An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

An epidemic of insanely slow drivers

Author
Discussion

LennyM1984

Original Poster:

680 posts

71 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I know this is a pointless rant but I am beginning to feel as though I am the only sane person to drive on the roads in Oxfordshire and wanted to see if I was alone in this observation.

In the good old days (I'm 39) most people would drive at a sensible speed. Every now and again you would meet a little old lady driving at 40mph but in general that was the exception rather than the norm. Fast forward to today and the norm is for me to be stuck behind people (of all ages, sex, race, and weight... before anybody tries to go there) doing 30mph in a well sighted 50 or 60. The speed is often dangerously slow and will result in a queue of cars/lorries bumper to tail crawling along (some of the roads are busy enough - like the A40 - to make overtaking opportunities low).

Some of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are parents at the school where my kids go. They seem like normal people and yet the speeds at which they are driving would imply that they are incapable of rational decision making and/or being in control of a vehicle. Even white van man these days is likely to be doing 35 in a 60 - these guys used to be the fastest human beings on earth and yet here we are today with articulated lorries trying to overtake them.

So what the hell is going on with people??? Am I alone in wanting to get where I am going???

[For context, I do not drive fast on public roads - I have a race license for that - and am not expecting others to break the speed limit or drive beyond a safe speed for the conditions. What I am objecting to is the dangerously slow speed at which almost everybody now wants to try and traverse the roads]



KAgantua

3,989 posts

134 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Motorways too, a lot of the time lane hogging, 50/60 in a NSL motorway. You look at them expecting elderly people, you see guys/ girls in their 20s/ 30s

J1990

836 posts

56 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
It's certainly frustrating but at least someone doing 30 in a 60 is (normally) relatively easy to overtake, it's when they're doing 45 in a 60 that's perfectly straight and safe to do the full speed but too busy in the other direction to be able to overtake them... I don't know why it frustrates me so much, especially given that I'm not normally in a particular hurry to get anywhere.

markymarkthree

2,363 posts

174 months

Thursday 14th March
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Yet strangely these "Sunday drivers" have the ability to speed up when you go to overtake them.

Jayho

2,059 posts

173 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I find it gets worse and worse the further south I go of the UK. We do get some locally, but MOST of the time you can get past without too much trouble. What is rather frustrating is when the ones stuck behind the slow driver aren't confident in doing an overtaking manoeuvre and everyone stuck behind also do not leave a good safe space for people to nip in between.

Recently my BIL has started working at the same place as me. They live round the corner so we car share a few commutes. He's not the most confident of driver on the more rural roads which we need to take, so I generally drive his FIAT 500 home (they bought it to teach my nephew to drive). The 2-3 evenings a week where I drive the 1.2 little FIAT home has really made me appreciate how much easier it is in my own cars to pick up speed and also had me re-learning how to drive properly and rely purely on power.

ChemicalChaos

10,424 posts

163 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I totally feel your pain.

As with you, I'm not looking to tear arse around at double the limit as I too have a track car, but I agree the slow drivers are everywhere these days. I think the enforced several months of not going anywhere during the pandemic has caused a step change in people's driving - for the worse. The amount of times I come up behind someone doing 40 on a clear, straight NSL arterial road makes me want to pull the steering wheel out of the dashboard in frustration..... and of course, when there's a "Trulli train" of cars behind a slowpoke, not one of the other fkers dares to try and overtake either, even when the road is clear and straight furious

av185

18,757 posts

130 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Roadcraft has been dying for years it really is nothing new.

Unfortunately things will only get worse too.

K4sper

342 posts

75 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
What about the epidemic of "is it just me, or having driving standards got worse??" threads that pop up on PH every other day??

mwstewart

7,764 posts

191 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
You aren't alone. Cars are faster, safer, and easier to drive, yet we've gone backwards in average speed.

heebeegeetee

28,935 posts

251 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I think everyone is either on their phones or flat screens or are distracted by all that st built into cars nowadays.

Maybe many are trying to turn the heat down a tad or find a volume control.

Byker28i

62,484 posts

220 months

Thursday 14th March
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Wait until you get to Wales. So many older drivers now seem to stick to the 20mph no matter where

andy43

9,916 posts

257 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I’d have replied earlier but there was a roundabout.

croyde

23,288 posts

233 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
My remedy is using a motorbike, it's so soul cleansing and uplifting.

Nothing crazy, just a Bonneville with only 65 horses.

Driving a car is rarely fun anymore.

lauda

3,565 posts

210 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Lots of young drivers these days have black boxes in their cars. They're so worried about breaking the speed limit and seeing their already ridiculous premiums increase further that they drive like octogenarians.

bigothunter

11,531 posts

63 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I passed my car test back in 1970 so I'm an aging geriatric of 70 years now.

Roads were much less congested back then. Speed limits were higher and those who wanted to drive enthusiastically were tolerated. Culture has changed where enthusiastic driving is frowned upon now.
Age of the car is over. We need to pander to the environmental and safety lobbies. Driving slowly fits that scenario. Thank God for track days driving


Slow is go...




LennyM1984

Original Poster:

680 posts

71 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
K4sper said:
What about the epidemic of "is it just me, or having driving standards got worse??" threads that pop up on PH every other day??
Very fair smile

agent006

12,058 posts

267 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Nope, I find the complete opposite. Do anything approaching the speed limit and there's someone right up your arse with a Starbucks in one hand and Whatsapp on the seat between their legs, but with absolutely zero capability or intention to actually overtake.

Robertb

1,626 posts

241 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Oxfordshire you say? Well it’s because the road surfaces are so effing awful that you need to go slowly to give yourself time to avoid wrecking your wheels and tyres!

CT05 Nose Cone

25,056 posts

230 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
Motorway sliproads are the worst for this. On Monday I was stuck behind someone who thought 40 was an appropriate speed to be joining, leaving me stuck behind watching the HGV in lane 1 rapidly closing the gap I was aiming for. So you're in a situation where you have a few seconds to decide if you should join and hope the HGV moves over, hit the brakes and join behind at an even slower and more dangerous speed, or dive for the hard shoulder.

Managed to join but was then boxed in behind her as she bumbled along, completely oblivious to the danger she was causing. I'm not normally in favour of capital punishment, but here I would make an exception.

swisstoni

17,507 posts

282 months

Thursday 14th March
quotequote all
I think it’s a function of congestion. People don’t see the point of getting a move on any more. There’s no progress to be made.
It’s a choice of driving around like a zombie or do your head in with frustration. (I usually choose the latter approach, as I goes).

Where congestion is rare, I’m sure people are flying around as much as they ever have.

Edited by swisstoni on Thursday 14th March 11:52