Slow Down, Calm Down (Stick to the speed limit)
Traffic is the biggest single killer of 12-16 year olds.
Two out of three accidents where people are killed or injured happen on roads where the speed limit is 40mph or less.
At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill someone you hit as at 30mph. Enough said.
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Taunton, GB , 15 Aug 2005
Since we got married Annie has done a fantastic job of slowing me down! I’ve even got to the point where I drove part way back from Cheltenham the other day at BELOW (!!) the speed limit!
Taunton, GB , 15 Aug 2005
Put on some relaxing music whilst driving.
Or wind down all the windows – that should slow you down – unless you have extremely short hair! (which therefore won’t get messed up if you speed up)
Godalming, GB , 21 Aug 2005
Having signed up to this on the previous YoLG website I found it did help me remember to stick to the speed limit when my mind starts to wander and my foot rests too heavily on the accelorator, but I generally did try to stick to the speed limit anyway. It infuriates my son, but you never know when a child could run out in front of you in a built up area and I would hate even to kill a rabbit when I was in the countryside.
24 Aug 2005
I do try to control myself but it’s all wide dual carriageways round here and so easy to slip up a gear.
24 Aug 2005
After 2 speeding tickets in the space of a year, thought I’d better do this. Should point out that in the previous 13 years of driving I had never got a single one, but hopefully now I’ll never get another.
04 Sep 2005
Not quite as good at this as I was earlier – it’s difficult when you go up a steep hill in London at 35 and the driver behind decides that’s too slow and overtakes you on the inside. I just have to resolve to cause road rage!
Godalming, GB , 06 Sep 2005
Amazing! We have steep hills here, and you’d be hard pressed to go up them out of second gear. Maybe that’s because they roads are narrow and one is full of parked cars and the other has a few bends.
08 Sep 2005
I’ve been really trying to keep my speed down to 60mph rather than 70mph. For some reason it’s a more relaxed drive. Don’t manage to do this all the time mind.
Stroud, GB , 30 Sep 2005
I guess I need to learn to leave for places earlier than the time I ought to be arriving there…I’m sure it would help hugely ;-)
01 Oct 2005
This is really difficult on Motorways, but I’m getting there…. I have found that the increased MPG has made it much easier though…
GB , 01 Oct 2005
I always do this, it seems to drive other road users insane, our local streets are “20 is plenty” due to a nearbly school and nursery, unfortunatley they are often driven on at frightening speeds
Milton Keynes, GB , 02 Oct 2005
I am resolving to do this – having two speeding tickets myself – also after a very long time without a single one – are they getting better at detecting!? – I drive slower now due to small people in the car however need to calm down when alone as often am in a rush or just excited to be out without the kids!! They are putting the speed limits down all over MK so will have to calm down anyway.
03 Oct 2005
Didn’t realise that slowing down also saved petrol!! Logical really, now I think about it! Save lives and the planet. Result! I find that slowing down and taking things more calmly, reduces my stress levels on a journey and makes me feel more laid back. Plus the fact that I can’t speed as I have an old camper van!
08 Oct 2005
I have 9 points on my driving licence….
I drive 25,000 miles a year for my job so this is a big issue
really trying, frankly have no choice but it is so hard.
So many speed limits seem so utterly random – one minute 50 then 30 then 50. If you are having a good converstation in the car,.....
Your thoughts and prayers are welcomed for me here
Stroud, GB , 28 Oct 2005
Very scary trip down the M6/M5 yesterday with someone else driving strengthened my resolve on this one. Apologies to anyone else who was scared witless by our rapid, illegal progress – I found myself praying we would be stopped!
31 Oct 2005
Tried slowing down some years ago to obey the law of the land – didn’t work and very frustrating! Doing it out of consideration for others should make it easier. Isn’t it easier to obey a rule when we know why?!
09 Nov 2005
As well as all the safety aspects, I’m the driver amongst my close friends and family who hasn’t had a speeding fine and I enjoy the moral highground!! Lol :o)
Reading, GB , 19 Nov 2005
On A roads it can be difficult when someone is trying to drive in your boot for miles I know they’re getting angry behind me so I try to pull in if I can and let them carry on. But it can be quite stressful. I try to listen to 70/80s throw-back stations to chill out and sing along as I drive, especially after a long day. It helps me.
07 Dec 2005
I’ve averaged 3,000 miles a month since signing up and this one can be a challenge. Sticking to the 30 limit on quick roads around town and on the motorway when you’ve been caught up in traffic because of an accident and now you’re late for an appointment, or you just want to get home fromm 200 miles away have been the most difficult.
Reading, GB , 11 Dec 2005
Still early days for me, but have driven a couple of longer journeys and found it less stressful. Instead of trying to get places faster and feeling tempted to put foot down on motorway I know look @ speed limit and distance calculate rough est of time and just tell myself that that’s how long it’ll take. It’s out of my hands and that feels better than pressuring myself to go faster on the off chance I might get somewhere quicker
03 Jan 2006
I rarely drive but am very conscious of my speed and always encourage my husband to so down.
