People overtaking in 30 zones

Cars overtaking cars that is.

Seems I’m in the minority of people doing 30mph in 30 zone these days. My commute to work involves driving through a particular long straight 30 zone. Most days I’m overtaken by a vehicle or two, this morning was slightly different in that a Jag doing around 50mph overtook the car behind, pulled in, then overtook me. Again all in the 30 zone. It’s not always someone doing that sort of speed, the old lady in her Honda Jazz was doing about 40mph when she overtook yesterday.

Is this worth reporting to anyone? Would anyone actually be bothered? About 18 months ago I narrowly avoided hitted a kid on the same strench of road who was waiting at the bus stop but ran into the road from behind a parked car. Had I not been doing 30mph I would have hit him.

Worth mentioning to anyone, or just accept people are always going to brake the speed limit?

Bristol was mostly 30 and I don’t recall ever being overtaken. Recently it dropped to 20 in quite a few residential areas. Now I seem to get overtaken fairly regularly by people way over the limit. Pretty reckless in residential streets with parked cars. Not sure what the solution is though.

Regularly get overtaken (while on the bike) outside a school, its a green 20 sign (so recommended, 30 actual limit) and im doing 20 as its downhill, but they are always doing over 30. All this according to the electronic speed sign with the sad face, not sure how accurate they are?

Get it reported. Even if they do nothing its logged, so if (when) there is an accident, it improves the chance something will get done.

Happened on my old commute, contacted the local police via the 101 number and told them where it was happening and my estimation of the speed that the overtakers were doing.

Unmarked A6 and an officer with a hand held laser speed gun appeared about a fortnight later….caught 20 or so people in a 40 minute enforcement period apparently….

Death penalty for speeding, just replace speed cameras with radar triggered Anti Aircraft guns and make it self policing.

You do the speed limit anywhere and you’ll get someone right up behind you looking angry.

The vast majority of drivers break the speed limit in my experience. I don’t think telling the police will achieve anything. Even if you provide the police with video evidence of drivers breaking the law they’ll rarely do anything with it.

When I (rarely) drive into work there’s this long 30mph stretch where I experience the same as you. Angry drivers stuck right on my bumpers, dangerous overtaking. All this past a school front gates when there are children around.

Strangely these drivers suddenly calm down when we get onto my company estate where the limit is 20mph and speeders are reported to their boss. Repeat offenders get reported up the tree.

They should do that on the public roads, it’d have a much more effective result than fines.

Bit of both if its a bad/dangerous stretch for it then mention to plod but the reality is almost everyone speeds

Death penalty for speeding, just replace speed cameras with radar triggered Anti Aircraft guns and make it self policing.

You are Kim Jong Un and I claim my £5

The vast majority of drivers break the speed limit in my experience.

Yep, in 30’s anyway and then continue at 40ish once back into NSL…

I don’t worry about it, just drive on the cruise at 30mph (or less if appropriate) taking the correct position on the road.

I’m not suggesting that one region has worse drivers than another, but while driving in Urmston, Manchester, I’ve twice had people overtake me when I’ve been doing about 33-34mph. I did report one of them to the police, but never heard back.
Yes, report them to the police and ask that you’re given feedback.

The trouble round where I live is that speed limits that have been in place for 30 years have suddenly and for no apparent reason be reduced by between 10 and 20 mph. Given that nothing has appeared to change with either the road or the use of the land either side of it then I find it difficult to see the reduction as having anything to do with road safety and everything to do with cash generation.

The city ringroad has been 70 for the last 30 years, now they have increased the number of lanes its a 40?? The road out of the village has been national speed limit for as long as anyone can remember, its now a 40? Nothing on the road has changed. Another stretch of dual carriageway that used to be national speed limit now ossiclates between 40 and 50 along its length. It has motorway style junction and no pedestrian access

Yeah many people drive aggressively in built up areas, pointless. I wonder if some people though think others are driving too slowly as cars tend to over state their speed? When I use my satnav I tend to use that to check my speed and see that I can go faster than the speed indicated by my car and still be in the speed limit. People are so impatient with other cars, no wonder cyclists cause them so much distress!

Overtaking in a 30 is rife – almost de rigeur – on my commute (febrile hell pit in the West Midlands)

By definition if everyone else is doing it, it must be OK

In your local area, there’ll be some kind of ‘local policing’ thing set-up for just this kind of thing..

Look them up and drop them an e-mail or give them a tinkle. They might get a mobile camera stuck there to catch ’em.

A while back we were cycling back into Oakham from Rutland water & passed a police car with radar gun catching people speeding as they came out of Oakham.
A yoof in a Mini was flying towards us a bit further along the road, breaking the speed limit by a decent margin so my mate waved his arm at him in a slow down gesture to try to warn him about plod. His response was to stick his fingers up and speed up – I hope he got what he deserved down the road….

Given that nothing has appeared to change with either the road or the use of the land either side of it then I find it difficult to see the reduction as having anything to do with road safety and everything to do with cash generation.

