F witts, I travel at 4am and still you get them !!! beggars belief

....and of course, today being New Years Eve; they will be out in force (en masse!). Travelling South later. Really looking forward to it......

I overtook 7 in one go this morning. No doubt they were all thinking I was some nutter, despite being able to see 1/2 a mile down the road!

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Couldnt agree more, I get this quite regularly where people sit well below the speed limit then are both surprised and angered that they've become subject to a safe overtake by someone just wanting to travel at the right pace.

 

I don't wish to be the voice of dissent amongst your many 'likes', but the speed limit isn't always the right 'pace' to be driving at.

 

Yes, it annoys me that people drive at 40mph in a 60mph zone, etc. - but it still doesn't alter the fact that they have as much right to be driving on that road at 40mph as you do at 60mph.  They're not breaking any laws or disobeying anything in the highway code...

OP - easy to check.  Park the car facing a wall - turn on dip beams.  If the left of the beam is higher they are set for RHD. If the right side of the beam is higher they are set for LHD.  If the surface is level you could measure the height of the cut off at the wall compared to the headlights. If it's higher at the wall and the surface is level then they will probably need adjusting.

 

FWIW, mine don't always dance when I turn the lights on, but I would guess they do dance 1 in 2 or 3 times.

 

Also FWIW, if the car coming the other way is below the cut off in your headlight beams (i.e. there's a crest of a hill, speed bump etc) they will be blinded.  Now't much you can do about it other than to flash back at them so they know you are not on main beam.

Edited 31 December, 201411 yr by Smeghead

I don't wish to be the voice of dissent amongst your many 'likes', but the speed limit isn't always the right 'pace' to be driving at.

Yes, it annoys me that people drive at 40mph in a 60mph zone, etc. - but it still doesn't alter the fact that they have as much right to be driving on that road at 40mph as you do at 60mph. They're not breaking any laws or disobeying anything in the highway code...

I always thought the police reserved the right to pull you for driving too slowly (essentially for undue care and attention) if driving unnecessarily slow for a speed limited road without v good cause? Might be wrong though.

To be fair if you dont have the confidence to be doing there or thereabout 60mph on a straight 60 road in good all round conditions then I think thats a bit of a problem myself.

Police won't pull you for 40 in a 60 (all good conditions), but they will if you were doing 30 with no good reason, it's down right dangerous. The number of times I've been out on a Sunday afternoon, rounded a corner and been confronted by a Nissan Micra doing 25mph driven by a 93 yr old, it's so not on!

The most annoying slow drivers are the ones that accelerate down the straights/safe over taking sections of road then, slow back down for the twisty non safe over taking bits of road, they're the ones that cause most angst and accidents.

I don't wish to be the voice of dissent amongst your many 'likes', but the speed limit isn't always the right 'pace' to be driving at.

 

Yes, it annoys me that people drive at 40mph in a 60mph zone, etc. - but it still doesn't alter the fact that they have as much right to be driving on that road at 40mph as you do at 60mph.  They're not breaking any laws or disobeying anything in the highway code...

 

If people want to travel at 40 in a 60 fine, just don't get upset when someone carries out a perfectly safe overtake.  

Thought this was about headlights... Funny how subjects change. Butbin some countries they DO have minimum speeds.

The most annoying slow drivers are the ones that accelerate down the straights/safe over taking sections of road then, slow back down for the twisty non safe over taking bits of road, they're the ones that cause most angst and accidents.

^This!

I always thought the police reserved the right to pull you for driving too slowly (essentially for undue care and attention) if driving unnecessarily slow for a speed limited road without v good cause? Might be wrong though.

To be fair if you dont have the confidence to be doing there or thereabout 60mph on a straight 60 road in good all round conditions then I think thats a bit of a problem myself.

 

Doing 30mph on a motorway would be driving without due care, or possibly even dangerous driving.

 

And I think there's a bit of a problem if you think you have to do 60mph just because that's the speed limit - your 'confidence' could easily be mistaken as 'arrogance'.  Do you exceed 60mph when overtaking?  If so, how is that being any less of a bad driver than those who drive under the legal speed limit?

