I once spent some time (when I was not under time pressure to be somewhere) piddling along in the left hand lane at a speed appropriate with the traffic around me (whether it was 50 or 70).

I cannot tell you how relaxing it was.

I quite like towing a caravan for this reason. It’s really chilled, even more so when it’s quiet. It looks like you’re going so much slower (even though it’s not that much of a difference in terms of time) that you can relax a lot more and it’s surprisingly much easier mentally.

It’s harder on SC roads though, becuase you are always monitoring who’s behind you and where your next place is to pull over.

It’s harder on SC roads though

Pro Tip:

Single Carriageway ? 1 lane

Dual Carriageway ? 2 lanes

I suspect this confusion is one of the reasons that many people have no idea what the national speed limit is on single and dual carriageways. 🙂

Don’t be a smartarse, you know what I mean. I know full well the difference, but the number of multi lane single carriageway roads is quite small so I used a shorthand.

Don’t be a smartarse?

It’s what we do. 😉

the number of multi lane single carriageway roads is quite small so I used a shorthand.

So sort of like calling a panda a zebra? 😀

Yes, just like that.

There are loads of multi-lane single carriageway stretches round here by the way. The A69 from Carlisle to Newcastle springs to mind – which flip flops between 1 and 2 lane, single and dual.

The accepted practise there seems to be to tootle along the 1-lane single carriageway at 50mph; get to a 2-lane bit and accelerate to 70; then drop back down to 50 when it goes back to 1-lane. Or spot the speed camera and slam on the brakes to 40! 😕

I drive that road fairly often that’s probably why it is a touchy point for me 😀

Regarding the slip road thing, I was once driving down a slip road to get onto the motorway behind somebody doing 50. I thought that was a bit slow so hung back to give myself space. They then braked. Aaaaagh!

I’ve actually had somebody stop in front of me on the slip road before because they were incapable of matching speed and merging with the traffic. Fortunately I could see what was going to happen so hung back to give myself room and joined the motorway going around them.

On tailgaters:

Woman this morning practically nudging my bumper. Flashed the brake lights at her a couple of times, but worryingly that made absolutely no difference. She didn’t react at all.

Not sure where she expected me to go exactly: I was in the right-hand lane because I was turning right ahead, and I was doing 30 in the 40 because we were approaching the back of a long traffic queue.

If any confirmation were needed she then demonstrated her superior driving skills by pulling out of the queue from here into the opposite lane and driving directly at the oncoming traffic, forcing them to brake and swerve around her, so she could skip ahead to the empty right-hand filter lane at the front of the queue – which she then used to go straight on. 😯

I play the motorway delta game with myself sometimes. Objective is to not affect anyone else’s speed wherever possible and to maintain your own speed at what you want as much as possible.

Isn’t that just, er, driving? I mean it’s how I drive on the motorway pretty much all the time – didn’t realise it was a game.

I can’t stand the people who vary their speed wildly.

Last time I drove down the M1 (up round the Nottingham/Derby stretch), I had the cruise control on at 70mph and I passed, and re-passed the same car about half a dozen times. He’d come storming past me at 80+, a mile later I’d see him doing 55, then he’d come past again a little later – repeat to fade. Thing is, I never once touched the cruise control, it was just this guy was incapable of holding a steady speed.

Isn’t that just, er, driving? I mean it’s how I drive on the motorway pretty much all the time – didn’t realise it was a game.

Well yes, but I think the point is for a big proportion of drivers techniques like forward planning and using mirrors are seen as some sort of crazy high falutin’ advanced driving skill they don’t need to bother with – a bit like left foot braking or double declutching.

Using mirrors and lanes correctly? That’s crazy talk, they aren’t Nigel Mansell so just let them driving along in the middle lane without a care in the world!

I can’t stand the people who vary their speed wildly.

It’s a strange thing to do, but if they are using the correct lane and pull back in when they have overtaken, I can’t really see how it causes anyone any inconvenience ?

(As long as they aren’t pulling in front of you and slowing down straight away causing you to take evasive action obviously !)

It does result in you having to change lanes to overtake more than you would otherwise, but you’re right, it’s not something which boils my piss – maybe a little 🙄 (though obviously not while I’m driving 😉 – oh and not that either).

Though for a more irritating variation on that game, try driving around at highish speed with kayaks on your roof (I imagine bikes on the roof has a similar effect, but not quite as good a one). Inevitably you’ll come across some driver who’s insulted by being overtaken by a car with a roof load and has to overtake you back, then immediately drops back to the speed they want to do as soon as they’ve pulled back in in front.

but if they are using the correct lane and pull back in when they have overtaken, I can’t really see how it causes anyone any inconvenience ?

The issue with pulling back in between lorries is this:

You can have someone sat behind you perfectly happily, with good stopping distance, but as soon as you pull in they almost certainly will start to speed up a bit. I’m guessing it’s a psychological effect, it’s so widespread*. But the end result is that by the time you reach the next lorry and want to pull out they’ll be along side you and you have to brake.

* just like people who pull in behind a lorry so they can exit, and then accelerate up the sliproad only to brake again for the roundabout 100 yards later. Waste of fuel for no gain.

It’s a strange thing to do, but if they are using the correct lane and pull back in when they have overtaken, I can’t really see how it causes anyone any inconvenience ?

It’s usually a symptom of them not concentrating fully.
Drive along at (eg) 70mph, adjust satnav, speed drops to 55.
Increase speed to 70 again, take a drink of coffee, speed drops to 55.

Just forces other traffic to change lane around them, which while not the end of the world, increases stress and the chance of an accident.

The issue with pulling back in between lorries is this

Agreed.

The other issue is that if you actually care about maintaining proper stopping distances (rare) then you need a fairly large gap between the vehicles to make it worthwhile pulling in.

e.g. if you try to stick to “only a fool breaks the 2-second rule” at 70mph then you shouldn’t be closer than ~205ft (62m) to the vehicle in front.

So if you intend to pull in between two vehicles you’d want to be 205ft in front of the first one with another 205ft in front of you till the second – PLUS whatever distance you’ll cover in the speed differential between you and the vehicle in front while folk overtake you.

That’s quite a big distance – and results in people driving up behind you and complaining you are “hogging” the middle lane by not pulling in when it is “clear”.