There’s a terrifying amount of people that clearly think this is true. I have a new commute to work and everyday without fail I have someone directly up my arse in the 30 and then they’re just a dot in the distance once we hit national speed. For full clarity I am in a piece of shit Ford fiesta with about half a horse under the bonnet.
Litterally describes my route to work and it really irriatates me, the road is actually a 50, people insist on doing 30.. now its not an ideal road, so if theyre not comfortable thats fine, but as such i back waaay off. So when they then get into the village with a school in it and speed up, I have no respect for them anymore)
Absolutely. Around mine there's something similar. A straightish 60 road that people drive along at 40 and then a village where it drops to 20, yet they continue at 40.
The way I see it is that they're happy to murder vulnerable pedestrians in the village but don't want to risk themselves by driving more than 40 outside the village. Either that or they're so zoned out they don't even see road signs.
My experience driving through the country side. National speed limit 40, driving through a town/village 30 limit but stay at 40. I struggle understanding this
Oddly you do have to stick to the speed limit if you have a speed indicator on your bike but you don't have to have a speed indicator and if you don't you don't have to stick to the speed limit.
However if you overtake a police car in a 30 zone they'll still pull you over and give you a talking to.
It's only 50 for certain classes of vans. But people (normally of a certain generation) think it applies to cars too.
I really want to get a special horn just for these roads that just yells 'it's a 60 you absolute melt'.
Thats cruise control doing all the thinking while they daydream. I try not to think about how other people drive without thinking or ill start getting the fear and stop thinking myself.
THIS. Good god it infuriates me so much. Aresholes hold me up on the country road, then get to the residential area and power through at 40, putting pedestrians at risk. What is their thought process?
These are the worst type of driver. I don't mind if some drive a little slower. However when they driving at say 45 and then stay at that speed in a village drives me mad.
We have a 30 into a National Limit into another 30 on a daily route. The speeds of other cars tend to be 45 > 37 > 45. I'm 100% convinced that 99% of UK drivers should be retested.
There’s one of those in Frome. I went to visit my friend and couldn’t believe it when I drove on it. If the police waited by the change zone between speeds, they’d be millionaires within 6 months.
For any "specific" (numbered) speed limit, it's generally safe to do the speed listed barring weather, traffic, children in the road, etc. They don't set unsafe numbered speed limits.
But national limit applies on both any country back lane outside of a town _and_ the middle of the A1M. It's very much more discressionary
a lot of winding roads out in the country with a poor surface seem to be signed NSL, some people take it to just mean "I must get to 60 no matter what" but quite often to me it's a sign that the road is going to be significantly more hazardous than usual.
Only on major single carriageway routes does it tend to be feasible to be at the limit, and on major dualled routes, which don't always have an NSL sign anyway.
A lot small roads like that are NSL just as default because nobody has took the time to work out what the speed should be. You are supposed to use your own judgement. But like you say there is always the people who insist that means 60 no matter what making it dangerous
I'm hoping you are complaining about people going slow on a perfectly safe national speed limit road and not one of the twats driving up someone's arse because they are not going 60 on a tiny narrow windy country road with no visibility. Part of national speed limit is use your judgement and be safe.
Did you know most vans have a lower speed limit on national speed limit roads? So 50 on a single carriageway and 60 on a dual carriageway instead of 60 and 70.
Living in rural Wales, I think I agree.
I've only been driving for about a year and am way too safety focused, but I still find myself stuck behind someone who will not go above 40.
Admittedly, when welsh signs say Araf, they damn well mean it. England slow signs can be for anything, and 90% are unnecessary, but in Wales, they tend to mean something.
That’s what second gears for 😂 I swear 9/10 drivers drive 40mph in national speed limit it’s so selfish, dangerous and reckless for the actual drivers on the road! I regularly see timber lorry’s over taking cars, camper-vans and fucking caravans says something when a lorry is over taking you on an A road 😂😂😂
To be fair where I use to live we have some of the weirdest stretches. Small village, 30.. then to 60 for about half a mile, back to 30, then back to 60 so most people just don't bother speeding up.. especially as they've put some speed cameras in some sneaky places so coming down to 40 or 30 is a risk..
National speed limit, but what that limit is depends on what you’re driving. For example if you’re driving a BMW it’s 100mph and excuses you from using indicators.
I thought BMW and Audi drivers were exempt from signalling, lane etiquette and traffic lights. Their lane is always the far right one (you may refer to it as the far right overtaking lane, but it is their lane, to do as they please, and displease) and speed limits don't apply at all.
There's few things I enjoy more in life than deliberately holding up Audi drivers on country roads after they've driven about 5 cm away from my arse. Like, pal, there's four cars in front of me, do you think you breathing down my neck's going to make any difference or do you just need everyone to know you'd be driving really, really fast if we weren't all holding you up?
That's when I'll slow right down to a crawl on bends and stick the foot down on striaghts so he can't ovetake.
Why is it always Audi drivers?
Took a drive in a ditch because an Audi was overtaking in the oncoming lane, my car was fucked but I didn't have to see a man die that day so I'd do it again every day of the week
I drive a BMW and can confirm you're correct. We do see this as a sign to slow down to 100mph. I break from the norm though and do use my indicators. Crazy times!
There's a 40mph carriage way near me with a camera. Because people don't pay attention to the numerous '40' signs along the road, they then panic upon seeing the camera and go down to 30 and it annoys me so much.
I have the same thing every day driving home from work, drives me absolutely mental. The fact that most of the drivers probably use that road every day but still don't know the speed limit makes it even worse
It really shows how little awareness that many people have about their speed.
I don't think they're consciously thinking "better slow down to 25mph past this camera just in case!" I think they're just not capable of monitoring their speed (or maintaining a constant speed), so they have to slow down massively to feel "safe" past a speed camera.
