Safe Speed Forums

I was driving yesterday in a 40mph zone, which used to be a NSL but has been recently reduced.

The road is 2 miles in length, has a good line of vision, is straight, is fairly wide, has no pedestrian crossings, roundabouts, no junctions and approximately 2 dwellings which are offset from the road. According to government guidelines the road meets the criteria for NSL.

It was daytime and the weather conditions were good, visibility was excellent.

I overtook a man doing 32 MPH in this 40 zone in a safe manor consistant with teachings of advanced driving. I did not tailgate the driver and gave him a wide birth. Everything was very civil, it was a simple overtake.

I did not exceed the speed limit. (although it was safe to do so)


SO,

Why did he flash me with his headlights?

Why did he screw up his face in an angry way?

Why did he make gestures with his right hand consistant with masturbation?

Why did he shake his head?

Why did he act in a way that implied my conduct was desperatley dangerous, selfish and in need of rebuke when in fact my behaviour was safe, appropriate, considerate and prudent?

My only conclusion from this is that he assumed he was a traffic cop.

Anyway (rant over!)

Does anyone have any views or experience of this kind of motorist?

Mentioned something similar on another post - similar things hapening on Motorway roadworks areas - L1 got HGV, L2 got usual gaggle of owners, now L3 getting persons driving 5 MPH at least below the limit and in the areas where it is possible (only by undertaking) to get past them and drive at the (artificially low limit) safely, making it difficult to get past them.
I don't like undertaking, but to my mind it's safer to get past this sort of idiot and into an open space than to stick in the Q .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Because some drivers believe all overtaking is evil. It wasn't mosis was it?

There was a post from some swivel eyed loon on the T2000 message board a while ago saying it should be made illegal...

I overtook a guy (who looked like a fat peasant) in a pickup a few months back doing less than 40 in NSL. I reckon I may have hit 55 during the manoeuvre. He also demonstrated (by gesticulation) his belief in my propensity for self love. I can not fathom what I did wrong.

My take on it is that I have no desire to force slow drivers to speed up, so why on God's green earth do they feel the desire to make me slow down to their chosen speed? Live and let live.

Was he....
# Old
# Wearing a flat cap (old or young)
# Had a National Trust AND RSPB sticker on the back window
# Had a "I love Cornwall" bumper sticker
# Had a nodding dog in the back window
# Had two blue rinsers on the back seat
# Had a "Small person on board or "little princess on board"" sign hanging up in the back window
# Had a "Dads Taxi" sign in the back window

If so..............'nuff said.

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Speed camera policy Kills

I don't tend to get the obligatory manual reference to onanism. If I overtake, zoom off into the distance, get stopped at lights and the overtakee then catches me up, clearly visible applause is often used by them. Sarcasm; that really hurts.

I don't generally overtake because I "want to get there faster". I do it because I want to drive at my own safe speed and not someone else's.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

onanism; good use of wordage there, v. Impressed!

I exercised my use of overtaking today. I was in my way to Scarbourgh when I got stuck behind a '40mph everywhere driver'. He drove at a wrekless speed in built up areas irrespective of the hazards and didn't go much over 40 in NSls. No doubt when I overtook him in an NSL zone, he thought "what an idiot". Or "wreckless fool", or "whats the hurry".

I got stuck behind some old guy driving a mondeo on sunday, doing 35-40 in a NSL... Couldn't get past him either... Had to wait about 20 miles until I reached a D/C, when I decided to nail it to get past him, as being an R driver I'm restricted to 45, although I generally do 50 the whole time... Didn't want to spend very long over the limit... Was annoying, added an extra 10 or 15 minutes onto the overall journey time... Can't understand these people... Not on a straight road with good visibility and no rain... Meh...

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Mike

Don't you just hate this kind of thing; a patronising, irrelevant notice in the back window.

In my experience those who display these notices tend to be the worst drivers out there, who display litte consideration towards other road users.

I get that sort ofthing all the time.
I overtake perfectly safely, not breaking any laws, yet people flash and gesticulate as if I've committed some heinous crime.
I can only think that it's something to do with the 'queue-jumping' mentality - you're pushing in ahead. That mindset would possibly have some merit if you actually held someone up or inconvenienced them. But the fact is, you don't hold them up for as much as a single microsecond, and only inconvenience them to the extent that you wake them up from their stupor.
What really galls me is when you're at the back of a queue of cars behind a slow-moving vehicle. Nobody will make the slightest effort to overtake, even when there's miles of visibly clear road ahead. But heaven help you should you have the cheek to overtake from the rear

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

Thank goodness it's not just me who gets this then.

On the occassion when I do have to drive below the limit (eg when towing a trailer or whatever) I feel positively ashamed that I'm holding people up.

Like everyone before me above, I cannot understand at all why anyone feels they have the right to hold me against my will behind them.

Similarly, I don't overtake to go much faster, I just like to drive at my own speed, rather than keeping distance behind a slow mover, which I find fatiguing. I pass on clear straights, pass quickly and leave plenty space before moving back in. I also travel a bit faster than the overtakee too so that I'm not simply overtaking then slowing down in front which pisses me off too.

