Safe Speed Forums

Quite right.
You can tell a driver talking on a 'phone by the general behaviour: sudden braking, direction-wander and poor (if any) indication.
If the only drivers on the road/s are good drivers, who are "they" going to complain about ?
Who will get the blame for their overtaking "incidents" ?

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

well if they were doing the speed limit (adjusting as appropriate for hazards & terrain of course) you wouldn't have as much chance to scrutinize them as fully

I was on the A6006 in North Leicestershire in rush hour a few weeks ago heading towards towards the A46. The 6006 isn't a fantastic road, but between the villages it's NSL and you can comfortably do 60 for long stretches. A couple of miles before the turning on to the A46 slip road, I became stuck behind what I later discovered to be an elderly woman. She was driving between 30 and 40mph on this NSL road. However, there aren't many places where you can safely overtake on this road, so I had no choice but to stay behind her. I kept a lot of distance because not only was she driving excessively slowly, but she was also braking suddenly for no reason at all. There'd be nothing in front, and the brake lights would go on.

As we approached the turning towards the A46, I indicated. And when we were right on the turning, she indicated to go in the same direction. On this entrance to the A46 you get hardly any sliproad. You need to really get your speed up for it or you'll be stranded with nowhere to go. To my surprise, she decided to put her foot down and looked like she was going for it. She had a reasonable gap to enter and just needed to ease out and keep accelerating. Instead of doing that, she broke suddenly on the slip road and came to a dead stop. So she's stationary, waiting to enter a dual carriageway in rush hour. Seeing this, most of the cars on the carriageway had moved into the other lane, making it ok for her to enter. So she does, but because of all the cars in the other lane I am forced to stay behind her for about a mile. She plateaus at 40mph. What is the person doing on the road? She's a menace.

_________________
David

The amazing thing is the number of time that you were "surprised". Surely
you can adjust to the obvious, yet you continued with your poor predictions,
acting surprised each and every time that you were wrong. You are right,
eventually, though - what are you people doing on the roads?

Ha, are you for real? You know so very little about me or my driving yet you are apparently comfortable with submitting painfully ignorant responses like this one. There was no failure to "adjust" on my part. I observed all of this from a safe distance - something which I clearly mentioned in the post you so shamelessly quote-mined. Unless you want to explain to me how or why the way this woman was driving was safe, don't bother responding to my posts with your embarrassingly fatuous drivel.

You have no idea about what you've just commented on, a fact so clearly illustrated by your insane assertion that "The amazing thing is the number of time that you were "surprised"." I mentioned "surprise" once, and it made perfect sense in the context I used it in (context being something your selective and misleading quote-mining appears to neglect). This woman accelerated up to about the maximum speed one can reasonably attain after the tight corner which leads on to the slip road, which was indeed surprising given her wreckless disregard for safety for the previous 2 miles. Of course, even more surprising was her sudden deceleration which must have been exceedingly uncomfortable for her, not to mention dangerous. The consequence was that she no longer had the benefit of a safe speed at which to join the carriageway and had to start again with zero slip road with which to build her speed up.

Are you attempting to masquerade as some twisted variant of a devil's advocate or simply being deliberately antagonistic for the sake of it?

Try harder.

_________________
David

_________________
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

It's on my ignore list!

Keep your shirt on, chum. There's a lot of speed merchants around here, who love to blame
their "close shaves" on something else, like slow drivers etc. It hasn't occurred to them
that their own assumptions cause their cock-ups.

PS: I think the most important part of your post is this:



Can, not must. Got it?

I think I might have met my match! My "bile counter" suggests you achieved:

Sarcasm: 1
Quote Rebuttals: 2
Intention to wound: 7

Not a bad score, but heavy on "intention to wound". Perhaps I inadvertently
hurt your feelings? Sorry about that.

Now, the point of all this: basically, we've got a bunch of blokes here grumbling about
slow drivers. Yet it's futile. It would do just as much good to grumble about the rain or
the wind! Drivers (like the weather) are what they are, and grumbling makes no odds.
All that matters are other drivers, and how they deal with it. If we crash because
we are going too fast/too near or make assumptions, it's our own fault. No excuses,
no grumbling.

For a couple of blissful days, basingwerk, I thought you'd left.

Forgive me for butting into a conversation between friends, but for chit-chat, please use the chat forum.
One the other hand, if you wish to discuss cars and things like that, let's do it.

I'm just saying that speed selection will follow a bell shaped curve.


Very few drivers (but some) will choose to drive very slowly. And some will hope
to drive very quickly indeed. Most will be middling, given a choice. I know the
British are eccentric, But having those at the upper edge of the curve coming online
here to whine about those at the slower edge is absolutely ridiculous -it's the
type of thing Basil Fawlty would do!

Look, that sounds bad... I know people have to get things off their chest. Fair do's.
But you have to see it from the point of view of slow drivers. This looks like
an attack on our right to choose the speed we like, taking reasonable
consideration for other drivers. Slowpokes won't be pushed around!

Well, I can concede that made at least one mistake, and that was entertaining the absurd ramblings of some clueless double-yolker in the first place. How many threads has this guy derailed?

I would suggest to you, Abercrombie, that you re-read the post in which I described the old lady who stayed around 30mph on the 6006. If you really want to contribute to a healthy exchange of ideas in what is often known as a "conversation", then please go ahead and explain why you think her driving was acceptable and why you think mine wasn't. No generalizations, no assumptions, no sweeping-statements, no red herrings, no strawmen. Think you can do that?

_________________
David

How dare you refer to one of our fellow posters in such terms?



