Safe Speed Forums

Hi there, new to this forum.

I passed my driving test last May and have enjoyed almost a years driving. However I am a rather paranoid driver, most would say far too paranoid.

Like all new drivers I only get 6 points for the first 2 years so I would only have to make 2 mistakes and I would have to go through the hell of test taking again.

Couple of questions I would like to ask though.

I always worry that my speedometre on my dash may be out, i.e displaying less, so when ti says 30 Im really going at 33 or something, as sometime when I go downhill I feel like im picking up speed but my speedo doesnt appear to go up, although I drive an automatic and this could be due to revs sounding different time to time becuase it doesnt get into the right gear making it sound like im going faster.

Also I use a sat nav, this always seems to display a speed between 5 and 7 mph less than my speedo.

Are sat navs likely to be accurate?

Because of the heavy use of camera these days I can sometimes stress myself sick over worrying about getting caught, so I will end up doing 30 mph in 40's and 25 in 30's or less just to make sure the speedo isnt wrong. I will also freak out if I go over the limit by 1 mph say 31 in a 30. or 41 in a 40.

Am I overreacting here?

-Rob

The satnav will be more accurate than the speedometer, within its limitations. Those limitations are: the time taken to display the speed. The SPEED displayed will be accurate if the car is not accelerating, in which case the displayed speed will lag behind the actual speed. Keep a constant speed and compare the satnav displayed speed to the speedometer displayed speed. The car speedometer is not supposed to display a speed lower than the actual speed.

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Looks like you need a self-confidence boost Looks like advising you to do IAM would be a ??? But it will help you gain that bit of extra self-confidence al the same.






How old is your car? The Mad Cat's Moggies tend to under-read and they find any spares they managed to acquire show up the same fault against their RAs/pogos or whatever they now use. My own car and their fairly new cars show a difference of 3 mph across the speedo range. If the SatNav says 30 mph - the dash shows 33 mph and so on.


However, family member had one car which had some chronic on-board electronic fail - one of the early Vectras (mid 90s) and it had to be re-calibrated at the garage. Speedo never registered past 20 mph at any speed one day (Owner could "feel the speed" by the way. )



You may need to take it to the garage for a computerised re-set of the speedo..





Yes. This would be normal.. But I thought you said the dash showed lower than the Sat Nav above. I assume you are talking about a drive without the useful doo-dah.


Yes - perhaps keeping the sat nav close to the dash and comparing the two will help - but you still need to gain essential confidence and make "Concentraion/ Observation/Anticipation/plan by allowing Space/Time" (COAST ) skills as a second nature all the same.






No. But you need to build up confidence


I can glibly say "OBSERVE and look out for lollies/paint marking and all the COAST stuff" but you are still pretty much on a developing curve here as regards getting these skills to be second nature. You need some advice as to how to do this al the same.

I would upgrade your Sat Nav to one which "barks an early warning" for the cams purely to steady your nerves and to help train your attention to check out the signs in decent time if you are really so seriously worried. I confess I am concerned as I worry you appear more concerned with being copped for speeding than anything else.

I know you said you do not want the "hell of taking a driving test again" - but I still regard each drive I make as a learning experience - and I've been a police driver for more years than I now like to think of now - training fellow officers at one point in my career to date -

I still regard each drive as a learning experience on the basis that each one is unique. No one can ever "know it all." We are each only as good as the last safe and "offence -free" drive we made. ALL of us!

I think you do need some help - and the best place to start would be checking out the IAM to help you develop your skills. -especially observation and overall handling - which are the areas which seem to stand out to me as needing some TLC given your fears here..


You do not need to take their exam - but you may find yourself "bitten by the improvement bug" and find you want to all the same

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I feel I am a good driver in general its just when it comes to speed I am so determined not to ever get a ticket.

Ill just re-iterate about my speedo/nav

My speedo registers generally 5 or 6 more than the sat nav almost all the time.

Does it cost me anything to get my speedo checked? Also dont they check it at each MOT?

That is par for the course. Speedos are supposed to read high - that is why you get so many cars doing 25mph in a clear 30 zone.



Just get a friend with a stop watch to travel with you and time you over a mile on the motorway.

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Mine is around the 3 mph mark. I think the Mad Cat's say their cars are the same. (We all compare our cars and you can imagine fur flies at times ) Overead seems high but could be typical of the model. What do you drive?




No. Just ask them to check its calibration on the next service. All modern cars do have an ob#n-board computer - so simple enough to check these days. We found that the old Vauxhall was a typical 3 mph over -read against the Satnav thereafter.

The speedo is not tested at MOT. You can always test it by driving at 60 mph per this speedo as steady cruise down motorway with a pal counting the 10 yard markers to find out how "out" it may be and calculate accordingly as you know your car a bit more intimately. .