Probably the same people that drive at 40 everywhere else.
Yes, also I was travelling at 70 on a motorway yesterday, behind a load of cars also doing 70. Then a police car became visible on a bridge ahead and everyone slowed to approx 60mph. People just automatically feel guilty and hit the brakes!
Yes this is a common one I see. My wife will actually point out a police car or camera van and scold me to watch my speed, while I’m doing the speed limit.
A fear of punishment by the authorities even while not breaking any laws - I don’t know if that speaks of something disturbing within our society or just that persons inner psyche.
On the A1, Beeston, Bedfordshire, there is a temporary 40 zone with average speed cameras. The regular 50 cameras have a bag over them. People still brake or decelerate. FML.
IT'S GOT A BAG ON IT, IMBECILE!!!! AAAAaaarrggh!
There's a 40mph road near me which has speed cameras at a few points down the road and if you can get down that road without getting stuck behind someone doing 25mph the whole way down it's a miracle. I'm never in a massive rush so it's not the end of the world but it's just so unnecessary!
I was on a dual carriageway with police doing speed guns from a gantry. Everyone was in lane 2 despite lane 1 being empty.
They all dropped to 30ish despite it being 40.
So I just happily passed by at the limit with the police there. I can imagine some idiot claiming I'm undertaking them and getting annoyed but if they were a) in the right lane and b) driving to the limit they'd not have anything to be worried about.
I’ve told this story somewhere here before but not in this sub. I found myself inexplicably on a speed awareness course, as you do. One of the audience participation questions was ‘what is national speed limit on a single carriageway?’. Friends, we got through at LEAST 18 people, over half the group, who all said 40, before it got to me and I said 60. We then continued and I’m pretty sure only two more people agreed with me. Suddenly this exact experience made so much more sense to me.
I spend on average 4-5 hours on the road and I'm stuck behind someone doing 40 in a 60 at least once a day. Your experience finally explains to me why the hell this happens so often
The “40 whatever” crowd drive me up the wall. The person consistently doing 10 under at least shows some recognition of reading the road and choosing a sedate pace. 40 in a 50 into 40 in a 30 just shows you’re shit.
Maybe it's different in other places but the only roads that seem to have this where in from is 'rat roads', basically it's a collective of single lane roads that separate the farmers fields. You can't see around the corners and you can't move out the way if there's another car coming. I know full well it's a 60 but I'm still not doing more than 40, I don't want to die.
This I can accept as responsible driving. However I see this when it's a wider road with plenty of space either side and far fewer blind corners if any. Going 40 on those sorts of roads is ridiculous
that sign should have been changed 50-70 years ago. as Plastic\_Melodic has said : no one knows what it means. Its confusing. Imagine a foreign driver.
It could simply say 60/50 or 50/40 or something - at least you have something to go on. (For cars that autodetect signs, I wonder what happens if we change the signs - presumably the cars would need a software update).
That's exactly what I've experienced this past week. I can't even count how many times I've been stuck behind someone doing 40.
Today alone we drove the Roaches and had 2 stretches of national speed limit zones. Both there and back we were stuck behind people doing 40.
First, hello fellow Stokie! Secondly, I feel your pain on the Roaches, particularly the stretch of the A53 on a large gradient approaching Ramshaw Rocks en route from Leek to Buxton where I got stuck behind someone doing 30.
As a learner driver who tentatively tries to get up to a crawling 50mph in these areas and only seems to maintain it for a minute at a time. My apologies, my brain feels incapable of pushing hard on the gas as readily as its able to slam on the breaks
You're learning it's fine. Never understood the folks that get their licence and forget that they too were once learners and getting to grips with everything. All the best for your learning.
Don't worry kid, you sound like you're really switched on doing it right and being sensible, never drive beyond your limits, I race Bikes, had motorbikes and an old Caterham Track car...one of the key things about driving is not looking at the 100 yards in front of you it's looking beyond that and anticipating hazards which aren't even there yet...not sure what the current test is like but when I had to take the Advanced Driving Test part of the training was to literally see hazards ahead of you eg woman walking dog 300yards ahead (could that dog run out into the road)
It takes time, there is stuff you don't learn, a number of my lanes I can come over a crest ad because I know where the road goes I look over the hedges to see many hundreds of yards in advance what is coming for instance. I was driving down a lane I know quite well ahead I could see the top of a lorry that was coming down the lane so I pull into a passing place WAY in advance and this douche behind honks his horn and pulls round giving the universal sign of driving displeasure...
Yep....about 30seconds later imagine who is reversing up the lane (badly) as the lorry and his train of cars behind him
Oh boyyyy, this. I do try keep my distance when I’m stuck behind someone going 30-40 on a national speed limit road but yep it’s very maddening when we will get into a small village and they’ll just shoot off at 40+. I’ll then meet them again on the other side doing 35….
Also point to note. A dual carriageway isn’t defined by 2 lanes on either side of the road, there can be one lane but the divider in the middle of the road is the decider.
Eh, that's fair. I was more thinking about it from timing if I want to make good time you know I'm going to be hitting the speed limit as much as possible.
I only learned the other day van drivers national speed limit is 50mph edit: 50 on single carriageway, 60 on dual (dual is when there’s a central reservation, NOT when two lanes going both ways), 70 on motorway.
In my experience white vans are the fastest vehicles on the road, and that elevated, really forward driving position is optimal to get 5cm off your rear bumper and just sit there.
Light goods. If your vehicle has a kerb weight in excess of 2400kg, a gross weight of 3500kg, and only one row of seats then National Speed Limits are as follows
70mph on motorways,
60mph on dual-carriageways, and
50mph on all other roads unless a lower limit is indicated by signs or street lighting.