09 Jan 2006
Karen is the offender in this department – Jonathon, Matt and Lissy being blameless and without prosecutions…She really thought she was a reformed speeder having curtailed motorway thrills but was recently nabbed on an urban road – indignant that she was in a 40mph zone did not impress police officer…driver awareness course offered instead of fixed penalty notice…fee the same and takes half day, but points waived. Thoroughly recommend if a little humililating…”I’m Karen and I did 37mph in 30mph zone in an Opel Zafira etc” (guffaws for the Smart car owner!) Now almost evangelical in her enthusiasm to keep to limits set. Best tip from the instructors – most cars are not designed for speeds less than 40mph – slip down to third gear in urban areas if you really find it difficult to maintain 30mph limit. Does use more fuel but in practice only needed to do this a few times to get ‘the feel’ of doing 30mph.
11 Jan 2006
As a Traffic Engineer, I’m one of the most passionate people I know when it comes to sticking to the speed limit! They’re there for a reason and reducing speed does save lives. I spend a fair amount of time at work looking at accident statistics and am always shocked by the number of accidents that are due to excessive speed. Although it may not seem like it sometimes (everyone has an opinion about traffic!), people in my industry are highly trained, very experienced and don’t introduce new traffic calming measures without a great deal of thought, referring to Government guidelines and public consultation. And as for the dreaded ‘speed hump’, we only put those in as a last resort in order to FORCE people to slow down. If drivers drove properly in the first place, we wouldn’t need speed humps! Anyway, rant over, I feel better now! :-)
Newark, GB , 16 Jan 2006
A school friend’s Mum was killed by a speeding driver not long after I passed my test, which is something I’ve always thought of when driving. I’m also aware that not everyone on the road is safe (they may be under the influence, driving illegally or whatever) and so you can’t rely on other people’s reactions to stop an accident. Driving with care and within the speed limit means that if another driver does something silly everyone around has more chance of coming out unscathed.
London, GB , 24 Jan 2006
Got rid of my (electric) car this month, but when I do drive, I am always very careful to stick to the speed limit, but I can’t tell you how annoying everybody else seems to find it. I read somewhere that 60% of the British public admit to speeding, but I think that’s a massive understatement. When I’m on the road I find that almost nobody seems to respect the speed limit. Everybody’s always in such a hurry. Personally, I’d rather arrive late and in one piece, than not at all. The way I look at it is: ‘is it worth risking death for?’ and if the answer is no, it’s not worth speeding for.
29 Jan 2006
I drive far too quickly and am very impatient (ask my kids!). This will at least get me thinking … Thanks.
13 Feb 2006
My wife always drives at or just bellow the speed limit and the number of times people overtake her in town (she is doing exactly 30) makes me think that perhaps the best thing is that 1 offence in a Thirty (or Twenty limit) then you lose you licence.. I also agree with a Sheriff who said that Aggressive drivers should just have their Licences taken off them as they are a real danger to other road users… Sounds like a whinge but I saw too many kids in Hospital knocked over by Cars…..
04 Apr 2006
I dislike it when I’m travelling at the speed limit and get overtaken,especially in built up areas,but I try to remember something my driving instructor told me,’Better to have the idiots where you can see them!’
22 May 2006
I am trying to stick to this. I find it difficult if I’m in a bad mood and my evil alter ego takes over!!! Having read everyone’s comments I am going to try the soothing music in the car rather than my dancy CDs. I did recently get my first SP50 on the motor way so maybe should slow down for the sake of others and my wallet. We should all make an effort to take number plates and report them to the police for overtaking in builtup areas, especially if you are sticking to the speed limit so you know they are going faster.
13 Jun 2006
Do you really get there any quicker?
I worked 25 miles from home, everyday I would drive at the speed limit along a country road. The road was reasonally busy, single lane and occasionally it turned into a dual carriageway. At the end of the non stop 12 miles was a roundabout. This is where I would meet the cars that had overtaken me!
I was very amused, some used to pull out dangerously to overtake, others just flew by. And everyday there they were in front of me by several metres! Hoe much extra fuel would they have burned at the speed that they travelled?
The longer the distance, the more miles you will cover if speeding, but is it really worth it!! Risking your life and others, and adding the extra CO2 and other pollutants to the environment?
18 Jul 2006
This also save a lot of petrol, energy, greenhouse gasses and so on… Do It!
27 Jul 2006
As I do a lot of motorway driving to get to meetings and clients I would always stick cruise control on at 80. I’m a bit of an average mpg watcher on the car computer and would get about 53 – 55mpg on a motorway trip. NOw I stick to “around 70” ;
) and my mpg has shot up! The last 1000 miles I did the overall average was 60.5! Big savings in everything. Maybe we should get some car stickers printed – “Slow down – reduce costs, reduce pollution, reduce deaths” or maybe something a bit catchier than that!! :)15 Aug 2006
Thought I’d better commit to an action that would involve a challenge otherwise I’m not really making any changes. This will be tough but I’ll give it my best shot.