I am pleased that you are concerned to keep it legal or as legal as you can. I still hink you need to gain confidence all the same. Work in the flow.. with the flow of traffic... negotiating all the time with the other road users. It will soon become second nature to judge your speed accurately without needing to "fixate" on the speedo. Most of us do glance to check and rein in occasionally.. but usually stay within the safe margins of tolerance. (Or check when we see the cam sign Look even I glance to check "not strayed" when I see the box or the van just to be ultra-sure.)


But try to note the lolly signs .. keep it smooth and steady in your handling. Use third gear in a 30 mph zone

Do you have cruise control? You could try setting this if you are this worried?? Wildy (another member on this board ) will criticise me for suggsesting cruise control She claims it gives a "feeling of runaway" and takes controls from her. But it has an advantage in what can be dubbed as "Kodak counties" if someone like you needs a crutch when passing through a forest of 'em.


You could always try moving up here. We only have the one fixed cam .. but lots of 'orrid police cars out there full of all the toys .

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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.

My car is fairly old now, its a Vauxhall Astra 97 model, its also automatic .

I dont mind at all if the speedo reads too much, I was just worried that it could read too little .

Thanks for replies

-Rob

Hi Rob


Next time you take for service (has to be dealer for this) Should not cost much as it takes about 5 minutes. Ask nicely and they may do it at no charge.

Car should have computer on board. That model will be like the Vectra I mentioned. The computer settings are beneatth the plastic between the front car seats. All the mechanic will do will be to check these and reset.


But you know your car. But have a think about IAM all the same. You will find it "empowering#" and it will really help you maintain a love for


Hope you stick around and join in the general "mayhem" here. We are a very civilised deep thinking bunch really. Very few folk like speed cams - but our customers do not like us that much better I cannot win

_________________
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.

Hi Rob,

Just to echo what everyone else has said, when your car was type-approved, it would have had to pass the speedo test. That allows it to over-read by 10%+2.5 MPH (maybe 2.25 - can't remember off the top of my head!) but does NOT allow it to under-read AT ALL. The tests are done on a test track with extremely accurate equipment and that, in turn, is callibrated before the tests on equipment traceable to National Primary Standards. Most cars can comfortably better the 10% at any kind of speed that you'd be able to do in the UK! Typically 3-5% over-read is common between (say) 30 and 80. they can't make them any more accurate because of variations in tyre design and diameter. As the tyre wears, the speedo will over-read even more. Assuming you've not put bigger diameter wheels on the car (or significantly wider than standard tyres without also going down in "profile"), you should be fine. There's no reason why you can't borrow a second sat-nav and / or even a hand-held GPS and take some people out with you. Get up to a constant speed in a straight-ish line and see what they all say. If all the instruments agree with each other and put your speed as being about the same amount less than the speedo reckons, I think you're pretty safe. I worry about "speed drift" too on occasions - especially where you're trying to find your way round an unfamiliar city and you've seen the speed limit change from 60 to 40 to 50 and back down to 40 in the space of a mile or two of the same stretch of urban dual carriageway! Always at the back of your mind is the worry you might have missed the 30 sign!

Also, no, they don't check speedo accuracy at the MOT. They have no equipment for soing so.

So its not possible for a speedo to display a speed lower than youre actually going i.e it shows 30 and you are really doing 34 unless youve had some kind of modification to your tyres?

Also random q. Is it illegal to press buttons on your sat nav whilst driving?

I'm not sure I'd say "not possible" but it's highly unlikely! Normally a modern electronic speedo will either work correctly, not at all, or will fail in such a way as to display something patently ridiculous. I'd guess at the chances of failing in such a way as to consistently under-read by a few MPH would be similar to winning the lottery 2 weeks on the run!

Don't know about the sat-nav button question though!

Your sat nav will be about a million times more accurate than your speedo, with the caveat that the speed will not update more than about once per second. Your speedo will always be either accurate, or over-read (ie you are actually travelling slower than it claims).

Don't place speed management over road awareness in your driving priorities. Lookout, lookout, lookout is the key to keeping yourself and others safe; be mindful of your speed, but remember that it's better to have three points and not run someone over than the converse.

Enjoy your driving as best you can, there are a lot of people out to make it hard for you as a driver, and countless more who, as other road users, will try to make your life miserable. Stay calm, don't let them affect your safe driving, and ensure that you and your passengers reach the other end in good health and good humour!

Take care!

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Last year I drove a Celica where the speedo indicated 25 at a true 30; thankfully I had a hunch it was wrong and I very soon gained distrust for it. I later confirmed the underread using a GPS (the GPS confirmed had been confirmed by other means). The underread reduced with higher speeds and was spot on at 70.

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Both the Moggies under-read. The Stag has always been fine.


But .. Ju-Ju has a 1992 Cavalier which she likes and used as the "tip run car". Actually it's pristine condition.