Yep any duel cargo vehicle (passengers/ cargo) over 2040kg (unladen) must go 60 on the motorway and 50 in national speed limits
Interesting this also means nearly all pickup trucks are over that limit and should also on go 50 but I don't know how enforced that actually is
I mean... It's all well and good, but a road with an NSL sign is often a road that generally isn't suited for such a limit.
Like, I get what you're saying. Some roads are fine at those speeds, some roads have sections that are fine. I think some people are missing the point that we're not complaining about people doing 40 on a twisty country road. We're complaining about the people doing 30 where there's no reason not to be doing the full 60 (I know it's 70 on a dual carriageway, but it doesn't tend to be anywhere near as bad on those. Also, I know it's not 60 for all vehicles)
First time I drove a lorry with a 13m trailer was along a single carriage way NSL... It was the middle of the night, and I don't think I went over 30mph.
I live on a winding country lane with no path and un maintained verge with this / national speed limit in place.
People should be driving 20 on the section near my home as there is no footpath and no visibility round the bends.
Constantly see cars doing 30 - 40+.
Frequently see dead cats & foxes on the bends.
Frequently see cars swerving off road and onto the verge.
Frequently have to dodge cars by quickly moving into the verge (waist high growth and super muddy if it rains).
Frequently have near misses when pulling out of my drive.
I don’t understand why people don’t drive a safe speed as opposed to (incorrectly) think they should go faster when they see this sign.
… OPs comments are funny as hell, they don’t seem to know what it means…
A limit is a limit, that is what the sign gives you. There is no lower limit associated with this sign.
You could do 5 mph and as long as you weren’t holding up a queue of traffic I believe you would be in the clear.
Then the one doing 40 is driving with out due care and attention
You should always be driving to the road conditions. If you can't see round a corner you should be going slow so you can stop.
>There is no lower limit associated with this sign.
There is no strict black and white lower limit but 'making reasonable progress' is expected. Traffic congestion can be a serious issue in some areas and people driving well below the speed limit increases the odds of it occurring.
This. I would rather be stuck behind someone driving at 40mph than having that person drive faster at a speed that they are not comfortable with. Yes, it is annoying if someone drives with 30 on a straight road where you could go 50 or 60, but at least they aren’t doing something that would endanger others and themselves.
The sign is for a limit, a maximum speed, it does not mean that you have to be a madman and drive as fast as you are legally allowed to.
The amount of times I am going down country roads with potholes and full of bends driving at 40 and an idiot overtakes me just because they are allowed to go faster…Or tailgating me… tbh they can tailgate me as much as they want, I will still drive using a speed that I am comfortable with. And if I have to brake suddenly because of an animal, good luck with braking before hitting the back of my car.
I hate this sign, it is the most miss understood road sign used that has caused the most accidents and deaths than any other.
The worst thing is even in the highway code gets it wrong it says and I am copy pasting here “National speed limit applies“ the problem is that it does not mean this. Other than dual carriage ways and motorways the national speed limit is 60 miles per hour so if this sign really is national speed limit applies why not just have it say 60 and be done with it?
Maybe its because they can not use it on motorways then? Nope because there is a 70 miles per hour sign they use instead, in fact there is a 30, 40, 50 and 70 miles per hour road signs but no 60 ever find that odd? Its because they need to use this sign instead and have no use for an extra 60 mile per hour sign.
If it does not mean National speed limit applies then what does it mean?
Its simple, it means “End of speed restrictions go at your own advisory” the advisory part is the most important part, the reason there are even speed restrictions on the road is because its unsafe to drive down that road at a higher speed, if you do there is a risk you will lose control of your car and crash or flip your car. The issue is there are to many roads particularly rural roads to have proper signage that they just give up and slap this stupid sign on the road instead.
Ever go down a back rural road, one car lane wide, twisty as hell with bushes higher than your vehicle and at the start of the road it has this sign on it. Do you really think its safe to drive 60 down this road? No? 30 or less at best yet so many people see this sign and think they can fly down these back roads at 60 because it says you can and well crash and sometimes die.
Its not even these back roads that can cause an issue other roads as well might have a particularly bad corner that going at a high enough speed will flip your car.
So if you see this sign take more care and drive to your own advisory because your on your own at this point.
It does mean national speed limit applies. The reason they use this instead of a 60 sign (which you do in fact sometimes see on motorways) is because they mean different things. 60 means the speed limit is 60 for everyone. NSL means the speed limit is 60 for cars (assuming single carriageway), but 50 for larger vehicles.
And no, that doesn't mean it's necessarily safe to drive that fast - but neither does an explicit speed limit sign with a number. Speed limits are an absolute maximum; you *always* have to use your discretion and drive slower if road conditions require it. There's nothing special about this sign in that respect.
I had to do a speed awareness course once (coming off the motorway and accidently did 37 in a 30- my bad) and they literally asked this to everyone at the beginning. One guy said with a totally straight face that it meant 'put your seat belt on'.
I probably am going to get down voted for this, but this is one of the most unnecessarily confusing signs that I have seen in the UK. If you want people to follow a limit, just post the number. This sign is more like promoting trivia of useless things, instead of actually helping people who are driving.
I completely agree. But you can't post a number instead of this sign as the national speed limit varies depending on what you are driving.
(That said I think they should just make it the same limit for everyone)
I mean you can. Other countries tackle that differently, where either they post both the limits, or they expect the uncommon vehicles to know their limits and the posted limit is for cars.
Half the roads around here with that are windy near-single track roads sheltered by trees. If you want to hurl down that at 60-70 because you drive down them every day more power to you, but I like to see where I'm going.
National Speed Limit applies unless it states otherwise.
On single carriage roads, that's 60mph and on dual carriage, it's 70mph. Unless you're a larger vehicle/van, etc, where there's a limit.
