On overtaking.

[robin]

LOL. It's human nature to pull up to the bumper of slow moving traffic, which makes the overtake hard because you need 10000bhp to accelerate from 20mph to 200mph in 6 inches.

My preferred tactic is to hang back, wait for the coming gap and then build up huge speed differential before even pulling out - pass them at warp 8 so they cannot even see you to be outraged. That happens about 1% of the time. The rest of the time you just hedge hop your way down the line and wave politely at anybody that gives you abuse. They wouldn't need to make such a fuss if they had left a reasonable gap to the car in front ...

Reminds me once of a road run where Gil and I were heading home - coming up the A701 (or maybe A702) came round a corner at approximately the national speed limit to discover a tractor and a massive line of traffic crawling behind it. Just about avoided colliding with each other pulling into line. After 5 seconds we both thought "fcuk this" and both did the lot in a oner ... very satisfying


Cheers,
Robin

[tenkfeet]

Should not of sat in line so long.

I would do no3 three but hope not to push in. Usually Dom has gone first and softened them up.

If you do a long line you end up going far to fast, or is that just me.

[fd]

Should not of sat in line so long.

I would do no3 three but hope not to push in. Usually Dom has gone first and softened them up.

If you do a long line you end up going far to fast, or is that just me.

Far too fast - yup - that's how fast you should be going . . . the less time you are overtaking them the less chance one of them will pull out on you and hit you . . . therefore, going faster is safer, you minimise your time exposed to danger. I'm sure that's in the advanced driving manual somewhere . . .

[pshanks76]

If people just left proper stopping distances it would be sooo much easier, then they act like your the A-hole for 'squeezing' in... If only all drivers were as great as Lotus drivers

My biggest concern with big queues like that is, you're often not certain what's causing such a big tail back... Might be the camper, but is there something else you can't see cause your so far back???

And yes tenkfeet you definitely end up faster, foot to the floor until your clear of the last car is usually the technique if I do go for the mass pass

[fd]

Good to see that you are as PC as ever Ferg........

tut

There is far too much PC, watered down, nobody can have an opinion, vapid, weak minded bull around these days Tut, no point in pretending that anybody of interest enjoys it . . .

Fd

[campbell]

IAM manual - Carry out as safely, decisively, quickly and legally as possible.

Police Roadcraft manual - Overtaking more than one vehicle or in a line of traffic - If there is more than one vehicle, you may wish to consider a series of overtakes as one manoeuvre. While you may be able to plan these as such, each one should be reappraised separately as the vehicles are approached. From the point of accelerating past the previous vehicle in the line, you should consider whether to continue or return to a safe position in the line yourself. Each of these decisions is a separate application of the system [IPSGA] *.

* - Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration. For more info, see Advanced Driving, the Essential Guide, Roadcraft, or consider the IAM qualification.

[Corranga]

It really frustrates me when out for a run in the Panda since is tiny and gutless!

Push in and the reward for someone else thinking you are driving dangerously is for them to actually drive dangerously!! The trouble is, people drive too close at the best of times, and everyone seems to think it's their given right to be in front of everyone else, even when they have no intent to pass...

[campbell]

One key challenge includes other road users' ignorance of key Highway Code regulations. Feel free to quote them when you are all in a pile of metal at the roadside...

Rule 168

Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.


Rule 169

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

[campbell]

In practical terms, other than Chris' Panda (sorry!), most of the cars we here are driving have plenty capability, often much moreso than the cars you might be passing.

This differential is neither understood by those being passed, nor allowed for by them. Hence their often surprising (or actively dangerous) actions. A la white van man quoted by Pete above.

A key point of Highway Code, IAM Manual and indeed Roadcraft, is "consideration for other road users". So even if you aren't going to have to "create a gap" to shorten a banzai overtake of 10 cars to 2 or 3 (A9 or A82 stylee), be aware that simply moving into an existing gap after a "swift" overtake might surprise and thus frighten some. Never mind incurring active ire and wrath that you dared to overtake when they lacked one or more of the skill or the bhp or the motivation to do so.

One of the Police IAM examiners who was part of SIDC, provided a stripped down IAM principles course for members IIRC, and one interesting principle he taught was the use of full beam when passing. Similar to use of horn. Both of which are valid warnings of your presence, but of course are universally misinterpreted as rebukes (at least in the UK...our continental friends seem a bit better adjusted, at least to use of flashing of lights as a true warning of I'm Coming Through).

Press on by all means. But as Gav pointed out, if it's only worth a few minutes off your journey, is it really worth it? The opportunity for much greater driving pleasure with a clear road ahead cross-country is a strong lure, again given the cars many of us drive and the fascination we have. But always worth a 2nd think before you nail it...

[alicrozier]

The 211 is a bit of a double edged sword. Many muggles are surprised enough to look in their rear view mirror when you arrive behind them. They often slow down doing this leaving a landing space gap in front. I guess the more extreme the vehicle the better.

Downside is they tend to drift over the road when transfixed by their wing mirror as you pull out with lights on strobe...

[pete]

I was in the Golf with (ahem) bikes on the back.

