Your views

[vonhosen]

RobM77 said:

Big Fat F'r said:

M005 said:

Some interesting points.

I wonder if some of the issues and reactions to overtaking that have been discussed on here, are due to the increase in traffic levels and the need to take advantage of smaller window's of opportunity than ideal in order to overtake?

I'm sure they are.

I condemn the actions of the other driver just like everybody else, but just wearing the other shoes for a moment, there are folk that say (at least one on here, an Advanced site for Gawds sake) that they will push/force their way in if it allows them to overtake. Yep, they believe that even if there isn't space, they have a right to go anyway, and the other drivers are duty bound to change their speed and position, to allow the overtaker in.

So imagine a driver who has had a few of these d!ckheads overtake, and then they meet you making an innocent mistake. No justification for his actions, but you can sometimes see why they get annoyed.

So not only does a good overtake make it safer for you, it makes it safer for unknown others who will follow. A bad one is not only dangerous for you, but you make it dangerous for unknown others that will follow.

Blimey, what a responsibility. It's almost too much to shoulder!

BFF

Isn't the issue at hand overtaking when there is a space and having a driver close that space on you deliberately?

But in the OPs case he talked about what really could only be considered unsociable stop over gaps, an intention to pass all in one go at the outset, then having started on the multiple overtake, was required to abort because circumstances weren't as assumed & he had to go into one of those unsociable gaps. A gap, all be it that the car could physically fit in, wasn't a suitabl stop over gap.

[RobM77]

vonhosen said:

RobM77 said:

Big Fat F'r said:

M005 said:

Some interesting points.

I wonder if some of the issues and reactions to overtaking that have been discussed on here, are due to the increase in traffic levels and the need to take advantage of smaller window's of opportunity than ideal in order to overtake?

I'm sure they are.

I condemn the actions of the other driver just like everybody else, but just wearing the other shoes for a moment, there are folk that say (at least one on here, an Advanced site for Gawds sake) that they will push/force their way in if it allows them to overtake. Yep, they believe that even if there isn't space, they have a right to go anyway, and the other drivers are duty bound to change their speed and position, to allow the overtaker in.

So imagine a driver who has had a few of these d!ckheads overtake, and then they meet you making an innocent mistake. No justification for his actions, but you can sometimes see why they get annoyed.

So not only does a good overtake make it safer for you, it makes it safer for unknown others who will follow. A bad one is not only dangerous for you, but you make it dangerous for unknown others that will follow.

Blimey, what a responsibility. It's almost too much to shoulder!

BFF

Isn't the issue at hand overtaking when there is a space and having a driver close that space on you deliberately?

But in the OPs case he talked about what really could only be considered unsociable stop over gaps, an intention to pass all in one go at the outset, then having started on the multiple overtake, was required to abort because circumstances weren't as assumed & he had to go into one of those unsociable gaps. A gap, all be it that the car could physically fit in, wasn't a suitabl stop over gap.

Sorry, yes, that's right. It's obviously poor driving of the people in the queue not to leave room from a stopping distance point of view, and also if they see someone trying to overtake (Once I see an overtake's been started, I always move to the left slightly and back off a bit to them a helping hand and a get-out clause should it all go wrong).

As for the issue of accelerating, I've certainly seen this many times. I've also been blocked a good few times, i.e. a car moving over to stop me getting past - I've had this a few times on dual carriageways, but more alarmingly, I've had it on standard A roads as well! Only ever in the Caterham or Elise - other cars they don't bother with.

[m12_nathan]

As a hint, if someone is following you that aggressively just stop with them behind you, wait for them to get out of their car and approach yours then nail off and make good your escape.

a)You'll feel better
b)They'll look stupid as they walk back to their car which now has a queue of traffic behind it
c)They will no longer be following you.

[Big Fat F'r]

RobM77 said:

Big Fat F'r said:

M005 said:

Some interesting points.

I wonder if some of the issues and reactions to overtaking that have been discussed on here, are due to the increase in traffic levels and the need to take advantage of smaller window's of opportunity than ideal in order to overtake?

I'm sure they are.

I condemn the actions of the other driver just like everybody else, but just wearing the other shoes for a moment, there are folk that say (at least one on here, an Advanced site for Gawds sake) that they will push/force their way in if it allows them to overtake. Yep, they believe that even if there isn't space, they have a right to go anyway, and the other drivers are duty bound to change their speed and position, to allow the overtaker in.

So imagine a driver who has had a few of these d!ckheads overtake, and then they meet you making an innocent mistake. No justification for his actions, but you can sometimes see why they get annoyed.

So not only does a good overtake make it safer for you, it makes it safer for unknown others who will follow. A bad one is not only dangerous for you, but you make it dangerous for unknown others that will follow.

