[mclarkie]

Think I'd rather drive slowly on the inside lane, have you noticed how lorries regularly drift over onto the hard shoulder.

 

[Duncan]

On New Year's Day I gather there was no support available from Ecotricity for their Electric Highway (unbelievable really.) If the driver had planned to use one of the rapids and couldn't they'd be forced to move on to try another with perhaps little in reserve.

Can you clarify how that differs from any other day where if a rapid isn't working the best you'll get is they'll schedule an engineer to come out at some unspecified future date?

This question seems to presuppose that any speed less than warp speed on a motorway is dangerous.
It is a simple fact that many people who drive on motorways have such low standards of vehicle control that they are dangerous at almost any speed, hence the 70 mph limit. As any half decent Instructor will remind you, speed limits are not a target, they are limits to be approached only when safe to do so.

Quite so:

The car was in lane 1 doing approx 30mph, we passed at 70mph and went past like it was stood still. (car had 2 people in my passenger said..)

Maybe just how you phrased it, but it sounds to me like you might be guilty of driving without due care and attention. Wouldn't it have been safer to slow down when you saw you were approaching a slow moving vehicle then speed up again once clear of it?

 

[richtrash]

Wow, didn't expect that!

FWIW, everyone who has passed a driving test should be aware of speed limits, they are in the highway code, which is, whilst not a set of laws, a pretty comprehensive guide, not wrapped in red tape!

Nowhere did I state everyone should know everything, I did however offer a 'little' known fact, in the hope it will prevent the further spread of misinformation!

I'm fairly sure that speed limits for every type of vehicle are not covered by the highway code.

The rules for HGV's are different in Scotland to the rest of the UK, it's a mine field, I know a few van drivers have been caught out because the assumed that they could drive at the same speed as they do in their car.

It's your responsibility to know the speed restrictions for your particular vehicle you are driving, the police don't always get it right and I have had to correct them in the past.

I like the signs on the back of some vans that proudly state that they are legally limited to 70 mph

If you think speed limits are a nightmare have a look at the simplified drivers hours rules:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/410321/Simplified_Guidance_-_EU_drivers__hours___working_time_rules.pdf

 

[John Kendrick]

Can you clarify how that differs from any other day where if a rapid isn't working the best you'll get is they'll schedule an engineer to come out at some unspecified future date?

If they're not there there is no opportunity for them to attempt to reboot the charge point, or anything else come to that. Failed phone app? Tough then. It's disgusting. Please stop trying to defend the indefensible.
Perhaps the driver with a problem had, say, a projected range on the GOM of 40 miles or so, perhaps just enough to get to another point, 40 miles away. Should the journey be attempted or get a flatbed which might seem hard to justify with 40 miles on the GOM. A failed rapid would force that decision.
I've had to phone EH support several times due to failed chargers, lack of signal, and a problem getting the point to work on my first visit to one (solved over the phone, no future engineer visit needed.) What was the purpose of your defeatist comment?

 

[Ready to charge]

I think at any less than 50mph have the hazard lights flashing and at 30mph I'd be on the hard shoulder. It's far too dangerous to be on a motorway at that speed. Nobody would expect to suddenly have an obstruction like that and they wouldn't notice the extremely low speed until they got close.

 

[Kentish]

There's a BT transit van near me proudly stickered "to protect the environment this vehicle is limited to 70mph" (and it's 30 miles from any motorway as well).
Doh, makes you want to smash their windows.

I like the signs on the back of some vans that proudly state that they are legally limited to 70 mph
df

 

[John Kendrick]

Another thing that might help is to have accurate speedometers in the cars. The Leaf one overstates the true speed considerably. Driving at an indicated 50 results in a road speed of 43-44 in my Leaf (compared to satnav and dashcam GPS indicated speed.) To actually achieve 50 I have to be driving at an indicated speed of 56-57. Way over the recommended 10%.

Also, not long ago motorists were being encouraged to drive at 56mph which normally proves to be the most economical speed with regards to fuel consumption. A Leaf showing 56 is really only doing 50!

Can a Leaf speedo be recalibrated to sort this out?

 

[BarryP]

Nobody would expect to suddenly have an obstruction like that and they wouldn't notice the extremely low speed until they got close.

On that point we differ. AS far as I am concerned if you are unaware of vehicles in front of you, YOU are driving dangerously. Or do you think that it acceptable to drive at speed into the rear of a broken down vehicle ? or debris on the carriageway?
As for flashing Hazard lights there are tight rules on their use, driving along a motorway at a lawful and reasonable speed is not within those rules.

 

[Siraff]

Another thing that might help is to have accurate speedometers in the cars. The Leaf one over states the true speed considerably. Driving at an indicated 50 results in a road speed of 43-44 in my Leaf (compared to satnav and dashcam GPS indicated speed.) To actually achieve 50 I have to be driving at an indicated speed of 56-57. Way over the recommended 10%.

Also, not long ago motorists were being encouraged to drive at 56mph which normally proves to be the most economical speed with regards to fuel consumption. A Leaf doing 56 is really only doing 50!

Can a Leaf speedo be recalibrated to sort this out?

I've had similar experiences in Leaf's aswell. The shocking thing is in one of them an indicated 30 mph was an actual 25-26. I can only imagine going down the motorway at 25ish mph would almost certainly have bad consequences - accident or having collar felt.

 

[Duncan23]

AS far as I am concerned if you are unaware of vehicles in front of you, YOU are driving dangerously. Or do you think that it acceptable to drive at speed into the rear of a broken down vehicle ? or debris on the carriageway?