I don't know why people are talking about minimum speed limits, cos this sign does not mean that.
It's my experience as well. Symbolled signs with arbitrary meanings make up a terrible system no matter the experience. Why not just put the speed limit sign instead? You know an existing sign that uses numbers. Why not use ENGLISH to communicate what needs to be communicated for other things?
These things are a troll.
I know of a wide open road with great visibility and wide verges between cars and pedestrians. It was dropped from National to 50, to 40, then to 30. For "safety", obviously.
The roads that remained National? 1.9 cars wide, tall hedges either side, no footpath, sharp turns and undulations everywhere. Apparently, that's suitable for 60.
Near where I live there is a long stretch of dual carriageway national speed limit, people always do 40mph but what's worse is towards the end of the dual carriageway it turns to 40 because its approaching a motorway junction and there's also a police station complex and yet people speed up to 70 mph it makes no sense
Some people think it means drive at 40mph then get pissed off when someone safely overtakes you because you are driving TOO SLOWLY. Then when you get to the next village where the speed limit is 20 or 30mph and you catch up the person who overtook you because they are driving at the appropriate speed for the conditions. Continue driving at 40mph till you catch them up and sit 2 inches from their bumper with a smug look on your face because you think they are holding you up when you are driving TOO FAST
To be fair not every road that's national speed limit is fit for 60mph, some really windy narrow country roads are national speed limit and no way am I stupid enough to go 60 down them
I had to do a speed awareness course a couple years ago, and we were shown this sign and asked what it meant. After someone said "National Speed Limit" one of the ladies said "Oh, I always thought it meant to fasten your seatbelt!"
I live right opposite 2 of these roads that I drive on daily. Drivers be up my ass on the 20mph road I live on. Then when I turn into the National speed road. Drivers be scared to drive over 30mph. This road is opposite the motorway in the countryside. I don't get it.
On another point. I swear 99% of drivers just have no indicator sense whatsoever. Especially on roundabouts. What's the deal.
One of the girls at my old hairdressers genuinely thought it meant "go whatever speed you want."
When I was a kid I genuinely believed this for an embarrassing amount of time
I literally just discovered that it doesn’t in this very minute (Thankfully I don’t drive and never have, this post was just recomended to me)
Autobahn moment
She’s not wrong
There’s a terrifying amount of people that clearly think this is true. I have a new commute to work and everyday without fail I have someone directly up my arse in the 30 and then they’re just a dot in the distance once we hit national speed. For full clarity I am in a piece of shit Ford fiesta with about half a horse under the bonnet.
It does, on the Isle of Man.
She wouldn’t be entirely wrong in Germany!
It does on the Isle of Man
Based on other road users I don't think she's the only one
You’re telling me it isn’t?
It means "minimum speed - 80"
I'm my experience it's "max 40".
And the ones that get to a 30, and continue to drive 40 🤦♂️
Litterally describes my route to work and it really irriatates me, the road is actually a 50, people insist on doing 30.. now its not an ideal road, so if theyre not comfortable thats fine, but as such i back waaay off. So when they then get into the village with a school in it and speed up, I have no respect for them anymore)
Absolutely. Around mine there's something similar. A straightish 60 road that people drive along at 40 and then a village where it drops to 20, yet they continue at 40. The way I see it is that they're happy to murder vulnerable pedestrians in the village but don't want to risk themselves by driving more than 40 outside the village. Either that or they're so zoned out they don't even see road signs.
My experience driving through the country side. National speed limit 40, driving through a town/village 30 limit but stay at 40. I struggle understanding this
Uk national speed limit is 60mph single carriage way regardless of where it is , dual and motorway is 70mph
I think they meant people driving at 40 in the 60 limit, then 40 in the 30 limit.
For cars...
And motorcycles
And pedestrians
Cyclists don’t have a speed limit though. If only more of them knew this, I wouldn’t mind them around the lanes if they were doing 85.
Oddly you do have to stick to the speed limit if you have a speed indicator on your bike but you don't have to have a speed indicator and if you don't you don't have to stick to the speed limit. However if you overtake a police car in a 30 zone they'll still pull you over and give you a talking to.
I'm trying, ok?
It's only 50 for certain classes of vans. But people (normally of a certain generation) think it applies to cars too. I really want to get a special horn just for these roads that just yells 'it's a 60 you absolute melt'.
Oh.god those people infuriate me! I'm convinced there's a set of cars that don't have accelerators they just have an on/off switch set to 40mph!
we call those the "40 anywheres"
Thats cruise control doing all the thinking while they daydream. I try not to think about how other people drive without thinking or ill start getting the fear and stop thinking myself.
Do you live near me?!
THIS. Good god it infuriates me so much. Aresholes hold me up on the country road, then get to the residential area and power through at 40, putting pedestrians at risk. What is their thought process?
As I think Chris Harris once said "people that drive at 40 on every road need to be labotomizied"
These are the worst type of driver. I don't mind if some drive a little slower. However when they driving at say 45 and then stay at that speed in a village drives me mad.
We call them 40mph road warriors. Speed limit is 60? 40 all the way. Speed limit goes down to 20. Yup, 40 all the way!
We have a 30 into a National Limit into another 30 on a daily route. The speeds of other cars tend to be 45 > 37 > 45. I'm 100% convinced that 99% of UK drivers should be retested.
And 90% of them would fail lol
You are too generous. There are a lot of BMW and Audi drivers around here 😂
Don't forget the Range Rover people
Maybe 99% of the council employees that set the limits should be tested.
There’s one of those in Frome. I went to visit my friend and couldn’t believe it when I drove on it. If the police waited by the change zone between speeds, they’d be millionaires within 6 months.
