Driving Too Slowly Is Dangerous

[Torquey]

vonhosen said:

He is probably going for fuel economy & averaging the speed out over the journey (trying to limit stop/start as much as possible), if he is receiving commercial driver training.

This has been quite an eye opener.
- He's often blathering on about timing between traffic lights and flow of traffic - I ignore this.
- We have the same cars (don't ask) with the same engine. He gets 38mpg avg and I'm getting quite p'd off with only getting 31mpg avg.
- He does take driving seriously even if some people think he's losing it.

Anyway - that doesn't stop people tailgating and tooting to get hurry on.

[lyonspride]

Torquey said:

vonhosen said:

He is probably going for fuel economy & averaging the speed out over the journey (trying to limit stop/start as much as possible), if he is receiving commercial driver training.

This has been quite an eye opener.
- He's often blathering on about timing between traffic lights and flow of traffic - I ignore this.
- We have the same cars (don't ask) with the same engine. He gets 38mpg avg and I'm getting quite p'd off with only getting 31mpg avg.
- He does take driving seriously even if some people think he's losing it.

Anyway - that doesn't stop people tailgating and tooting to get hurry on.

There's a guy at work always banging on about MPG, I just figure he's bored. He doesn't like me much, I couldn't care less if he's getting an extra 0.05mpg by putting some expensive "eco" tyres on the front. I bought my car, it does what it does and I drive how I drive, if it hasn't got a fuel leak f**k the MPG.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Joining the main carriageway from a slip road or hard shoulder at a speed much lower than the traffic flow is certainly dangerous. But that aside, I don't think driving too slowly is dangerous. I don't see too many accidents involving tractors or milk floats. Quite a few from impatient drivers because of slower moving traffic, which isn't really the faulty of the slow driver.

Some biddy doing 25 in an NSL might be frustrating, but in itself, not dangerous.

[RATATTAK]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

............ Some biddy doing 25 in an NSL might be frustrating, but in itself, not dangerous.

I disagree. A bit. Following someone who drives at 36 mph through a village (30 limit) and then continues at 36 mph on a 40/50/NSL busy single carriageway is driving without due care in my opinion and it is dangerous.

[Short Grain]

Must admit I very rarely go over a limit nowadays, but, I will drive AT the limit or maybe 2 mph below it, just to be on the safe side!! The buggers will try and get you anyway they can, they need the money as far as I can see.

[otolith]

You've got to love those people who really nail Vonhosen's traffic light optimisation - they trickle up to the lights and roll through on the last knockings of amber, leaving the car behind on red. Lovely people, wouldn't hear a word against them

[vonhosen]

otolith said:

You've got to love those people who really nail Vonhosen's traffic light optimisation - they trickle up to the lights and roll through on the last knockings of amber, leaving the car behind on red. Lovely people, wouldn't hear a word against them

Or alternatively they arrive shortly after it's turned green & the car that raced ahead has been sitting there waiting for them before repeating at the next set of lights. The other thing they benefit from is less anxiety & stress than the 'charging' style drivers.

They've come to accept that if you plan on sticking to speed limits you don't get there any quicker 'charging' to the speed limit & stopping a short distance up the road. They realise they get better fuel economy, less risk, less stress, lower maintenance costs for pretty much no time penalty.

Edited by vonhosen on Monday 28th October 17:37

[otolith]

vonhosen said:

otolith said:

You've got to love those people who really nail Vonhosen's traffic light optimisation - they trickle up to the lights and roll through on the last knockings of amber, leaving the car behind on red. Lovely people, wouldn't hear a word against them

Or alternatively they arrive shortly after it's turned green & the car that raced ahead has been sitting there waiting for them before repeating at the next set of lights.

Those are amateurs. To really take prioritising your fuel economy over everyone else's time takes proper dedication. To really rub it in, go through on red when you and the car behind could have got through on green.

[vonhosen]

otolith said:

vonhosen said:

otolith said:

You've got to love those people who really nail Vonhosen's traffic light optimisation - they trickle up to the lights and roll through on the last knockings of amber, leaving the car behind on red. Lovely people, wouldn't hear a word against them

Or alternatively they arrive shortly after it's turned green & the car that raced ahead has been sitting there waiting for them before repeating at the next set of lights.

Those are amateurs. To really take prioritising your fuel economy over everyone else's time takes proper dedication. To really rub it in, go through on red when you and the car behind could have got through on green.

There is no time benefit in rushing to a longer period stopped ahead.

[otolith]

vonhosen said:

otolith said:

vonhosen said:

otolith said:

You've got to love those people who really nail Vonhosen's traffic light optimisation - they trickle up to the lights and roll through on the last knockings of amber, leaving the car behind on red. Lovely people, wouldn't hear a word against them

Or alternatively they arrive shortly after it's turned green & the car that raced ahead has been sitting there waiting for them before repeating at the next set of lights.

Those are amateurs. To really take prioritising your fuel economy over everyone else's time takes proper dedication. To really rub it in, go through on red when you and the car behind could have got through on green.

There is no time benefit in rushing to a longer period stopped ahead.

That holds true for a very narrow set of circumstances.

[xjay1337]

Pica-Pica said:

mackie1 said:

People joining motorways at 30-40 mph definitely seems to be happening more often these days. A poster on another thread mentioned people on a speed awareness course thinking the limit on slip roads was 30mph - I wonder how they got that idea ?!

I wonder how they got a licence.

Same people who think you don't need to give way to vehicles on a roundabout...!

