Safe Speed Forums

I don't know why I didn't see this before.
One characteristic prevalent in the '50 everywhere' bunch - those who drive at 50mph on a wide, straight NSL - is that if they have to slow down for any reason, they then take several centuries to get back up to speed.

OK, I know I exaggerated, but only slightly

Could such behaviour perhaps have anything to do with the high cost of fuel?

Just a thought...

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

Not really - they drive as I paint...

By numbers!

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Aquila



Licat volare si super tergum aquila volat...

it wouldn't be so bad if they could manage to do 50 - 40 is the more common 'default' speed.

I tend to call them 45mph drivers, but the truth is they vary between 40 and 50mph everywhere; dual carriageways, villages, country lanes, gently curving A roads etc.
They generally drive at 40ish though villages and then gradually speed up on open roads to the point where it is technically possible, but not really safe, to overtake on any given straight stretch of road in an average car.

I often encounter '43mph everywhere' drivers.


I was stuck behind one a while back going exactly 43mph on a straight, wide, safe NSL SC. You can imagine my satisfaction when i saw the 43mph everywhere driver get flashed by a speed camera for going exactly 43mph as he entered a 30mph zone.

I try to overtake these dangerous one-speed-fits all drivers often to be caught up again at the next village by them.

They make my blood boil!

And, these drivers are ALWAYS the ones who pull out infront of you metres before a junction and refuse to speed up making heavy braking necessary to avoid a crash.

They never signal either and have very poor lane discipline.

I can often be found driving at 60mph on open roads due to fuel costs. I too will tend to accelerate very slowly, but I tend not to pull out in front of other drivers, although I try to minimise fuel wasted sat idling. If I'm waiting to join a DC for example, and it's otherwise empty, AND given what I judge to be a reasonable space, I'll go and expect the other driver to move to L2 and go around me. This is almost always what happens, though occassionally I do it to someone who is scared of L2 (or is a bit thick) and brakes behind me and flashes instead

Similarly I try not to brake for reduced speed limits, preferring instead to choose a point at which to reduce power and bleed off the speed as gently as possible (to get as far as I can on as little fuel as I can).

When in heavy traffic I leave a big gap on SC and accelerate slower than the vehicles in front. When they then slam on the anchors 100 yards later, concertina-ing their way home I maintain a steady speed, using the large gap as a comfortable buffer zone. Initially irate followers usually catch on to what I'm doing and relax, copying my steady speed. You do occassionally get someone who overtakes to join in the accordion action up ahead though.

I put them down as a bit thick too.

When I am trying to save fuel, I will go a bit slower as described, but I wouldn't consider myself a one-speed driver by any means - rather I'm trying to minimise fuel use and conserve energy I already have as far as practical/safe to do so.

Naturally I don't coast through villages and past schools at 40mph though - that's just stupid.

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now there's a recipe for disaster.

Also, the 'experts' are in agreement that 'Accelerating to your cruising speed briskly' is the most economical way to get up to speed.
(In all that I've read on the subject )

I reckon it depends on the car.

You do use a lot more fuel during brisk acceleration, however this is partly offset by the shortened time spent accelerating, and also partly by the fact that an engine is more efficient when the throttle is open - particularly non-turbocharged petrol engines (diesels don't have throttle plates)

The trick, I think, is to drive in such a fashion that you don't have to accelerate too often, or by too much. This usually means not slowing down too often, or by too much.
And pick a nice downhill to accelerate on. Fortunately, most motorway on-ramps are downhill - take advantage of this.

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

I find my fuel economy only improves by a few MPG when driving in a frugal maner, even when i drive like a ballerina (not literally) i see little improvement. My average seems to be about 35MPG on my mordernish 1.6

Are you able to significantly reduce your fuel costs by driving the way you do?

Must say the new car has a trip computer (new toy to me), and I've noticed the MPG only varies from late twenties if I thrash the @rse off it, to early thirties if I'm on a long run.

Obviously I can't speak for Jamie but in my own expierence I can certainly get much more to the gallon then most people whilst still driving safely and considerately. I borrowed a 316 awhile ago and my mate was averaging 33mpg whereas I was getting 39mpg, which I reckon is a fairly big difference.

Most of the gains are made in planning ahead to avoid braking unnesessarily and making the journey more smooth. However I bet most people on here practice that so I would guess there aren't that many "easy gains" left.

The problem with "45mph everywhere" drivers is the fact that they cannot drive. They can operate the controls well enough, but the art of driving is totally beyond them and they are unwilling to learn further skills. As such, I overtake them at the earliest and safest opportunity; I find them to be a danger to me.

Talking of driving affecting your MPG, after 2227 miles of driving where my practices have been altered in line with advice from Darren Tipton's site I have increased my tank range from 495-ish miles to 520-ish miles!! Just through better observation and better use of gears.

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Safe yet Swift.

Yes I must say I was unhappy about that bit. We need to be sure that the other driver is moving to lane 2 before we emerge into lane 1 from our side road. We shouldn't be trying to force him to move over.