 

Yes - I'm playing devil's advocate a little here... as I said, I get annoyed when people drive unnecessarily slowly, but I object to people who say they shouldn't be allowed on the road or they have something wrong with them or whatever.

If people want to travel at 40 in a 60 fine, just don't get upset when someone carries out a perfectly safe overtake.  

 

Do you exceed 60mph when you overtake?  If so, then it's not safe.  Or legal.

 

(again, playing devil's advocate here, but my point still stands)

The most annoying slow drivers are the ones that accelerate down the straights/safe over taking sections of road then, slow back down for the twisty non safe over taking bits of road, they're the ones that cause most angst and accidents.

 

So you've got to drive at a constant speed down the straights and round the bends?  Not everyone is as good a driver as you, obviously.

 

I'd love to see them try this in F1... might make it a bit more exciting.

So you've got to drive at a constant speed down the straights and round the bends?  Not everyone is as good a driver as you, obviously.

 

I'd love to see them try this in F1... might make it a bit more exciting.

 

I realise you are playing devils advocate, but I think there is a genuine group of drivers that slow down to like 25-35mph for every corner on a national speed limit road for no good reason and then speed up to 55-60mph on a straight making it difficult to get by. If I can take said corner at 60mph, I dare say ANYONE in ANY CAR can take it at at least 45mph...

For the uk you should be set for right hand traffic as that's the side oncoming traffic is on.

Thanks for all the comments, confused now, car travel mode is set up as left hand and black sheep mentions this in previous post, but you say it should be right hand? Which one should it be for UK right hand drive car?

The most annoying slow drivers are the ones that accelerate down the straights/safe over taking sections of road then, slow back down for the twisty non safe over taking bits of road, they're the ones that cause most angst and accidents.

 

Around where I live, we have quite a few road junctions where there's a short extra lane at traffic lights to allow, say, cars to get in front of vehicles (e.g. lorries/buses) with poorer acceleration. At one place with this arrangement, I've found that when the car I've been following has been driven at about 35mph (on a 50mph road**), it inevitably moves into this overtaking lane. Their drivers don't tend to shoot away when the light turns green, but they often manage to collect extra cars whose drivers end up fuming more than their cars' exhausts.

 

There must be something magic about 35mph for this type of person, as I notice them doing this speed before and after speed limit changes between 40mph and 30mph. Perhaps they think sticking to 35mph is a valid means of saving them the bother of working out what the speed limit might be on any given stretch of road. I suppose that I should be grateful that they haven't chosen 25mph or slower. (And really grateful that they haven't settled on 60mph or more....)

 

 

** - This is a road designed to bypass a built-up area where the main through roads often have 40mph limits. So it's particularly annoying knowing that I might have been able to travel faster through the built-up area.

Oh yea, the 'same speed everywhere' ones are also infuriating! They pull away from you in a 30, then you catch them in a 60, and often in the catching up phase there were passing opportunities but by the time you reach their rear bumper none present themselves!

 

Just noticed we are from the same area DamageLimitation, so likely get annoyed with the same roads/drivers!

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Doing 30mph on a motorway would be driving without due care, or possibly even dangerous driving.

And I think there's a bit of a problem if you think you have to do 60mph just because that's the speed limit - your 'confidence' could easily be mistaken as 'arrogance'. Do you exceed 60mph when overtaking? If so, how is that being any less of a bad driver than those who drive under the legal speed limit?

Yes - I'm playing devil's advocate a little here... as I said, I get annoyed when people drive unnecessarily slowly, but I object to people who say they shouldn't be allowed on the road or they have something wrong with them or whatever.

I do to some extent agree with you Wiggo. I'm not suggesting that people should have to drive a solid 60mph throughout a 60, particularly if road or traffic conditions make that difficult or impossible....but to have to drive at 20mph below the indicated speed limit for miles on end for no other reason that the person in front either lacks the confidence to do so/does not wish to travel faster in good conditions will and does frustrate people. The only reason these people get overtaken is because they are driving "unreasonably" slow and not necessarily because they arent sticking hard and fast to the upper end of the limit.

