Surely your "beef" should be with the people who allow them to drive when they're a danger to other road users, perhaps?

(Caz: How much do you reckon we need to save up???)

You don't have any grandparents then?

Did you know driving licences have to be renewed when they get to 70 and there are regular checks to make sure they are capable of driving OK?

A lot of young people crash and kill themselves too so I guess you'll be ranting at your peers in a minute

technically ive no grandparents grandad dead, which I dont give a damn about, and other "family" grandmothers who are scum I dont even consider family so not really

I reckon I could do better job of driving after eight pints of cider than my neighbour sober, but we live in a rural area and it's her only way of staying independent. I always admire her for it.

What with the general standard of driving in Northampton, there are some I could beat after eights pints of Jeyes Fluid.

Aye. That's an experience I try to avoid whenever I can...

Asda are doing a BOGF on that at the moment

I can't stand people who drive slowly for seemingly no reason. Most of the road to work is national speed limit, I'm not saying you should go around corners at 60mph, but on a dry day I don't see why you can't go 60mph on the straights.
People feel they are allowed to do 30mph when it is quite safe to do 60mph, they then have the cheek to go 40mph through the 30mph town!

People who drive slow can roughly double the time it takes me to get to work

The reason is that they're allowed to.

It's a limited maximum, not a required minimum.

Actually, if they're doing half the speed limit, they may not be. While there are no fixed minimum speeds on UK roads, you're required to make 'good progress' on the roads unless you have a valid reason not to (i.e. you're pulling a heavy load for example). Failing to do so can be considered driving without due care or, in extreme cases, obstructing the highway. If a policeman thinks your driving is hazardous - which can include driving so slowly that other traffic is required to take evasive action - he can certainly stop you and charge you with that offense. Obviously, prevailing conditions also play a part - if you're doing 40 on a motorway and it's clear day that's one thing; if you're doing 40 in heavy rain I doubt you'd have any trouble.

There's also the point that you can be pulled over by a police officer if he has reason to believe you're not in proper control of your vehicle or are not physically or mentally competent. This generally means under the influence in some form but driving excessively slowly would certainly be seen as acceptable grounds to stop you to check that at least.

Doing a bit less than the traffic around you - fine, fair enough. Driving significantly more slowly than the prevailing traffic for no good reason - that's a no no. In fact you'd fail your driving test for doing it, which implies that legally it's not considered acceptable.

Also, on a more fundamental point, there are plenty of things you're legally allowed to do but you shouldn't do, because they're just rude. While driving too fast and pushing people out of the way counts as that, I'd probably say driving really slowly does too - you are slowing other road users down and you are making them late, especially on single lane roads. It's not your road. It's everybody's road. It seems to me a common courtesy not to drive excessively slowly and block other road users. I don't honestly expect every person on the road to drive exactly at the speed limit all the time but I'd certainly consider doing say 20 MPH on a 40MPH single lane road to be bloody impolite.



Jon

+eleventymillion

I'm glad you said that

+1



Or they don't know any better.

I used to travel on a dual carriageway and then turn off onto a single carriageway. On the DC, everyone would do 70mph without any issues. However, as soon as you turned off onto the SC, the speed limit would be marked at 40mph. You would then pass an NSL sign on the SC. Yet everyone continued to travel at 40mph. I would happily overtake them (getting flashed by other drivers for doing so). On a clear, dry day with excellent visibility and very little traffic, I see no reason why I can't overtake people, or why I can't do 60mph on a 60mph road.

No one seems to realise what the NSL sign is nor what it means.

I agree with what you wrote, Jon and agree with Ben in the specific example he gave. However, there is a world of difference between not driving at the limit and driving so slowly you become a hazard. There exists a whole grey area in between.

The question I would ask is where is the cut-off? And what does "excessively" mean? And who decides?

For instance I would agree that in most circumstances doing 20mph in a 40mph zone is probably taking the proverbial - I would myself be shouting that "it's the one on the right!" But, given that, in this case, 40mph is the maximum one should be doing, at what point below 40mph is one driving "excessively" slowly? Would 35mph be excessively slow? How about 30mph or 25?

The problem I have is not that I think you're wrong - indeed almost any recording of me at the wheel would rapidly prove otherwise. The issue I have is that this is, above a certain point, a matter of opinion. For instance, I start to get irate if someone drives >15mph below the limit whereas others beep if I don't do >5mph above the limit.

Moreover, I think this speed thing can be okay if it's accompanied by good practice in other areas. For instance, if Granddad wants to drive at 40mph in a 60mph limit, fine - just don't do it in such a way as to inconvenience other road users e.g. at 6pm on a Friday evening on a trunk road. Conversely, if I want to drive at a more leisurely pace but someone behind me patently wishes to drive faster, I'll usually speed up a little until such a time as I pull over or wave them past. I don't think the speed is in itself the real issue - surely one can drive like a twunt whatever speed one is doing?

After talking with Faye, the DVLA guy on her speed awareness course said the rule of thumb was that, in good driving conditions, going more than 20mph under the limit can be seen as going too slow....

My definition is easy. If you're not doing the limit then GTFO.