Accelerating whilst being overtaken
Poll: Accelerating whilst being overtaken
Total Members Polled: 411
Discussion
It would depend what I was driving at the time and what they were driving.
If they are in an angry dad wagon and I'm in the Golf R Estate.... floor it as long as there is space to complete the overtake regardless of what they do.
If they are in a souped up Audi and I'm in my diesel Jeep GC.... let them get on with it as I'll only look like a knob.
If they are in an angry dad wagon and I'm in the Golf R Estate.... floor it as long as there is space to complete the overtake regardless of what they do.
If they are in a souped up Audi and I'm in my diesel Jeep GC.... let them get on with it as I'll only look like a knob.
Highway Code - 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.
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.
t...2 every time.
Unless you have self-worth issues you should have nothing to prove. You're in a what I assume is a decent car he's in a van. Van driver is likely to be suffering a major chip on his shoulder & thus feels a need to prove he is superior after all. Making it VERY obvious you are happy for him to get on his way denies him all sense of success or superiority. Such drivers should be beneath your contempt, so grow up & ignore 'em.
Consider also that at this time of year the roads are more cluttered than usual with vans delivering on-line orders & drivers may well be part-timers, uncaring about long-term job security & very likely hailing from other countries & thus possibly without licence & little or no knowledge of our regulations.
Unless you have self-worth issues you should have nothing to prove. You're in a what I assume is a decent car he's in a van. Van driver is likely to be suffering a major chip on his shoulder & thus feels a need to prove he is superior after all. Making it VERY obvious you are happy for him to get on his way denies him all sense of success or superiority. Such drivers should be beneath your contempt, so grow up & ignore 'em.
Consider also that at this time of year the roads are more cluttered than usual with vans delivering on-line orders & drivers may well be part-timers, uncaring about long-term job security & very likely hailing from other countries & thus possibly without licence & little or no knowledge of our regulations.
In general, I'd say accelerating when someone tries to overtake is a big no-no, but so long as your car is fast enough and you won't expose the van driver to danger, accelerate away. Otherwise, you'all have to wait to overtake the idiot down the road. I've done it occasionally, last time to an S Tyoe driven by a 45-everywhere type. I never saw him again after I accelerated away.
What's the problem if a flex of the right foot renders a 45 everywhere type's overtake attempt futile?
What's the problem if a flex of the right foot renders a 45 everywhere type's overtake attempt futile?
Edited by Zod on Wednesday 30th November 21:22
bigmowley said:
For goodness sake it's a white van! Fastest thing on the road. Just try and hang onto the back of it for a few miles, get tucked up into the slipstream and see how long you can keep up 
This.During more than two decades of driving I've never ceased to be amazed by the performance and handling capabilities of a white van in the hands of the right maniac!
Toltec said:
Providing you do it before he gets or can get along side just go for it, he gets to drive at the speed he wants to and you get the same. He probably won't be happy, but it is not like you are leaving him stuck on the wrong side of the road. He was rather stupid trying to overtake into a limit change without waiting to see what you were going to do anyway.
This.I often overtake cars when leaving 30 mph zones entering NSL. I stick rigidly to 30 mph but will go for the overtake immediately, providing I know that I will safely pull it off. If it's a car I know that could match or better the acceleration of my car then I hold back and see what they are going to do.
MagicalTrevor said:
Highway Code - Rule 168
...Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous...
This was the essence of my dilemma. I had already started accelerating when he pulled out. The predictable course of action when going from a 30 limit to NSL is to speed up. Had I eased off the loud pedal then that would differ from my normal behaviour in his absence: to begin accelerating then stop doing so could be viewed us unpredictable....Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous...
Had he pulled back in at the same time then he would have hit me.
I'm reassured by the fact that all four options in the poll have double-digit support, and no one option has a majority.
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