Road works speed limit - what to do?

skimp on 31/01/2016 - 12:30

We were driving back to Sydney from the south coast when we encountered long sections of 50km/h and 60km/h road works speed limits. These are in place due to the construction of a new 4-lane highway bypassing Berry. The driver behind me (a red female P-plater) tailgated me all the way for about 15-20 minutes on the single lane road we were on (Princes Hwy), making my drive very stressful. Looking in the mirror I can see a long procession of cars bunching up quite tightly too (I was the lead car). The cars that were in front of me had shot off already, obviously not following the limit. I know there are times when road work limits aren't followed by drivers, but in this case work was clearly being carried out in the area. I am wondering how people gauge what speed to stick to in such a situation - by the sign posted speed, or by herd behaviour and do what people around are doing?

As it happens I eventually caught up to all the cars in front of me when we approached the next bottleneck area approaching Wollongong. I believe there's never much time lost following the speed limit, nor much gained breaking the limit during daytime driving. In this case I stayed on the good side of the law but it was stressful.

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Comments

    • skimp on 02/02/2016 - 15:10

      Yeah true, many behind could probably be just chilling out glad that the lead car is doing the limit so they don't have to worry.

  • suti on 02/02/2016 - 13:42
    +3

    The worst is when on a two lane freeway you have some idiot doing 90km/h in a 110km/h in the right lane. I eventually overtook them, but a few kilometres later in a long 80km/h roadworks zone, they overtook me because they were still going around 90km/h. After the roadworks ended i caught up to that person again - still going 90km/h.

    • ronnknee on 03/02/2016 - 11:27

      No, the worst is when there's a row of cars going under the speed limit and there's no room to overtake.

  • doodo477 on 02/02/2016 - 14:16

    This is the reason why I got cruise control for my vehicle. Let the ****## wait, well I enjoy the ride.

    • skimp on 02/02/2016 - 15:34
      +1

      Another person has mentioned cruise control too. I did use it for a while but found that it irritated the car behind even more. In the undulating terrain I was in a human driver would allow speed to fluctuate (a little) in the rise and fall of the road. But the cruise control tries to cancel out this variations. It just seemed to have inflamed the situation causing more stress to me.

      • doodo477 on 02/02/2016 - 16:05
        +1

        Diffusion of responsibility is a great thing :)

        The way I see it (mostly to do with stress) is that most drivers in the NT drive 4WD and simply love to tail gate people who are going at the speed limit. So I just choose to hand the task of maintaining speed to a computer, the same type of micro-controller that will be determining if I'm over the speed limit.

        Though we don't have many hill here. btw, I dont advicate using it (all) the time. At the end of the day you're responsible as a driver.

        As a side note, I don't really understand people who tail gate. I've had situation people where people sit on my six I will simply move to either the left or right lane and let them pass. I don't really care, as long as I get to my destination safe and sound.

      • ToxicPhatGrunt on 03/02/2016 - 18:30

        I reckon you worry to much about what others think, I used to be like that but don't care anymore. Get a dash cam in case of idiots and stay safe at the speed limit with cruise control :)

        • skimp on 03/02/2016 - 20:10

          How did you move from worrying about what others think to not worrying any more? Was it life experience, maturity, insight…

  • BSmith on 02/02/2016 - 15:07
    +1

    I find it funny sometimes when I'm obeying the speed limit. I just think of it like I'm playing Snake :P

  • skimp on 02/02/2016 - 15:58

    A few people have said that in a group of speeding cars it is the lead car that will be caught by the cops. Out of interest can anyone confirm this by experience or is this speculation? I was thinking that a radar gun (one that has a gun-sight thingy) can target any car in a group. And what about cop cars parked on the side of the road with the cop sitting inside, how do they pick out a specific car in a group?

  • vid_ghost on 02/02/2016 - 16:04
    +1

    Its best to let idiots who want to drive fast past you before they run into you.

    Been driving for over 15 years now all over Sydney CBD and NSW I have never had a speeding fine, at fault accident or even a parking fine 100% clean driving record and i never will because I'm a safer drier then 99% of the idiots on the road.. I'm confident at very high speeds and even over 200kmph on super sports bikes. Driving is stressful .. it "should be" you should never feel relaxed while driving EVER!…

    I leave gaps of 100meters+ from me and the car/bike in front whenever possible. always scan for pedestrians 100% of the time.. never relax on the road because that is when you will miss something.. always be 100% alert and on your game.. Driving is taken too lightly by people and i see so many people chatting on phones, putting on makeup and even eating cereal out of a bowl all while driving. It was in traffic but i did see someone doing that and driving with their knees lol

  • figarow on 02/02/2016 - 19:06
    +2

    Looking in the mirror

    Tilt your mirror at an angle and enjoy the scenery in front. Never care about those behind you.

  • OzJD on 02/02/2016 - 21:51

    I'm a male driver in my 20s that drives a V8 Caprice. Everyone expects me to go fast in roadworks. Instead, I stick to the speed limit and have a giggle about the impatient bastards behind me, and right where it ends (mostly opening another lane or two) I put the boot in it and get back up to the speed limit.

