Have I become old and impatient....

blueboy2001 · 15 Jun 2012 at 23:53

Or are there more people dawdling around at inappropriately low speeds on the roads these days?

I think some of this "speed kills" rubbish is having an effect on some people, or people are trying to conserve fuel or something.

Today I followed a BMW 330d through a 30, then 40 where they increased speed to 34mph, and then an NSL where they sped up to 36mph, and then on a motorway slip road they joined the M6 at about 40mph - 2 wagons moved out to overtake them from a fair way back.

Last weekend I got stuck for 6 miles behind a guy doing 25mph for 5 miles through a 30 zone, braking at random times, usually when something was coming the other way. Impossible to overtake on this road really.

I seem to end up in similar situations nearly every time I go out these days.

I suspect part of the reason is I now seldom drive during the week, it's mostly weekends now. When I used to commute 50 miles each way on the M6 everyday traffic was heavy but speeds and lane discipline were generally pretty good. On the weekend, even with half the traffic levels, it's like wacky races at times with no lane discipline and people crawling down the outside lane matching speed with the car on their inside, presumably through fear of being jailed if they do 72mph to pull past.

I generally observe 30 and 40mph limits, I use discretion on 50's and don't particularly exceed NSL's really, unless overtaking and then it's just a case of getting the job done as quickly as possible. I generally have the cruise set at an indicated 75 on the motorway. I do accelerate quickly and drive to make good progress - but more often than not that seems to be unreasonably impeded by idiots.

poker_999 · 15 Jun 2012 at 23:59

you just need more bottle behind the wheel, there was probably tons of places to over take that bmw

Horse Pop · 16 Jun 2012 at 00:05

or people are trying to conserve fuel or something.

P sure it's this.

The amount of people doing their dozy version of hypermiling you see...

Mickie · 16 Jun 2012 at 00:32

its either people trying to save fuel but as its the weekend, people normally dont need to get anywhere fast, thus take their time..

if you tailgate someone too people infront tend to slow right down

blueboy2001 · 16 Jun 2012 at 00:32

poker_999 said:
you just need more bottle behind the wheel, there was probably tons of places to over take that bmw

I have no problems with overtaking where it is safe to do so. I was behind them for about a mile with a steady stream of traffic coming the other way on the NSL. There was no point going for anything marginal given that I knew I could drop them on the slip road in a few hundred yards.

poker_999 · 16 Jun 2012 at 00:33

Mickie said:
if you tailgate someone too people infront tend to slow right down

and then you just drop it in second and over take them

J1nxy · 16 Jun 2012 at 08:02

poker_999 said:
and then you just drop it in second and over take them

Yeah like most of the idiots who tail gate do???

Maccapacca · 16 Jun 2012 at 09:10

You're right so many people are worried about fuel consumption and the forever changing speed limits they just poodle along.

MatteH Oxford · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:18

I've got tired of driving around Oxford, there really is no point in having anything decent as the traffic is terrible & the roads are full of holes.

I stick to two wheels these days, far less stressful!

pepsilol · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:26

blueboy2001 said:
Today I followed a BMW 330d through a 30, then 40 where they increased speed to 34mph, and then an NSL where they sped up to 36mph, and then on a motorway slip road they joined the M6 at about 40mph - 2 wagons moved out to overtake them from a fair way back.

.

I did this very thing, at the time my cooling system was very very suspect so I was going really gentle.

[TW]Fox · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:39

pepsilol said:
I did this very thing, at the time my cooling system was very very suspect so I was going really gentle.

40mph on a Motorway is plain dangerous, if your car isn't serviceable enough to drive at least the same speed as the HGV's then keep it off the Motorway.

pepsilol · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:42

Oh I was matching HGVs, I wasn't that bad on the motorway.

Edit - the op says they did 40mph on the slip road not the motorway..

[TW]Fox · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:45

they joined the M6 at about 40mph - 2 wagons moved out to overtake them

The Wagons wouldnt have needed to move out if they were doing more than 40mph once on the Motorway.

pepsilol · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:50

But they could have been speeding up once on the motorway :confused:

They may have joined at 40 causing HGVs to move over but they may have very began to speed up.

Joining at 40mph only means they joined at 40mph. Not they joined and stuck to 40mph once on the motorway....

Scania · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:54

[TW]Fox;22151402 said:
The Wagons wouldnt have needed to move out if they were doing more than 40mph once on the Motorway.

Happens all the time mate unfortunately, people seem to see an HGV and assume its not going fast and think nothing of joining said motorway at 40 - 45 mph, the don't seem to appreciate that we carry a lot of weight and can't always pull into lane 2, never mind could be doing upto 60MPH

I tend to pull into lane 2 as I pass junctions as a matter of routine, for this reason.

Lopéz · 16 Jun 2012 at 10:58

blueboy2001 said:
Or are there more people dawdling around at inappropriately low speeds on the roads these days?

Yes. A friend of mine has worked for Dyfed Powys police for years and says that overall, speeding convictions in the area are far lower than they were 5 years ago. I'll have to ask him the exact stats next time I see him.

On the whole, people just don't drive at a reasonable pace any more. I regularly (daily) encounter cars doing 30-40 on 60mph roads and 20 in 30 zones.

Scania · 16 Jun 2012 at 11:05

I'm limited to 40MPH on single carriageway roads yet frequently find myself overtaking cars (where safe to do so), without having to break "my" speed limit, which from the point of view of the driver of a six axle HGV I find absurd!

And trying to follow some muppet through a series of bends, where he's hard on the brakes for each one, where despite my MGW of 44t, I'm barely having to touch my service brakes (exhaust brake being more than sufficient to check me) is crazy.

On & off the gas & brakes & then pootle along at half the limit in the name of fuel saving..... :confused:

Bloody Cretins! :mad:

Draeger · 16 Jun 2012 at 11:08

It's not just people not driving at a reasonable pace nowadays, there are literally thousands out there behind the wheel who have no concept of "making progress". Many of us will have seen them - they are the ones who insist on coming to a complete stop at every roundabout whilst looking straight ahead. Only when their vehicle has come to a complete halt do they think of looking right to see if it's clear and then move off. Rinse and repeat at the next roundabout or junction.

[TW]Fox · 16 Jun 2012 at 11:23

pepsilol said:
But they could have been speeding up once on the motorway

Which would mean doing 40mph on the motorway at some point :confused:

NXZT · 16 Jun 2012 at 12:51

Some driver behaviour drives me nuts:

The slip road has a certain length so you can accelerate enough to join the main carriage with reasonable speed...most days I observe some drivers going straight on the main carriage at the beginning of the sliproad at very low speed.

I'm used to that you indicate after (!!!!) you checked that it is safe to overtake and nobody is in the process of overtaking or approaching at higher speed. In many cases i think that indcating on the motorway=immediate change regardless what is happening behind you.

Also why is it that people you overtake suddenly seem to find the accelerator pedale?

And of course -as said before- everybody keeping always 10-20 mph under the actual speed limit.

Have I become old and impatient....

Tea Drinker