[anonymous-user]

Leaving aside the obvious situations such as doing 30 on a motorway, in general the only thing that makes a slower driver into a dangerous situation is the arrogance, impatience and ineptitude of the "faster" driver who is incapable of safely overtaking or lacks the patience and self control to wait behind.

Sadly most drivers now behave like this, and worse still they believe they are right and put the blame for their own incompetence and lack of self-control on others.

Sometimes you will be held up by people not going as fast as you want - that's life. Grow up and deal with like an adult.

[WJNB]

colin_p said:

True.

And rush hour, nobody seems to be in a rush.

It is more akin to bimbling to the garden center on a Sunday afternoon hour.

I regularly "bimble" to a garden centre on any day of the week & those in a hurry get by - eventually.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

RATATTAK said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

............ Some biddy doing 25 in an NSL might be frustrating, but in itself, not dangerous.

I disagree. A bit. Following someone who drives at 36 mph through a village (30 limit) and then continues at 36 mph on a 40/50/NSL busy single carriageway is driving without due care in my opinion and it is dangerous.

36 in a 30 may well be dangerous, and so might 36 in an NSL on a very foggy day. Because it could be too fast. But 36 in an NSL, in good conditions. It might be selfish driving, or whatever, but explain the danger (other than other drivers getting frustrated and doing something stupid).

[RATATTAK]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

36 in a 30 may well be dangerous, and so might 36 in an NSL on a very foggy day. Because it could be too fast. But 36 in an NSL, in good conditions. It might be selfish driving, or whatever, but explain the danger (other than other drivers getting frustrated and doing something stupid).

The danger is someone is going to be frustrated, pull out to overtake the dawdler, and collide with some poor bugger coming in the opposite direction.

[vonhosen]

RATATTAK said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

36 in a 30 may well be dangerous, and so might 36 in an NSL on a very foggy day. Because it could be too fast. But 36 in an NSL, in good conditions. It might be selfish driving, or whatever, but explain the danger (other than other drivers getting frustrated and doing something stupid).

The danger is someone is going to be frustrated, pull out to overtake the dawdler, and collide with some poor bugger coming in the opposite direction.

The danger there is the overtaker.
We all might encounter slower moving vehicles (& there can be a variety of reasons that they may be travelling slower than we want to), it's up to us to safely negotiate them. If we get that wrong in an overtake then it's our fault. It's called personal responsibility.

[lyonspride]

vonhosen said:

RATATTAK said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

36 in a 30 may well be dangerous, and so might 36 in an NSL on a very foggy day. Because it could be too fast. But 36 in an NSL, in good conditions. It might be selfish driving, or whatever, but explain the danger (other than other drivers getting frustrated and doing something stupid).

The danger is someone is going to be frustrated, pull out to overtake the dawdler, and collide with some poor bugger coming in the opposite direction.

The danger there is the overtaker.
We all might encounter slower moving vehicles (& there can be a variety of reasons that they may be travelling slower than we want to), it's up to us to safely negotiate them. If we get that wrong in an overtake then it's our fault. It's called personal responsibility.

Exactly the attitude I was talking about.......

"I know im pissing people off, I know this is causing aggravation, but that's ok because if this person goes full rage and kills somebody it's their own fault"

It's this passive-aggressive BS that causes the most danger on the roads.

[vonhosen]

lyonspride said:

vonhosen said:

RATATTAK said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

36 in a 30 may well be dangerous, and so might 36 in an NSL on a very foggy day. Because it could be too fast. But 36 in an NSL, in good conditions. It might be selfish driving, or whatever, but explain the danger (other than other drivers getting frustrated and doing something stupid).

The danger is someone is going to be frustrated, pull out to overtake the dawdler, and collide with some poor bugger coming in the opposite direction.

The danger there is the overtaker.
We all might encounter slower moving vehicles (& there can be a variety of reasons that they may be travelling slower than we want to), it's up to us to safely negotiate them. If we get that wrong in an overtake then it's our fault. It's called personal responsibility.

Exactly the attitude I was talking about.......

"I know im pissing people off, I know this is causing aggravation, but that's ok because if this person goes full rage and kills somebody it's their own fault"

It's this passive-aggressive BS that causes the most danger on the roads.

But you have no idea why they are going the speed they are. They may not be trying to piss people off. They may have a genuine reason why they have to travel at that speed. That knowledge isn't part of your decision making as the overtaker.

The attitude of blaming others for your mistakes & failing to take personal responsibility for your own choices/actions is one of the most prevalent & dangerous things in driving.

Poor drivers blame others & they don't learn because of it.
Good drivers straight away ask themselves 'What should I have done differently?' They own it & seek to learn from it.
Most collisions involving more than one vehicle result from errors (maybe to varying degrees/percentages) from more than one party. If one party was doing it well the collision may have been avoided. Because idiot meets idiot they stand there blaming each other & learn nothing from it. If one does it correctly they look out for & cover for the other's mistake & it's another experience in their databank.
You can't control other people's behavioural choices, you should be able to control your own behavioural choices, if you can't you are potentially a menace.


Drivers complain that the government take responsibility away from them & treat them like children (ie speed limits) & in the next breath seek to absolve themselves from responsibility & act like children with 'It's not my fault'

Edited by vonhosen on Monday 28th October 23:19

[meatballs]

You do seem to get some nuts people doing 50 down the motorway. Then remember what speed run flats or space saver wheels are supposed to be used at.

[RATATTAK]

OK let's sling another scenario in the mix. How about the lorry doing 56.5 mph overtaking the lorry doing 56 mph on a two lane motorway. Happens a lot on the M180.