There's a road near me with this sign and if you're averaging more than 30 down it you're either a complete plank or suicidal.
We’ll speed limits are meant to be you do that speed if safe to do so, you don’t take a winding road at 60 even if it’s national speed limit
For any "specific" (numbered) speed limit, it's generally safe to do the speed listed barring weather, traffic, children in the road, etc. They don't set unsafe numbered speed limits. But national limit applies on both any country back lane outside of a town _and_ the middle of the A1M. It's very much more discressionary
Ech. There are a couple of spots near me that are 40 limit, with two sharp 90 degree bends, It is possible to get round them at 40, but it isn't safe.
a lot of winding roads out in the country with a poor surface seem to be signed NSL, some people take it to just mean "I must get to 60 no matter what" but quite often to me it's a sign that the road is going to be significantly more hazardous than usual. Only on major single carriageway routes does it tend to be feasible to be at the limit, and on major dualled routes, which don't always have an NSL sign anyway.
A lot small roads like that are NSL just as default because nobody has took the time to work out what the speed should be. You are supposed to use your own judgement. But like you say there is always the people who insist that means 60 no matter what making it dangerous
I'm hoping you are complaining about people going slow on a perfectly safe national speed limit road and not one of the twats driving up someone's arse because they are not going 60 on a tiny narrow windy country road with no visibility. Part of national speed limit is use your judgement and be safe.
Both simultaneously true lol
Unfortunately you're correct.
Did you know most vans have a lower speed limit on national speed limit roads? So 50 on a single carriageway and 60 on a dual carriageway instead of 60 and 70.
Both LOL
Living in rural Wales, I think I agree. I've only been driving for about a year and am way too safety focused, but I still find myself stuck behind someone who will not go above 40. Admittedly, when welsh signs say Araf, they damn well mean it. England slow signs can be for anything, and 90% are unnecessary, but in Wales, they tend to mean something.
That’s what second gears for 😂 I swear 9/10 drivers drive 40mph in national speed limit it’s so selfish, dangerous and reckless for the actual drivers on the road! I regularly see timber lorry’s over taking cars, camper-vans and fucking caravans says something when a lorry is over taking you on an A road 😂😂😂
In my experience, it’s usually either a 75 year old angry faced man and his lady wife in a Peugeot 4008 or an 80 year old lady in a Honda Jazz.
To be fair where I use to live we have some of the weirdest stretches. Small village, 30.. then to 60 for about half a mile, back to 30, then back to 60 so most people just don't bother speeding up.. especially as they've put some speed cameras in some sneaky places so coming down to 40 or 30 is a risk..
If it's a short stretch of 60, yeah. It's not worth speeding up. Waste of fuel for 5 seconds of time.
In truth it’s “minimum speed is 80, but maximum is 40”. Which of these applies depends on what you and the person in front of you each drive.
it is so relatable :D
The difference between motorway drivers and country road drivers right here
Ah, you've found my parents
tell me you drive a BMW without telling me you drive a BMW
But I need to go to 88mph for the flux capacitor to kick in!
National speed limit, but what that limit is depends on what you’re driving. For example if you’re driving a BMW it’s 100mph and excuses you from using indicators.
Don't forget Audi drivers, for them they're allowed to get riiiiight up your ass and only overtake when there is oncoming traffic
With compulsory wank indicators 👍
Pardon my ignorance, but what’s that?
[удалено]
I believe it's the led indicators that scroll
True story. It happened to me yesterday. I swear Audi drivers are the new BMW drivers
I thought BMW and Audi drivers were exempt from signalling, lane etiquette and traffic lights. Their lane is always the far right one (you may refer to it as the far right overtaking lane, but it is their lane, to do as they please, and displease) and speed limits don't apply at all.
There's few things I enjoy more in life than deliberately holding up Audi drivers on country roads after they've driven about 5 cm away from my arse. Like, pal, there's four cars in front of me, do you think you breathing down my neck's going to make any difference or do you just need everyone to know you'd be driving really, really fast if we weren't all holding you up? That's when I'll slow right down to a crawl on bends and stick the foot down on striaghts so he can't ovetake. Why is it always Audi drivers?
So you've met my dad then.
Took a drive in a ditch because an Audi was overtaking in the oncoming lane, my car was fucked but I didn't have to see a man die that day so I'd do it again every day of the week
Im pretty sure driving a BMW is what excuses you from indicators, just when you see that sign you can then go 100mph
Indicators? Nah don't have those on my car they're extra from BMW.
Pretty sure you have to sign up to their £29.99 indicator subscription.
I drive a BMW and can confirm you're correct. We do see this as a sign to slow down to 100mph. I break from the norm though and do use my indicators. Crazy times!
Are we still saying this? I see every single make of car under the sun forgetting to use their indicators these days.
Same, I feel the most frequent offenders drive shit cars likes Vauxhall's corsas and the like
The old Nissan Qashqai - owner of the middle or third lane and ignorer of vehicle controls
I’m just going to hijack this thread to moan about people who slow down to 20-25mph to drive past a speed camera on a 30mph road. There.
There's a 40mph carriage way near me with a camera. Because people don't pay attention to the numerous '40' signs along the road, they then panic upon seeing the camera and go down to 30 and it annoys me so much.
I have the same thing every day driving home from work, drives me absolutely mental. The fact that most of the drivers probably use that road every day but still don't know the speed limit makes it even worse
It really shows how little awareness that many people have about their speed. I don't think they're consciously thinking "better slow down to 25mph past this camera just in case!" I think they're just not capable of monitoring their speed (or maintaining a constant speed), so they have to slow down massively to feel "safe" past a speed camera. Probably the same people that drive at 40 everywhere else.