So they are full of speed cameras then? with no signs telling you the new limit? doubt it.

The city ringroad has been 70 for the last 30 years, now they have increased the number of lanes its a 40??

Traffic management

The road out of the village has been national speed limit for as long as anyone can remember, its now a 40? Nothing on the road has changed.

Safer?

Another stretch of dual carriageway that used to be national speed limit now ossiclates between 40 and 50 along its length. It has motorway style junction and no pedestrian access

traffic management

Ban seat belts and air bags, make it compulsory to have a 6″ metal spike sticking out of the middle of the steering wheel. Line the interior of each car with cheese grater’s.

That should slow them down. 🙂

chrismac – Member

The trouble round where I live is that speed limits that have been in place for 30 years have suddenly and for no apparent reason be reduced by between 10 and 20 mph. Given that nothing has appeared to change with either the road or the use of the land either side of it then I find it difficult to see the reduction as having anything to do with road safety and everything to do with cash generation.

The city ringroad has been 70 for the last 30 years, now they have increased the number of lanes its a 40

– Reducing noise for surrounding residential areas?
– As a reaction to accidents in the area?
– Controlling the flow of traffic joining roads in the area to reduce congestion?

There is normally a reason behind speed limit changes. You might not be aware of it, or agree with it, but it will have been done for a reason.

Nothing on the road has changed.

have the accident stats changed? “It’s always been XX mph” is a crap excuse to keep an old limit or ignore a new one.

There’s all sorts of reasons for changing limits, including finally realising that car centric transport infra is detrimental to almost everyone else, I’m sure they’re not doing it just to piss you off.

(I’m not saying they’re reasons most/all of us would agree with, but I’m pretty sure they don’t just change limits for a laugh)

<edit> as other people have more eloquently stated while I was typing.

Repeat offenders get reported up the tree.

They should be hung from the branches.

OP you can report it to the traffic police, they may set up a speed gun there

Same for me, always stick to the speed limit in urban environments and have people pull crazy overtakes or stick glued to the bumper.

have the accident stats changed? “It’s always been XX mph” is a crap excuse to keep an old limit or ignore a new one.

^^ This ^^

My old commute used to be along a NSL ‘A’ road.

During a 12 month period or so three different Tubby Power Rangers managed to spangle themselves to death in near enough the same exact spot (sweeping flat bend with open fields, meaning a cross wind could easily catch them out) and all the NSL sections of that road for a good 7-8 miles in either direction were dropped to 50, didn’t impact journey times a bit…

What really pisses me off are the people who just sit at 40.

The road from work to my house goes from 60-40-30-40 and the number of people who just sit at 40 just amazes me.

I overtake them in the 60, and then by the end of the 30 they are up my chuff!

The road through my village goes from NSL, to 30 to “advisory” 20 (e.g. black border rather than red).
And rightly so, there are parked cars both sides and often kids and elderlies walking about.

There’s no room to overtake, but when I drop my speed for the 30 and then the 20 I frequently earn a tailgater who displays their impatience by attempting to rub bumpers with me.

The 20 was put in after a mass petition by the people in the village – but clearly some of them only wanted it to apply to other people.

(and yes, when we get back to the NSL I usually leave them behind)

I don’t ever see it (apart from the odd moron) on 30 zones but I regularly get overtaken in 20 zones in Harrogate.

However, this morning I nearly had a head-on as a woman blasted around a blind bend on a narrow road doing a good 50+ in a 30 – I had to mount the kerb to get out of her way. 10 seconds after that I had someone reverse straight out of the drive onto the road making me have to emergency swerve onto the wrong side of the road – if the timings had been a little different I could have been sandwiched in the most ridiculous and needless accident with my little girls in the car 🙁

And traffic lights. What TF is it with people now, it seems that people think that when the lights change back to red that it means that the person behind them has to stop.

Then last week I had a woman *start* a three-point turn whilst I was travelling quite close behind!

The average standard of driving really does seem to have deteriorated in the last few years.

Leeds outer ring road, there’s a stretch of ‘dual carriageway’ which is a 40 limit. There’s a light controlled pedestrian crossing half way down the stretch with flowers in the railings.

On the occasions I drive to work instead of cycling (and can more easily gauge relative speed) there are often cars doing 10-20 over the limit. Idiotic as it’s always tailed back for the roundabout at the far end.

three different Tubby Power Rangers

I’d be surprised if the same one managed it twice to be honest!

Personally I’ve never been overtaken in a 30 residential zone while driving, so would be odd to me. I stick rigidly to the 30 limit. One odd thing I have noticed is I get relatively few people tail gating or trying to over take when I’m driving the van. When I borrowed my mum’s tiny 1.0l daihatsu go kart thing I had loads of folk try and overtake in dodgy places and drive right up the rear, even when I was driving at the same speeds as the van. Same thing happens when riding a bike I fear. People look at someone on a bike or in a crappy little car and think “peasants, f*** em”.

