I can't afford to lose my licence .

same here^^^

70mph on cruise for me on motorways.

[AcidReflux]

I'm driving more slowly. Cruise at 60mph on dual carriageways instead of 75, and minimise changes in speed. I'm getting 10mpg better fuel economy just by changing my driving style. By my rough calculation it saves me £10 per tank of fuel. (100 extra miles per tank @ 47mpg, £5/gallon)

And driving this way is much more relaxing. My wife's started complaining though.

[V88Dicky]

pilchardthecat said:

A lex said:

The petrol prices in the UK still have a way to go before catching some of the more expensive places on the mainland.

We're all good little Europeans now.

One Country,


One Flag,


One Leader!

[DickSkruttock]

Agree with the slower speeds, I've noticed it on my 60 mile commute.

To be honest, the difference between driving at speed (ahem), and say 60ish is getting to work/home about 5 minutes quicker, and 6mpg less.

[kambites]

DickSkruttock said:

To be honest, the difference between driving at speed (ahem), and say 60ish is getting to work/home about 5 minutes quicker, and 6mpg less.

Indeed. Unless you're really in a hurry (or you enjoy it, I suppose), speeding on the motorway seems a rather strange thing to do to me. I've always just pottered along at the speed of the lorries if I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

[Zod]

Other people perhaps. Certainly not me! I don't drive more than 10,000 miles per year, so at 40 - 50 tanks full per year, it might save me a few hundred pounds. If I cared that much, I'd buy a diesel.

[anonymous-user]

kambites said:

Indeed. Unless you're really in a hurry (or you enjoy it, I suppose), speeding on the motorway seems a rather strange thing to do to me. I've always just pottered along at the speed of the lorries if I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

Sounds like fun, stuck between two lorries no doubt an inch off the bootlid while the driver reads the paper, watches a film on his laptop etc etc.

[kambites]

Dave_ST220 said:

Sounds like fun, stuck between two lorries no doubt an inch off the bootlid while the driver reads the paper, watches a film on his laptop etc etc.

Can't see I've often had it happen. Car drivers seem far more likely to tailgate cars than lorry drivers are. Besides if it does happen, it's not as if I can't just accelerate past the lorry in front and find a bigger gap to sit in.

Plus it means I get nearly 50mpg so I don't have to stop for fuel every five minutes - bloody stupid 32 litre fuel tank.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 17th March 10:38

[y2blade]

AcidReflux said:

I'm driving more slowly. Cruise at 60mph on dual carriageways instead of 75, and minimise changes in speed. I'm getting 10mpg better fuel economy just by changing my driving style. By my rough calculation it saves me £10 per tank of fuel. (100 extra miles per tank @ 47mpg, £5/gallon)

And driving this way is much more relaxing. My wife's started complaining though.

PistonHeads.. mpg matters


I agree, a drop in speed by 15mph gives a noticeable improvement in fuel economy.

[Chris71]

kambites said:

DickSkruttock said:

To be honest, the difference between driving at speed (ahem), and say 60ish is getting to work/home about 5 minutes quicker, and 6mpg less.

Indeed. Unless you're really in a hurry (or you enjoy it, I suppose), speeding on the motorway seems a rather strange thing to do to me. I've always just pottered along at the speed of the lorries if I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

I wish I could do that!

I don't particularly enjoy long motorway journeys so I tend to find the fastest speed I can maintain without being dangerous or conspicuous and just sit there.

[Dog Star]

kambites said:

Really? The roads around here seem busier than ever.

I agree - the M62 Manchester <--> Leeds is busier than ever - this week has been sheer hell in the mornings. It's got to bad I'm now using my motorbike. I was really hoping that I would at least gain the benefit of quieter roads as compensation for the additional expense My SL500 has been used once in the last 3 weeks.

That said I suppose that on the M62 there isn't really any other option - the train routes aren't great and are very expensive. Lots appear to be company car drivers too in their base Germans, and - of course - billions of HGVs.

One thing that I have noticed though, is that around town in the mornings there are lots more cyclists - I'm talking about what appear to be labourers or warehouse workers (not your die-hard lycra weirdo), the sort of people I used to see tooling round in rusty old Orions with blown headlights.

[y2blade]

kambites said:

DickSkruttock said:

To be honest, the difference between driving at speed (ahem), and say 60ish is getting to work/home about 5 minutes quicker, and 6mpg less.

Indeed. Unless you're really in a hurry (or you enjoy it, I suppose), speeding on the motorway seems a rather strange thing to do to me. I've always just pottered along at the speed of the lorries if I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

I have much the same opinion, I can't see the appeal of speeding on motorways (regardless of the Fuel consumption)

as I said before I'm happy to sit at a speed between 60 and 70 on cruise and waft along in comfort.