Blimey, what a responsibility. It's almost too much to shoulder!

BFF

Isn't the issue at hand overtaking when there is a space and having a driver close that space on you deliberately?

Partly, and partly when to overtake. I'm not sure there was enough space in this instance between the cars if and when it was needed. If there was 3 car lengths between the vehicles, and he puts his car in, that leaves one car length between them, which isn't enough at 50mph. so there certainly wasn't enough space to do a single, and the multiple wasn't on due to the side road.

However, that aside, I was making the point that although the driver closing the space is a numpty, he may have already had a number of other drivers do stupid and dangerous overtakes where there wasn't truly enough space, and our original poster then suffers the backlash.

It deosn't excuse it, but by knowing it, we can perhaps account for it.

BFF

Edited by Big Fat F'r on Monday 24th September 17:10

[ipsg.glf]

WeirdNeville said:

Best to avoid the situation by making sure your overtakes are well planned and decisive.

Agreed 100% but we are talking about those situations that have got out of control and a collision is imminent.

[WeirdNeville]

Sorry to boast, but I had one of those "tingly neck" moments today which is relevant to this discussion - sort of....

On the A40 in the Skoda Diesel - and stuck in a long queue of traffic, seven cars in front of me bunched up behind a wagon with a trailer. We're all doing 45-50mph in a NSL. Everyone seems resigned to their fate, including a Cayman and a BMW 540 amongst the seven.

A long and open left hander co-incides with a stop-over gap 3 cars ahead. I get over to the offside, have a look, and commit, decelerating to hang parallel to the offside of the stop-over to keep looking. Still nothing, lovely visibility, clear to the offside, so power on through. Freedom!

So a 1.4 Skoda broke free, due to simple overtaking principals and the will to be different. However, if the behind the stop-over gap car had decided to close the gap, or not seen me and closed up, I could have found myself in the OP's position very quickly, and without the poke to escape.

More power to the overtakers, lets prove it's a skill for everyones benefit, not an antisocial act!

[hayden_81]

m12_nathan said:

As a hint, if someone is following you that aggressively just stop with them behind you, wait for them to get out of their car and approach yours then nail off and make good your escape.

a)You'll feel better
b)They'll look stupid as they walk back to their car which now has a queue of traffic behind it
c)They will no longer be following you.

Unless of course he pulls in front of you I prob would have given him a courtesy indicator flash after pulling in to acknowledge my mistake whilst overtaking, the person following would not have got so erratic as you have effectively apologised to him

[japhilip]

I too learned the hard way about the dangers of junctions ahead. Many years ago was half way past a slow vehicle (40 ish in NSL) when a car pulled out of a junction to the right and drove towards me.

I hit main beam and held it until I was back on the left, the other guy stopped and waited for me, and wasn't too happy judging by his hand waving....

Stupid of me, and I can only be thankful that I didn't have an accident. There was room ultimately to complete the overtake, but it was closer than it should have been, and forced another road user into taking evasive action.

I learned not to try that one again.

Still, the other driver in the OP's post was very silly, when a simple hanging back or slowing slightly would have helped, and not cost anything. Personally I try to be considerate if I see a car or bike lining up for an overtake and ease up to give them somewhere to go if they need it. Doesn't hinder me in any way.

[AJS-]

The driver who did not let you in was clearly very much in the wrong, because you clearly had time to overtake at least one vehicle before the junction and get back in line if necessary - which it turns out it was. Although it's better to overtake the whole lot at once, it's not always possible, and it's perfectly legitimate to overtake one vehicle that is not overtaking.

I think this varies hugely depending on the area you live in. I used to commute from Northumberland into Newcastle, about 30 miles on fairly quiet single carriage way roads, and overtaking was quite normal there, situations like this frequent, and most people quite accomodating.

In the south east where most people drive in towns, on dual carriage ways or very busy roads most of the time, then overtaking is something they're not used to and can be quite a shock. It's usually the preserve of boy racers.

I would agree with R U Local, that this is something to learn from - anticipate that you may have to get back in, weigh up how easily you can do this, and try to make a guess as to whether you will offend the person in front by doing so. In my experience career women and would be boy racers in saxo diesels are the worst at being overtaken, followed by sales reps in vectras. Vans and bearded men in old cars are a better bet.

With lorries and buses consider their much longer stopping distances, and whether you will cause them to lose momentum as this is extremely frustrating to them, and potentially dangerous to you.

The Germans are excellent at being overtaken in my experience, and usually pull over to the side to make room for you.

[AJS-]

Actually, a question I ask myself is, if I could see another car approaching at the higher end of normal speed for the road, at the furthest extent of my vision then would I overtake?

If not, then I would suggest that it doesn't leave enough of a margin for error for a car coming faster than you expect, or appearing when you're not expecting it.