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

[recordman]

Whenever I come up behind someone doing 30 in a 40 I just assume that their car is suffering from 'Restricted Performance'. An all too frequent issue with today's modern cars.

[anonymous-user]

PF62 said:

jsf said:

PF62 said:

‘Should’ but often isn’t.

I've not found it an issue in the last 40 years.

Aren’t you the lucky one.

Luck has nothing to do with it.

[donkmeister]

jsf said:

PF62 said:

jsf said:

PF62 said:

‘Should’ but often isn’t.

I've not found it an issue in the last 40 years.

Aren’t you the lucky one.

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Often people assume that the roads and conditions they have experienced are a realistic cross-section of all roads and conditions.

For example, one of my neighbours had 30 years of driving (including 10 years as an HGV long-distance driver and 20 years doing 25k miles a year for work) under his belt. That, to me, makes him an experienced driver. He'd also never had a crash in the better part of a million miles. Yet he wasn't prepared for his first foray, by car, into central London. Apparently he got so worked up he was hanging out of his window screaming at other drivers and had never been so scared of crashing. Yet, he has no problems getting a 40+ tonne artic around the backwaters of the West Country against the clock.

My point is, even if you are an experienced driver with a pretty broad set of experiences, you could still be at the peak of mount stupid, awaiting your descent into the valley of despair when you drive into a locale where the council has an unusual/incorrect approach to signage, or the locals have certain ways of doing things that are out of step with how 99% of Brits drive.

[goonerzak]

General rule of thumb IMO: If there's nothing in front of you, yet a lot in your rear view, then speed up you ignoramus

[Mark V GTD]

That requires situational awareness - the people we are talking about rarely look in the rear view mirror, or at their speedometer for that matter....

[anonymous-user]

Some people just love creating a queue

[nickfrog]

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.

It happens everywhere I'm afraid. It is very annoying and makes little sense. Probably lack of focus and/or lazyness.

Another good reason to have a few "unnecessary" hp to dispatch them at the next safe opportunity.

[Somewhatfoolish]

donkmeister said:

jsf said:

PF62 said:

jsf said:

PF62 said:

‘Should’ but often isn’t.

I've not found it an issue in the last 40 years.

Aren’t you the lucky one.

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Often people assume that the roads and conditions they have experienced are a realistic cross-section of all roads and conditions.

For example, one of my neighbours had 30 years of driving (including 10 years as an HGV long-distance driver and 20 years doing 25k miles a year for work) under his belt. That, to me, makes him an experienced driver. He'd also never had a crash in the better part of a million miles. Yet he wasn't prepared for his first foray, by car, into central London. Apparently he got so worked up he was hanging out of his window screaming at other drivers and had never been so scared of crashing. Yet, he has no problems getting a 40+ tonne artic around the backwaters of the West Country against the clock.

My point is, even if you are an experienced driver with a pretty broad set of experiences, you could still be at the peak of mount stupid, awaiting your descent into the valley of despair when you drive into a locale where the council has an unusual/incorrect approach to signage, or the locals have certain ways of doing things that are out of step with how 99% of Brits drive.

Yes and when it comes to speed limit signage there are certain parts of the country where in some places it's practically impossible to know the limit unless you know the road (at least until you see repeaters) because the entry signs are either entirely hidden by foliage or only partially visible for a tenth of a second if you already know they're there and are specifically looking out for them. For example, here the right hand sign looks easily visible on google maps but the foliage is thicker now. Good luck seeing the left one.

I am sure this didn't used to be the case until about 5 years ago.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Tuesday 10th May 11:53

[Vipers]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Yes and when it comes to speed limit signage there are certain parts of the country where in some places it's practically impossible to know the limit unless you know the road (at least until you see repeaters) because the entry signs are either entirely hidden by foliage or only partially visible for a tenth of a second if you already know they're there and are specifically looking out for them. For example, here the right hand sign looks easily visible on google maps but the foliage is thicker now. Good luck seeing the left one.

I am sure this didn't used to be the case until about 5 years ago.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Tuesday 10th May 11:53

Same thing here, they put the 30 exiting a 20 for school hours in the winter, then the trees grew in summer, completely covered it.

[grudas]

I hate this, but more than that I hate the inconsistent driving. My route to work and back in through backroads, 30/40 limit. And I always get stuck behind someone incapable of driving.

The worst are the inconsistent drivers, last one was a jag in front of me who kept slamming on the brakes when they saw a car coming the other direction, was just so unpredictable and difficult to stay behind as I had no clue when they're going to slam on the brakes again. This added with constant breaking for each corner just made it an extremely frustrating drive. The van right behind them seemed to be incapable of overtaking either. And they were doing 20-25 in a 40, wide open road, nothing in front of them and good dry conditions. If I could see what's ahead of them being 2 cars behind how could they not? I find that way more dangerous than someone doing a few miles over the limit.

This seems to be the norm these days. There's also a red yaris that I often get stuck behind in the morning, she drives the same route each day with a massive satnav/ipad attached literally in front of her, covering half her view.. you can see the glare from it when you're behind. And if I see a queue for 5-6 cars in front of me I know it'll be her who is at the front. It's shocking that drivers like that are allowed on the road.

[Cliftonite]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Yes and when it comes to speed limit signage there are certain parts of the country where in some places it's practically impossible to know the limit unless you know the road (at least until you see repeaters) because the entry signs are either entirely hidden by foliage or only partially visible for a tenth of a second if you already know they're there and are specifically looking out for them. For example, here the right hand sign looks easily visible on google maps but the foliage is thicker now. Good luck seeing the left one.

I am sure this didn't used to be the case until about 5 years ago.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Tuesday 10th May 11:53

Only one speed limit sign is a requirement now, not a matched pair.