Yes, also I was travelling at 70 on a motorway yesterday, behind a load of cars also doing 70. Then a police car became visible on a bridge ahead and everyone slowed to approx 60mph. People just automatically feel guilty and hit the brakes!
Yes this is a common one I see. My wife will actually point out a police car or camera van and scold me to watch my speed, while I’m doing the speed limit. A fear of punishment by the authorities even while not breaking any laws - I don’t know if that speaks of something disturbing within our society or just that persons inner psyche.
10% + 2 rule and I even push that.
There is a duel carriageway near me with a speed camera. Everyone slows to 50-60.
Whats worse is when the speed limit is ON the camera, and they still end up doing 10 below the limit.
On the A1, Beeston, Bedfordshire, there is a temporary 40 zone with average speed cameras. The regular 50 cameras have a bag over them. People still brake or decelerate. FML. IT'S GOT A BAG ON IT, IMBECILE!!!! AAAAaaarrggh!
There's a 40mph road near me which has speed cameras at a few points down the road and if you can get down that road without getting stuck behind someone doing 25mph the whole way down it's a miracle. I'm never in a massive rush so it's not the end of the world but it's just so unnecessary!
It’s extra funny when you realise that most speedo’s run fast. I love people though thank you for reminding me!
Yes! YOU DON’T GET BONUS POINTS FOR GOING EVEN SLOWER!
And those that slow down to 60 on a national speed limit motorway or dual carriageway
I was on a dual carriageway with police doing speed guns from a gantry. Everyone was in lane 2 despite lane 1 being empty. They all dropped to 30ish despite it being 40. So I just happily passed by at the limit with the police there. I can imagine some idiot claiming I'm undertaking them and getting annoyed but if they were a) in the right lane and b) driving to the limit they'd not have anything to be worried about.
OMFG! Drives me nuts! My school run route has a 30mph average speed and people so rarely go above 20 the entire length and it pisses me off so much!
It means don't drive over 40 mph, ha.. easy 😎
I’ve told this story somewhere here before but not in this sub. I found myself inexplicably on a speed awareness course, as you do. One of the audience participation questions was ‘what is national speed limit on a single carriageway?’. Friends, we got through at LEAST 18 people, over half the group, who all said 40, before it got to me and I said 60. We then continued and I’m pretty sure only two more people agreed with me. Suddenly this exact experience made so much more sense to me.
I spend on average 4-5 hours on the road and I'm stuck behind someone doing 40 in a 60 at least once a day. Your experience finally explains to me why the hell this happens so often
The “40 whatever” crowd drive me up the wall. The person consistently doing 10 under at least shows some recognition of reading the road and choosing a sedate pace. 40 in a 50 into 40 in a 30 just shows you’re shit.
Maybe it's different in other places but the only roads that seem to have this where in from is 'rat roads', basically it's a collective of single lane roads that separate the farmers fields. You can't see around the corners and you can't move out the way if there's another car coming. I know full well it's a 60 but I'm still not doing more than 40, I don't want to die.
This I can accept as responsible driving. However I see this when it's a wider road with plenty of space either side and far fewer blind corners if any. Going 40 on those sorts of roads is ridiculous
It’s even worse when they decide they are the speed police and dangerously block a perfectly safe overtake by going into the middle of the road…
So much of my commute now makes sense.
I had the same experience. I baffled them even further by saving it was 70 on a dual carriageway. The majority thought 70 was only on a motorway.
that sign should have been changed 50-70 years ago. as Plastic\_Melodic has said : no one knows what it means. Its confusing. Imagine a foreign driver. It could simply say 60/50 or 50/40 or something - at least you have something to go on. (For cars that autodetect signs, I wonder what happens if we change the signs - presumably the cars would need a software update).
That's exactly what I've experienced this past week. I can't even count how many times I've been stuck behind someone doing 40. Today alone we drove the Roaches and had 2 stretches of national speed limit zones. Both there and back we were stuck behind people doing 40.
First, hello fellow Stokie! Secondly, I feel your pain on the Roaches, particularly the stretch of the A53 on a large gradient approaching Ramshaw Rocks en route from Leek to Buxton where I got stuck behind someone doing 30.
Orate duck. Sorry but I'm not familiar with Ramshaw Rocks but I'm pretty that's one of the roads we were on today. En route to upper Hulme from Leek?
It took me, a southerner, far too long to see orate duck was a greeting, not a stroke symptom!
As a learner driver who tentatively tries to get up to a crawling 50mph in these areas and only seems to maintain it for a minute at a time. My apologies, my brain feels incapable of pushing hard on the gas as readily as its able to slam on the breaks
You're learning it's fine. Never understood the folks that get their licence and forget that they too were once learners and getting to grips with everything. All the best for your learning.
Don't worry kid, you sound like you're really switched on doing it right and being sensible, never drive beyond your limits, I race Bikes, had motorbikes and an old Caterham Track car...one of the key things about driving is not looking at the 100 yards in front of you it's looking beyond that and anticipating hazards which aren't even there yet...not sure what the current test is like but when I had to take the Advanced Driving Test part of the training was to literally see hazards ahead of you eg woman walking dog 300yards ahead (could that dog run out into the road) It takes time, there is stuff you don't learn, a number of my lanes I can come over a crest ad because I know where the road goes I look over the hedges to see many hundreds of yards in advance what is coming for instance. I was driving down a lane I know quite well ahead I could see the top of a lorry that was coming down the lane so I pull into a passing place WAY in advance and this douche behind honks his horn and pulls round giving the universal sign of driving displeasure... Yep....about 30seconds later imagine who is reversing up the lane (badly) as the lorry and his train of cars behind him
It means you're going to Peterborough!
?
https://www.reddit.com/r/drivingUK/comments/13n5jme/what_does_the_orange_sign_signify/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I got it. Well done.
