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Safe Speed
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Hi there,
Whilst driving a car, what would you folks say is the safest slowest speeed to drive on the inside lane of UK motorways.
Cheers.
PP
Whilst driving a car, what would you folks say is the safest slowest speeed to drive on the inside lane of UK motorways.
Cheers.
PP
Answers
1 to 17 of 17
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Strange question, there isn't one!
If you want to stay in lane 1 (inside lane) keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front and drive at the same speed as the vehicle in front, just keep with the traffic flow.
If you drive too slow it can be just as dangerous as exceeding the motorway speed limits.
If you want to stay in lane 1 (inside lane) keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front and drive at the same speed as the vehicle in front, just keep with the traffic flow.
If you drive too slow it can be just as dangerous as exceeding the motorway speed limits.
A safe slow speed is anything between 50 and 70 mph, it all depends what your doing. Are you towing by any chance?
Ive seen idiots doing 40 up the motorway on the inside lane which causes really bad tailbacks and could cause a bad accident, just stay 2 car lengths from the car in front and you wont go wrong.
Ive seen idiots doing 40 up the motorway on the inside lane which causes really bad tailbacks and could cause a bad accident, just stay 2 car lengths from the car in front and you wont go wrong.
Speed doesn't really come into it. Just stay at the very least two seconds worth of distance away from the vehicle in front of you if you don't want to overtake it.
If you do overtake [increase your speed by about 10-15mph to do so] then make sure you stay far enough in front so as not to block him in when you pull back in.
If you do overtake [increase your speed by about 10-15mph to do so] then make sure you stay far enough in front so as not to block him in when you pull back in.
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The best advice for nervous drivers who don't want to make many lane changes and also to keep their speed down, is probably to join the lorries in the nearside lane (while keeping a safe distance back, of course) and observe the same speed as them. If the traffic is flowing freely, that means driving at the maximum speed that the lorries can go, i.e. 90km/h = 56mph.
Going any slower than the main flow of lorries means that the following lorries will be forced into making lane changes to overtake. This increases the risks of accidents for all motorway users.
Chris
Going any slower than the main flow of lorries means that the following lorries will be forced into making lane changes to overtake. This increases the risks of accidents for all motorway users.
Chris
I've just been re-reading some of the other answers.
Tom is in error if he thinks that there's a statutory minimum speed on motorways (except where there are signs specifically stating such a limit). There is no such limit.
However, I agree with Tom that the boys in blue will still (rightly) take an interest if you drive significantly slower than other drivers in the nearside lane.
Monster-S, quite frankly, terrifies me! I hope that I never see him in my rear view mirror!!! The absolute minimum distance you should keep between you and the vehicle in front is the 'typical stopping distance' for that speed.
That means that, at 40mph, the absolute minimum distance between vehicles should be about 9 car lengths.
At 50mph, that figure rises to 13 car lengths. At 60mph and 70mph the figures are 18 and 24 car lengths, respectively:
http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.htm#105
Chris
Tom is in error if he thinks that there's a statutory minimum speed on motorways (except where there are signs specifically stating such a limit). There is no such limit.
However, I agree with Tom that the boys in blue will still (rightly) take an interest if you drive significantly slower than other drivers in the nearside lane.
Monster-S, quite frankly, terrifies me! I hope that I never see him in my rear view mirror!!! The absolute minimum distance you should keep between you and the vehicle in front is the 'typical stopping distance' for that speed.
That means that, at 40mph, the absolute minimum distance between vehicles should be about 9 car lengths.
At 50mph, that figure rises to 13 car lengths. At 60mph and 70mph the figures are 18 and 24 car lengths, respectively:
http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.htm#105
Chris
Monster-S, just a few quick calculations for you to consider along with those provided by Chris.
- The Highway Code recommends that the breaking distance from 70mph is 315feet (about 30 car lengths).
- Adopting the �two second� rule means, at 70 mph, keeping a distance of 102 feet (about 10 car lengths).
- Your two car length suggestion means keeping about 20 feet from the car in front. At 70mph you travel this distance in one fifth of a second � far less than the time it takes your right foot to move between the �on� and �off� pedals.
Oh, and sammylad, as a professional driver you should be aware that there are no �slow� lanes on British motorways (unless you count the �crawler� lanes which are provided on some long uphill sections). Assuming you are the driver of large lorries (over 7.5 tonnes) you are restricted to 60 mph on motorways. If a �slow� driver restricts you even further to an outrageously low 55mph for ten miles it will take you an extra 50 seconds to cover that distance. Is it worth all the hassle of pulling out and overtaking?