[Cliftonite]

Cascade360 said:

Tbh that isn't what annoys me. People can drive at whatever speed they like. You can overtake.

What really annoys me is the people following them at the same speed, who leave no gap in between but have no intention of overtaking. So you have almost no chance of overtaking either, as it is rare you get enough space to do a safe two or three car overtake ...

This! Oh, so much! This!

[Glosphil]

Vipers said:

ScoobyChris said:

Overtake?

Chris

My first thought, just overtake.

Overtaking a car travelling at 30 in a 40 limit will require a far distance if the 40 limit is not to be exceeded. Approx. 100+ yards?

[Welshbeef]

The speed limit is the maximum speed permitted - you can do less.


They might be literally running of fumes so egging out to the next fuel station.
Just chilling enjoying the views
Maybe checking the names of every side street as they are searching for the junction.
Maybe they had a space saver on and they didn’t want to go any faster
Maybe they were not aware it’s a 40mph /assumed a 30mph
Maybe car isn’t in the best running order and on way to garage to fix
Maybe they are goading you to overtake then plant the loud Pedel for sts and giggles
Maybe trying out a different style to the gangsters who would drive around at night with lights off anyone flash them they would shoot at the car and chase them down
Maybe a misfire and the engine simply wouldn’t rev any more.
Maybe he was on his way to the outlaws and doing anything to increase the time to get there/time spent there.
Maybe he was on a hands free call

[bad company]

Cascade360 said:

Tbh that isn't what annoys me. People can drive at whatever speed they like. You can overtake.

What really annoys me is the people following them at the same speed, who leave no gap in between but have no intention of overtaking. So you have almost no chance of overtaking either, as it is rare you get enough space to do a safe two or three car overtake ...

How can you be so sure that the following drivers have no intention of overtaking? They may be waiting for a safe place to do so.

[NS66]

bad company said:

Cascade360 said:

Tbh that isn't what annoys me. People can drive at whatever speed they like. You can overtake.

What really annoys me is the people following them at the same speed, who leave no gap in between but have no intention of overtaking. So you have almost no chance of overtaking either, as it is rare you get enough space to do a safe two or three car overtake ...

How can you be so sure that the following drivers have no intention of overtaking? They may be waiting for a safe place to do so.

Thats a very good point - one persons judgement on whens safe to overtake may differ from the next - I was out with someone a while ago who made a careless overtake recently IMHO - was a straight road and nothing coming in the opposite direction but there was a crossroads with vehicles queing - I would not of made the move personally even with anticipation of what could happen. The driver I was with never gave it a thought and they have been driving for 30+ years!!!

Edited by NS66 on Monday 16th May 16:27

[Dashnine]

bad company said:

Cascade360 said:

Tbh that isn't what annoys me. People can drive at whatever speed they like. You can overtake.

What really annoys me is the people following them at the same speed, who leave no gap in between but have no intention of overtaking. So you have almost no chance of overtaking either, as it is rare you get enough space to do a safe two or three car overtake ...

How can you be so sure that the following drivers have no intention of overtaking? They may be waiting for a safe place to do so.

Because they spurn obvious chances to overtake where once car could do so, but cars behind don't have the space to do so.

This, and the post above it - are people being deliberately obtuse, or is that how they really are and they live amongst us (at 30mph)?

[bad company]

Dashnine said:

bad company said:

Cascade360 said:

Tbh that isn't what annoys me. People can drive at whatever speed they like. You can overtake.

What really annoys me is the people following them at the same speed, who leave no gap in between but have no intention of overtaking. So you have almost no chance of overtaking either, as it is rare you get enough space to do a safe two or three car overtake ...

How can you be so sure that the following drivers have no intention of overtaking? They may be waiting for a safe place to do so.

Because they spurn obvious chances to overtake where once car could do so, but cars behind don't have the space to do so.

This, and the post above it - are people being deliberately obtuse, or is that how they really are and they live amongst us (at 30mph)?

I’ve been stuck behind a 35 mph driver waiting for the chance to overtake when a following car has imo dangerously overtaken me and taken the gap behind the slower car. Annoying and frustrating.

[al78]

I experienced a rare but comparable situation last Friday.

Driving along the A272 in Sussex on a nice quiet straight section, NSL speed limit, excellent sight lines, so was doing around 55 mph. Noticed a car waiting to pull out from a side road on my right, then watched as he/she proceeded to pull out in front of me forcing me to slow down to 20 mph, then trundled along at 30 mph, despite the fact the road still had good sightlines, was quiet, had very few side roads, and was good for at least 50 mph. Being Friday afternoon in SE England, the inevitable convoy in the opposite direction soon appeared making it impossible to overtake, so I'm stuck driving at the equivalent of an urban speed waiting for a gap in the oncoming traffic.

I think there are people out there that get a power trip out of deliberately and unnecessarily inconveniencing others.

Edited by al78 on Monday 6th June 23:44

[al78]

grudas said:

The worst are the inconsistent drivers, last one was a jag in front of me who kept slamming on the brakes when they saw a car coming the other direction, was just so unpredictable and difficult to stay behind as I had no clue when they're going to slam on the brakes again. This added with constant breaking for each corner just made it an extremely frustrating drive.

I've experienced this, my journey to work is mostly on unclassified country lanes wide enough for two cars to pass, and I've been behind people slamming the anchors on at every bend. I can only assume they do not know the road and are being ultra-cautious, or they've had a near miss on such a road before with a HGV coming the other way around a bend (which can happen).

One of the irritating things I regularly encounter in SE England are the drivers who drive as though they have an explosive device wired into their car which will detonate if the car reaches 40 mph. You follow them round a bend, they accelerate on the clear straight, reach 40 mph then hit the brakes before they go even a fraction of a mph over. It is analogous to the universe having an unbreakable speed limit.