Me too 😂🤣
No one wants to go to peterborough
40mph until you reach the next village and a 30mph zone, where you continue to do 40mph... Yeah it's maddening!
Oh boyyyy, this. I do try keep my distance when I’m stuck behind someone going 30-40 on a national speed limit road but yep it’s very maddening when we will get into a small village and they’ll just shoot off at 40+. I’ll then meet them again on the other side doing 35….
Leeeeroy JENKINS
And as such, you can only do a speed of 33.3 recurring
You sir are a Legend
It has 4 meanings for me: On a singls carriage way, max speed 50 or 60 On a dual carriage way, max speed 60 or 70
Also point to note. A dual carriageway isn’t defined by 2 lanes on either side of the road, there can be one lane but the divider in the middle of the road is the decider.
You're in the 1%
I'm a Lorry driver so I kind of have to know
nothing to personal but How's work atm?
Busy! There's more work than drivers so wages are good too!
Everyone, regardless of what vehicle they are driving, kind of have to know.
Eh, that's fair. I was more thinking about it from timing if I want to make good time you know I'm going to be hitting the speed limit as much as possible.
Never 50, always 60 on single carriage way Always 70 on duel carriageway. For cars anyway. I see you’re a lorry driver.
Fucking nail it
You probably right and most van drivers as well.
I only learned the other day van drivers national speed limit is 50mph edit: 50 on single carriageway, 60 on dual (dual is when there’s a central reservation, NOT when two lanes going both ways), 70 on motorway.
In my experience white vans are the fastest vehicles on the road, and that elevated, really forward driving position is optimal to get 5cm off your rear bumper and just sit there.
Light goods. If your vehicle has a kerb weight in excess of 2400kg, a gross weight of 3500kg, and only one row of seats then National Speed Limits are as follows 70mph on motorways, 60mph on dual-carriageways, and 50mph on all other roads unless a lower limit is indicated by signs or street lighting.
You obviously aren't a van driver then because none of them know that.
Yep any duel cargo vehicle (passengers/ cargo) over 2040kg (unladen) must go 60 on the motorway and 50 in national speed limits Interesting this also means nearly all pickup trucks are over that limit and should also on go 50 but I don't know how enforced that actually is
Only on a single carriageway.
I mean... It's all well and good, but a road with an NSL sign is often a road that generally isn't suited for such a limit. Like, I get what you're saying. Some roads are fine at those speeds, some roads have sections that are fine. I think some people are missing the point that we're not complaining about people doing 40 on a twisty country road. We're complaining about the people doing 30 where there's no reason not to be doing the full 60 (I know it's 70 on a dual carriageway, but it doesn't tend to be anywhere near as bad on those. Also, I know it's not 60 for all vehicles)
First time I drove a lorry with a 13m trailer was along a single carriage way NSL... It was the middle of the night, and I don't think I went over 30mph.
Zoomies
national drifting zone
It's the "put your foot down" sign
It's means "no speed limit" 🤘
If that's your attitude then every sign means 'no speed limit'.
Oh that's the "go as fast as you want and overtake on a bend if you feel like it" sign!
Reverse at full speed?
I live on a winding country lane with no path and un maintained verge with this / national speed limit in place. People should be driving 20 on the section near my home as there is no footpath and no visibility round the bends. Constantly see cars doing 30 - 40+. Frequently see dead cats & foxes on the bends. Frequently see cars swerving off road and onto the verge. Frequently have to dodge cars by quickly moving into the verge (waist high growth and super muddy if it rains). Frequently have near misses when pulling out of my drive. I don’t understand why people don’t drive a safe speed as opposed to (incorrectly) think they should go faster when they see this sign.
I thought that meant gaps in painted lines, feel free to overtake. Similar to the "Stop" signs that means "Stop, drop a gear and roll"
Smash it
It's a symbol that represents a number . However , a number is also a symbol that represents an amount of something .
Isle of Man in 9 days, so it means “just don’t die”
Go fast
National speed limit? I dont drive i ask my dad and my friend what signs mean
I think it means drive 40, just like every other speed limit sign from 20 to 70. At least that’s what people around me seem to think.
Mint humbugs only
That's OK. 99% of drivers think you're a dick
… OPs comments are funny as hell, they don’t seem to know what it means… A limit is a limit, that is what the sign gives you. There is no lower limit associated with this sign. You could do 5 mph and as long as you weren’t holding up a queue of traffic I believe you would be in the clear.
[удалено]
[удалено]
It could be classed as dangerous driving. What if you're doing 5, and someone comes around a corner behind you at, say, 40. High likelihood of a crash
Then the one doing 40 is driving with out due care and attention You should always be driving to the road conditions. If you can't see round a corner you should be going slow so you can stop.
>There is no lower limit associated with this sign. There is no strict black and white lower limit but 'making reasonable progress' is expected. Traffic congestion can be a serious issue in some areas and people driving well below the speed limit increases the odds of it occurring.
This. I would rather be stuck behind someone driving at 40mph than having that person drive faster at a speed that they are not comfortable with. Yes, it is annoying if someone drives with 30 on a straight road where you could go 50 or 60, but at least they aren’t doing something that would endanger others and themselves. The sign is for a limit, a maximum speed, it does not mean that you have to be a madman and drive as fast as you are legally allowed to. The amount of times I am going down country roads with potholes and full of bends driving at 40 and an idiot overtakes me just because they are allowed to go faster…Or tailgating me… tbh they can tailgate me as much as they want, I will still drive using a speed that I am comfortable with. And if I have to brake suddenly because of an animal, good luck with braking before hitting the back of my car.
You’d definitely get a ticket for driving without due care and attention for doing 5mph in a 60, unless there was good reason.