    They never know what to expect from this, but I get a good laugh from people's reactions (that fast car is going so slow!, nekk minit, that slow car just zoomed off!)

    It's probably one of the reasons I still have all 14 demerit points available to be used on my license (professional driver)

    One thing that does annoy me is when they (often) don't put an 'END ROAD WORKS' sign up.

    Also, if I'm concerned about the driver behind me being too close, I use the brakes (very slowly!). I figure if he/she hits me, it's better to be slowing with my foot already on the brakes. 99% of the time, the person will back off after going down a few km/h when they realise the pressure isn't helping them.

    • skimp on 02/02/2016 - 23:36
      +1

      Sticking to the speed limit in a fast car takes self control and commands respect, keep it up.

      • OzJD on 03/02/2016 - 15:06

        I'm a professional driver (Bus and Hire Car) so I value my license.

        That, and it's enough just knowing that the little Pulsar revving next to you at the lights has no chance if you even put in half the effort.

  • syousef on 03/02/2016 - 06:19
    +1

    About 8 or 9 years ago now there were roadworks on the Hume. Single lane open. I was driving a Berlina wagon. My wife in the passenger seat and daytime. No workers but 40km/hr roadwork speed limit signs were up for a stretch of perhaps 5km. I was doing 40 when I spotted a semi-trailer in the rear view mirror clearly doing 100 or 110. Luckily there was just enough shoulder on the road for me to "pull over" (be run off the road). He was immediately followed by a second big semi. They went by way too quickly to get plates, and I wasn't going to do 200 to catch up with them. If that shoulder wasn't there those 2 trucks would have collected us and I wouldn't be here to write this.

    Do the speed limit but be aware that other ****heads will put your life at risk and be prepared to drive defensively. Anyone advocating speeding should have their licenses revoked.

    • bobbified on 03/02/2016 - 09:09

      So if there was no shoulder, what would you have done? Would you have ignored the arbitrary speed limit to protect yourself?

      • syousef on 03/02/2016 - 10:39

        I would have sped up if I had the room to. I did not. What would I have done if there was no shoulder? Been killed or maimed. Likewise if I hadn't seen them in the rear view mirror when I did.

        When the trucks were first in view they were maybe 50-70m behind. The shoulder was dirt and had quite a lip just beyond the curb and i was coming up to the shoulder closing. I had to pull in and slam on the breaks.

        It was a split second decision and I am very lucky I made the right one.

        • bobbified on 03/02/2016 - 11:36

          I would have sped up if I had the room to.

          There was no room in front? Or was there a car in front too?

          Gotta be careful about slamming the breaks on the shoulders, especially if it's dirt.. so easy to lose control on those surfaces.

          You're right though.. it's a tough call sometimes and a often a split second decision..
          Me personally.. in a situation like that, I'd say screw the speed limit.

        • syousef on 03/02/2016 - 20:54

          @bobbified:

          They were doing 110+. I was doing 40. By the time I saw them they were bearing down on me. I would have had less than 3 seconds to get out of the way. There was plenty of room in front, just not enough time to get up to speed. And yeah I did nearly lose it on the dirt because I had to slam on the brakes as the shoulder was ending.

          Incidentally I had a falling out with a friend over a trip to SA for the 2002 Ceduna solar eclipse. We were on a rock/pebble road and he was driving my car (that one was a Falcon sedan). I warned him to slow down and take his time but he thought I was being an old lady. He swerved to dodge some lizard and we ended up moving sideways and then in the ditch beside the road. Luckily no damage and with a bit of a push from some guys in another passing car we were able to get the car back out. Anyway that and another few incidents where we got on each other's nerves and the friendship was never the same.

  • bassmaniac69 on 03/02/2016 - 10:32

    You did the right thing, no need to stress. As another poster pointed out you would pay the fine, not the drivers behind you.

    What really bemuses me is people driving slower (say 90-100km/h in 110 zone) that I overtake on the freeway and who continue at that speed when they hit roadworks. I've dropped to the roadworks speed limit and they zoom past.. only for me to catch up with them a minute later after the roadworks have finish! It happens all the time!

    • syousef on 03/02/2016 - 10:43
      +1

      They either
      1. Didn't see the signs (weren't paying attention).
      2. Don't care about those signs but are only comfortable travelling at 90-100.
      3. Don't pay much attention to their speedo at all.

      Perhaps in combination with using a cruise control, perhaps not.

      The ones that keep slowing down and speeding up as you try to overtake are the ones that irk me. Trucks that can't get speed going uphill are okay but small cars that fluctuate between 90 and 115 in a 110 zone in the middle lane or left….ARGH!

  • here2rock on 03/02/2016 - 11:04

    Not always easy to ignore what is behind you when you are driving, what would you do if you are tailgated by a semi-trailer on a one way road with kids in the back seat? The truck driver would not care as he is just trying to bully you on the road.I had the same experience on the same road, I kept up to the legal speed but it was very scary!

  • Brouw3r on 03/02/2016 - 14:47

    When people do this I either slow down more, say from the ~42 I was doing in a 40 zone to 35. Or I tap the brakes sporadically with my left foot if I'm in a rush.

