[ChiragM]

According to a media report, road accidents leading to fatalities and serious injuries caused by slow drivers is increasing in the UK.



It is said that last year, 26 people suffered serious injuries and 2 people were killed in road accidents caused by slow drivers. A further 132 people suffered minor injuries. The number of serious injuries and deaths has risen 75% in the last 5 years.

The report suggests that driving well below the speed limit causes tailgating, undertaking, congestion, and road rage. The increasing frustration could cause other drivers to attempt a dangerous overtaking maneuver.

Some countries have a minimum speed limit posted next to the maximum speed. In the UK, driving well below the speed limit results in a £100 fine and three penalty points.

Link to Team-BHP News

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[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

The report suggests that driving well below the speed limit causes tailgating, undertaking, congestion, and road rage. The increasing frustration could cause other drivers to attempt a dangerous overtaking maneuver.

Not just in UK, but here in India as well, this is one of the major issues. While most agree that overspeeding is the major cause of accidents, its the slow drivers who hog the fast lanes and drive below the limit that even more worrisome. What gets on my nerves is the bikers who do 60-80 kmph in the city but do only 40 kmph on the highway!

Some countries have a minimum speed limit posted next to the maximum speed. In the UK, driving well below the speed limit results in a £100 fine and three penalty points.

I hope this is implemented in India as well - atleast in the access controlled roads. I had head stories of cops flagging down cars for overspending based on toll ticket timings, but I sincerely hope they start doing the same for slow drivers. There is absolutely no excuse for driving slower than 50-60 km/h. Most vehicles (including loaded trucks) can do those speeds - if not, they have no place in the 21st century.

[--gKrish--]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

The report suggests that driving well below the speed limit causes tailgating, undertaking, congestion, and road rage. The increasing frustration could cause other drivers to attempt a dangerous overtaking maneuver.

I have noticed this many times in our roads as well. Kerala has two lane highways portions where such slow drivers push even safe and patient drivers into attempting risky overtaking maneuvres that could potentially end up in a head on collision.
Even more annoying are the drivers who keep braking every now and then in this narrow 2 lane undivided roads. Sometimes I just wish if I could put train's horns in my cars.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

slower than 50-60 km/h

Well, I am sure that many people would have even had a few 'heart in the mouth' moments because of these 'safe drivers'. Especially the ones who not only drive slow, but also happily brake in the middle of the road even if they notice a slight danger or even an illusion out of their mind.

On expressways and highways, we can notice such vehicles, even the cars too; at times simply hog a lane and they will do their fixed 30 kph - no response to any honk, no regards for other road users, no thoughts of their own safety; it all ends only when some over enthusiastic state transport bus driver decides to make a quick overtaking maneuver without properly scanning the left lane and there is no time left for braking either.

Originally Posted by --gKrish--

Even more annoying are the drivers who keep braking every now and then in this narrow 2 lane undivided roads.

That's me on unknown, narrow 2 lane roads during night time facing the high beams. My feet automatically reaches the brake pedal with the fear of encountering the unseen, but yes; I just touch the brakes and prepare myself for an emergency but not slow down considerably. Damn, those high beam drivers are a pain on such roads

[luvDriving]

I always advocate driving the average traffic speed, of course within safe limits.

If the traffic around you is moving at an average speed of 80, you should not be driving at 30, especially in the fast lane. I fail to understand why do most of those driving slow (be it 2 wheelers or 4 wheelers) consider the fast lane to be the safe lane !! And most of the time these guys/girls are using the mobile.

On a side note, people have lost the ability to discern when to use the mobile. Yesterday I was leaving a mall parking and the line next to me was not moving. As I reached the booth, I saw that a lady was busy doing something on her mobile while the booth attendant was trying to get her to move since she was first in line.

[TROOPER]

On undivided roads, I have encountered a special breed.

These lowlifes go at their own merry speed, and the moment they realize you're about to overtake, they increase their speed when you're about 20% into the overtake. They do this especially when there's a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Seems playing with others lives is a game for them.

Then we have the usual @ 60-70 kmph 1st lane hoggers on expressways

Another hazard are slow moving trucks in the dark with no rear lights.

[Vegitocat]

I have seen that the majority of drivers who slow down are distracted due to below reasons:

1. Using cellphone (80%)
2. Tending to kids (15%)
3. Trying to reach for something (5%)

Then there are drivers who slow down purposely. There are multiple types here as well:

1. The driver has just overtaken you, comes into your lane and then slows down forcing you to switch lanes or overtake them again
2. Company buses which drive at a constant speed of 40-50kmph in the fast lane. These same buses then make a big fuss(honking) about waiting for their turn at the Toll Plaza. Clearly you are not in a tearing hurry, why not wait patiently now?
3. Then there are a number of slow vehicles(truck, bus, auto, 2 wheeler) which occupy multiple lanes denying you any opportunity to overtake and slowing down traffic on the entire stretch.

While it is perfectly OK to drive slowly, what is required to follow basic civic sense:

1. Driving slow in the left most lane.
2. Making overtakes fast and not tag alone in parallel lanes thereby blocking others.

Now the problem in India is that the left most lane usually has some obstruction or vehicle parked. Not to mention jaywalkers and other things to keep an eye out for, which simply don't inspire confidence to drive fast.

[snap2329]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Then we have the usual @ 60-70 kmph 1st lane hoggers on expressways

Another hazard are slow moving trucks in the dark with no rear lights.

+1 to that!

