02/11/2026
🚦 20 MEANS 20 🚦
You’re driving through a 20mph zone and someone behind is so close you’re considering adding them to the family WhatsApp.
They’re creeping closer, waving their arms and looking personally wounded that you haven’t broken the speed limit to accommodate their departure time.
I hear this from learners and newly qualified drivers regularly.
They’re trying to do the right thing, but the person behind makes them feel as though they’re holding up a kidney delivery.
Please hear this: you do not need to speed up to keep someone else happy.
Their impatience is theirs to manage.
Those roads might have children stepping out between parked cars, people crossing, concealed junctions or very little room for mistakes.
You need time to see what’s developing and respond safely. Someone inspecting your rear bumper doesn’t remove any of those hazards.
Remember, too, that 20 is the maximum, not a speed you must maintain regardless. Sometimes parked cars, poor visibility, weather or pedestrians mean you need to go slower.
If someone tailgates you, keep calm, leave extra space ahead and give yourself more time to slow gradually.
Avoid brake-checking, gestures or getting drawn into a competition. Let them pass when it’s safe, without feeling pressured into an unsafe manoeuvre.
I want my learners looking at the road ahead, not spending the whole journey worrying about somebody behind auditioning for the role of Britain’s Most Urgent Person.
Your responsibility is to drive safely.
It isn’t to keep an impatient stranger on schedule.
Arrive safely.