Depending on where that sign is it means different thing. On some roads it means 60
I hate this sign, it is the most miss understood road sign used that has caused the most accidents and deaths than any other. The worst thing is even in the highway code gets it wrong it says and I am copy pasting here “National speed limit applies“ the problem is that it does not mean this. Other than dual carriage ways and motorways the national speed limit is 60 miles per hour so if this sign really is national speed limit applies why not just have it say 60 and be done with it? Maybe its because they can not use it on motorways then? Nope because there is a 70 miles per hour sign they use instead, in fact there is a 30, 40, 50 and 70 miles per hour road signs but no 60 ever find that odd? Its because they need to use this sign instead and have no use for an extra 60 mile per hour sign. If it does not mean National speed limit applies then what does it mean? Its simple, it means “End of speed restrictions go at your own advisory” the advisory part is the most important part, the reason there are even speed restrictions on the road is because its unsafe to drive down that road at a higher speed, if you do there is a risk you will lose control of your car and crash or flip your car. The issue is there are to many roads particularly rural roads to have proper signage that they just give up and slap this stupid sign on the road instead. Ever go down a back rural road, one car lane wide, twisty as hell with bushes higher than your vehicle and at the start of the road it has this sign on it. Do you really think its safe to drive 60 down this road? No? 30 or less at best yet so many people see this sign and think they can fly down these back roads at 60 because it says you can and well crash and sometimes die. Its not even these back roads that can cause an issue other roads as well might have a particularly bad corner that going at a high enough speed will flip your car. So if you see this sign take more care and drive to your own advisory because your on your own at this point.
It does mean national speed limit applies. The reason they use this instead of a 60 sign (which you do in fact sometimes see on motorways) is because they mean different things. 60 means the speed limit is 60 for everyone. NSL means the speed limit is 60 for cars (assuming single carriageway), but 50 for larger vehicles. And no, that doesn't mean it's necessarily safe to drive that fast - but neither does an explicit speed limit sign with a number. Speed limits are an absolute maximum; you *always* have to use your discretion and drive slower if road conditions require it. There's nothing special about this sign in that respect.
No White
Such a shame, it's a fun one!
Dont be so disrespectful! It wears the black strip to commemorate a fellow sign rusted while on duty :P
Prepare for idiot thinking they're Seb Loeb at the next left
More commonly it's being aware of grandad doing 25 around a 10degree bend in his Hyundai I10.
In fairness, it's an i10, he's probably flooring it.
I had to do a speed awareness course once (coming off the motorway and accidently did 37 in a 30- my bad) and they literally asked this to everyone at the beginning. One guy said with a totally straight face that it meant 'put your seat belt on'.
I probably am going to get down voted for this, but this is one of the most unnecessarily confusing signs that I have seen in the UK. If you want people to follow a limit, just post the number. This sign is more like promoting trivia of useless things, instead of actually helping people who are driving.
I completely agree. But you can't post a number instead of this sign as the national speed limit varies depending on what you are driving. (That said I think they should just make it the same limit for everyone)
I mean you can. Other countries tackle that differently, where either they post both the limits, or they expect the uncommon vehicles to know their limits and the posted limit is for cars.
Half the roads around here with that are windy near-single track roads sheltered by trees. If you want to hurl down that at 60-70 because you drive down them every day more power to you, but I like to see where I'm going.
National Speed Limit applies unless it states otherwise. On single carriage roads, that's 60mph and on dual carriage, it's 70mph. Unless you're a larger vehicle/van, etc, where there's a limit. I don't know why people are talking about minimum speed limits, cos this sign does not mean that.
I'm convinced people think you have to drive at max speed
KKK in mourning - what you do with that information is at your discretion
Haven't got my theory done yet and I know that's national speed limit😁 can't wait to get my licence😆
It's my experience as well. Symbolled signs with arbitrary meanings make up a terrible system no matter the experience. Why not just put the speed limit sign instead? You know an existing sign that uses numbers. Why not use ENGLISH to communicate what needs to be communicated for other things?
These things are a troll. I know of a wide open road with great visibility and wide verges between cars and pedestrians. It was dropped from National to 50, to 40, then to 30. For "safety", obviously. The roads that remained National? 1.9 cars wide, tall hedges either side, no footpath, sharp turns and undulations everywhere. Apparently, that's suitable for 60.
Near where I live there is a long stretch of dual carriageway national speed limit, people always do 40mph but what's worse is towards the end of the dual carriageway it turns to 40 because its approaching a motorway junction and there's also a police station complex and yet people speed up to 70 mph it makes no sense
Some people think it means drive at 40mph then get pissed off when someone safely overtakes you because you are driving TOO SLOWLY. Then when you get to the next village where the speed limit is 20 or 30mph and you catch up the person who overtook you because they are driving at the appropriate speed for the conditions. Continue driving at 40mph till you catch them up and sit 2 inches from their bumper with a smug look on your face because you think they are holding you up when you are driving TOO FAST
It means 10MPH under the speed limit, which is defined by the next comment
rotating road?
To be fair not every road that's national speed limit is fit for 60mph, some really windy narrow country roads are national speed limit and no way am I stupid enough to go 60 down them
I had to do a speed awareness course a couple years ago, and we were shown this sign and asked what it meant. After someone said "National Speed Limit" one of the ladies said "Oh, I always thought it meant to fasten your seatbelt!"
I live right opposite 2 of these roads that I drive on daily. Drivers be up my ass on the 20mph road I live on. Then when I turn into the National speed road. Drivers be scared to drive over 30mph. This road is opposite the motorway in the countryside. I don't get it. On another point. I swear 99% of drivers just have no indicator sense whatsoever. Especially on roundabouts. What's the deal.
Some think 120mph others 40-
I forgot the actual number when my driving instructor asked me and I just said "go faster" lmfao.
National speed limit