Driving Under The Speed Limit Is Not Necessarily Safer

There are so many different signs that display the speed limit but I’ve noticed that sometimes they are displayed several hundred yards down the road. One of the most annoying things that you come across when driving are people who drive under the speed limit. You sometimes find that people will drive up to 5mph under the speed limit.

On the motorway there are usually three lanes. The first lane (left hand side) is usually used by lorries and cars that do a maximum of 60mph. The middle lane is used by cars doing 70mph and over and the far right lane is used for overtaking cars in the middle lane and for those who like to break the law and do upto or in excess of 110mph. If you choose to do less than the national speed limit of 70mph in the middle lane, then cars will have trouble trying to overtake you as the far right lane is used by people who do 90mph+. By trying to overtake you, they may cause an accident because you are driving too slowly and the right lane is going too fast.

I do understand that the speed limit cannot always be adhered to but by driving under the speed limit you can cause accidents. Here is a list of reason as to why you may not always drive at the recommended speed limit:

• Fog or poor visibility
• Heavy rain
• Sleet and snow
• Icy conditions

And of course traffic.

Other reasons why driving under the speed limit is dangerous is because people driving behind have to slam their brakes and adjust their speed and then speed up if they want to overtake.

In the spotlight

A few years ago there was the case of a 75 year old woman who was driving at night with new glasses. The area she was driving in had a speed limit of 35mph. Everytime she came to a bend in the road she would slow down to just 5mph which is the equivalent to walking. There was a queue of drivers behind who had to keep slamming their brakes to avoid crashing into her. There happened to be a patrol car in the area that eventually tracked her down and pulled her over. She was fined £200 for driving too slowly and received 6 points on her licence. This of course is an extreme example of driving under the speed limit but just remember that you can get prosecuted for driving too slow.