Pretty much that says it for me, especially on the linked road in question.

OP, be wary of furious driving charge, often used in IoM. Was even used on a competitor out on recce for the Manx who was completely in obeyance of the rally regs re conduct of driving. Ended up not guilty but even so.

Too true. Depressing to think that you could execute a lovely clean overtake, have an completely non-fault accident round the next corner and be sure if it was serious and the guy behind you was interviewed, "bat out of hell" would almost certainly be in the mix, purely because most people seem to now view any overtake as reckless.

I blow them a kiss, they seem to like that.... overtaking is fast becoming a lost skill!

Ha, hadn't thought of that. If you don't mind, I'll pinch that one!

I agree. But the public perception of things changes (rightly or wrongly) and you have to adapt or end up unwittingly on the wrong side of the law. And so 20 years ago you could overtake with impunity and almost no one would bat an eye now you can't, now you have to be squeaky clean when overtaking. Or you can do as you wish but run the risk of Doris letting plod know how you ate her babies and turn into a vampire at night. And if her perception was that you were speeding too when you naughtily overtook her then you are better off declaring your self as a child molester since you'll be looked on as less of a pariah.

There's no accounting for some people these days, you can get furiously flashed for the safest overtake, I'm starting to wonder if some people think it's illegal.

I'm sure they do to.

There is an alternative....make sure you go past them so bloody quick they cant get your reg number. For sure they wont have a clue what your car was other than "Blackish" or "Light coloured"

I often get flashed after overtaking. My car is pretty quick and fairly loud when on boost, so most of the time, it's because I've woken the driver from their semi-concious state.

I also have a fairly recognisable plate, so many people would have no problem identifying me. However, it doesn't stop me overtaking, as I only ever do it when there's plenty of room.

It seems there's an ever-increasing intolerance of quick driving. I was pulled a couple of weeks ago by a bike cop, who (despite not being anywhere near close enough to register my speed) gave me a stern lecture about my "stupidly dangerous" driving. When I asked him which aspect specifically, he just spouted that I stuck out like a sore thumb because I was going faster than everyone else. I politely told him it was because everyone else was doing 35-40mph on a 70mph dual carriageway and that any car (me) that was doing the speed limit would indeed look faster than everyone else. He then changed tack and accused me of "accelerating like a lunatic". I pointed out my boost controller setting (which was set to "off", giving me base boost and about 300bhp). He wasn't overly impressed when I told him the car would go at least 50% faster if the mood had taken me, and he was even less impressed when I pointed out that I didn't believe there was a law that restricted how quickly one reached the speed limit. He threatened to take me to court for dangerous driving, at which point I threatened to accept his offer, on the grounds that he had no evidence. He then got all superior and decided to "let me off this time"....

However, it got me thinking that the norm is now to potter around at almost pedestrian speeds and anyone that actually drives with a modicum of enthusiasm is regarded as a hardened criminal.

Sad times....

I've always wondered whether the police will stop you for quick acceleration.

My car is also antisocially loud, and pretty nippy up to the speed limit (although not as quick as yours if you're indeed the Nigel with the trillion horsepower Fiat!), and I generally have fun nailing it up to the speed limit.

A mixture of decent tyres and 160bhp means my car won't break traction, it doesn't torque steer - it just goes, quickly, uneventfully, but bloody noisily, up to 60-70mph. Always wondered whether driving like that with the police behind / next to me or whatnot is likely to get me pulled.

Just makes me wonder what they will stop you for.

That said, I've never been stopped without due cause - once was a random one as the car I was driving had no MOT, tax (or indeed insurance) - was my bloody mother's car and everything ran out the day before!! - there's reason to check the tax disc if ever you borrow a car, we both ended up with fines for that one.

Other one was for overtaking at 95mph, which I thankfully got let off for.

Either way, BiB were perfectly harmless, and these things go a lot more smoothly if you're simply polite. I certainly wasn't going to apologise for the latter, but neither did I try to make excuses - they seemed to appreciate that.

As to the topic, I wouldn't overtake if there's the chance somebody is going to brake or swerve, I just prefer to have more space. I overtake to carry on at a speed I'm happy with, not to end up with my heart in my mouth or scaring the crap out of somebody!!

That said, I think you can tell quite a bit about how they **may** react by the sort of car they're driving, the way the traffic behind them is reacting to them (is there a big long line of cars being held up behind them?), the speed they're travelling at - lots of things hint at the sort of driver they are and how they may react to you overtaking.

I do agree with the points above though - lots of people simply will not overtake. Probably about 10 per cent of my friends would. None of my female relatives would. Most are just happy to sit at whatever speed, and far too close to the car in front.

That's the thing that annoys me more. I couldn't care less if they want to overtake or not - just leave a decent gap if not, so I can overtake one car safely without having to overtake 5!

If overtaking causes one person to take avoiding action, it is deemed unsafe. That I can understand. However, if exactly the same overtake is made in another dimension, but has a different overtakee or oncomer who does not take avoiding action then it is deemed safe?

On the A5 Shrewsbury to Oswestrty or Oswestry to Wrexham road it is wide enough for several cars side by side and is populated with trucks. It is entirely normal for cars to be overtaking into on coming traffic. Some cars move over to the left when being overtaken to aid the space and other facing oncmoing overtakers also move over to create more space. They dont need to, as the road is so wide, hoever in taking extra avoiding acion they make the overtake safer.
To not overtake would upset the flow of traffic as so many people do it. I expect the Advanced drivers to say that one shouldnt overtake but thats not what I witness.