Whats everyones take on overtaking on chevrons?
Discussion
The crux of this is whether or not you are legally allowed in the area. Solid white line around hatching or chevrons = NO. If no overtaking on it or even driving over it MUST not be done. I believe a Police Officer can instruct you to drive over it (e.g. due to an accident as a means for getting people around it) but it isn't your decision.
Broken white lines around a hatching/chevrons/whatever = YES. Yes you are allowed on it legally. It's there as a traffic seperator and it is your decision whether or not it is necessary to use it. It might be useful, for example, to enter a median traffic seperator when turning right to allow traffic to pass on your left.
So once it is your decision then, frankly, it is only a hop skip and jump to deciding it is necessary to overtake a slow moving vehicle in front to maintain progress.
Personally I would examine the road carefully and if an overtaking manouevre could be made in perfect safety (as always of course) then I would do so. I would also take into account the likely actions of drivers of vehicles around me in that decision - for example if I thought that the vehicle in front might be being driven by a knobber likely to serve about and try to kill me because they don't like being overtaken I might decide not to try - but then I take that into consideration on every overtake anyway...
I would NOT just blithely assume that any traffic seperator is there my own personal use, however. Nope - it would depend on the road in question. But I would consider an overtake - if safe.
Broken white lines around a hatching/chevrons/whatever = YES. Yes you are allowed on it legally. It's there as a traffic seperator and it is your decision whether or not it is necessary to use it. It might be useful, for example, to enter a median traffic seperator when turning right to allow traffic to pass on your left.
So once it is your decision then, frankly, it is only a hop skip and jump to deciding it is necessary to overtake a slow moving vehicle in front to maintain progress.
Personally I would examine the road carefully and if an overtaking manouevre could be made in perfect safety (as always of course) then I would do so. I would also take into account the likely actions of drivers of vehicles around me in that decision - for example if I thought that the vehicle in front might be being driven by a knobber likely to serve about and try to kill me because they don't like being overtaken I might decide not to try - but then I take that into consideration on every overtake anyway...
I would NOT just blithely assume that any traffic seperator is there my own personal use, however. Nope - it would depend on the road in question. But I would consider an overtake - if safe.
Broken lines allow overtaking continuous lines do not, the chevron means caution [possible junction/turn-off, if the opportunity to overtake is present then doing so is not an infringement of the law.
Solid lines should always accompany something like a traffic island ahead and overtaking on them is just a total no-no. [excepting of course there being a stationary obstacle to be manoeuvred around]
I like the former as they often force drivers over a bit allowing a safer overtake.
Solid lines should always accompany something like a traffic island ahead and overtaking on them is just a total no-no. [excepting of course there being a stationary obstacle to be manoeuvred around]
I like the former as they often force drivers over a bit allowing a safer overtake.
wmg100 said:
Look at the overtake at 4.00 minutes on this video (by R-U-LOCAL from PH)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
I would probably overtake in the same situation, but what about the ones that have a broken white border line but are painted red?http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
Holmesian said:
Solid lines should always accompany something like a traffic island ahead and overtaking on them is just a total no-no.
So is breaking the speed limit.I know of several stretches of former two lane dual carriageway that have been artificially converted to single lane dual carriageway by solid white lines and chevrons with underlying red tarmac. It makes a mockery of the solid line rule as in many case there is no danger whatsoever for a significant distance after the pinching begins and one could otherwise complete an overtake if it weren't for the extreme danger posed by some paint.
Edited by JonRB on Friday 25th July 12:09
onlynik said:
Greeny said:
* if the area is bordered by a broken white line, you should not enter the area unless it is necessary and you can see that it is safe to do so
So if someone in front is doing 45 on a long stretch of straight road, 60 limit, can overtaking them be deemed 'necessary'?
I wouldn't have said so.So if someone in front is doing 45 on a long stretch of straight road, 60 limit, can overtaking them be deemed 'necessary'?
Are you that inpatient or agressive?
I overtake on chevrons boardered by broken white lines EVERY single day going both ways. They are on a country B road on a VERY wide road, which is actually not straight but might as well be because there is plenty of visability on the road ahead. There is a junction to a very minor road and you can see 200 yds up it in both directions.
In one direction I have complete the overtake way before I reach the junction (left), and in the other direction I start my overtake after the junction (right). I get one set of wheels onto the chevron, so that if I happened to meet myself coming the other way there would be 4 cars across the road in complete safety. (I said it was wide).
My take on this is that it's safe, and the cars I am overtaking are doing 2/3 of the speed limit and 1/2 what would be safe, so why be held up by them. I'm sure if I had a discussion with a BIB about it, they would not see it my way.
In one direction I have complete the overtake way before I reach the junction (left), and in the other direction I start my overtake after the junction (right). I get one set of wheels onto the chevron, so that if I happened to meet myself coming the other way there would be 4 cars across the road in complete safety. (I said it was wide).
My take on this is that it's safe, and the cars I am overtaking are doing 2/3 of the speed limit and 1/2 what would be safe, so why be held up by them. I'm sure if I had a discussion with a BIB about it, they would not see it my way.
JonRB said:
Holmesian said:
Solid lines should always accompany something like a traffic island ahead and overtaking on them is just a total no-no.
