Breaking the speed limit? Is it ever acceptable?

[anonymous-user]

Todays driving conundrum:


On the M4, in a section of 50mph (specs controlled) roadworks (well, lots of cones, no actual works or workers visible obviously).

As we are about to exit back into de-restricted limit, i'm in the outside lane, doing 50, and i spy in my mirrors two cars approaching at a decent lick. Difficult to estimate their speeds of course, but at the rate they were catching me, i'm going to suggest they were travelling up towards 100mph. As we pass the derestrict signs, drivers start to accelerate up from just about 50mph, to a typical 75 to 80mph. The middle lane is pretty much jam packed (inside lane empty of course....) So i have a descision to make if i want to avoid getting tangled up in those two cars catching me:

1) Brake or maintain speed, hope a big enough gap opens to my left in the approx 15 to 20 sec i have before getting caught.

or

2) Accelerate to (well) above the limit, and move into a completely clear section of carriageway approx 100 yards away in front of me.


I choose 2, (road is dry, visibility good, and no other traffic is giving me any concern that they might pull out into the outside lane unexpectidly (especially as the middle lane is accelerating anyway, rather than cruising or braking).

Literally as i pass the last car to my left, i see the rear of the two cars, that are now probably just approx 50 meters behind me (but no longer catching me) light up in a burst of blues and twos. I move to the inside lane, and they flash past me, a grey AMG merc, with the unmarked X5 about 3 car lengths behind, still lit up. After passing me, merc slows suddenly and moves to hard shoulder, with X5 shadowing him.


So, did i do the right thing? if i did that on an advanced driving assessment should i expect to get marked down?

I mentioned to my passenger that i was "just getting out of the way of some faster cars behind" and he mentioned that had the merc been intent on getting away from the X5, it could be a bad thing to have held him up (which i guess is very unlikely, but possible)

[anonymous-user]

Hackney said:

Max_Torque said:

Literally as i pass the last car to my left, i see the rear of the two cars, that are now probably just approx 50 meters behind me (but no longer catching me) light up in a burst of blues and twos. I move to the inside lane, and they flash past me, a grey AMG merc, with the unmarked X5 about 3 car lengths behind, still lit up. After passing me, merc slows suddenly and moves to hard shoulder, with X5 shadowing him.

Apologies if I'm being dim but:
- how did you see the rear of two cars that were behind you?
- was the Merc an unmarked police car or was the X5 chasing the Merc?

For 'the rear of the two cars' i mean the one at the back ie behind the merc), not the physical back of them. Being an X5 it was a lot taller than the merc, so i could easily see the blues come on!

I had assumed the merc was a covert car, after all, who would do 100mph through a specs section of mway with a pretty sus looking X5 nailed to your rear bumper. But, no i think the merc was just a muppet not paying any attention, as they pulled over to the hard shoulder a few seconds after getting lit up!