Speedlimits and tailgaters

grudas

grudas

grudas

Soldato
Joined
12 Mar 2008
Posts
23,367
Location
West sussex
Hello OCUK!

I just want to understand from other drivers POV, how you drive/function as a driver when you see someone doing the speed limit and you know the road has no speed cameras for say a mile.

I'm a new driver, and I obviously make sure I go the speed limit and no more than that, now I get tail gated, over taken, flashed at etc DAILY.. !

say I do 30 in a 30, like needle is bang on the dot, GPS indicated 28-29mph so even if my car speedo is under reading it is by a TINY margin, now I get drivers get mad behind me, tailgate me, over take me on the wrong side of the road, flash main beams etc.

now I'm sure everyone once in a while does speed and that's fine providing the conditions are fair, but why the anger/rage towards people doing the speed limit? I mean it is there for a reason.

I get the rage if I was doing 10 under limit or something and blocking traffic, but why now?

now many of the roads I drive around, I know them, I know where the cameras are etc but I still refuse to go over the limit due to the fact that I can loose my license in a blip.
 
When people tailgate, I usually just slow down a little. It's quite passive aggressive but meh, not much else you can do.
 
People going under the limit irritates me but i never get cross with anyone doing the limit ( although people that brake ridiculously for a corner or when a car is coming the other way on the other side of the road are bothersome).
 
If you are driving at the speed limit just ignore tailgaters. If they want to speed to overtake you, that is their decision. Do not let yourself be pressured by some aggressive bell end into risking points on your license or driving beyond what you feel comfortable at.

The problem is theirs, not yours.
 
peterwalkley said:
If you are driving at the speed limit just ignore tailgaters. If they want to speed to overtake you, that is their decision. Do not let yourself be pressured by some aggressive bell end into risking points on your license or driving beyond what you feel comfortable at.

The problem is theirs, not yours.
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This.


Never, ever get pressured in to doing anything unsafe / illegal.
 
I either just blip my brakes (to show lights, not actually decrease in speed) to warn them off a bit. Nothing much you can do really though, so just try and ignore them.

I mean, you could report the reg and say that they've tailgated, can't see much coming from that unless you want to go into the effort with a cam etc. Not really sure it's worth it.
 
People are tools, plain and simple. I often get tailgated for doing 30 in a 30 (as I always do) but if they want to go faster they'll have to overtake me. The worst I'll do when being tailgated is blast them with the screenwash as this often does make people back off but for the most part it's best to try to ignore them.

As already said, it's their problem. It does baffle me why people have an issue with people sitting at the limit though. People doing 40 on a single carriageway NSL limit road where it is perfectly safe to be doing 60 do annoy the hell out of me but I still wouldn't tailgate or risk a dodgy overtake to get past them even then, let alone if it's someone actually sitting on the limit.
 
I slow down to increase the gap from any cars in front so I can brake slower to give the tool less of a chance of going into the back of me.

I also always let cars out of any junction I come across and make sure I let all the pedestrians cross.
 
I don't put pressure on or get annoyed by anyone doing the speed limit, but people doing significantly under it do irritate me a lot.

On my commute there is a long stretch of country-ish road with a 40 limit (with signs often repeated) however plenty of idiots sit at 30 on it and I'm sure it's because they are just totally oblivious to the posted speed limits. I usually overtake these people as there are long stretches of straight clear road and they use their horns or flash me. Not really sure why they do that - maybe it's the equivalent of junior modding on the road. I've even had people make hand gestures at me.
 
Life is far to short to worry about idiots. Ignore them and their angst. If you are in an outside lane and nothing inside you then of course pull in, you're not the police so the "i'm doing the speed limit so what's the problem" mindset is just as bad in that circumstance. But on a normal single lane road doing a good legal speed the person behind needs to get past or back off, not intimidate.
 
The only issue occurs when someone is sticking rigidly to their indicated speedo reading of 30mph when in fact the car is only going 20-25.

The regulations governing speedometers say
"The amended Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 permits the use of speedometers that meet either the requirements of EC Council Directive 75/443 (as amended by Directive 97/39) or UNECE Regulation 39.[11]
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001[12] permits single vehicles to be approved. As with the UNECE regulation and the EC Directives, the speedometer must never show an indicated speed less than the actual speed. However it differs slightly from them in specifying that for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph.
For example, if the vehicle is actually travelling at 50 mph, the speedometer must not show more than 61.25 mph or less than 50 mph."

So legally you can be driving with a speedo saying you are doing 30 and in fact you might only be doing 20 this will infuriate people behind no end.

So just because you think they are doing 30 in a 40 they may well actually be doing an indicated 40.
 
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Interesting thread as I had a similar discussion on another (motoring) forum a few years ago.
In my case it was a dual carriageway and doing 70mph and overtaking slower traffic, but car behind wanted to go faster.
I got blasted for saying I wouldn't pull in to the inside until I had gone past all the cars, assuming they were fairly spaced, not miles apart.
The inference was I should leap out of the way at the slightest opportunity.
 
You and you alone are responsible for creating an appropriate space around your car. If someone behind you is too close then you can slow down to create a larger space in front. If they're worked up and doing dangerous things then just pull over and let them past. Life is too short to be bothered by this stuff
 
I don't think anyone's speedo is going to underread by as much as 10mph when doing 30mph. My previous car would be doing 27mph at an indicated 30mph and from what I've read that's on the larger side of the margin too.

My current car will be doing 28mph at an indicated 30mph which seems to be the most common sort of margin.
 
Si105 said:
Increase the gap from any cars in front so I can brake slower to give the tool less of a chance of going into the back of me.
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This, and ignore it - don't let it get to you or affect your driving. Can be quite intimidating to new drivers, from my experience.

Just make sure your speedo is accurate (or you know your actual speed at given projected speeds - i.e. 30mph on the speedo is 28 in my car, 70mph indicated is actually 67), but it sounds like you have already done that!
 
I honestly think some people use the roads to unleash everything they have bottled up.

I once had a fella get out of his car in a traffic jam on the A1 to have a go at me about holding him up in the outside lane when I was doing 80. I asked him how much further ahead of me he would be now if I'd let him and he stuttered a bit, threw a few swearies out and stormed back off to his motor.
 
Phemo said:
People doing 40 on a single carriageway NSL limit road where it is perfectly safe to be doing 60 do annoy the hell out of me but I still wouldn't tailgate or risk a dodgy overtake to get past them even then, let alone if it's someone actually sitting on the limit.
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This, except I saw someone doing 30 on an NSL B road the other day holding up 5 cars ahead of me so no chance of being able to overtake :rolleyes:
 
I don't get too worked up about it, I just ignore it but I just want to understand why people do it.

as I've said, my car is not under reading by 10mph in 30zone, that'd be ridiculous, it sits at 28/29mph as indicated by GPS when the needle is bang on 30.

it's the stupid over takes or flashing that bothers me the most, the over takes have couple of times put me in massive risk where a car just manages to squeeze in before the oncoming hits it.

and then come red light and we're all in the same queue again?
 
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