So is breaking the speed limit.I know of several stretches of former two lane dual carriageway that have been artificially converted to single lane dual carriageway by solid white lines and chevrons with underlying red tarmac. It makes a mockery of the solid line rule as in many case there is no danger whatsoever for a significant distance after the pinching begins and one could otherwise complete an overtake if it weren't for the extreme danger posed by some paint.
Edited by JonRB on Friday 25th July 12:09
The great problem is that there is a missive from the top that forces 'de-trunking' of many 'A' roads, it seems ok until the nearby motorway gets closed, then because the de-trunked A road is now peppered with restrictions the area grinds to a halt.
The A4 is an example of this, any crash that closes the M4 results in there being 4-6 hours of nightmare and massive pollution, yet strangely it is the 'greens' that go for de-trunking the most fervently in your area, a case of agenda defeating intelligence once again.
Holmesian said:
The A4 is an example of this, any crash that closes the M4 results in there being 4-6 hours of nightmare and massive pollution, yet strangely it is the 'greens' that go for de-trunking the most fervently in your area, a case of agenda defeating intelligence once again.
Yup. Exactly the same with the A30 and the M3. 
One thing not to forget is what you can read from the road in the first place. Its often overlooked that a little observation goes a long way to understanding what the dangers are of a particular section. For example, even just looking at the spacing of the dashes in the white line prior to the hashed section should give you a guide as to what is current and what is coming up.
I have seen far too many roads where its perfectly safe to overtake, but the majority of drivers see the chevrons and think its illegal. Its not, just proceed with caution. In in many cases its better to get past and on, rather than caught in a snaking mobile traffic jam.....
But thats just my opinion.
I have seen far too many roads where its perfectly safe to overtake, but the majority of drivers see the chevrons and think its illegal. Its not, just proceed with caution. In in many cases its better to get past and on, rather than caught in a snaking mobile traffic jam.....
But thats just my opinion.
109 Bob said:
wmg100 said:
Look at the overtake at 4.00 minutes on this video (by R-U-LOCAL from PH)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
I would probably overtake in the same situation, but what about the ones that have a broken white border line but are painted red?http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
king people around and has nothing whatsoever to do with road safety. It's the small-minded little tossers who flash you and go mental when you overtake and then carry on to their desk in the council offices and dream up schemes to put people off overtaking. It's legal to overtake on them and there's even less reason not to than in other cases so go for it.Things like this are an extreme bloody nuisance on a bike, due to nobody driving on them and the resulting accumulation of crap. Even crossing over to the other side of the road to overtake you have to cross a dirt track to get there. So the more car drivers who overtake on them and help sweep the crap off the better
sleep envy said:
generally full of debris too so you get a nice shotgunning of the nose of the car if they're infront
Exactly why I don't do it, I've had the pleasure of paying a tenner and having the Autoglass man round for a windscreen repair because a driver of a Jag S type flew past 4 cars over the chevrons at the end of a dualled section of road. off_again said:
Did an advanced driving course with a Police Traffic Officer a while back. I held back when it came to some chevrons but the servicing Police officer went on to explain the legal situation is and what you can do / not do. The legality is pretty clear, if its a solid line then its a no go.
However, if you overtake on chevrons which are bordered with broken lines and you do crash - well you can expect the full force of the law to come down on you, as you clearly haven't checked 'if its safe to do so' and hence will pay the penalty. That said, I have overtaken a few times in these situations, but only when I am sure that I am safe to do it.
I did a Police driving course several years ago and was told exactly the same thing. If you look at the placement of the chevrons with solid and broken lines it does tend to make sense.However, if you overtake on chevrons which are bordered with broken lines and you do crash - well you can expect the full force of the law to come down on you, as you clearly haven't checked 'if its safe to do so' and hence will pay the penalty. That said, I have overtaken a few times in these situations, but only when I am sure that I am safe to do it.
SidewaysSid said:
off_again said:
Did an advanced driving course with a Police Traffic Officer a while back. I held back when it came to some chevrons but the servicing Police officer went on to explain the legal situation is and what you can do / not do. The legality is pretty clear, if its a solid line then its a no go.
However, if you overtake on chevrons which are bordered with broken lines and you do crash - well you can expect the full force of the law to come down on you, as you clearly haven't checked 'if its safe to do so' and hence will pay the penalty. That said, I have overtaken a few times in these situations, but only when I am sure that I am safe to do it.
I did a Police driving course several years ago and was told exactly the same thing. If you look at the placement of the chevrons with solid and broken lines it does tend to make sense.However, if you overtake on chevrons which are bordered with broken lines and you do crash - well you can expect the full force of the law to come down on you, as you clearly haven't checked 'if its safe to do so' and hence will pay the penalty. That said, I have overtaken a few times in these situations, but only when I am sure that I am safe to do it.
Each situaiton has to be individually assessed.
BAHN-STORMA said:
Flintstone said:
The rule of thumb explained to me is if bordered by broken lines you should not, if solid lines you shall not.
Good 'acid' test for this - would you overtake here if the BIB's were following you?wmg100 said:
Look at the overtake at 4.00 minutes on this video (by R-U-LOCAL from PH)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
Ummm, "necessary"? as per quote in OP. I don't think so....http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
peterguk V6 KWK said:
wmg100 said:
Look at the overtake at 4.00 minutes on this video (by R-U-LOCAL from PH)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
Ummm, "necessary"? as per quote in OP. I don't think so....http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs
Perfectly ok in these and similar circumstances
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