Everyone drives slower these days?
Discussion
Did a recent short trip from Beds to Leicestershire mostly on the M1. I'm no speed demon I simply like to drive at the speed limit where possible, so cruise set to 70.
For 95% of the journey I was in lane 3 overtaking slower vehicles. Saw plenty of people cruising at 60-65 hogging lane 2 with minimal traffic in lane 1. Came across a small handful of cars going over 70 but nowhere near as many as I used to see.
Anyone else noticed this, is it due to the price of petrol or something?
For 95% of the journey I was in lane 3 overtaking slower vehicles. Saw plenty of people cruising at 60-65 hogging lane 2 with minimal traffic in lane 1. Came across a small handful of cars going over 70 but nowhere near as many as I used to see.
Anyone else noticed this, is it due to the price of petrol or something?
Was thinking the same thing the other day. Part of my 30 mile each way commute is on the M4 -if I am sitting at 80mph I am usually the fastest vehicle, 80 is the new 90! I would guess that the average speed of flowing traffic is now down to about 65mph. Lane discipline is still crap.
Everyone slowed down massively with those fuel strikes 20 years ago and never sped up when normality resumed, IMHO. I would say average speeds are dropping more and more now though, due to traffic volumes and the "speed kills" message and enforcement.
Used to be quite common to sit in L3 doing 90 - 95 in a stream of cars doing the same but if you do those speeds now you will drive 100 miles+ without being overtaken.
Used to be quite common to sit in L3 doing 90 - 95 in a stream of cars doing the same but if you do those speeds now you will drive 100 miles+ without being overtaken.
For me it's the rise in automated policing.
When they had to catch you it was fair game but nowadays you can lose your license so easily it is often not worth it.
Couple that with congestion, poor lane discipline (one of the main causes of said congestion) and sheer weight of traffic, there aren't many opportunities to use the increased performance available to us these days.
When they had to catch you it was fair game but nowadays you can lose your license so easily it is often not worth it.
Couple that with congestion, poor lane discipline (one of the main causes of said congestion) and sheer weight of traffic, there aren't many opportunities to use the increased performance available to us these days.
If I'm going on any kind of long journey I'll typically set my cruise control to between 70mph indicated and 70mph (actual GPS speed)[1].
I'd say I'm *easily* in the fastest 90% and it's been that way for some time.
[1] Mostly because the difference in time is minimal and it means I have zero worries over speeding fines etc.
I'd say I'm *easily* in the fastest 90% and it's been that way for some time.
[1] Mostly because the difference in time is minimal and it means I have zero worries over speeding fines etc.
Does it really matter if someone is going 60/65mph vs 70mph?
The number of cars on the road, the awful road conditions and automated policing makes it easy to f
k up. No one is losing any time by by driving 60mph vs 70mph and they know it, may as well arrive safely and with zero speeding tickets/points on license.
To be clear, I'm not saying 70mph is too fast, I'm saying 60mph makes no difference in travel time.
The number of cars on the road, the awful road conditions and automated policing makes it easy to f
k up. No one is losing any time by by driving 60mph vs 70mph and they know it, may as well arrive safely and with zero speeding tickets/points on license.To be clear, I'm not saying 70mph is too fast, I'm saying 60mph makes no difference in travel time.
PistonTim said:
Fuel and maintenance costs have rocketed, as have insurance and there are speed cameras and police vans everywhere.
I gave up my 'fast' car in Sussex for something more leisurely to drive because it just wasnt worth it (not a track toy).
Yep, all so annoyingly true. I gave up my 'fast' car in Sussex for something more leisurely to drive because it just wasnt worth it (not a track toy).
Slightly less worried about the costs (only because I don't do too many miles) but these days I seem to convince myself I'm going to see a police van round the next corner, and I just really do not want any more points (only got 3).
It does massively take the fun out of it, I guess I just need to do some driving on less well known roads - my favourite journey used to be down the A3 to my Dad's place because I know the route so well and I used to allow myself to go fairly quickly, but these days I'm just sitting at the speed limit.
Yes it appears to be the case - vans seem to the fastest on the road much of the time.
Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
TheLoraxxZeus said:
Does it really matter if someone is going 60/65mph vs 70mph?
The number of cars on the road, the awful road conditions and automated policing makes it easy to fk up. No one is losing any time by by driving 60mph vs 70mph and they know it, may as well arrive safely and with zero speeding tickets/points on license.
To be clear, I'm not saying 70mph is too fast, I'm saying 60mph makes no difference in travel time.
Driving slower means more time spent driving, less time doing other things, like working or spending time with family.The number of cars on the road, the awful road conditions and automated policing makes it easy to f
k up. No one is losing any time by by driving 60mph vs 70mph and they know it, may as well arrive safely and with zero speeding tickets/points on license.To be clear, I'm not saying 70mph is too fast, I'm saying 60mph makes no difference in travel time.
Everyone is losing time by driving at 60, when they could be driving 70.
dan98 said:
Yes it appears to be the case - vans seem to the fastest on the road much of the time.
Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
Most vans are driving above their designated limit. Rare to see one doing 50mph on a s/c.Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
(IMO, I believe vans up to 3.5 tonne should be same as cars, and let’s cut out all this ‘car-derived van’ nonsense out as well)
Kawasicki said:
Driving slower means more time spent driving, less time doing other things, like working or spending time with family.
Everyone is losing time by driving at 60, when they could be driving 70.
That really depends on how far you're going, and it has to be pretty damn far to make a difference. If you were going 10 miles on a motorway you are saving 20 seconds by going 70mph over 60mph. I get where you are coming from, but the UK is tiny and most people aren't driving 150+ miles which is where that extra 10mph would actually be noticeable.Everyone is losing time by driving at 60, when they could be driving 70.
If we had huge stretches of open country or motorways (like in the states) where you could be driving for thousands of miles on a roadtrip then yeah, everyone going 10mph would piss me off lol. But saving 2-3 minutes on a 50 mile journey? I couldn't really care, I spend more time taking a s
te than that.dan98 said:
Yes it appears to be the case - vans seem to the fastest on the road much of the time.
Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
Um, driving at 90 has always got you there quicker thanks to maths - Speed = Distance / Time, so as speed goes up time spent on the road reduces. This is fairly simple maths, crossed with a bit of physics. Perhaps it reflects the shift from commuting to home-working and more home deliveries, as well as fuel costs.
Can't say it's a bad thing - trying to go at 90 never really got you there any quicker due to...well, maths basically.
Haven't noticed much of a difference in lane discipline - better in the UK and Germany than many other places.
Personally I'm still a 90 - 95 sort of guy on the motorway . Ok I have to slow up to 85 if there's a camera, but they don't last long and you can quickly get back up to speed. I still get overtaken on most journeys.
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