Slow drivers

many roads are now 20 mph, and it is quite hard to obey this limit without impatient, lawless drivers behind tailgating.

I’m not sure that people going unnecessarily slow isn’t against the law. My Dh was told by police at some meeting or other that if it’s causing an obstruction then it can be followed up.

Monica, my son-in-law’s family have two farms about ten miles part. They share equipment so moving a combine harvester ten miles can cause quite a procession!

I actually nearly got mown down by someone who pulled off a main road onto a slip road without slowing down when I was doing my nighttime walk. If I’d walked in the direction that most people would have instead of bearing to the left I dread to think what would have happened.

Clevedon

Coco51
It is a limit as you say but I was surprised to hear when my children had driving instructors that drivers are these days told to drive at that limit. I remember being told by mum that she was told to ignore everything behind her and concentrate on in front

Here in France, once 16 after passing the Highway Code children have 21 lessons with a driving instructor then under parents supervision. When I was doing this with my girls I was often asking them to drive slower through towns, against the instructor’s advice, as there could be a child running out from between parked cars.

Grannygear. It is not the slow driving, but why the car is being driven slowly that is the problem. Too frequently it is because the driver is incapacitated for some reason. It could be that they are drunk or on drugs, it could be because the driver is elderly and their reflexes and mental capacity is declining.

Such drivers are prone to misjudged situations, make mistakes and cause accidents. A neighbour described an aunt's driving just before her diagnosis of severe dementia. He said she regularky drove to and from a town 5 miles away at 20mph in second gear. She was undoubtedly annoying and definitely a danger to other road users.

One of our local farmers puts a shout out on local facebook saying he is going to be moving his combine harvester at X time on X day adn then goes on the say please don't do swear signs at me, Mrs X in the blue fiesta, that wasn't very pleasant was it? and so on and so forth

When I took my driving test many, many years ago the examiner told me I should have kept up to the speed limit on a faster road as it’s a faster road for a reason.

I also have a friend who managed a driving test centre and used to be an examiner. She also told me that driving too slow causes accidents and tailbacks.

We all know about the dangers of driving too fast but, as my friend told me, it’s not going fast that causes accidents, it’s bad driving and going too fast on the wrong road and the wrong conditions.

Driving to Cardiff last week we noticed that most of the motorway had a 50 mph speed limit and Cardiff had a 20 mph speed limit in many areas. This was we found out, to reduce pollution so we might well be seeing more of it.

Driving slowly isn't the problem if the speed limit is set lower. The problem arises, as the other day, when there is nothing wrong with the road surface and no traffic in front but the driver drives well below the limit. It' causes tail backs on busy roads such as the one mentioned in the OP. This is a very busy road at the best of times. It's impossible to overtake because of the traffic coming in the opposite direction. Any delay on this road causes massive traffic disruption with tail backs backing up not only on this road but on roads that join it. So the whole area ends in gridlock.

Driving too slowly can actually be an offence: roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/slow-drivers-creating-dangerous-driving-scenarios/

If someone is unable or unwilling to drive at an appropriate speed for the road, they probably should not be driving at all. Of course, there may be specific, one-off reasons for driving very slowly, but other than that, those who cannot or will not drive with consideration for other road users can quite rightly be punished. Bragging that one always drives slowly is no better than bragging that one always drives faster than the speed limit.

Was he driving a Ford Fiesta? I've had two. The first one was terrible when leaving a junction. I felt like getting out and pushing. The second one (which I have now) is much better but absolutely hates going up hill. It doesn't matter how much you press the accellerator, it just loses speed. I must say they were/are both old cars as I can't afford anything newer.

I used to have a Metro that had no acceleration at all and used to frequently come home in tears because other road users had been so angry with me. I then had a little red Fiesta and my whole driving experienced changed: overnight driving became a pleasure again.

DH is a member of the Institute for Advanced Drivers. DH failed the assessment the first time for driving 'too slowly'. Too slowly meant he did not drive up to the speed limit on every road, unless there was some traffic hazard that made this inadvisable.

This is one of the reasons I decided not to do do the IAM assessment. The logic that can accept a speed limit on a main road of 50 but as soon as I turn off onto a narrow derestricted country road I expects me to try to drive along it at 60 doesnot command my respect.

Don’t they say you have to have your hands on the steering wheel in the ten past 10 position at all times as well ( or something like that?). I did look to do an advanced driving course once to help me with my confidence but some of it seemed a bit too much.

I know when I first came out of lockdown I was quite nervous about driving and probably drove slower than I would normally. However, I now drive at the speed limit, when it is safe to do so.

Today I was driving along a long straight road, speed limits go from 40 to 60 to 50 to 40. I drive this road regularly so know the limits.

I was taught that a vehicle should be far enough behind you so you can see the number plate yet today I had a van so close behind me that I could clearly see the driver. If I had to brake suddenly he would have crashed into the back of my car. He seemed to be trying to intimidate me into driving faster - I was tempted to slow down but just kept at the speed limit. When I turned off he accelerated past me at high speed. He probably thought I was a doddery old woman driving too slowly, but I was at the speed limit!

Where I live in Wales slow drivers are a problem at this time of year. They crawl along roads designated 60mph and they often do 30mph or below. They are usually tourists and act as if everyone else should be on holiday too. However, when I go to Scotland and drive, on roads I don't know, I too drive slowly. The difference is if there are cars behind me I pull in at the earliest opportunity and let them pass.
SatNav has also made the problem worse. Tourists are sent down narrow country lanes they wouldn't normally know about or even attempt to drive if they knew what bends and constrictions were ahead.

The worst offending tourist I ever saw drove up one such road and ended up with a queue of cars behind. As we neared the top of a hill, he stopped, blocking the road completely, and got out of his car to take pictures of the town and bay he had just left. He could not seem to understand why the other drivers were so angry. His face was a picture when one (normally very placid) nurse threatened to insert his camera where the sun don't shine. The fact that people live in these towns and have to get to work didn't seem to cross his mind.

Anyone who doubts that you won’t be pulled for driving too slow on a motorway watch this evenings ‘Traffic Cops’
They pulled someone over and asked him why he was doing 45 mph on the M1. He had shown other erratic driving.

It was a family joke with us that DH failed his first driving test in 1968 because he was driving too slowly and not keeping up with the flow of traffic. It was the only time in his 71 years that anyone ever accused him of driving slowly!