RE lack of confidence/choosing to drive considerably slower than the speed limit intentionally both are quite dangerous and lead to risk taking, road rage and sadly in some cases RTA's

One of the things that aggravates me most these days are tractors and their unwillingness to pull over to let people pass. In rural Oxfordshire where I used to live I used to encounter many tractor drivers that would sit for mile after mile on 60 limit single carriageways causing perhaps 40-50+ car tailbacks and not pulling over with countless safe opportunities to do so...its different because they are somewhat speed limited but does have the same sort of effect on road users as driving unnecessarily slowly does.

Do you exceed 60mph when you overtake?  If so, then it's not safe.  Or legal.

 

(again, playing devil's advocate here, but my point still stands)

Exceeding the speed limit on any given road is not necessarily unsafe, there are plenty of roads that have far too low speed limits and it would be perfectly safe to carry out an overtake in excess of the limit by the odd mile an hour, yes you would be breaking the speed limit but it would not be classed as unsafe.

There is a distinct difference between exceeding the posted speed limit for a road and driving without due care, dangerous driving etc.

I've not got a problem with people driving slowly or exceeding the speed limits get on with it as long as I can got were I am going safey know problems but there is one thing that puts my back up is car with one headlight and around here that 9 out of 10 car thank god the vRS has xenon's and on my car high beam assistant so I can see it a car/ van and not a motorcycle

Sorry to get back on topic but........

 

Thanks for all the comments, confused now, car travel mode is set up as left hand and black sheep mentions this in previous post, but you say it should be right hand? Which one should it be for UK right hand drive car?

 

Just checked mine.  It most definitely says "L-Hand Traffic" and the headlights are set correctly for driving on the left side of the road.  If yours had said R-Hand Traffic, then that would be almost certainly why you're being flashed.

Edited 1 January, 201511 yr by Smeghead

Also checked mine last night for ya. Left Hand Traffic is correct for UK roads.

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RE lack of confidence/choosing to drive considerably slower than the speed limit intentionally both are quite dangerous and lead to risk taking, road rage and sadly in some cases RTA's

 

Agreed.

Getting a license should seem to indicate that a certain driving standard is obtained which means keeping up and maintaining an acceptable flow of traffic speed isn't an unrealistic expectation. If people can't, it begs the question, are they not the arrogant ones thinking that their behaviour is acceptable even though it's outside the norm? There is no excuse for not driving to at least the posted speed limit when under normal road conditions.

The police in this country blame speed for everything. It is a pity they don't seem to admit complacency, inattention, texting and generally not considering driving is a skill but just a right is just as important in the real reasons for the death toll here outside of weather and drink driving.

 

PS the lights should be set for what side of the road you drive on not what side of the car you sit, so left for UK...and NZ.

Edited 1 January, 201511 yr by snala

Getting a license should seem to indicate that a certain driving standard is obtained

 

I'll bite.  Do you think you could pass a driving test right now?  The problem is that we (in the UK at least, I assume it's the same in most countries) pass a driving test once, and that gives us a driving licence that is valid until we're 65 (IIRC)... and even then it's only medical conditions that may mean it doesn't get renewed.  The only time someone has to take another driving test after they've passed is if they've been banned for being a silly idiot in some way (and even then, you don't always have to take a test after a ban, only in certain circumstances).

 

A driving test is a point-in-time evaluation of your driving knowledge and skills.  Just like your degree (or other qualification) is a point-in-time evaluation of your academic knowledge and skills in a certain subject.  If you really want to assert that holding a license should indicate that a certain driving standard is obtained, and most importantly for your argument, maintained - then I'm afraid you're going to need to advocate all drivers undergoing regular re-testing.

 

And then there are the countries where there is no test required before you get given a driving licence...

I've maintained for a long time that all drivers should be retested every few years. Would improve the roads no end!

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