I have once counted the number of trucks without tail lights on a highway from Rajahmundry to Vijayawada. I found that nearly 63 trucks out of 100 had no tail lights. Few of them did not even have reflective stickers on the rear. This number is discounting the number of private buses plying. Adding them would take the numbers alarmingly high.

This count was done in a span of 1 hour and under 80 Km's of distance.

All these trucks were passing through multiple checkpoints, and also Toll Plaza's. Also the AP government has these TUV300's parked beside highways in the name of ROAD SAFETY, while these trucks just pass by them.

I hope there could be a law to enforce and penalize such trucks or a mechanism to routinely check these trucks passing toll plaza's to check for rear lights or atleast reflective stickers.

[vivek_lm]

There's another problem here- there'll be people who stick to the rightmost lane (on a two-lane highway) or the only available lane and drive at the recommended max speed for that particular road and they'll still end up frustrating the majority of the other drivers (who'll of course be overspeeding!).

I myself am one such driver. Take, for example, the Bangalore-Mysore highway. I stick to the right lane there (for obvious reasons!) and stick to a speed of 80 kmph (which I feel is the safest top speed for that stretch, at least from my perspective and the car that I drive). Now, at this speed, I myself would be legally overspeeding. I still encounter so many vehicles "flying" past me, some of whom give that honk/stare as if I'm doing something horribly wrong.

Who's at fault in such cases? I always wonder as to whether I should start overspeeding to "fall in line" with the majority traffic on the road, thereby risking my safety.

[aghate]

Request to not let this thread be a topic to discuss about the problems that we have when driving in India. There are just too many and every thread will have some relevant example. Although I do agree with the above mentioned points.

Since, this news is about UK, and I have been driving here for the past 1.5 years(23k miles/37k kms) I can relate to this article very well. My job includes a lot of travel and mainly comprises travelling along the M6 Motorway(highway) to a large extent. As there is a rise in the number of vehicles the rise in number of bad drivers is evident here despite the UK having a very stringent Theory and Practical Driving Tests.

People are very patient and some are very patient as mentioned in the article. I myself have had close calls due to these so called 'Safe' Drivers and lane hogging morons. Just an example from last night, I was driving along the M56 motorway. the weather was typical UK with light showers and almost 90% of the cars were not using the left most lane. Lane hogging is a serious offense here and recently there has been strict action against such drivers compared against those who undertake. Reason being, there was enough space to move to the left lane and since the driver did not move the other vehicles had to undertake.

There are many examples that I can share. I will stick to a standout one on my trip to Northern Scotland. The National Speed Limit on a single carriageway in UK is 60 MPH. There was a driver doing around 35 MPH on this stretch. Be mindful that the northern section of the country has some beautiful roads. There are few curves and bends with few opportunities to overtake. This annoying slow driving continued for a good part of 10 minutes. The problem was not one slow driver, the one following the slow driver had no intent to overtake either. It is very difficult to overtake one car on a short straight stretch let alone two. Due to this slow driving pair the journey can become annoying. Per the info from my friends here I cannot force anyone ahead to drive faster. But as per the Highway Code a slow moving vehicle must allow the overtaking vehicle to perform a safe overtake.

The M6 Motorway is one of the important roads in UK as it acts like a spine to connect the North to the South. On every journey I see some cars not following the lane and sticking to the right most lane for no good reason. I have to admit that I have undertaken couple of cars sometimes due to aforementioned reasons. This problem is not too huge as of today but is on the rise.

There will be actions taken and people here are mature enough to adopt better driving styles which to be honest is class leading in UK. I have done long distances without feeling any mental fatigue in UK thanks to everyone sticking to the rules and being considerate.

[Miyata]

I had a few of my Chinese colleagues getting tickets for slow driving! Incidentally, among the people I know that have received a ticket for slow driving - they have all been Chinese! This is for the US.

[Thermodynamics]

On a lighter note, a few cartoons
link

link


How to annoy slow drivers

https://youtu.be/fFgEgT6-5-4

Jeremy Clarkson says only 7% of accidents are caused by overspeeding

https://youtu.be/ADj_lnKVRhE

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by vivek_lm

Who's at fault in such cases? I always wonder as to whether I should start overspeeding to "fall in line" with the majority traffic on the road, thereby risking my safety.

If your speed is considerably different from the average speed of the vehicles around, you are at risk. So if you feel the majority of the traffic is faster, then you should either speed up or move to the left (slow lane). That is the right thing to do, not from legal but from an overall safety POV.

[SS80]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

If your speed->should either speed up or move to the left (slow lane). That is the right thing to do, not from legal but from an overall safety POV.

That's the right approach to these kind of situations. Also, in Bangalore there are a bunch of 2 wheelers who decide to accelerate as fast as possible at every signal and reach their mental terminal velocity of 50kmph and stay in the middle of the road assuming that no one else will catch them up. When in reality almost every car and bigger bike is tailgating & waiting for these guys to clear the path.

[51morris]

In the UK, driving well below the speed limit results in a £100 fine and three penalty points.

Not just a fine and penalty points for driving too slow, but people have even failed their practical driving test here in the UK for driving way below the speed limit!

When I was taking driving lessons (yes, I had to, especially after having driven all my adult life in India!) my instructor would always ask me to stick to the speed limits (not higher, not lower). Especially when joining a major road (with a 50M{H or higher speed limit), I would be asked to accelerate quite hard so that I don't cause motorists already on the road to slow down abruptly.