  • enzioFirenze on 03/02/2016 - 15:40

    I've had the same experience and for me it was a trucky at night, that was damn scary with him beaming his lights at me etc, I gave him space to go but it became a nuisance when it kept happening multiple times with multiple truckies!

  • p1 ama on 03/02/2016 - 20:42

    When I was younger, I probably would have slowed down to fair bit more just to annoy them, but I think the best thing to do is just to live and let live. You don't know what situation she could be in. Perhaps she's just an idiot speeder, perhaps she's about to miss a flight or something. It's not your job to make people follow the law and sure, you might be in front, but if someone's driving dangerously and they tailgate you and rear-end you, that's not exactly a great outcome for you either is it? I'd say just let them pass, don't deal with the stress and don't worry about it.

    • skimp on 04/02/2016 - 00:37

      It actually wasn't easy to pull over even if I had wanted to. See Street View https://goo.gl/maps/zJVCu9uqtRx
      The road works were interspersed like this for quite some way. Also, had I pulled over it would have been difficult to merge back in again considering the bunching up that was happening in the traffic behind. The "let them pass" maneuver I would have had to make is a risk in itself - to myself and other motorists confused by it.

  • Mumbles on 04/02/2016 - 01:25
    +3

    Stick with the following (or set your speed to whichever is the lowest):
    A) Never drive at a speed above your ability.
    B) Keep a similar speed to the surrounding traffic.
    C) Obey the legal speed limit.

    For the specific scenario of slower speed zones eg. road works, school zones and residential areas that means sticking to the speed limit.

    I'm actually a local driver from the NSW far South Coast and used to get tail gated heaps when I had my L plates and P plates. So I learned heaps of strategies to cope/mitigate tailgaters.

    1) Try to de-stress the driver behind you by keeping your speeds as predictable as you can. Brake and accelerate predictably. Over long distances the driver behind you will learn your behaviour and realise they cannot influence your driving no matter what they try. Its just a matter of time before they realise the only person they are stressing with the tailgating is themselves.
    2) Drive as close to the left side of your lane. The reason why this works for certain tail gaters are too many to explain.
    3) Flip your centre mirror down. Do this with the tailgater watching. Its a strong signal to let them know you are aware of their tailgating but don't care, ie. backoff buster!

    If tailgater is relentless and/or stress levels are getting too high due to the prolonged tailgating or long construction zone then:
    4) Adjust centre and side mirrors down so that you don't see anything behind you.
    5) Wiggle/swerve your car every 2 minutes. Pretend like you are an affected/startled/erratic/low confidence Learner driver. The sharper and more exaggerated the maneuver the more the tailgater will sit up and pay attention. Tailgaters get into habits and sometimes they need something to break their usual driving habit. Most of the time they will think Holy Crap! and quickly back off.

    If none of above works then:
    6) Pull off the side of the road and let them pass. Calm yourself. Re-enter the road safely.
    7) Or call the police hot-line and notify them there is a tailgater. Give them a rough location (eg. the next town, direction of travel, landmarks), the model+colour of the car, maybe registration. Its a long shot but there might be a Highway patrol car who is on the road and patrolling. Its easy for them to spot you because there's the giant gap between you and the cars that took off. Your report will give the patrolman a heads-up + view them as a menace rather than giving them the benefit of the doubt.

    Useful tips to keep in mind:
    a) In a rear end collision its always the following car's fault. They pay all the damages. Try adopting the attitude "I dare you to out brake my ABS equipped Mercedes Benz with sports tyres … Mwahahahaha".
    b) Camera speed vans will always fine the leading car. Chase car has lower chance of being caught for speeding fines.
    c) Car speedo's will always read higher than the real speed (you can search Google to find out why). You can usually travel +5% higher than your speedometer and still be within the actual speed limit. You can double check your real speed against your Navigation GPS or mobile phone's GPS.

  • ExpressCoffee on 04/02/2016 - 02:08

    It can be quite daunting. My gf and I were driving down from Sydney when she was on her red P's a couple years back and they had roadworks going on at the time. It was a 60km zone due to the roadworks but the cars in front was going 90ish km/h and the car behind was tailgating our car. So we coasted along for a bit as it was quite stressful being sandwiched in like that until we reached a bottleneck. A highway patrol car was hiding behind one of the massive heavy vehicle trucks and an officer quickly popped out and banged on our car yelling at us to pull over immediately.

    She was fined $289 and 3 demerit points for going 14km/h over in a 60 zone.

    Sucks but lesson learned.

  • Brianqpr on 04/02/2016 - 09:17

    Anyone who tailgates me is guaranteed a slow drive. They usually get the message and back off eventually.

  • BargainKen on 10/02/2016 - 11:17

    I had one guy I was sitting behind doing 50-60 in an 80's zone on xmas day. I was patient and thought he'd speed backup to the posted limit, nope he was obviously distracted, so I waited for a safe overtaking and shot passed him (love the turbo's :)). All was good and for some reason he felt the need to catchup to me… IDK why

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