Not impatient Barrie..........it's 100k limit most of the way down the coast but in most places it would be hard to reach that speed, that caravan driver should learn some common sense and common courtesy by letting others pass. Indeed research and documentation show it's people such as him that cause road rage as well as causing people to take unnecessary risks to pass

Perhaps the next person he shows discourtesy to may not accept his answer as diplomaticaly as you did.

I was thinking the same thing the other day Barrie after having been caught behind a vehicle towing a trailer at slow speed and the other driver unprepared to pull over. There was a huge line up of traffic in his wake. Totally ignorant afaic!

I'm always mindful of who and what is going on behind me when towing. If you are travelling at 80k then that is where all the action is anyway. Will always pull over where possible and if necessary stop. Peeves you off when others can not administer the same courtesy.

As AC said one of these days the driver you mentioned is going to say that to the wrong person and is going to wonder why he is flat on his ass on the ground.

I'd say you were more than patient Barrie.

on the other hand....quite often I find I am toddling along at 100kph and the traffic is building up behind me, I refuse to pull over and let them go. If however I was travelling at 80 or 50 I would pull over.

I will not allow the traffic behind to dictate my speed and if people want to stare at my spare wheel cover more fool them.

Jo - I know it is frustrating when you are tailgated really pisses me off.

However would you feel any better knowing that doing what you are doing could create a dangerous passing manouver that could result in serious accident or death?

If the traffic is building up behind YOU (regardless of the actual speed you are doing) then you are not maintaining the flow of trafffic. Y ou should still pull over.

Let the idiots get caught a few kms up the road on a speed camera.

Hey Barrie, right on mate!

As you know I occasionally tow our boat to Coromandel and there's plenty of places to let others pass even without difficulty and we do so. It's good to get the occasional toot on the horn of thanks (less and less these days) and we feel good for not holding others up. Especially on the hills by Te Kouma!

Other folk have the right to drive without to many hold ups.

Ross

Interesting thread. I am trying to become a Kiwi driver, though it is as difficult to unlearn good driving practices and skills as it is to unlearn bad ones, but are Redfinger and  Wayne L really saying that if you are driving to/at the speed limit you are in the wrong not to stop and let those who want to exceed the speed limit go past you?

Chris

anytime you want to tailgate me bazza i have a few sinkers waiting for you. tailgating is dangerous and if you want to keep yourself safe mate, don't do it.

Personally I would rather let them pass than have the fools around me, regardless of what speed they are doing. Life is just to short to get wound up by fools on the roads.

Its much safer to be behind them, than running with a pack of fools

WOW CJ.......... your a worry mate........ i had some nuts one night think it was a good idea to throw a beer can at my 4X4 because they thought my headlights were on high and this is after i put then up then back down again twice to show they where not........ can show you the tree they ended up against 20meters off the road where i pushed them to.........

dont throw anything at a 4X4 more so if it a Toyota Landcruiser.......

as for going at the speed limit when towing which is 80k you should pull over and let others go by...... its no skin off your nose to do so...... it makes me feel good that ive let them by as i know what its like when im being held up by some stupid dick that thinks eveyone should go at his speed........

all good comments - i do reckon that particularly slow drivers are dangerous in that they create a situation where people may do something reckless to get past

one thing that totally cheeses me off - is where slow drivers speed up signifactantly on passing lanes - a friend got a ticket recently at the end of a passing lane for doing 130k trying to get past someone who had early been travelling at 85k and then sped up at the passing lane

I'm with you guys who would rather let folk past. I want to enjoy my trips so dont see the benefit of making more hassles for myself than absolutely necessary. I have no issues pulling over to allow faster traffic to continue on. Only time i get testy is when i do pull over and the vehicles behind refuse to pass or sit right on your right rear indecisive as to whether to go or not.

Met the campervan from hell today on the way back from Kaiaua. We were following at about 60k along the Miranda cost road, no big issue we wern't in a hurry to get home. All of a sudden the driver in the van hits the picks and comes to a stop. Slow down, look ahead (its a respectable clear straight) indicate and proceed to pass. Just as we get into the right lane the camper takes off and proceeds to sit and keep pace level with the boat as we are accelerating. The dumbass was trying to pass us on the inside and we were running out of road. Luckily the old ute still has a bit of tit and we were able to pass. Thankfully nothing came the other way or we would have been up crappers creek and would have needed to do some major braking. One of the stupidest manoevours ive seen in a long while.

Rainman...... dicks like that mate you just bring the boat real close to there car till they either slow down or end up with the gaurd rubbing up on the door....

hows this one sound....... i had earlier let all the cars go by and for some strange reason one of them must have thought me doing 100k up a hill with a boat on was not to be and right at the top of the hill in the slow lane was a Cattle Truck..... now this dick must have thought if he slowed down he would keep me behind the Truck as it was getting near the end of the passing lanes....... he kept slowing down till he had me and the truck stopped and every other poor bugger on the road stopped as well, a lot of fast breaking was being done behind us as i could see heeps of smoke coming off tyres as they come to a stand still......

now i was a bit pissed off by now with this guy "we are talking about the North Bound State Highway get real" and he having a rear engine car i lined him up with my boat on the back and all and drove straight into the back of him BANG he went forward about ten mtrs and stopped again........ this time i smoked the tyres and was not really thinking much anymore and headed straight at him good job it was a firms car and not mine.....  but he took off this time before i could run into him .......  "dam"...... latter on i noticed this same guy off the road at a rest area checking out how much damage i had done to his car..... so i pull over to find out what i had done to make him act this way.........

would you believe he thought i had kids on board and it was his duty to slow me down regard less as at 100k i was 20k over the speed limit...... i had two 30plus adults onboard...... and i would not let them out of the car due to what they may have done to him.........

now i rest my case....... some people should never be given a drivers license....

Lethal, it was one of those situations that take you completely by surprise, i had one thing on my mind and that was self preservation. A situation where you think "This cant be happening"

lol Interesting situation you had there. Guy needed his head read...doing what he did. Bet he never does that again :)

One situation that perplexes me in regard to our drivers is.

If i'm travelling in the Ute at 100k everyone has to sit up our date or feel they have to pass. I jump in our car with 500hp do 100k and people give us a wide berth or hang back..... Damned if i know what is up with that. Maybe they think the twin big bore is a flame thrower (well they do produce some decent flames at times ;) but not at 100k) Just cant fathom that one :/  Seems to be a mentality on our roads "Oh its a 4x4, its slow, will hold us up, must pass!"