Third speeding ticket in six months!!

[AtW]

I think a couple of things work in favour of motorists, who I contend don't stick to 30 mph in a 30 zone, at least according to speedo speed.

• The speedos speed, which may provide up to 10 % leaway plus a bit more. Maximum. Can't be relied on
• Discretion in enforcement, allowing a few miles per hour over the limits. Again, can't be relied on
• Oh, and the shear numbers of people that would be caught if 30 mph were rigidly enforced

Don't forget paparazzi defence successfully used by Beckham...

[NickFitz]

The only thing odd is the speedo is 20 - 40 ie no 30 on dial...

That's bizarre, and pretty crap user interface design IMHO. How are you supposed to drive at 30 if it's not even marked on the speedo?

Are there any markings at all to show the gradations?

[AtW]

[Troll]

I know when my car is doing 30mph because I've paid attention and I'm used to the car.

I always stick cruise on when on restricted roads that way you can focus on the road ahead rather than watching your speed (have to take OD out for the 30 limit) ...pisses me off on the average timed sections of motorways when people slow down at the cameras rather than maintaining a constant legal speed

[escapeUK]

I hope all you people who are driving at exactly the speed limit dont do it in the outside line. I usually end up behind several people a day doing this, if you want to drive miss Daisy do it in the slow lanes.

[TimberWolf]

As I mentioned earlier, nobody ever seems to report frequently finding themselves going at 25 by mistake.

Why would they. It makes no sense to suggest that they would report inadvertently doing less than the speed limit.

[SupremeSpod]

I hope all you people who are driving at exactly the speed limit dont do it in the outside line. I usually end up behind several people a day doing this, if you want to drive miss Daisy do it in the slow lanes.

There are no such things as "slow lanes". There are clearly marked "Crawler" lanes but that's not what you meant, is it?

Stop driving like a twat and chill, man!

OP, you're obviously not concentrating on your driving. Fix it or get someone else to drive before you have an accident.

[Mr.Whippy]

The only thing odd is the speedo is 20 - 40 ie no 30 on dial, clutching at straws. Fundamentally tho I may break the limit but I've been driving of 20-odd years with no accidents at all so I do feel I should get some leeway, or not?

why should you get some leeway? My gran has been driving 60 years without accident so should she be able to go even faster than you in a 30 without being punished?

[TimberWolf]

Here are Department of Transport speed flow statistics for 2010:

Forty six per cent of cars exceeded the speed limit on 30 mph roads in 2010, while 16 per cent travelled at 35 mph or more.

And you can bet many more momentarily exceed these speeds, just as they many don't exceed* it for long periods. And presumably most drivers have an indicated (speedometer) speed displaying higher than their actual speed, which the DoT statistics represent. A good few posters in this thread seem oblivious to what seems like common driving experience: drive at 30 mph and someone will soon be up your arse and a line of traffic form behind.

*There doesn't appear to be an English antonym of exceed

[NotAllThere]

I hope all you people who are driving at exactly the speed limit dont do it in the outside line. I usually end up behind severa...

People are in too much of a hurry anyway, and it doesn't do them any good: for all the stress they cause themselves they're lucky to arrive as much as five minutes earlier on a long journey by speeding...

I drove from Junction 28 to Junction 16 of the M25 and back again nearly every day for two years (~60 miles each way). I also drove from Basel to Vevey and back a few times a week for 18 months (~100 miles each way). I tried various driving styles

1. Drive to the max,overtake whereever possible, hover in the grey zone of speeding (or outright speed when you know there's no cameras or police cars).

2. Maintain lane discipline. Stick to the speed limits. If you're in the overtaking lane, and you spot congestion ahead - pull in until the congestion clears and you can overtake again. This will get you through quicker. This became evident to me when I realised, on the M25, that kept overtaking the same lorry. Obviously they were doing something to get through the tricky bits quicker than me.

Use style 1, I might, if I was lucky, get to my destination a couple of minutes early. Five minutes tops. But I'd be far more stressed, would have been driving in a riskier manner, and used more fuel. Usually though it makes no difference at all to time of arrival.

So now I adopt always the second style - even on the unrestriced autobahn. (Unless it's very clear, it's difficult to average more than about 150 kph anyway).

It seems that roads have a maximum drivable speed, depending on conditions. Often it's less than the speed limit, and in those cases, just relax and you'll get through it more quickly.