northerners driving slowly
northerners driving slowly
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veevee

Original Poster:

1,458 posts

180 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
ok, well not that slowly, but having driven up to southport and back over the last couple of days i definitely noticed a difference. oop north, average motorway speed in the outside lane = 70. down south = 80

why is this? more traffic speed enforcement up north?

or is it just me?

Exige S

157 posts

180 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Fewer Audis.

MartinQ

797 posts

210 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Poorer people.

(I'm allowed to say that - I'm northern-ish)

ginettajoe

2,106 posts

247 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
veevee said:
ok, well not that slowly, but having driven up to southport and back over the last couple of days i definitely noticed a difference. oop north, average motorway speed in the outside lane = 70. down south = 80

why is this? more traffic speed enforcement up north?

or is it just me?
It is just you, ..... I regularly drive to Brands Hatch, the ferry at Dover, London and as soon as i get south of junction 15 on the M1, every muppet in the world wants to sit in the outside lane at 60mph, with nothing in the middle or inside lane. They couldn't give two fks about the "northern boy" approaching at 80mph, and then the M25 ..... don't even get me on that one!!!!

sebhaque

6,534 posts

210 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
The west country is the same, apart from the repmobiles, nobody's in a real rush to get anywhere. London seems to be full of people who are 20 miles and half a minute from their marketing meeting.

I grew up in London and have worked in Bristol for a good few years now, it's always a massive culture shock when I travel back to see my family. Nothing can be as important as a fag and a cup of tea, can it?

EDLT

15,421 posts

235 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Less traffic so no need to rush.

veevee

Original Poster:

1,458 posts

180 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Exige S said:
Fewer Audis.
hilarious, as i had the idea for a thread excatly down these lines as i was posting this one.

ginettajoe said:
It is just you, ..... I regularly drive to Brands Hatch, the ferry at Dover, London and as soon as i get south of junction 15 on the M1, every muppet in the world wants to sit in the outside lane at 60mph, with nothing in the middle or inside lane. They couldn't give two fks about the "northern boy" approaching at 80mph, and then the M25 ..... don't even get me on that one!!!!
thing is (didnt really make myself that clear!), im not even talking about outside lane hoggers, im talking about loads of people sitting in the middle, or whichever, lane driving along at exactly 70 as if there was some kind of invisible average speed camera zone.

Chrisw666

22,655 posts

228 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
For as long as I have driven (14 years) and as long as I can remember taking an interest I have always noticed people generally try to drive faster in the SE than the rest of the UK, though regionally you will notice more cars driving quickly in and around major cities.

Its possible because when you rarely get held up in slow moving jams the journey you allowed for an average speed of 60mph for can be completed at speeds of not much more than 70 at the most. 20 miles doing 30 can really screw up your average so you need to lope along at 90-100 when possible to balance it out.

It is easier to drive quickly oop north too with less traffic and consequently less utter muppets, when I travel up the A1 or M1 from that London my speed tends to rise the further north I get.

h0b0

9,070 posts

225 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Chrisw666 said:
For as long as I have driven (14 years) and as long as I can remember taking an interest I have always noticed people generally try to drive faster in the SE than the rest of the UK,
Same here. First time I drove to London I was amazed at the average speeds and general aggression closer to the city. Now that I have been out of the country for a few years I still see the same phenomenon when in the UK now but everyone has reduced their average speed by 10mph on motorways

Some Gump

13,018 posts

215 months

Friday 11th November 2011
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OP, Are you referring to the main road to Southport, the one with average speed cameras?

Benbay001

5,892 posts

186 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
I noticed the same as the OP. People seem more willing to speed down south.
Maybe the roads are just busier.

Chris71

21,549 posts

271 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
I go up to York regularly and can't say I've noticed anything like that on the A1/A64. In fact, when I venture onto the minor roads further up towards the Moors it's always great to encounter people who know how to make progress on country roads.

Round here the Lononders are utterly phased by anything that's not a 30mph limit with a traffic jam. Bless.

Admittedly it does work both ways. There are blind people people in London who can park better than me.

Fastra

4,289 posts

238 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
The cobbles are rather restrictive!

smile

The Wookie

14,209 posts

257 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Fastra said:
The cobbles are rather restrictive!

smile
Cobbles? Posh git, in the East we only have fields

Fastra

4,289 posts

238 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
The Wookie said:
Fastra said:
The cobbles are rather restrictive!

smile
Cobbles? Posh git, in the East we only have fields
biggrin

Chrisw666

22,655 posts

228 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
The Wookie said:
Cobbles? Posh git, in the East we only have fields
Fields! Luxury.

KB_S1

5,967 posts

258 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
I have found that when travelling South into England the average speed on Motorways increases but the average speed on NSL's reduces dramatically.
On my last couple of drives through England I also found that drivers were much less likely to overtake on NSL's than up here, seemingly happy to toddle along at <40. Yet those same drivers would batter on up to 80/90+ as soon as they hit a Motorway.

Torquey

1,957 posts

257 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
The roads are just sh!t up here.

London - Wetherby = 3 lanes of M1 - 80-90mph.
Wetherby - Newcastle = 2 lanes of A1(M) - 70mph
Newcastle - Edinburgh = 1 or 2 lanes of A1 - 50-60mph.

lazyitus

19,931 posts

295 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
veevee said:
having driven up to southport and back over the last couple of days i definitely noticed a difference. oop north, average motorway speed in the outside lane = 70. down south = 80
That's it, conclusive evidence of national driving habits from one trip.

Case closed.

Ramses

831 posts

184 months

Friday 11th November 2011
quotequote all
Torquey said:
The roads are just sh!t up here.

London - Wetherby = 3 lanes of M1 - 80-90mph.
Wetherby - Newcastle = 2 lanes of A1(M) - 70mph
Newcastle - Edinburgh = 1 or 2 lanes of A1 - 50-60mph.
Thats because smart people head north up the west side. Fast motorway all the way from Cheshire to Glasgow, and to within 40 miles of Edinburgh.


On speeds - I find most of the south slower, round here motorway speed are over 80, once you get to Shap and above you are slow if you are at 85/90.

Driving is a lot better IME in the North of England and better still in Scotland.