Jon Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I can drive safely on the rural roads I know at national speed limit. Don't see the need. I wish I had the chance to get up to that. I must average 35mph a day due to tractors.... Yep, and slowpokes. I drive through a lot of rural lanes on myw ay to and from work, and I never usually get too close to getting towards the national speed limit, due to slow pokes. OK, you can carry out an overtake, in some places, but the roads aren't really conducive to that, and it can be a bit risky. So you often have to go at the speed of the slowpoke, whoh are often scared/shit drivers who can't go any faster. So I don't think reducing the limit will have any real impact. Boy racers and slowpokes will still go at the same speed whatever.The 'slowpokes' are probably simply non-locals. I'm happy to up the speed on rural roads when I'm familiar with them, but sometimes I'm not, and I take it slower - that's when I get irate locals (hi Jon) tailgating behind me and overtaking dangerously through impatience. Fact is, you never know what's around the next bend, even when you know that road quite well. Chill. I don't tailgate, but do overtake when I get the opportunity. I honestly do actually view cars/people that hold me up in this manner as 'time thieves'. I'd like to get from A to B as quickly and safely as possible, and these people often prevent that from happening. I do agree with the need to chill behind the wheel, but with some time thieves out there, it's very difficult. Getting my DAB car radio installed has helped immensely with the chilling but though :nod: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I don't tailgate, but do overtake when I get the opportunity. I honestly do actually view cars/people that hold me up in this manner as 'time thieves'. I'd like to get from A to B as quickly and safely as possible, and these people often prevent that from happening. This problem I have is that if I have done a journey in 17 minutes once before then 17 mins is all I allow the next time I do the journey , the time being spent elsewhere doing better things (like VT for example :-) ) thus when you got some old codger in his pork pie hat doing 28 and slowing you down , invariably that means i will be late ... when I was younger I'd have just over taken him on a blind bend or something , but nowadays I'll just cuss my way behind him and overtake when there is a suitable stretch of road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Aye, the unnecessarily slow drivers are annoying. I don't mean slow drivers. Everyone's entitled to go slow. If I was drivng in unfamiliar surroundings I'd go slow. But sometimes it's just ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Last time I was in Ireland (last summer) I was told there was a law there that said if there was a queue of 7 or more cars behind you (I think it was 7) then you were obliged to pull over and let them past. I don't think it's enforced very much (if it's even true) but it's a law that I would fully back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 I have never heard about that law and I'd imagine I'd have come across mention of it at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Fair enough. It was my uncle, who drives a tractor, who told me. Don't imagine he'd make it up so probably just heard it off someone who heard it off someone etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Last time I was in Ireland (last summer) I was told there was a law there that said if there was a queue of 7 or more cars behind you (I think it was 7) then you were obliged to pull over and let them past. I don't think it's enforced very much (if it's even true) but it's a law that I would fully back! I have seen tractors in this country do that. Around Styal, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, the Tractor will pull into laybys at regular intervals to let the queueing traffic past, and then resume their journey. Maybe they're just being polite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 A quick google shows tractor drivers (in Ireland) have been prosecuted in the past for not letting people pass. But it all seems to fall under the umbrella of showing "due care and consideration for other road users" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 It could be some agricultural vehicle thing Stevo. I dunno. Some of them certainly do move over out of courtesy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Oh yeah, I know they do move over out of courtesy probably more than anything else. I wasn't suggesting the only reason they move over is to abide by the law. Was just curious to see if the law someone had mentioned existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Last time I was in Ireland (last summer) I was told there was a law there that said if there was a queue of 7 or more cars behind you (I think it was 7) then you were obliged to pull over and let them past.A couple of years ago we were driving back to Leeds from Cumbria on the A65, and coming the other other way was a horse-drawn caravan on its way to the Appleby horse fair. The traffic tailback behind it was - well let's say MANY miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 See, to me, that is properly out of order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 Horse drawn caravan though. Probably pikeys who couldn't care less - or worse - actively revel in inconveniencing others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 This talk of speed on twisty winding high hedge country roads reminds me of a story I heard from a copper while I was in Aber. Aber's police force seems to like boasting about how good they are with fast response, and the proof of it according to the copper was one of their number getting from Aberystwyth to a small seaside town, Borth, about 7/8 miles away, via the coast road. We used to have a caravan near Borth and we would travel into Aber on a Saturday, sometimes via the coast road because it's a shorter run. From something like Google Maps it doesn't look bad, but then you realise about 80% of it is narrow lanes, blind twists and drops, at one point has a hairpin turn up a really steep incline, some shifty junctions and with few passing points. You were doing well if you did the run in 20 minutes or so. The coppers reckon one of their guys did it in well under 10 on a fast response. It actually kinda scared me just thinking about it, I would not want to be doing that run at much above 40 for most of it. This guy must have been knocking on for 60 constantly. I don't think there was that much bravado in it either - my dad can remember it making the local news of a copper doing the same run a few years before in a similar time. At night too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 Horse drawn caravan though. Probably pikeys who couldn't care less - or worse - actively revel in inconveniencing others.Oh, they clearly did. Made damn sure nobody could get past. It was actually quite funny in a way - but only because I was going in the opposite direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 It was actually quite funny in a way - but only because I was going in the opposite direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2012 The best bit was when we finally passed the tail end of the queue, watching the unconcerned faces of the drivers cruising up to it, with NO idea what was about to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 watching the unconcerned faces of the drivers cruising up to it, with NO idea what was about to happen I do love when that happens too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 watching the unconcerned faces of the drivers cruising up to it, with NO idea what was about to happen I do love when that happens too. I'm the opposite. I can feel their soon to be pain, and would really want to be able to warn them in some way. But there's no way of letting them know. I don't derive any pleasure or amusement from knowing some poor saps are in for a long, long wait/traffic jam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2012 As I didn't cause it I can enjoy it with a clear conscience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts