I've only been driving a fortnight

[lepaskilf]

I drive for the conditons of the roads, on country roads which are nat speed it's impossible and very dangerous to stick to 60mph, but on a straight 50mph road I will happily do 60 odd if it's quiet!....... I also do 80 on the motorway, if the conditions are okay for it.... I NEVER speed in a 30 or 40 zone as they're generally in built up areas, the way I think about... you should never think about what if I get caught, but what if I hit someone?

My bug bare is those people who just do 40 on any road or in any speed limit, even 30!!! They just don't know how to drive safely!

 

[lepaskilf]

If you're doing the speed limit and somebody starts tailgating, slow down more until they get the point and back off!! Or spray your wipers like someone already said. I must say though, speed limits were introduced many many years ago, when cars had crappy braking systems, lack of ABS and a lack of build quality and safety features. The development of cars has improved no end, braking distances have reduced but the speed limits have stayed the same. So yes i am one of those people who also gets annoyed if the person in front is doing less than the speed limt. Although i don't get abusive.

This almost never works, lol. If someone is stupid enough to tailgate in the first place, then slowing down more is just going to piss them off and they are more likely to do something stupid and risk both your lives.
Just carry on driving at a speed you are comfortable with and eventually they will pass you, or turn off etc.


I'm a speedy driver - love driving fast! Though if it's just around my area or Bella in the car then I just drive like a normal person, though people who drive slower than the speed limit do wind me up - even when I'm not in a rush! Lol. But we're all new drivers at some point and go slower than some - you might speed up with experience, you might not - as long as your happy and safe that's all that matters - ignore all the idiot drivers! x

I had a motorcyclist so far up my arse on a 30 once that the only way I could see him in my van was for my sister to turn around and tell him to back off with various hand gestures!!.... He didn't, so I braked and he he stalled and I drove off! He wasn't best pleased but it's was his own fault!

 

[lepaskilf]

what winds me up is people stopping in the forest at every donkey or horse ffs the speed limit is 40, drive at 40, use your eyes and be careful as some of us actually live here and just want to go home!

Haha! We live in Snowdonia and I hate driving up over the Pass towards the main carpark for Snowdon it's windy but it's not narrow but tourists still insist on stopping when a coach is coming the other way!! Or trawling behind sheep on the road... just overtake them FFS!!!.... When I overtake them and the sheep they look so miffed ha! Then you can always tell the drivers who are looking at the mountains as they are all over the road! If you wanna look then stop in the many laybys along the way!!!

 

[suzib76]

i disagree with what has been said about tailgaiting tbh - if people are dickish enough to do it they will just become frustrated even more if you slow down, while this is fine for an experienced driver i really think for someone just through their test its not the best advice

if you do get anyone tailgaiting just pull over when its safe to do so and let them pass, if there is no chance of pulling over, turn down a side street, go round the block, whatever, just let them get past you so you dont feel pressurised and agitated when you are driving. there is enough to learn as a newbie without that kind of stress

and from someone who drives for a living, sometimes defensively and sometimes arrogantly (i admit) but never dangerously - please dont get too hung up on what other road users are doing, if they are being dicks they are being dicks, it really isnt worth wasting any energy to stress about on - it also has the potential to spoil YOUR driving experience

it took me a couple of weeks of taxi-ing to realise there is no point in road rage, it doesnt change a thing, all it does is stress me out and i dont need to be getting wound up over things i cant change


well done on passing, now go out, drive, and ENJOY xx

 

[Mrs_X]

my dad gave me the best advice ever about tail gaiters, speeders, etc. which was ignore them and look on (well he said f*** them lol). best advice ever.
P plates are really good, and also a sign on the back window saying there is a baby/kid in the car. ive noticed since having my baby sign in the window i get alot less tail gaiters.
i drive just under the speed limit, because i drive sensibly. if some nob head wants to overtake me, for me only to catch them up at a red light i leave them to it lol.
when i mean under i mean 27/28 in a 30. or 68/69 on a 70 x

 

[tina_h75]

I am still learning and even when I am driving the correct speed I still find that the majority of the people on the road are complete twats who will still drive really close behind me and then overtake. Its up to them, I know I am driving in accordance with the speed limit and the limits are there for a reason. I am still fuming about the idiot who overtook me on a single lane, at speed right outside a primary school. When I have passed my test, I will still drive safely and stick to the speed limit because I will have my 3 kids in the back of the car and I am not going to put my foot down for anyone, if they think I am being too slow then they are welcome to overtake me but I am not going to be intimidated by anyone.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

what winds me up is people stopping in the forest at every donkey or horse ffs the speed limit is 40, drive at 40, use your eyes and be careful as some of us actually live here and just want to go home!

Haha! We live in Snowdonia and I hate driving up over the Pass towards the main carpark for Snowdon it's windy but it's not narrow but tourists still insist on stopping when a coach is coming the other way!! Or trawling behind sheep on the road... just overtake them FFS!!!.... When I overtake them and the sheep they look so miffed ha! Then you can always tell the drivers who are looking at the mountains as they are all over the road! If you wanna look then stop in the many laybys along the way!!!

Ugh I can imagine that is so annoying too! one person here stopped behind a donkey doing about 3mph the whole way, when I came back from dog walking he was STILL following the donkey :S

 

[lisab1986]

I found when i started to drive that i was being cut up all the time because i had P plates on my car..as soon as i took them off people seemed to back off a little.
I must admit i have never been one to drive under the limit and it drives me insane if people drive below the limit, there is such a thing as being too careful and being dangerous.
Imo you should leave the kids with your oh and get yourself out on the road for a couple of hours to build your confidence a little, you will gain alot from it. You dont have to drive over the limit, after all there is a limit for a reason.

 

[kelzyboo]

I've only just passed too and although i was a nervous learner, the confidence has come pretty quick but i stay within the limits. Have been told i'm a fast driver but i'm actually not really, the person telling me was an awfully slow driver, way worse than your describing!

I was stuck behind a driving school car the other day, very slow and unsure, i guessed very new learner so i stayed back to give them space and some horrible man in the car behind me was beeping and arm waving and the poor girl stalled at a roundabout She went the opposite way and he followed me, he didn't beep again as i wasn't slow but when we stopped at light, not proud to say, but he did get the two fingered salute!! He really annoyed me, people ignore L and P plates and behave like idiots anyway

You don't sound like you drive overly slow at all, if your within the speed limit and some idiot wants to overtake or beep like a weirdo thats their problem, i hope they get a speeding fine x

 

[Bernie]

Im a new driver aswell only passed 2 weeks ago. I was told by my driving instructor not to bother with the p plates as no one takes any notice and i know for a fact they didnt when i had L plates on. Im still nervous and dont really enjoy it and feel like i still dont have a clue. Yet i passed first time with only 1 minor driving fault which still amazes me I dont go far i take my LO to nursery every morning and go shopping thats about all. If we need to go anywhere else i get OH to drive and also so he cant moan about my driving. My weak points all the way through driving which was 6 years on and off learning to drive was round abouts and since ive done my test ive avoided them since. I plan my route before going out i want to take the kids here and there but i think about where and how i would park. If the thought of going out does my head in to much i dont bother going out. Its crazey i dont know why the nervous are so bad. I should be enjoying it and i dont and its took 6 years to have got my license. My OH understands im a nervous driver but i think he thought once i passed my test he would hardly see me. Infact i do what i have to do in the mornings and pick my daughter up from nursery at lunch time and thats it i stay home for the rest of the day. I dont know what to do about it maybe i need extra driving lessons not sure or wheather i should just say bugger it and explore on my own when my OH is here to look after the girls

 

[lousielou]

Perhaps you'd feel more confident after doing a Pass Plus Bernie? I did it and it took my nervousness about motorways right away!

Other than that, to be honest I think you might just have to bite the bullet and set yourself a target of driving around for half an hour a day, every day, just so you get more comfortable doing it. For the first month or so, the thought of being in control of the car on my own made me feel freaked out!

 

[Abz1982]

I've been driving for nearly 2 years now on this licence - I got mine revoked because I got so fed up of the abuse I decided to just do what they wanted so I got caught speeding.
So now I am no way risking my license and I'm not used to the people who tail gate or harass folk. I've had a few right twonks, flashing as I am doing say 29 in a 30....... My instructor taught me to ignore them, but my works H&S policy says to pull over and just let them proceed so that you remove the hazard from your vicinity.

Im also a pain and I do collect number plates and I do phone in to report them as I have been told that once they are logged as having a complaint against them, if they get more then they look into it. And the police are concentrating not just on speeders but on dangerous and nuisance drivers - which is what these folk are.

 

[JASMAK]

I have been driving for 21 years, and as long as you are driving in the correct lane (not the fast lane or passing lane) then I think driving at the speed you are comfortable at is the best, espesially if you are a new driver. If you have a jack ass behind you, and no passing lane, then I would signal, and pull-over (if safe) to let them pass, instead of them being dicks as it will only upset you (and them). You will find no matter what speed, there will always be some as$hole who will tail, or be a jerk. Don't take this personally. I think people don't even think of people as people in cars. I had a friend finger me and honk when she nearly hit ME (she went through stop sign, and I had a straight through). She felt HORRIBLE, but it shows that people don't stop to think who is that person or anything else. As long as you aren't driving ridiculously slow, or in the wrong lane, you drive as safe as you please!!!

 

[Lynzeigh]

If you can afford it Bernie, it is worth taking a few minutes or a couple of hours of time to drive around aimlessly...when I passed my test I thought I would love driving, but after a few mishaps and being bullied by other experienced drivers, I started to dread driving my car.

Finally I decided to just drive around my local area aimlessly, just driving about to get out of the house and away from my brother (We don't get on at all!) just driving around and around on quiet roads and gradually onto more busy roads and venturing further and further....this became my new habit when ever I was fed up and wanted out of the house!

It paid off and gradually I started actually enjoying and feeling more confident while driving. If you can spare an hour or 2 each day and spend it to drive around, do it, after all it is also a learning experience, you never stop learning when it comes to driving and it is all experience.....like me you may have mishaps...come across bad drivers etc, but you eventually learn how to deal with them confidently.

I used to cry if another driver shouted at me or gave me a fnger gesture, now 6 years later I don't take it personally anymore, you will find that all your bad experiences actually toughen you up a bit, soon you will be laughing off the insults like I do, or even find yourself giving as good as you get back.

You won't feel intimidated as you do now trust me,,,after about a month or 2 on the road you will blend in and not feel like everyone is intimidating. xxx