Maybe it should be re-phrased to say "A motorist who isn't paying much attention would not expect to suddenly have an obstruction like that and they wouldn't notice the extremely low speed until they got close." And given how few motorists on motorways seem to be paying much attention, if I was going that slowly, I would be concerned about getting rear-ended by someone texting/doing their make-up/watching a DVD/dozing. Being in the right wouldn't be much consolation in that circumstance.

 

[BarryP]

if I was going that slowly, I would be concerned about getting rear-ended by someone texting/doing their make-up/watching a DVD/dozing. Being in the right wouldn't be much consolation in that circumstance.

I knew there was a use for rear foglights

 

[Siraff]

Maybe it should be re-phrased to say "A motorist who isn't paying much attention would not expect to suddenly have an obstruction like that and they wouldn't notice the extremely low speed until they got close." And given how few motorists on motorways seem to be paying much attention, if I was going that slowly, I would be concerned about getting rear-ended by someone texting/doing their make-up/watching a DVD/dozing. Being in the right wouldn't be much consolation in that circumstance.

I agree with this. As a biker I have a lot of times where I would be in the right but it would risk an accident. Not liking the idea of hospital food or being dead I tend to err on the side of caution and avoid the accident rather than have avoidable problems.
If a car is on the hard shoulder limping at 20mph with hazards flashing people will notice a mile off and shouldn't be in the hard shoulder anyway. If it's just another set of lights like the 20,000 they have already seen that night it's fair to assume they will expect them to be traveling at a similar pace to the rest. It's not always easy to judge speed on a dark road and if the closing speed is high it will almost certainly cause issues like harsh braking, lane cutting/etc even if there is no accident.

 

[Driver15]

Maybe just how you phrased it, but it sounds to me like you might be guilty of driving without due care and attention. Wouldn't it have been safer to slow down when you saw you were approaching a slow moving vehicle then speed up again once clear of it?

How it was phrased, figure of speech.. .. In fact, i passed the car giving it a wide berth straddling lane 2 / 3 and i may of slowed down a little only passed it with around 40mph difference at a guess (traffic was light.).. perfectly safe to do so when you have seen the car positioned centrally in its current lane approaching from behind and not drifting off course and nothing in front of it..

I consider myself having a good sense of speed awareness on approaching vehicles and them approaching me hence spotting it in the distance like i said.
Its when you are travelling through Germany at 200km upwards and the HGV's and caravans cruising along at 90km appear quick or decide to pull out you need to worry about . -- but then, their driving standard is far greater than here in the UK and they are used to cars approaching at speed..

All about reading the road correctly.

 

[ScottC]

Nope it's an EU thing, speed limiters are required to be set at 90kph which is ........ 56mph.

This was news to me. I've had a look at EU member states and find the limits vary from 70km/h to 100km/h, further, I can find no mention of an EU mandated limit.

Do you have a link to a gov or EU site?

Cheers

 

[Driver15]

This was news to me. I've had a look at EU member states and find the limits vary from 70km/h to 100km/h, further, I can find no mention of an EU mandated limit.

Do you have a link to a gov or EU site?

Cheers

I was just reading this doc - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380983/Consultation_Response_Report.pdf

 

[ringi]

I expect that doing 30 (or any speed under 50) on a motorway due to charge issues would be considered dangerous driving, as the driver chose to enter a motorway knowing they could not drive in a safe way. (And/or choose not to leave at the first junction or service area.)

If I was one of the 12 voting on a charge of “death by dangerous driving”, based on a EV driver doing this, I know what way I would vote…..

 

[John Kendrick]

I expect that doing 30 (or any speed under 50) on a motorway due to charge issues would be considered dangerous driving

If there was a minimum speed limit, otherwise no. If you had an early classic car with a top speed of around 40 there's nothing to prevent you using a motorway. In fact when the motorways were built it would not have been unusual to experience this (how peoples' expectations have changed!) If anyone has difficulty spotting a slow moving vehicle perhaps they shouldn't be on the motorway themselves as any car can have a sudden problem necessitating reducing speed at any time, if one runs into the back of it it is they who would be at fault for driving without due care and attention. Probably mobile-phone-itus.
Not withstanding, what about through roadworks where speed is limited, do you just ignore the limits?
I don't seem to remember the lorry driver who ploughed into the back of a car killing a mother and children getting praised for his actions.

 

[BarryP]

I expect that doing 30 (or any speed under 50) on a motorway due to charge issues would be considered dangerous driving, as the driver chose to enter a motorway knowing they could not drive in a safe way. (And/or choose not to leave at the first junction or service area.)

If I was one of the 12 voting on a charge of “death by dangerous driving”, based on a EV driver doing this, I know what way I would vote…..

and lead to an instant and successful appeal on a point of Law.
There is no minimum speed on English motorways!. There are a couple of restrictions on slow moving vehicles but that is all. You will of course have noticed that there are slow moving vehicles to be seen on all motorways, heavy lorries, cranes, abnormal loans, cars towing caravans, old vehicles and so on.
In a rear end shunt the driver hitting the car in front is almost always at fault, not only in fact but also in law.

 

[John Kendrick]

Prohibited vehicles.

Motorways MUST NOT be used by pedestrians, holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters

I presume the 'certain slow-moving vehicles' mainly refers to agricultural vehicles such as tractors.

 

[donald]

To an SR-71 pilot, all road vehicles are 'slow-moving'.

Don't you just love English law and how imprecise it is, so it could actually mean anything to anyone.

Reminds me of the Father Ted episode where he says "That's the great thing about Catholicism. It's so vague and no one really knows what it's about." I can hear all those lawyers thinking the same thing, as they rake in the cash to pay for their kids' private school fees.