I don't advocate holding anyone up. I don't advocate getting in the way on a dual carriageway.
But am I the only person left in the UK who actually will drive at well under the limit sometmes -not all the time - but sometimes, simply because it's more pleasurable to do so?
On a country road, no hurry to get anywhere, and let's say the limit is 60. If there is nobody behind me I will often happily tootle along at 45 to 50, probably on cruise, just to take in the surroundings a bit more, get chance to see something out of the window, have a conversation about it with swmbo even.
When someone gets behind me I'll then speed up, but often find a sensible pull off to let them past and resume my gentle pace.
Does wonders for fuel economy and my stress levels too. Driving for pleasure so often these days seems to mean "as fast as the road conditionss permit, legal or not", which interests me not one jot.
Is that unusual? Anyone else?
43, before you ask.
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Fairly impatient myself, must be in the genes... but what you describe is cool, Dipstick.
Wish they were all like you, I must say.
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No. I do it.
Not so long ago, I?d just spent all day washing the car, and thought I?d go for a drive. You know, the ?point and press and see where you end up? kind of thing. Headed west in to the Northumberland countryside. Just trundled along the country roads at 40-50 taking in the views.
Thing is, it wasn't a one off as day to day driving is quite similar. 'Off peak' driving (i.e. outside the rush hours) I cruise along at 60 on dual-carriageways. There is another lane, so plenty of space to overtake. If i have to drive in the rush, i'll speed up just to keep up with the flow of traffic.
55-55 MPG and rarely arrive at a destination stressed.
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"55-55 MPG and rarely arrive at a destination stressed."
55MPG? Never get more than 39 out of mine :-(
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"55-55 MPG and rarely arrive at a destination stressed." 55MPG? Never get more than 39 out of mine :-(
(Should have read 50-55MPG BTW)
Is yours Injection or Carb? Just shows you how sedate I can be, much to the annoyance of my sister who'd prefer to drive as fast as conditions and law will allow. It's well known that my driving style is so laid-back its almost horizontal.
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I don't do it often myelf, but it's lovely to do so sometimes and just take in the scenery. I can't seem the slightest problem with what you describe.
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65mph is enough on motorways, and with petrol approching £1/litre, good economic sense.
Ed.
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Not sure I'd agree about 65, but I'm totally with you on the sentiment. I normally drive as close to 70 as the conditions allow now, although it's hard work to do so as lane discipline gets really hard.
On a quiet road I now set cruise to 73 or so, used to be more like 83. Makes a noticable difference to cost.
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I've never been a fast or impatient driver but I tend to keep up to the limit where safe on main roads (not on winding country lanes!).
During the fuel strike a few years ago I was running a petrol engined Land Rover 90 which struggled to achieve 20 mpg. So I began to drop my speed from 60 mph to 45-50 on main roads. Not really a problem as other drivers were doing the same.
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I mentioned in another recent thread that I noticed in Taiwan the other week that driving slowly (i.e. slower than most people would in the UK) in normal conditions attracted none of the light flashing you might expect in Britain. On the mostly two-lane motorways, it is common to see someone travelling at around 50 mph when the limit is around 70. I did it myself at first when I mistook the lower limit in the inside lane as applying to cars rather than trucks only. Nobody took offence and waited patiently if there was faster traffic overtaking. Likewise in built-up areas, most people were noticeably under the approx. 30 mph limit.
Enforcement by the many visible police cars and specs-type cameras might be partly responsible but not for the 20 mph below the limit drivers. Plus, I was in the south and according to web blogs the capital Taipei is frenzied.
Having said that the official company driver who took me to the airport at Kaohsiung at 5 am was flashed at 84 mph by a motorway indicator board which must have been American in origin.
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The important thing to remember is to be aware of your surroundings. If you've got someone behind you and you're holding them up, then do the decent thing and either get over into the side (obviously without doing any damage to the nearside of your car) so that people can pass you, or pull over at the earliest opportunity.
Nothing worse than a slow driver in front of you who never uses their rear view mirror to see the rolling roadblock they're creating behind them.
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I usually drive as fast as the conditions, my car, and the law allow.
On the way to work my roads are usually empty, and I drive as fast as I can. The roads are twisty with a limit of 60mph, and a lot of it can't be taken anywhere near 60mph. If I did a gentle drive it would be quicker for me to take a different route which is 60mph and straight, but the traffic quite often moves at 40mph.
On m/ways I quite often spend a lot of time around 60-65mph. This is for a few reasons. Firstly my car has an 899cc engine, so 70mph can sometimes be a struggle. I also find that if I stay in lane 1 at 60mph I don't get so many people tailgating, cutting in, and I can make almost as much progress as people in the other lanes. I watch the other people fly past, and then their brake lights come on.
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It may be more pleasurable.. but you are only helping prolong our dependence on oil...(!)
What is really amazing is average speed cameras where everybody obeys the limit. Totally spooky. Not the speed limit + 10% + 2mph + speedo calibration offset. Just '50 means 50 means 50...'