Why do some people seem to feel a genuine grudge that I've overtaken them?

Could it be that people do not like to be judged as being too slow?

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Some drivers just don’t like being overtaken. I’ve seen car stickers saying ‘overtakers are queue jumpers’, what they don’t realise that it’s they who are (needlessly?) causing the queue in the first place.

I saw this when stuck in a traffic jam, explains it all really:
http://www.geocities.com/supraman2954/GOTSDPMzoomed.jpg

Overtaking is one of those maneouvres that doesn't have to be aggresive to look aggresive and this is one of the reasons why I personally don't like the idea of having a system whereby we can all assess each others driving (as has been discussed elsewhere), however its implemented.
That said, there are right and wrong ways to overtake, I have to admit that I don't much care for the lunger, the chap who accelerates up towards your rear end and then commits him/herself at the last moment. However, that doesn't mean I need to make gestures, try to baulk them, close on the vehicle ahead or engage in any other such nonsense which others feel compelled to do to teach the errant individual a lesson
Talking generally, i.e. not specifically relating to overtaking or the subject incident, driving is perhaps unique in field of human interaction. There are a number of hard and fast rules supplemented by a loosely administered code of conduct, and unlike in other aspects of our lives those who push the rules and codes to edge and beyond are quite visible to those who attempt to stay within them. When the 'steady as she goes' type meets the 'got to press on' type the two mindsets often clash like pottassium and sulphuric acid; the outpourings of indignation and objection are then themselves also quite transparent and so we have the flashpoints discussed above.
Although most of us wouldn't try to self-police the roads, I'm sure we'd all admit to having had that moment where we wished so dearly that a trafpol were around to witness the moment of sheer stupidity we've just experienced

Ah yes, with a Christmas tree hanging from the rear view mirror

Say no more...

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

That is just the sort of driver I would rather be in front of.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

Yes - agreed.

Christmas tree drivers are a menace to us all becuase:

1) There is usually a certain kind of personality trait that christmas tree drivers share, this trait is consistant with bad driving.

2) Christmas tree air-fresheners a quite big and obscure view; easily big enough to hide a pedestrian or brake lights.

I don't normally see annoyed overtakees. Probably because I am so far up the road by the time they realise I'm past I'm out of sight I only usually overtake the real dawdlers rather than those that seem to be concious of the surroundings. That last one I overtook I had an audi right up my chuff the entire manouevre as he just followed me through which wasn't altogether sensible as I wasn't 100% certain I had picked a safe place to overtake altogether. I was just so annoyed by being held up by this guy doing 30 all the way in this nsl I grabbed an opportunity somewhere I wouldn't normally.

The chap doing 32 might have had a faulty speedo. My old fiat used to over read by about 8 mph. If he thought he was doing 40 then he'd think you were doing 50. I just assume this is why they get irate and think nothing more.

a while ago there was a thread on the "art of overtaking" (i.e. it appears to have been lost). Someone mentioned that the "art of being overtaken" is also in rapid decline.

I can see a use for a Think! advert here - tagline "Being overtaken is not a threat to your manhood".

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Never seen that one. I recon those who drive 10-15mph below the limit when it is perfectly safe to drive at the speed limit just like the idea of being in control of the car behind. My wife is wicked, when she overtakes someone who is driving needlessly slow she usually sounds her horn first. I don't subscribe to this but I see her point.

My beef is with those who do about F O U R miles an hour over speed humps..... I have overtaken a few of those in my time.

Also those who stop at spot islands when there is nothing comming. WHY?

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Speed camera policy Kills

On here:

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2938

Also:

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie ... php?t=2475

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Or...

they lack confidence to drive faster

they're not in any hurry, so don't see the need to go any faster

their vehicle is limited in some way (running on a space-saver spare, power:weight ratio slugged by a heavy load, autobox/ECU dropped into limp-home mode)


Theres nothing wrong with driving sub-limit when conditions are good for at/ever-so-slightly-above-limit drivng, if the driver makes the effort to reduce the effect it has on other road users, but there are going to be times when it's not possible to avoid some disruption to anothers journey.




There are a few humps I have to drive over on a regular basis which if taken at anything more than a brisk walking pace would be bloody uncomfortable for anyone inside the car, and would also risk damaging the car itself... This is whilst driving an Omega with standard suspension, wheels and tyres - no massive ground-scraping bodykit additions or lowered suspension to cause ground-clearance issues, yet I've had the bottom of the front moulding hit the ground whilst going over a particularly high hump at about 15mph, and with just a slightly heavier load than usual (to the tune of one extra passenger and a PC in the boot - Dell, not Metropolitan ) I've managed to scrape the exhaust on the angled edges of some newly installed humps - first one we took at 15-20, next one we took at a crawl, same result. Been over them again with just two people and an empty boot and got away scrape-free, so I'm guessing the clearance is marginal.

And then there's those evil narrow rubber bumps most often found in carparks, where negotiating them at any speed gives you the feeling that your suspension has just had several 000's of miles knocked off its useful lifespan...



...now, having said all that, if a driver really is taking the piss, then may a plague of Gatsos rain down upon them for all eternity!

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Chris