I never commented on her driving at all. But as you've brought it up, her driving is acceptable because you have
no choice but to accept it. Like you have no choice over the rain or wind. If you choose not to accept it, your
other choice is to find another way home. But this is the quote that matters (in this context):



I think I got your number in the first place. I can just see you, hunched over the wheel, fuming. Fuming so
much that you need to vent your spleen about it on a bulletin board! That's no way to be - you know it,
and I know it. Although your driving may be fine, your anger and capacity to be surprised make
me wonder.

So, try not to be so hot-headed, put on a little calming music, and chill out. You'll find that the
other drivers aren't quite as bad as you thought.

Do slowpokes take reasonable consideration for other drivers, specifically those who don't consider HC rule 169?

Why from the point of view of just the 'slow drivers'? As a cyclist (too) I prefer to have everyone make decent progress instead of bunching up and having their visibility of where I am reduced, as well as encouraging overtakes and pulling back in without seeing little old me.

PS, whenever I become aware that I'm blocking traffic, I always endeavour to pull over and let them past - it's better to be safe than right!

PPS, don't the 'middling most' have begative thoughts about the slowpokes too?

_________________
Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

But we do grumble about rain and wind an other things like politicians which we cannot change. Grumbling relieves the stress so it is far from futile.

_________________
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I can pull someone for driving inconsiderately./carelessly/dangerously. This applies just as much to driving way too slow for the traffic condition as well as way too high for the conditions. Not driving in full accordance with the other road users would be evidence that the driving falls below the standard as required and accepted by the averagely competent driver by law. .

Some have been banned for driving at 10-30 mph on a motorway per case files to date. We even prosecuted for this in this area a couple of times.



[/quote]

On a motorway - if normal conditions apply - we would expect a driver to be around the 50 - 70 mph speeds with good lane discipline. We officers may trundle along in L1 at 40 mph - but then we would be sweeping to check for reported debris. We now leave such "mundane routines" to HATOS these days

If a person is driving at 40 mph or below - we would pull to check to see if the driver is "nursing a poorly car" and escort off to safety. If they are plain scared of the motorway - we would have a little chat to advise and help the person. If the person is basically incompetent .. full stop .. then we would consider charging accordingly.


I have to add that within the EU - they do have a minimum expected speed in normal flowing conditions and their police will pull anyone in the overtaking lane who is not overtaking or driving below the required speed - which still has to be within the lolly limit and not above it.


I have to say I do agree with Europe in this respect.

But on a road set at 40 mph and an old geezer driving at 28 mph. Do not see this as too much of a problem. If 25 mph - then this could be a wee bit too slow for the road condition perhaps and we may well check to see what the problem is.. but not necessarily do much else other than to suggest assisting an overtake as best as circumstances allow. If we consider any person's driving to be below standard - we tend to charge accordingly.

Having said that - I know of a chap in his late 70s who drove all the way from Switzerland - to the Lake District the other day . His driving style is .. precise.. brisk.. steady. He's Wildy's Papa. In his hey day - the guy spent all his spare time on amateur rally circuits and reckons he can still "teach us all a thing or two"

When asking him about his journey - I had to laugh (actually a belly laugh) when he told me that the UK has the same " little maggots as Switzerland" - but at least you "can spot the little buggers in good-ish time!" and "swat past' 'em at the right speed" with a better accepted margin than a "measly 3 mph"


I think "daughter like father"


So not all OAPs are doddering old geezers

I did point out to him that he's on foreign plates, in a naughty Merc, and could spend a night in the cells if he really pushed the envelope .. but he's actually spot on with his choice of speed .. and usually blisteringly "legal" A "Precise" old geezer.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

I wished you'd pipe down about that - they're on about trucks and steam rollers etc. You don't have to pull over when you're doing 40 or more.



I've never said the opposite, have I?



Some do, some don't. I expect pdavid does, by the look of things! My advice: make the most of the journey, don't worry
about the time, and certainly don't "try" to reach the speed limit all the time - it's the max, not a min.

Yes, it does, and that is why I have said sorry to pdavid. I was too harsh - he's gotta right,
and I've squared it off with him. He wants to make a big fight out of it, so be it; I've
done my bit.

But we don't want this turning into a "fast drivers only" club. The Lord would expect us to
be tolerant of those who choose the drive more slowly than average.

I mentioned no names in that bit. Guilty conscience, perhaps?



I don't know where to start with this insane (il)logic. How on earth can one person's actions be deemed acceptable simply on the basis that at that time those observing could do nothing about it? What a bizzare take on the world of driving where one person's selfishness and ineptitude is considered permissable despite it being at the expense of everybody else's safety. I'm sure you knew what you meant when you said the embarrassingly nonsensical line "her driving is acceptable because you have no choice but to accept it", but I've tried to decipher even a shred of meaning from that and so far haven't managed to find any.

Your comparison with weather is laughable, namely because the weather in not a living organism able to change its behaviour. A human being driving a car is able to modify its behaviour according to conditions. Sometimes this requires education or a kick up the proverbial, but either way the same does not apply to weather. We can't control weather, we can control our driving.



Remember what I said about making assumptions? I mentioned the manner in which I was driving only briefly, when I said I observed this from a safe distance. The rest of your impossibly off-the-mark rant is pure conjecture, I'm afraid. In fact, I don't recall mentioning my state of mind at all, nor my physical position in the vehicle I was driving. Your clumsy, clownish attempts at painting a negative picture of me are embarrasing to watch, mate.



You've said so much yet so little. Explain why what this woman was doing was safe. Not why I shouldn't be complaining, or why I should accept it, or why I feel the need to discuss it in the first place. Stop evading the question - what was safe about this woman's driving?

_________________
David

I've got around 6 thousand posts on another forum, sunshine, and the thread I contributed to most was a thread entitled "Speed Cameras in Road Safety", a 40-page epic in which I encountered several pioneers of idiocy who make you look like a beacon of rationale. You're small-fry, mate, too easy.

_________________
David