The favoured plan is to hammer up the line, only revealing at the last minute my cunning plan to nip into a gap. Surprised, the cove in front of whom said nipping will be performed has no time to prevent it. But this time I was a little more restrained, having picked my gap and paced my velocity change some way back to neatly slot in.

As you've all realised that approach doesn't work (and i shall return to the more committed approach forthwith, this being the first time I have tried overtaking in a polite manner).
Warned by the pace of my manoeuvre man in van developed a positively homicidal approach succeeding in closing the gap (accompanied by blaring of horn and flashing of lights) almost leaving me stranded on the wrong side of double whites approaching a corner.

It was his dedication to the untimely demise of yours truly and Little Miss Pete that surprised me.

[alicrozier]

Don't worry Pete, a fair proportion of the population are complete twats. They become more evident behind the wheel...

Hopefully he's expressing remorse on vanman.com forum.

[campbell]

Just imagine if the driver ahead of your (proposed) gap pulled the other classic reaction simultaneously - jumping on the brakes in fright or genuine cooperation to make a gap in front of himself for you. (I see this commonly too).

Said van man would surely be in his boot :-/

In the end, anticipating the worst is key. Gives you time to plan.

[tut]

Obviously the safest way to overtake is to be on the opposite side of the road for as little time as possible which with N3 is not too difficult, unfortunately it works two ways as invariably you will be over the limit, and sods law states that there will be a scam van or patrol car lying in wate. Or as I have found out, in the middle of the gormless mass is a multi coloured car that fortunately can not follow you as you timed it perfectly with the other mass of gormless traffic coming the other way.

Being ultra careful now has saved me twice on the A96 from Keith towards Aberdeen. There are three sections of overtaking lane before Huntley that normally you would overtake as many as possible and almost certainly be doing over 70 without even noticing it. However the new me thinks this would be a perfect place to stick a SV at the end of it, so let's stick to 67, and sure enough on two occasions there were so I even had time to give them a V sign. Would never do that to a police car but for some reason I have a pathological hatred of the occupants inside them.

tut

[Kelvin]

I've come to the conclusion that people just generally don't like being overtaken and it's gotten worse over the years. That said, I get more grief in the Audi S4 than I do in the Elise. I've tried the polite softly softly approach and you still get abuse so now I just hammer past (at the speed limit yer honour as they are all doing 35mph braking to a crawl for the corners and speeding up through the villages) overtaking everyone in one go, if possible, giving them loads of room reducing my time exposed to danger as far as possible. I don't, as a rule, put the beams on though as the Audi full beams blind folk and you're guaranteed to get the reaction you don't want. I will if I am in any doubt about being seen and think they are going to pull out. You can often tell that someone is about to I reckon.

I did have an altercation with a red truck last year. He was crawling along at 30mph so I overtook him slowly as it was a long straight and despite a car further down I could see for several hundred yards. Cue flashing and the one fingerd salute from him. I waved and smiled, as you do. Bunny hopped the next car and continued on my way not giving it another thought. I arrived at the village and cafe I was heading for, ordered a bacon bap and coffee, sat down, got out the crossword, and after a few minutes tucked into the bap. I'd been there for around 15 minutes when I noticed the red van from earlier parking cross the back of my car. Bloke gets out, big, ugly, stupid looking geezer wearing a bobble hat (it was the summer). He spies me in the cafe and marches in hurling abuse at me. You and your fcuk German motors, you all drive like cnut. I could see he was all mouth and no trousers as I figured if he was going to belt me he would have come beyond the threshold of the door. Rather than get into a debate with him I told him to fcuk off and continued with my breakfast. He ran out of steam got back in the van and drove off. Every chuffing morning for the next few weeks I came across the same red van at roughly the same spot. Some mornings he would see me and drive on the wrong side of the road (I undertook him once lol) most of the time he didn't and I just blitzed past. In the end I figured I was going to end up in his accident so started going a different route.

More recently, I saved someone's bacon although he didn't appreciate it. I live over an hour from the office. I can either endure the A1M or I can traverse the Cambs, Beds, Herts back roads. It all takes the same amount of time but it's more fun. I've got to know every bump, crest, corner and pot hole on these roads so can make good progress. There are a few dodgy off camber corners with blind dips just before and longish straights beyond so you know when to time overtakes etc. Last week I was approaching the worst of these with a few cars in front of me. I could see a Mini Cooper S rapdily catching us all up and I figured he didn't know the road as he was lining up for an overtake. You can overtake just before this corner but you need to be able to see through the hedges which he couldn't so far back but I could and could see there was a car coming the other way. I pulled over to the right stopping him from overtaking and sure enough a car came around the corner which he would have hit. This didn't stop him going sh*t. I mean properly heart attack inducing bonkers, all red in the face spitting froth onto his windscreen bananas. He was weaving back and forth still trying to overtake on the bend but kept pulling back in as he could see he was unsighted. We exit the corner onto the straight and I roar off overtaking the cars in front. Oddly the mad Cooper driver doesn't and stays behind everyone. Folk are odd.