Great idea, pity they are used in totally unecesssary locations.
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In Switzerland the speed limit on a normal single carriageway road is 80kph (50 mph) and I found it to be very relaxing - no hassle from people trying to pass, time to enjoy the (staggering) scenery and I still seemed to arrive everywhere in plenty of time. I think they may know something we have overlooked...
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I've no objection to people driving at a leisurely pace on country roads but when they do it on single carriageway "A" roads I get somewhat irate.
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The timing of this thread is perfect - I am usually too impatient for my own good and drive too fast at times (although never dangerously - don't they all say that ?) and I have to admit being a stressed driver.
Earlier this week I said to myself - I've had enough of this - slow down a few mph (make sure not to annoy anyone) and take it easy. The stress levels and blood pressure are down, mpg is up and I tend to catch all the people that go racing past me at the next set of traffic lights.
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DD's point is the key - "The important thing to remember is to be aware of your surroundings." No harm in driving slowly as long as you don't inconvenience (or even endanger) others by doing so - and by others I mean other reasonable drivers not irresponsible speed merchants. The point was brought home to me yesterday on a very crowded M1 in the Midlands where there was a large queue of traffic in all three lanes - no-one speeding particularly because it was so busy, but suddenly lots of bunching, braking etc. I assumed it was a "rolling roadblock" caused by trucks but in fact it was caused by a driver on the inside lane driving at about 50 to 55 mph. This "forced"? the numerous trucks into the middle lane and other drivers into the outside lane, hence the bunching and braking. Just struck me as a bit inconsiderate since if she (yeah, sorry, it was a she in this instance) had increased speed to say 60, she would have kept pace with the trucks and the bunching wouldn't have taken place.
--
Phil
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Was it you NowWheels, or have you got the message?
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No, sorry, I'm sure it wasn't, but are you aware thgat driving in the middle (fast) lane of the motorway at well below the speed limit, more or less the speed of the trucks, 2CVs, old fuddy duddys and so forth in the slow lane, is more or less a crime?
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Don't blame 2CV's;I used to get mine into the outside lane of both the M25 and the A12;and not just downhill.
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Noticed a "pattering" noise while on the A38/M5 on Wednesday, stooped at Cullompton and found a clout nail securely stuck in my rear nearside tyre, no air loss, weighed up the pros and cons of putting the space saver on and being stuck at 50mph with reduced braking etc or carrying on with the nail at 50mph though with normal handling intact. Decided on the latter, spent 40 miles at 50mph on an almost deserted motorway with the same trucks a few hundred yards in front and behind all of the way, the trip consumption shot up to well over 50MPG.
It was a most pleasant leisurely pace.
Problem is that travelling at that speed for a 250 mile round trip would cost me nearly an hour. 200 motorway miles at an average of 50 = 4 hours though at an average of only 65 = just over 3 hours.
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stooped at Cullompton >>
Doh! "stopped". Well I guess I did stoop to find the nail.
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Don't blame 2CV's;I used to get mine into the outside lane of both the M25 and the A12;and not just downhill.
I don't, far from it. Not everyone understands that the pedal must be firmly glued to the metal for good progress though. There are plenty of slow 2CVs.
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Homeward commute - I regularly follow trucks and cars going as slow as 25mph on A roads.No chance for overtaking.
Oh how I laugh.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Pulling over is the key point to gentle driving. Somebody else might be in a hurry. On business, moving from one tightly scheduled meeting to another. On motorways I do an indicated 70mph (64 per satnav) unless the journey is going to be approaching a couple of hundred miles, at which point the time saved in spending extra money on petrol becomes material.
I spend my life pulling over on country roads for the more impatient - that's the way my father did, and taught me. Nobody else seems to nowadays, though. They rely on their right to go as slowly as they wish - or their right to go as quickly as they wish.
Busy traffic I tend to sit in the inside lane & know that I won't be tailgated, I'll have 200 yards free road in front of me and a thoroughly stress-free existence.
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Don't think of the extra time it takes you, think of all the fuel you're saving: Anything that irritates Gordon Brown isn't all bad.
I've taken to driving at between 56 and 65 on the motorway: Fast enough so as not to irritate wagons, but slow enough to keep out of the way of the angry right hand lane lot.
In fact, you can see the 80MPH angries approaching in 'waves'. Its usually possible to sit in the left hand lane between wagons and do 60 while they pass.
Moving over to the left -- keeping out of the way -- makes it very easy to drive at this speed. Also, 59.8MPG on my last fill (406 HDi90), I don't think I'd get that trying to keep up with the angries.
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I promise I'm not taking the proverbial when I say that I have tried to do the whole inside lane thing, but all those people overtaking me winds me up, can't help but pull out and get up to 70mph. Annoying as I know conciously that it makes not one iota of a difference, they'll just be sat at the slip road junction for longer.
I used to race motocross from a young age, must be that!
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