Martock, GB , 31 Aug 2006
This is a hard one – but we’ll try. We do get an overall 55mpg when we manage. It’s difficult on motorways because we get stuck between the lorries doing 50mph and the cars doing 80mph!
Tough for those who do many tens of thousands of miles a year on unfamiliar roads and just want to get home quickly!
07 Sep 2006
This is tough but it’s going okay. When you slow down, actively let people in to queueing traffic and generally take the competitiveness and hurry out of driving it’s a much more pleasurable experience.
Levenshulme, Manchester, GB , 08 Oct 2006
i love doing this all the time. was first inspired by the radio advert where a child says ‘if you hit me at 40 mph there’s around 80% i’ll die, if you hit me around 30 mph there’s around 80% i’ll live.’ let her live!
Egham, GB , 10 Oct 2006
I’ve not been driving long so am still very aware of sticking to the speed limit. Sometimes when you’re going along at 30 you can tell that everyone behind you is really impatient for you to get a move on but i just think about the above radio advert.
07 Nov 2006
I got lost on the way to Greenbelt this year and was picked up in Oxford doing 35 in a 30mph zone. Have been trying very hard to keep to the speed limit ever since and guess what – driving has suddenly turned out to be a relaxing experience. If I am late, well I’ll just have to live with it. I thought I drove the way I did because I was stressed. Turns out I was stressed because I drove the way I did. Anyway yesterday I did the Thames Valley Speed Awareness Scheme (generously offered as an alternative to points on the license). It was a very positive experience, and hopefully will have reinforced my intentions no end.
07 Nov 2006
I got lost on the way to Greenbelt this year and was picked up in Oxford doing 35 in a 30mph zone. Have been trying very hard to keep to the speed limit ever since and guess what – driving has suddenly turned out to be a relaxing experience. If I am late, well I’ll just have to live with it. I thought I drove the way I did because I was stressed. Turns out I was stressed because I drove the way I did. Anyway yesterday I did the Thames Valley Speed Awareness Scheme (generously offered as an alternative to points on the license). It was a very positive experience, and hopefully will have reinforced my intentions no end.
Sittingbourne, GB , 10 Dec 2006
I’ve been trying my best to stick to the speed limit since living in Australia. They have a zero tolerance attitude to speeding – none of this 10% plus 2 mph we have here! I do try to be extra considerate though when I’m driving ‘slowly’ and find places to pull over if nutters want to get past – no point them getting themselves squashed just because I want a peaceful drive to work!
Bromsgrove, GB , 29 Dec 2006
The engine in my old car has died so I’ve had to buy a new one. (Well new for me, it’s a used car). I’m quite impatient in the car, and get really annoyed when people do stupid things, which seems to happen more and more often. Will try this when I get my new car, hopefully will make me more calm when I drive. Think it’ll be hardest on the motorway and in 30 limits. In between I tend to stick to the limits anyway.
22 Feb 2007
One year on and still clean!
Actually probably one of the best actions I could do… Tend to allow more time for journeys, feel more relaxed and certainly more aware of driving conditions, other road users and pedestrians. Most people don’t need ‘Driver Awareness’ to do this, but it was definately beneficial for me. Karen
GB , 15 May 2007
Interesting one this- especially as we have 2 teenage girls who are now driving. Speed has become a talking point especially on long journeys when the foot rests too heavily and I “keep up with the traffic” What they do when I am not in the car is another issue but hopefully we are instilling good habits of a life time.
The central digital speedo for all to see in the front of our Espace makes it much more public!
29 Aug 2007
I drive about 25 miles each day to work, and I know the biggest factor affecting what time I get there is the time I set off, not how fast I drive on the way.
Fuel economy is worst affected by acceleration, so avoid slowing down(!?) – leave plenty of room between you and the car in front.
I reckon that by being careful and driving at 50 rather than 60 I can increase fuel economy by 20-25%, and take five minutes more on my journey.
02 Jun 2008
Having recently bought a car with a trip computer that tells you your fuel consumption, I have been making a determined effort to drive differently. I rarely drive above 60 on any road and take care with accelerating and slowing down. On some journeys I am getting 52 miles to the gallon in my little petrol car which is pretty good and given the price of petrol, necessary. This is just a win win situation, if a little slow. The chance of accidents is reduced, fuel emissions are lower and I spend less money.
London, GB , 15 Aug 2008
I have another G-Wiz (max speed 50mph), and 2½ years since my original comment nothing’s changed (and I can see from other comments that others experience this too):
As long as it’s safe, I always travel at the speed limit, but I’m overtaken constantly even though the majority of roads I use have a 20, 30 or 40mph speed limit.
In fact, I think the realisation that they’re travelling behind an electric car actually brings out the venomous side in some people, and one angry speeder actually hung out of his window to yell at me that I should get a real car (I omitted the obscenities) – despite the fact I had kept up with him without speeding for the last 4 miles (built up area, so traffic lights etc)…