Advanced Driving Hub

Here in Occupied North Berkshire we are afflicted by many 40mph fanatics.Today I was driving down to Reading and I came across one, there he (or she) was trundling along at 40 mph come town or village, countryside, 50mph or NSL. We get them, and I am sure you all come across them.

But why do they do it? Is it because of the frequently changing speed limits on back roads? Is it just laziness?
There must be some rationale as to why this happens but is does escape me.

Because they're not looking out the window...

Totally disengaged from reality and unaware as to their own speed and the limits

Alasdair

akirk wrote:Totally disengaged from reality and unaware as to their own speed and the limits

Alasdair

Snap!

Or, car in 5th and brain in neutral.

But it is so common, that I feel there must be some deeper reason why people do it.

It is a speed at which they feel naturally comfortable, for whatever reason. Once at that speed, barring any physical reason to slow down they just continue at that speed pretty much detached from the rest of reality. In Very Advanced Driving, Tom Topper refers to them as the "my speed" kind of idiot.

Suffolk is infested with them. I've always put it down to the blanket implementation of 30mph wherever there's signs of human habitation, regardless of the road size etc. They MAY have in the past increased their speed and then had to decrease it as yet another NSL is degraded to 50 or 40. Then after a while it all starts to blend into one, and they adopt 40mph everywhere.

I did make a new sign for Suffolk, but perhaps you can use it elsewhere too (with some modification).


Click for larger version

Many moons ago when I worked for a very Big School of Motoring we conducted, in our branch, an experiment into pupils eyesight - not professional of course but worthy of note.
Our victims we discovered had a significant proportion of tunnel vision and short-sightedness.
I have always born this in mind in my dealings with any other road user.

Perhaps they have learnt to be patient and are hoping some of it rubs off on other road users.