Since when was the NSL 35mph?

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Wargrave, UK
Now I'm working again, I've re-joined the rest of the world that commutes.
Driving home from work last night along various NSL single carridgeway roads, I kept getting stuck behind people doing 35 to 40mph. What is the matter with these people? One even flashed their lights at me (I'm guessing in disgust) when I performed a safe overtake on a long straight stretch.

I do appreciate that the NSL is a LIMIT and not a target but still, 35mph isn't making reasonable progress.
 
These same people do 35-40 in nsl then continue doing that speed in a 30 built up area, makes my blood boil. And as you said, if you overake, they flash and gesture like you just stabbed a gnome or something.
 
Now I'm working again, I've re-joined the rest of the world that commutes.
Driving home from work last night along various NSL single carridgeway roads, I kept getting stuck behind people doing 35 to 40mph. What is the matter with these people? One even flashed their lights at me (I'm guessing in disgust) when I performed a safe overtake on a long straight stretch.

I do appreciate that the NSL is a LIMIT and not a target but still, 35mph isn't making reasonable progress.

I know your pain all too well, i overtake quite a few cars in the morning who see fit to drive at 40mph in an NSL, had to overtake 3 in a row this morning cause no-one else would pass.

I'm putting it down to the increase in fuel costs and people trying to save money.
 
I hate people that do this.... its not that they care about speeding, they are just too scared to go over 40mph :(
These are normally the same sort of muppets that can't seam to get around a corner Without going over the white lines /mad!!!
 
I always put it down to either old people with nowhere to be or just people without the nuts to do a reasonable speed.

Always end up overtaking a lot of people in the mornings on NSL single lane roads, which they seem to hate, for some reason they don't think vans should overtake and go mental.
 
I guess some people are just... very nervous. An NSL does seem to take certain people out of their comfort zone, almost as much as the nightmarish "motorway".
 
I guess some people are just... very nervous. An NSL does seem to take certain people out of their comfort zone, almost as much as the nightmarish "motorway".

A friend of mine updated her Facebook status the other day to pronounce that finally after 2 years of driving she had finally gone onto her first motorway. All her lady friends were commenting saying "Well done", "That's great" and "I'm still too scared" :confused:
 
I guess some people are just... very nervous. An NSL does seem to take certain people out of their comfort zone, almost as much as the nightmarish "motorway".

My wife asked me last week If I would take her to a motorway so she could drive on one as she never has.
She is a great driver, no accidents, gets her boot down when she has to etc etc.
When she said this I told her its nothing special, its just.................driving except there is another lane on the far side.
She seems very nervous about it, it stems back to her Ex, I know that, but all the same, I still get surprised when people say they get tense about motorway driving.
 
Even better, I was following an older gent in an nsl doing 50 which was fine, the limit for vans and I was in no rush. Come to an area with a few houses but still nice straight clear road. Signed 50 in massive letters, so he slows down to 40mph, just completely random, cant even claim ignorance of what the sign means like you could with nsl!
 
I encountered some old bloke doing 45MPH on a dualy this morning. It's a 70MPH limit with free flowing traffic and he's sat there driving dangerously slow.

In situations like the OP describes I'll often point at the speed sign after I've overtaken.
 
absolutely hate it when I get stuck behind these muppets, got a couple of perfectly straight NSL roads near me and the max speed anyone will do is 40.

Other half goes mental at me when I overtake these muppets, no matter how safely I do it, calls me impaitient and sometimes arrogant.

There's no reason not to do at least 45 - 50 on any straight bit of NSL, on twisty one yes go slower but if its straight do the limit or only go slightly below.

I was told by my instructor that you dhould do AT LEAST 75% of the speed limit.
 
Most of the roads I use to get home are NSL... however, there is an old lady that drives an old V6 Toyota at 25MPH!!! worse still, she brakes down to 15mph every time there is a bend, dip, bump, curve in the road, or when there is oncoming traffic... so damned annoying to be stuck behind her, thankfully she only ventures out about once a month...
 
Some people still don't realise the speed limits are actually 60 and 70 on single and dual carriageways. It really irritates me especially when the 45mph'ers keep going in the 30 limit.

I followed a motorbike on Sunday doing just that!! :( He even kept looking behind to see what was making so much noise (I was in the Cobra), he then turned off without indicating :mad:

Andi.
 
A friend of mine updated her Facebook status the other day to pronounce that finally after 2 years of driving she had finally gone onto her first motorway. All her lady friends were commenting saying "Well done", "That's great" and "I'm still too scared" :confused:

Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. I'd probably have not refrained from making a comment tbh!
 
A friend of mine updated her Facebook status the other day to pronounce that finally after 2 years of driving she had finally gone onto her first motorway. All her lady friends were commenting saying "Well done", "That's great" and "I'm still too scared" :confused:
She seems very nervous about it
With all that is said about the differences between the sexes when it comes to driving, I don't think there's such a clear cut difference as confidence on the roads, of any nature. I do not know a single male who is scared of the motorway or NSL (I'm sure they exist, but I've honestly never known one), whereas I do know several females who see the NSL as some kind of winding road of death, and the motorway as a kind of interstellar transport system, with every object travelling at galactic speeds.

A funny one is my cousin. We both live in the same town, yet she takes an annoyingly long route to get in to it to avoid... a single (albeit steep) hill start. She swears she has never ever tried it!
 
I think they should get points ala liker speeders, they are a liabiliy and like many others have said, it ****'s me right off.
 
People seem to know what speed to do on Motorways and dual carridgeways, it's just the NSL single carridgeways that fox people.
We need a national campaign:

THINK!
(/) means 60mph!
 
A funny one is my cousin. We both live in the same town, yet she takes an annoyingly long route to get in to it to avoid... a single (albeit steep) hill start. She swears she has never ever tried it!

I often wonder how some women pass their test. My mother-in-law refuses to park her Zafira unless there is a "drive-through" space. I think I've seen her reverse about 3 times since knowing her.
 
Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. I'd probably have not refrained from making a comment tbh!

To be fair, the learning process doesn't prepare you for the motorway and I'd rather people admit they were scared and were over cautious than jump on a motorway thinkin their king of the road and make silly selfish mistakes.

I do feel the NSL pain, I know it all too well. I have people going round a blind corner crossing the white line at 15mph, people who slow down even more as you approach them. People who slow down as soon as they see an oncoming car. People who drive at 60 then slow down to 10mph to take a gentle bend.... plus the rest. It's madness.

I probably drive a lot faster than most on an NSL so if I get behind someone doing 50/60 I'll keep my distance and go at their pace as it would be selfish of me otherwise. I do hate the 30/40mph idiots who flash, speed up and someones swerve at you for trying to pass them on an open stretch of road. I've no patience for this level of selfish driving and there's just more and more of them these days. Bad times to be honest.
 
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