I agree with most of the remainder though Jamie. By all means drive gently and economically if that is your preference, but do make sure you're not causing inconvenience to others.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

I have to drive at 45 top speed, I feel terrible when I'm on a single carriageway and there's nowhere to stop or pull off for a different route... I tend to let the car go a bit faster, usually cruising around 55-60 indicated... Probably get pulled for doing this some day and end up with 3 points and a nice increase on the insurance...

I'll tend not to pull out infront of people on faster roads, but on the motorway sometimes coming off the ramp can be fun... You really piss the drivers on the carriageway already when you get a clear road, pull out into it, and then about a minute later someone doesnt realise you're doing 45-50mph, has to slam on the brakes as there's someone in lane 2... What fun...

It gets reasonable fuel economy though... But I think I'm really heavy footed on the accelerator, as I can get nowhere near my mums mileage she used to get... She swears she could get 400 miles on a single tank, I find it hard to get anything more than about 330 or so... But, looking at the figures in the manual, I get more or less what they say I should...

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Mike

WTF? Why do you have to drive at 45mph on the motorway? Are you nuts?
Edit:Never mind, I've just spotted your location and figure it's the law, because it's safer to make you drive slower.

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Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Even worse than 40mph drivers are those who never attempt to reach the speed limit, except on some 20mph and 30mph roads which should have higher limits.

Well, actually, I just told a lie. These drivers speed up and reach the speed limit just as you are overtaking them!

Hold on a second...

There is nothing in the Highway Code that says you have to drive at the speed limit, and there are many reasons why you may choose not to do so, for example: in the car is a - new-born baby, sick pet or delicate plants, or you may have tripped an engine management error and the car is in "limp home" mode. Lots of reasons for not haring around at the maximum allowed speed. You might not be feeling particularly well, but have no practical choice in making the journey.

Then there are vehicles that cannot actually achieve the speed limit such as agricultural equipment or vintage vehicles such as pre-1930's or even traction engines, or HGVs where they are restricted to 40mph by law on roads that others are allowed to go at 60mph - they are all perfectly entitled to use the road network - even those vintage drivers who feel more comfortable at 40.

They should all however recognise that they are causing an obstruction and assist where possible in letting traffic past - ideally by pulling into a lay-by or similar, or at the very least by keeping as far left as possible when overtaking opportunities arise. Now some don't do any of these things, and they are at fault for driving inconsiderately, although on some roads the opportunities to do any of these things have been restricted by "improvements" intended to prevent overtaking and a complete absence of places to pull in.

But some of the fault also lies with the second and third vehicle in the queue that have no intention of passing, but insist of driving so close to the vehicle in front that for all intensive purposes they are a single significantly longer vehicle. If these maintained a 2 second gap and allowed other vehicles to overtake a lot of the problems would be alleviated.

but if these were the reasons for a person driving significantly below the NSL then presumably they'd slow down in lower speed zones and as such not be a 40(or 50)mph everywhere driver.

Yup, new drivers are restricted to 45mph for a year, as it would be so dangerous to let us do 70mph on a motorway...

Asked mum why, her reasoning was 'you won't be able to control a blow out as well as a more experienced driver.'

Okay... Fair point by her, but how can they say that someone who has been driving for a year and a day is going to be more able to control the car in a situation like that than someone who has been driving 364 days...

Another point is that it's just for the year after you pass your test, so there are people who haven't touched a car within that year, yet they can drive at the same speed as someone who has driven every day in that year, and could possibly be a darn sight more dangerous...

I'm just good at picking holes in the system from my point of view... I understand the usefulness on a single carriageway NSL road, but if it's busy you still seriously hold up traffic... On a motorway or dual carriageway you make a pretty effective rolling roadblock... Or a mobile chicane And don't think it makes people go easy on you, if anything people despise you because you have the dreaded R plates... They treat you as a boy racer, not as a 'new' driver...

Same rules apply for breaking the 45mph limit as do any limit, but being caught without the plates up is 2 penalty points... Somewhat unfair... Another consideration is that automatic speed cameras can probably not pick up these R plates, or can they? Not that it's a terribly big problem here, we still have many traffic police

It's a bit silly also the way I can get the ferry to england/scotland and drive at 70 on a motorway, the same as anyone else... I wonder do the new drivers that come over from england or scotland to here have to follow the same rules... Would they have to display R plates? What about a learner from the mainland coming over, they are also restricted to 45mph over here... What about the ones that don't know? Surely that isn't fair/right...

On my everyday commute I don't really experience much above 40mph, but there is a small 500 yard stretch at 50mph... Silly limit IMO, why not just leave the whole road at 40... Or, even better, 50...

Sorry for going slightly off topic and ranting... But it's a different view on driving at 40ish in NSLs...

EDIT> On another point, this means we can't do an advanced test as we can't break 45mph, because if we do we are being extremely dangerous...

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Mike