I feel your pain Martin! ReallyI do!
Ever since I got over the thrill of passing my test (first time, aged 16 and 1 month, May 1964) I felt so bloody frustrated and rode and drove everywhere as fast as the poor vehicle would go.
I had my fair share of run-ins but most of them were a clip round the ear and a warning of impending doom 'if I ever catch you doing that again'.
As vehicle technology and performance improved my frustration levels went down as my 'cruising' speed went up and up until I finally had cars and bikes that would easily reach 'my' perfect personal speed - 94 mph!
I have tried covering the speedo and riding and driving on motorways and good duals and I settle at somewhere between 90 and 95, just inside the mandatory court appearance figure of 96.
Like you, I nod off if I try to travel more slowly in an otherwise derestricted zone. Obviously, if the road or the conditions or the traffic are challenging then I go with flow and am perfectly capable of driving at what some would call sensible speeds as long as there is something to occupy my mind and my over-active imagination and I always have the power to overtake when the chance arises.
I have a clean licence and it is about 20 years since my last set of points although my overdraft was up to about 9 points back in the 80's. I was lucky to get off a camera summons (47 in a 40) about 10 years ago when the photos were so bad neither I nor swimbo could tell which of us had been driving on which of about 20 trips to B&Q in the timeframe. Many receipts and even worse quality photos in court and my barrister got the speeding charge dropped and the worse count of failing to disclose the driver was thrown out by the bench. They even paid his costs and travel costs from London and my costs and my total bill was less than £200.
So, how to ride at your comfortable speed and not get nicked. I can only tell you what I do, but it has stood me in good stead both since I retired (as now my 'experience' is less but my exposure is less too) and before (when my urgency was greater and my exposure way higher, commuting, rush hour, every day on the road etc. etc.)
1 invest in a good set of speed camera data, (I use PocketGPSWorld) install it in your sat nav, keep it current with weekly updates and listen to it! I slow for every single posted camera site and declared police site and haven't fallen foul of a camera since.
2 My 92 mph cruising speed is only valid when there are no other vehicles in sight either in front or behind unless a) I am absolutely certain they are not in the police patrol car demographic (late model, high spec, high-end marque etc. etc. and most of the vehicles on the roads are most definitely not!!) or b) I have just overtaken them.
3 I actually look into every car I overtake on a motorway, the driver's clothing, sat nav position, etc. etc. if it does fall within the police car demographic above.
4 I ease past things on motorways and duals, never blast past them. On normal roads I check out every car before I overtake it; model, driving style, occupants, cleanliness, stickers, coat hangers etc. etc.
5 I play a cops and robbers game with myself when the traffic is thin and the conditions allow my high cruising speeds. There is one behind every bush after all! Where would I hide if I were a cop? Where can I be seen from; I almost never blast along long straight roads. The A419/417 Cotswold By-Pass is the worst road on earth for this aspect, too many hills and long straights with many declared sites and camera van layby's so caution is the order of the day in daylight. Darkness brings a certain confidence that I will see their hi-viz before they clock me but any car or van in any layby always causes me to slow.
(Two weeks ago I was lamping north on the A419/417 at about 11pm. Passing the last Cirencester turning a car joined from the slip road ahead and was not hanging about but was going slower than me. My hackles rose and I slowed. We drove in 'convoy', about 3/4 mile apart at 85 to 90. He was always there in the distance making excellent progress and it was a joy to follow him. The temptation to catch up was gnawing at me but I let discretion be the better part of valour. He swept through the roundabouts at speed (whereas I close up on most drivers who slow way too much), slowed to the posted 40 limits and it was only as we passed the Birdlip turning and he came up behind traffic on the single carriageway section that I moved up. At about the 1/4 mile mark I could easily see the hi-viz marking on his tailgate. I sat behind him as we queued for the roundabout at The Highwayman and his eyes filled his mirrors but he flicked his right indicator on and headed for Cheltenham as I turned left for Gloucester. Of course, I watched closely in my mirrors to make sure he didn't just do a 270 round the roundabout and follow me down the hill. He knew I was there. He had plenty of opportunity and more than enough reason. He was enjoying the drive and so was I and the concentration of keeping my distance stopped me falling asleep. I like to think that if he had come down the slip road behind me that I would still have clocked him...)
6 I look in my mirrors almost more than I look to the front. I keep count of the cars I can see behind me. If the number goes down, OK. If it goes up, I slow down. If need be I slow right down and have even been known to stop until the offending extra vehicle can be excluded from my threat radar!
7 Anything that suddenly appears behind me is either travelling way faster than me so I slow down and let it go and if it slows down, so do I. On the odd occasion something does come up behind at the speeds I travel, it is either a 'maniac' or the law! Either way, better in front than behind.
Apart from everything else, this paranoia serves to keep my attention levels up which stops me falling asleep; swimbo doesn't know how I manage to do this and drive at the same time and she can't be bothered and sticks to the speed limits...
Brian (who only knows this approach has worked for him for some time now but urges you to watch this space cos Sod's Law says....
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