Why do drivers do 30 in a 40 with a long queue behind?

Why do drivers do 30 in a 40 with a long queue behind?

Author
Discussion

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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Today I followed a 30 mph or less driver in a 40 limit with 12 + cars and building in a queue behind…( with a empty road in front ) what’s the best approach and why do they do it’ ? Are they impervious or just arrogant to the snake building up behind them ? Not much to gain but the frustration of held up drivers can led to doggy overtaking … what’s the answer…

ScoobyChris

1,667 posts

201 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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Overtake? biggrin

Chris

Superleg48

1,524 posts

132 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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Worse is drivers doing 40 mph along a NSL stretch and then carrying on doing 40 mph when it becomes a 30mph limit. This happens all the time in Norfolk and drives me insane. Normally elderly drivers.

Monkeylegend

26,227 posts

230 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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Polome said:
Today I followed a 30 mph or less driver in a 40 limit with 12 + cars and building in a queue behind…( with a empty road in front ) what’s the best approach and why do they do it’ ? Are they impervious or just arrogant to the snake building up behind them ? Not much to gain but the frustration of held up drivers can led to doggy overtaking … what’s the answer…
Keep your doggy on a leash.

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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Because they are entitled to ?

Glenn63

2,732 posts

83 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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I don’t get this behaviour when on a motorway, massive long line of cars doing 50mph in lane 2 when 1 and 3 are both empty.

Evanivitch

19,807 posts

121 months

Friday 29th April 2022
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The answer?

Stop second guessing why they're doing it and just accept you're going to be 2 minutes later to your destination.


blueg33

35,590 posts

223 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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Evanivitch said:
The answer?

Stop second guessing why they're doing it and just accept you're going to be 2 minutes later to your destination.
The 2 mins depends on how far the op and the snail are going.

It is annoying and an increasingly common problem. Exacerbated by many people seemingly being unable to overtake.

Mark V GTD

2,194 posts

123 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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It’s simply a lack of situational awareness as far as I can tell: I used to do a half hour commute which was mostly 50 and 60mph but with a couple of 40mph sections. I would often find myself behind a driver who did a constant 45mph, regardless of the speed limit. They must have felt ‘safe’ at that speed and did not consider the limits as target speeds. You can of course argue that they are not target speeds but maximum limits and they were driving at the speed they felt to be suitable (although Effectively speeding through the lower limit areas).

vonhosen

40,202 posts

216 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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Everybody/thing out there is a hazard, we can't know why they are all doing what they are doing when we encounter them.
Just accept they are a part of driving & get on with your day whilst dealing with them safely.

_Hoppers

1,176 posts

64 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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I keep asking my wife why she does this but never seems to have an answer! A few years ago my wife was driving through a 30mph, it was on a longish straight with very few houses. I asked her if she realised what speed she was doing, she hadn’t a clue, we were pushing up to an indicated 50mph!

Pica-Pica

13,625 posts

83 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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I usually set my limiter in a 30 or 40. However, there are times that I have had to drive slowly, especially around bends. It could be car-sick children, a load that I am carrying; all sorts of reasons.

Dashnine

1,287 posts

49 months

Saturday 30th April 2022
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Superleg48 said:
Worse is drivers doing 40 mph along a NSL stretch and then carrying on doing 40 mph when it becomes a 30mph limit. This happens all the time in Norfolk and drives me insane. Normally elderly drivers.
^ This, all the time.

Then when you drive through the 30 limit at (or about) 30mph they’re so far ahead of you that you miss the next couple of opportunities to get past them!

slipknotted

249 posts

36 months

Monday 2nd May 2022
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Dashnine said:
Superleg48 said:
Worse is drivers doing 40 mph along a NSL stretch and then carrying on doing 40 mph when it becomes a 30mph limit. This happens all the time in Norfolk and drives me insane. Normally elderly drivers.
^ This, all the time.

Then when you drive through the 30 limit at (or about) 30mph they’re so far ahead of you that you miss the next couple of opportunities to get past them!
Absolutely agree, I don't know how these people survive everyday life paying such little attention

example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FRT7apE5jw&ab...

StressedDave

839 posts

261 months

Monday 2nd May 2022
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Many moons ago, we stopped a car at night where the driver was doing 20 in a NSL. All ready with the breathalyser depending on how the conversation went. Turns out the driver's wife was blind and couldn't see the bends and brace accordingly, so he drove slow enough that she wasn't discomforted.

And as I tell my grads when they're making something horrible work structurally, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Perhaps they've spotted things you haven't. They are a myriad of reasons, of which inattention is but one.

Super Sonic

4,518 posts

53 months

Monday 2nd May 2022
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The ones that annoy me are those that do 40 in a 60, then when you get to a 30 they still do 40 :-/

Milkyway

9,292 posts

52 months

Monday 2nd May 2022
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Sometimes the varying 30 / 40 zones aren’t always clearly marked... so sometimes it’s best to err on the side of caution.
Ten mph difference isn’t exactly the end of the World.

dvenman

219 posts

114 months

Monday 2nd May 2022
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Milkyway said:
Sometimes the varying 30 / 40 zones aren’t always clearly marked...
Aren't there speed limit signs at the start and end?

PF62

3,575 posts

172 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2022
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Milkyway said:
Sometimes the varying 30 / 40 zones aren’t always clearly marked... so sometimes it’s best to err on the side of caution.
Ten mph difference isn’t exactly the end of the World.
Exactly.

When I visit relatives in Birmingham the speed limits appear to have no relationship to their surroundings. One area might have a 20mph limit, and an identical area 30mph, and yet another identical area 40mph.

And these limits appear to be constantly being amended as the speed limit indicator in my car based on TomTom data frequency disagrees with that in Google Maps and Apple Maps, one showing 30 and the other 40 - do I feel lucky today?

Now sure there are signs as you enter the 40mph zone, but given the limit can have changed several times along the same road within a few hundred meters, and the local authority puts the minimum number of repeaters so if you haven’t seen any for a while was it gone back to 30 and I missed the sign?

And then there is a special place in hell for the s who put a speed camera and signs telling me there are speed cameras, but don’t put a fking sign saying what the speed limit is!

durbster

10,223 posts

221 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2022
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If you want to ease your blood pressure, imagine they're transporting a precariously balanced wedding cake. smile