- The Highway Code recommends that the breaking distance from 70mph is 315feet (about 30 car lengths).
- Adopting the �two second� rule means, at 70 mph, keeping a distance of 102 feet (about 10 car lengths).
- Your two car length suggestion means keeping about 20 feet from the car in front. At 70mph you travel this distance in one fifth of a second � far less than the time it takes your right foot to move between the �on� and �off� pedals.
Oh, and sammylad, as a professional driver you should be aware that there are no �slow� lanes on British motorways (unless you count the �crawler� lanes which are provided on some long uphill sections). Assuming you are the driver of large lorries (over 7.5 tonnes) you are restricted to 60 mph on motorways. If a �slow� driver restricts you even further to an outrageously low 55mph for ten miles it will take you an extra 50 seconds to cover that distance. Is it worth all the hassle of pulling out and overtaking?
Modern cars may well be able to stop in slightly less distance than those made earlier. However, drivers' reaction times have not improved similarly. If anything they have probably deteriorated with the advent of various in-car distractions such as radios, mobiles phones and navigation systems.
I'm glad you accept that you are no expert. Few of us are. That is why it is wise to heed the advice of the people who are experts and who compile advice such as the Highway Code.
I'm glad you accept that you are no expert. Few of us are. That is why it is wise to heed the advice of the people who are experts and who compile advice such as the Highway Code.
I appreciate that there is no such thing as a "slow" lane, and the centre and left hand lanes should be used purely for overtaking. Unfortunatly, most people don't treat them as such, so we have the CLOD, or Centre Lane Owner Driver. I can also understand you saying that it doesn't add much time to a journey staying behind someone at this speed. That may well be the case, but I can guarantee no-one else would! I would be quite prepared for the authorities to ban wagons overtaking between certain hours, as in Germany and Holland, to ease congestion, but this would only work if you didn't get idiot car drivers doing 40 or 50 mph in the left hand lane!
Well, quite a few very interesting replies and they're all appreciated.
Toureman, I wasn't meaning driving dangerously slow. I was asking for opinions of the slowest "safest" speed in the inside lane.
I've heard folks mentioning "keep up with the traffic flow" before, however that has resulted in some horrific accidents in the past.
Monster-s, don't tell me you were the idiot tail-gating the the idiot who was driving at 40mph in order to clock his speed. (sorry I couldn't resist that one. lol)
Anyway, no I would not be towing. Car only.
However, you raised an interesting point >>40mph....If a fully laden lorry can only manage 40mph, and it does happen, why would someone in a fully laden car be an idiot if he could only manage 40mph on the inside lane?
I feel driving a car at 45-50mph on the inside lane aaand keeping a clear safe stopping distance from the vehicle in front would be acceptable, and if the driver of a car was to come up against a lorry driving at, say, 40mph, and the car driver was happy to sit behind that lorry, then I don't really see a problem with that.
I wanted to get some feedback to my question, and you've certainly given me some. So thank you very much folks.
I'll continue to keep an eye on this subject with great interest.
You have an excellent Forum here.
Best wishes to all of you.
PP
Toureman, I wasn't meaning driving dangerously slow. I was asking for opinions of the slowest "safest" speed in the inside lane.
I've heard folks mentioning "keep up with the traffic flow" before, however that has resulted in some horrific accidents in the past.
Monster-s, don't tell me you were the idiot tail-gating the the idiot who was driving at 40mph in order to clock his speed. (sorry I couldn't resist that one. lol)
Anyway, no I would not be towing. Car only.
However, you raised an interesting point >>40mph....If a fully laden lorry can only manage 40mph, and it does happen, why would someone in a fully laden car be an idiot if he could only manage 40mph on the inside lane?
I feel driving a car at 45-50mph on the inside lane aaand keeping a clear safe stopping distance from the vehicle in front would be acceptable, and if the driver of a car was to come up against a lorry driving at, say, 40mph, and the car driver was happy to sit behind that lorry, then I don't really see a problem with that.
I wanted to get some feedback to my question, and you've certainly given me some. So thank you very much folks.
I'll continue to keep an eye on this subject with great interest.
You have an excellent Forum here.
Best wishes to all of you.
PP
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