My house is on a 30 section in a village, about 500m after it reduces from NSL. We get some scary speeds past the house. It makes putting the bin out, crossing the road or pulling out of the drive a stressful experience. The council have just installed speed survey kit on the road so hopefully we’ll get some more traffic calming or a speed camera soon.

What TF is it with people now, it seems that people think that when the lights change back to red that it means that the person behind them has to stop.

Yep. We frequently hear “Cyclists Don’t Stop At Red” and fair enough, some don’t.

But I see drivers go through amber or “just red” lights every day.

Highway authorities don’t always help. Near my home is a steep hill leading up into a village. The approach has an overtaking lane to allow people to pass slow moving vehicles climbing the hill, but this continues beyond the 30mph limit sign right into the village. Unsurprisingly a lot of people are speeding through there.

The road out of the village has been national speed limit for as long as anyone can remember, its now a 40? Nothing on the road has changed.
Safer?

No…probably not. we’ll be back to a 5mph limit soon with a man waving a red flag walking in front of the car, if some people had their way. There’s sooo much more people can do to drive safely than just slow down. Speed as almost NEVER the factor in making a road unsafe.

Speed as almost NEVER the factor in making a road unsafe.

We’ll be back to people doing 100mph limit through residential streets if some people had their way 😆

Speed as almost NEVER the factor in making a road unsafe.

Not making, but it has a massive effect on the consequence.

No…probably not. we’ll be back to a 5mph limit soon with a man waving a red flag walking in front of the car, if some people had their way. There’s sooo much more people can do to drive safely than just slow down. Speed as almost NEVER the factor in making a road unsafe.

Admit it, you lifted that off the DailyMail comments section?

Poor spelling and grammar. Check
Contradictory statements and concepts. Check
No basis in fact. Check
Hysterical use of hyperbole. Check.

Without getting squarely into the speed/safety relationship, I do find it pretty shocking when someone is sufficiently put out about you obeying a 30 through a built-up area, or a 20 outside a school, that they are prepared to overtake.

It’s not something I’ve experienced that often at all round my way, standards must be pretty pisspoor in some of the places you guys live.

I drive or ride down this section of road every weekday. It’s a 30mph limit. Without fail every morning someone will pull into the bus lane to undertake a car doing 30mph. It’s an exercise in futility as there’s a busy roundabout at the end which they have to stop at 9 times out of 10.

we’ll be back to a 5mph limit soon with a man waving a red flag walking in front of the car, if some people had their way. There’s sooo much more people can do to drive safely than just slow down. Speed as almost NEVER the factor in making a road unsafe.

I respectfully Disagree, Speed is a factor, or rather the increasing expectation some people have that completing your journey faster is almost of higher priority than completing it alive, and that everyone else on the road should share this skewed notion…

One odd thing I have noticed is I get relatively few people tail gating or trying to over take when I’m driving the van. When I borrowed my mum’s tiny 1.0l daihatsu go kart thing I had loads of folk try and overtake in dodgy places and drive right up the rear, even when I was driving at the same speeds as the van. Same thing happens when riding a bike I fear. People look at someone on a bike or in a crappy little car and think “peasants, f*** em”.

Yep, a lot of the behaviour is triggered by perception, once she’d learned I kept on at my missus to ditch the ‘P’ plates, when she eventually did the tailgating and aggressive passes noticeably dropped off… her driving hadn’t changed but the pricks behind no longer saw her as a “New Driver” and hence an obvious target for bullying…

Human nature played out with 1.5Te metal boxes innit…

People look at someone on a bike or in a crappy little car and think “peasants, f*** em”.

Sadly seems to be true.

There’s sooo much more people can do to drive safely than just slow down

+1

Have been out driving with rocket jr the last few months (he’s learning to drive) and it is quite an experience to drive with someone who never breaks the law and sticks to the Highway Code.

I don’t get a great deal of it round these parts (Newcastle/Gateshead area). Maybe once a year someone will pass me in a 30. What I do get a LOT though is what has already been mentioned above regarding tailgating.

Tailgating is my absolute biggest pet hate – it is pure distilled stupidity. It is dangerous first and foremost, it is pointless as you don’t actually achieve anything and it costs money in fuel as people constantly brake and accelerate and causes increased wear on engine/brakes. In terms of motorway car accidents I reckon tailgating accounts for many 2 car accidents tripling to 6+ car accidents as those behind the initial bump fail to stop in time and rear end the car in front.

I used to take great pleasure in my old Passat (where the passenger side water jet shot a great deal of water straight over the back of the car) in emptying the washer tank over tailgaters. My proudest moment was lady in a BMW convertible with her kids in the car with the roof down about an inch off my bumper. I give her plenty of chances to back off then I did that really annoying thing where you slow down to 15mph… Strangely this made her very angry! So I just pulled the washer stalk and held it on and give the Beemer, it’s lovely white leather interior and the occupants a good dousing.

I think someone on here mentioned using rear foglights (only if there is one either side of course) to faux brake. People do seem to get puzzled if you do this and accelerate at the same time!