Ron needs your help members - can you drive your car at 5 mph constantly?

Ron, the fact is that, unless the vehicle is fitted with the mythical perfect speedometer and that it registers speeds as low as 5 mph (8 Km/h) then it is not possible. It is possible to drive at a constant speed only if there is some kind of speed control fitted because one's foot generally can't stay steady enough. I used to be able to do it with my 4X4 using low range and just allowing the engine to tickover but even then I don't think it was possible to determine exactly what the speed was because the speedo was certainly not accurate at that speed.

With the aid of satnav you could measure the speed accurately of course but again, 5 mph is so low that even a slight downgrade would push it up a bit.  In short, maybe not impossible but very, very difficult to achieve

I hope that helps Ron.

Ron, that's about how fast I walk...unless I'm strolling. Over here most police give an accountable 5 MPH difference to speed limits also. Going to slow.... can be as hazzardous as going to fast. You have to use common sense for the situation at hand.  There are all kinds of ways of slowing traffic down with "signs" posted...some of them are: slow..pedestrians.....Slow..kids at play...Slow..Bus stop, there are also as I said before speed bumps and I only like them if they are not one behind the other. They are an sure way to discourage any traffic....and yard sales. They can be over-done also.I think that those over the road " stairways" work better in an heavy traffic situation then trying to make the cars slow down also. Glenfaire elementary school has one of them to help the kids get across an four lane road in Portland. Another way of slowing down the traffic is to put two blocks back..and stop sign... where they have to actually stop and take off again. But I do beleive that for the most part there is kind of this "accepted" natural speed people have when driving certain road areas...just the word "slow" on an sign often helps...now how about the little girl that ran out of her mother's house ..chasing her cat... and ran into the side of my mother's car at night ? My mother cried for hours thinking she'd hurt this little girl...The crunch she felt was the cat, not the little girl...but the little girl did hit the side of the car...before being thrown backwards...and it was an residenial area you coulnd' drive fast in. Accidents are just that.."accidents" no intended to have taken palce to begin with...and you can't determine how they will happen sometimes..or when. If you can, someone has most likely already done something about it already. Get this one...we parked one of our cars in the past.. out in front of our house...an kid coming home late one night pushed our car past our house... and took off...he finally came down an admitted to the damage several days later...we asked him if he'd been partying...he said no..he'd been given an "GPS" to find his way home and was more intent on what it was saying... then his driving an didn't notice our car...though we were at curbside and had parked it there for an long time. So goes. We told him if he'd take care of the damage himself..we would not turn him into authorites because he was so young. He seemed grateful for that suggestion. Insurance rates are out-rageous these days.

Should of read ..Couldn't drive fast in......as for my mother...but it helped to tip the balance of MOM coming out an diabetic from the emotional impact of the episode...and where were her parent's...staniding in the doorway screaming "stop". She had already hit mom's car before they came running after her. You would of thought they'd went after her as she left the house...but "NO". All my mother was doing was driving down the street.. and she wasn't going fast either. She hit the back half of the car near the tire well. You see, an true "accident".

One year at Blackpool in the bus driving championships, the signed speed--for those that noticed the sign-- was 8 mph you had to judge and drive at. Its not easy hence why it one of many driving tests they think up, but certainly not impossible at this slightly higher speed. 

I have evidence from the Lancs Constabulary, a small trophy and £50 cheque for winning this part of the contest besides the championship it self. 

It should be coming up soon on a Sunday in Blackpool; will be Sunday 9th Sept. with a lot of the driving on Blackpool promenade. Worth a watch for anyone there wondering what all the buses are doing along the prom. One section I could never do--- they had two converging lines at different angles starting wider than the track of the wheels then getting less. The test was to stop the front  wheels with both of the outside edges on a 3 inch green stripe that made up part of the two converging lines.Get the appraoch wrong by about more than 2", and it will be impossible before you even reach the lines. The speed test section was far easier.

Just tried it using a couple of sat navs which showed the car at idle speed doing 4.3 mph. A very light touch on the gas brought it upto 5mph, occasionally hitting 6. 

It would be hard to believe anyone watching the car could see this minor variation of speed, thus not being able to say at what speed the car was going. Unless everyone on the site is driving around on idle, I'd say there's a good chance they're all exceeding this fanciful 5 mph speed limit.  

Too right Paul. I tried today in my Renault Clio and guess what? The speedo only starts at 20 K/mh which is about 14 MPH so how could one ever keep a constant 8 K/mh?

I tried letting it move in 1st gear at tick over and the speedo  needle didn't even move. In second gear at tick over it registered just under 20. Verdict? Not possible to maintain 8 K/mh.

Thanks for all the comments members, it is very much appreciated. I have used some of the examples in a letter to those concerned and will win this battle.

There is a saying that goes 'When you're in a hole, stop digging'. I quoted this to the 'other side' yesterday and told them that they cannot possibly win this futile argument.

However, the solicitors of course want to keep it going (like they do) to keep sending out letters on behalf of their clients at £150 a pop so as far as I am concerned they can keep writing them, and I will answering them, end result it costs the owners of the Park a huge amount of money for something that was avoidable had they responded to my formal complaint in the first place!

I thought I would try and see if I could help you yesterday.  My car's lowest marking is 20km/h - about 11mp/h I would guess!  

So even though I could drive really slowly I have no idea what speed I was in fact doing!  

I am not sure that a speed limit could be enforced if it is lower than any car's speedo guage!  I think the law is supposed to be based on reasonableness isn't it??

Not sure if it makes a difference but I drive a Ford Fiesta!