But up until her buying an RA in 2004 - we used to let rip at her for just driving way too slowly. She'd insist she was driving to the lolly .. and kept complaining that other drivers kept giving her "rude gestures". We decided to find out why she was having a problem and she kept saying she only had the problem when using this vehicle. We sat behind her one day and then told her she was only driving at 24 mph as constant. She insisted the car was showing 30 mph on the dash. From chatting to her - it seems she believed her what her eyes told her from the dash and not what she felt. We found that this car was out by 5 mph underread at low speed up to a whopping 8 mph underread at high speeds. The local dealer said that this year group had been reported as having such a fault. Given the age and use of this car - Ju-Ju simply uses the RA whenever it's used.

To Rob Yes tyres do affect things. But do try out IAM. You'll learn and as you learn more - you begin to relax into your driving and this helps build up confidence in and a learning curve with your skills.

We've all been newly qualified drivers once .. and this is actually where your real learning starts to grow and blossom - if you let it.

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You can get points for other things. Being safe should be your first priority.


That's fairly normal.


No it is not checked at the MOT.

It has to conform to regulations at the time of manufacture.

Getting it checked is as simple as comparing it to your sat nav. You'll struggle to find somewhere to get it adjusted though.

It is coming to something when new drivers are paranoid about making a minor mistake like exceeding the limit by a few MPH.

Imagine a world where the roads were policed by people and small mistakes got you a few words of advise and not a £60 fine, 3 points and more time on your bike.

Pah! Next you'll be telling us that this fantasy world of which you speak would give us the safest roads in Europe - if not the world!

Oh there's always one isn't there?! (OK, two, it appears! )

I might have know that as soon as I said it's extremely rare, several examples would crawl out of the woodwork! Was the car new (or unmodified from new)? I still maintain it's extremely rare! Had the gearbox been changed at all? Sometims that's anotehr thing that throws speedos out - if the car has had a replacement gearbox with a different final drive ratio.

Hi

Basically it works like this...

Manufacturers and NOT allowed to make speedo`s that UNDER READ ...THATS ILLEGAL...

So they go slightly the other way for safety..i.e. they make them OVER READ by approximately 10%

The ONLY way as already mentioned to make your speedo UNDER READ is by changing wheels and tyres to a DRASTICALLY different size.....and you could NOT do that by accident...

So do not worry about it...

And yes a Satnav is deathly accurate, although with a slight delay...

All the best Brett

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Welcome ItsEssexRob and Brett928S2

It is as others have stated above what a terribly sad world when new drivers are so obsessed with their speedo instead of concentrating on the 'job at hand' and keeping a really close eye on their surroundings and learning and growing in experience and confidence as each drive provides them with.
This does not mean that we to did not glance at the speedo, to ensure we were close, but to be so concerned speaks of a Nation that has been so obsessed with fining every driver that dares to make any error. Then we are ending up with drivers overly concerned with falling foul of petty laws that are little to do with proper or intelligent road safety.
I totally understand your need to preserve your license and especially over the first 2 years where you are then liable to an excessive additional test which is both costly and time consuming. I do not see this as a way in which to make you more aware of early mistakes and learning properly from them, it is just a hassle and costs that may take you off the road, thus adding to less experience when you can afford later on to return to the road or drive anyway without the right paperwork and add to the ever growing illegal drivers.

My car over-reads and I know approximately (by testing against the SatNav) on long straight road sections where a constant speed can be maintained and so that the SatNav has a 'consistent' reading.
When I see any suspicious van I generally drive about 10mph lower than the limit just in case the posted limit (or lolly) is wrong, been downgraded and the road I am on is out of date, there is bounce from other road furnishings etc, that keeps me safe BUT it is my vision and observation that tells me of the cameras. It is rare that the Sat Nav alerts me before I can see it but it does occur especially when they are around the next bend or hidden behind other sign posts and take a little longer to see exactly where they are.

Are you driving on many 'new to you' roads, as opposed to a regular route?
Many people become more familiar with their usual route as they see repeated typical hazards, and learn where the cameras are located. It is your observation skills here that are key. I do appreciate that you are still taking in a lot but as your experience grows it will and does become a lot easier. Having good space in front of you at this stage is extremely helpful as it provides you with time to react. I understand that you will spend less and less time 'reacting' as your experience grows you I hope will see potential hazards much earlier on and so will have already allowed for things from 'way back', whereas at the moment you are probably seeing things 'late and so reacting'. This is normal but the more that you can add to your tool box, and learn from others to help you become a driver with a whole range of skills to deal with all the issues 'out there' the better you become.

I agree that more knowledge will help you, as it can give you methods to be truly in charge of your road position, speed, spacial awareness, (space between you and everyone in front, behind and beside and maintaining those distances), to think well ahead all the time, to all the potential hazards and taking early action to avoid them all together, or to be ready to act and react, if and when necessary etc.
The skills, knowledge and experiences you gain, will last with you for all your driving career, so the sooner that you can hear more words of wisdom the better but do not rush if you are not ready.

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