Speeding up to let others past
Discussion
Because my girlfriend is currently in North Yorkshire and I live in the Midlands, I've been doing a fair bit of driving lately to see her.
More often than not, I use cruise control and set it to a sat-nav indicated 75mph. I try as hard as possible to maintain consistent speed by generally being aware of my surroundings and I resent (rightly or wrongly
) having to increase or decrease my speed. On a couple of occasions knobheads have come haring up behind me whilst I'm overtaking and become annoyed that I'm not seemingly doing more to get the overtaking done with and pull in to let them past. Obviously going quicker than those I'm overtaking, I can't pull in but similarly I could accelerate and go a bit quicker.
I wouldn't pull out to overtake if it wasn't safe and if I felt that I'd be holding someone up but if I'm say doing 5mph faster than a line of cars in the middle lane, it could take me a couple of minutes to finish overtaking by which time there may be a line of white S-Line Audi Tdi's behind me frustrated that they're not going 90+.
Am I being unreasonable?
More often than not, I use cruise control and set it to a sat-nav indicated 75mph. I try as hard as possible to maintain consistent speed by generally being aware of my surroundings and I resent (rightly or wrongly
) having to increase or decrease my speed. On a couple of occasions knobheads have come haring up behind me whilst I'm overtaking and become annoyed that I'm not seemingly doing more to get the overtaking done with and pull in to let them past. Obviously going quicker than those I'm overtaking, I can't pull in but similarly I could accelerate and go a bit quicker.I wouldn't pull out to overtake if it wasn't safe and if I felt that I'd be holding someone up but if I'm say doing 5mph faster than a line of cars in the middle lane, it could take me a couple of minutes to finish overtaking by which time there may be a line of white S-Line Audi Tdi's behind me frustrated that they're not going 90+.
Am I being unreasonable?
Some cock knocker on Friday last week decided that I was the one slowing him up on his drive to nowhereville up the M6, despite the stream of cars infront of me and the cars I and everyone else was overtaking he tried dipping between lanes 3 and 2, indicating right, holding his hands up in some kind of disbelief that I woldnt move out of his way.
I would, except there were a load of cars on my inside that he nearly took out.
Once there was space I pulled over, he hared up behind the next car, right indicator on. I dont like that type of driving. Left late and in a rush? Not my problem, I'm still trying to get where I'm going (home after 17 hours flying as it happened)
My view is, as long as you're overtaking and it's reasonable to stay out, anyone who belts up behind and pulls aggressive moves gets ignored unless they have a blue light and sirens
I would, except there were a load of cars on my inside that he nearly took out.
Once there was space I pulled over, he hared up behind the next car, right indicator on. I dont like that type of driving. Left late and in a rush? Not my problem, I'm still trying to get where I'm going (home after 17 hours flying as it happened)
My view is, as long as you're overtaking and it's reasonable to stay out, anyone who belts up behind and pulls aggressive moves gets ignored unless they have a blue light and sirens
Just ignore them, I had some t
t in a battered old Porsche 911 do something similar to me a while ago. Tore up behind me while I was passing a few slower cars; flashing his lights and leaning on his horn trying to get me to move over into a gap that didn't exist.
There's nowt so queer as folk.
t in a battered old Porsche 911 do something similar to me a while ago. Tore up behind me while I was passing a few slower cars; flashing his lights and leaning on his horn trying to get me to move over into a gap that didn't exist.There's nowt so queer as folk.
andy-xr said:
My view is, as long as you're overtaking and it's reasonable to stay out, anyone who belts up behind and pulls aggressive moves gets ignored unless they have a blue light and sirens
Glad I have never been in an emergency and come up behind you. The driver may have been trying to get to the hospital before his wife gave birth or passed away etc. we just don't know the circumstances. It isn't a race and it isn't a personal attack on you to just let the faster car go past. You would probably find it a lot more relaxing to leave a bit more room and let those that are obviously in more of a rush go in front of you. Worst case you have a impatient idiot where you can see him rather than weaving around behind you too close to your bumper.If you sit in the outside lane at 71 overtaking a line of cars doing 70 you will get a lot of aggravation and would be better pulling in to sit with the slower cars. In most places you need to be doing 80 to easily make a clean overtaking maneuver on the motorway, recommended there is a 10mph speed difference in the highway code from memory.
Crusoe said:
andy-xr said:
My view is, as long as you're overtaking and it's reasonable to stay out, anyone who belts up behind and pulls aggressive moves gets ignored unless they have a blue light and sirens
Glad I have never been in an emergency and come up behind you. The driver may have been trying to get to the hospital before his wife gave birth or passed away etc. we just don't know the circumstances. It isn't a race and it isn't a personal attack on you to just let the faster car go past. You would probably find it a lot more relaxing to leave a bit more room and let those that are obviously in more of a rush go in front of you. Worst case you have a impatient idiot where you can see him rather than weaving around behind you too close to your bumper.If you sit in the outside lane at 71 overtaking a line of cars doing 70 you will get a lot of aggravation and would be better pulling in to sit with the slower cars. In most places you need to be doing 80 to easily make a clean overtaking maneuver on the motorway, recommended there is a 10mph speed difference in the highway code from memory.
There's nothing worse than trying to make others travel less important that your own. I dont really want to be sat on the M6, it's a necessary evil but I'm still trying to get somewhere in the least amount of time with the minimum amount of hold ups
Apologies to the courteous Audi drivers on here, but it really is as if Audi are fitting windscreens that affect the visible size of the car the driver sees in front of them.
They should etch "vehicles in front of you are a lot closer than you think" on the _inside_ of the windscreen.
When you have a car less than 10 foot from your rear bumper on a motorway, it's almost invariably an audi
They should etch "vehicles in front of you are a lot closer than you think" on the _inside_ of the windscreen.
When you have a car less than 10 foot from your rear bumper on a motorway, it's almost invariably an audi
Quhet said:
Am I being unreasonable?
Not to my mind as you are still actually overtaking the traffic in the middle lane. If you insisted on doing 70.5 mph while overtaking a long line of cars in the middle lane that were doing 70, and you had a clear lane ahead, then I'll admit that would annoy me a bit if I were wanting to do 75/80-ish. I wouldn't act like a tt about it, though, as whatever I may think of the motorway speed limit I don't expect people to break it for my convenience. I, and many others, find HGV's snail racing very frustrating, but recognise that they are hampered by their speed limiters. If a single car stuck in an overtaking lane doing a "slow motion overtake" for two or three minutes is the only thing between me and some clear tarmac, that is similarly frustrating.
I try and be courteous to faster traffic when overtaking - often I'll pull into a gap in the outside lane, and speed up a bit to get past the car I'm passing so I don't slow down the outside lane too much. It's not difficult and everyone benefits. Just lift off the accelerator once you're back in lane 1 and let the cruise control get back to work.
I try and be courteous to faster traffic when overtaking - often I'll pull into a gap in the outside lane, and speed up a bit to get past the car I'm passing so I don't slow down the outside lane too much. It's not difficult and everyone benefits. Just lift off the accelerator once you're back in lane 1 and let the cruise control get back to work.
You are unreasonable.
You really need to be aware of other people on the road and not sit inside your cruise control bubble. Speeding up to let others pass is courtesy. Just like letting people out of junctions while traffic is stationary.
The inconsiderate fool sat pegging the speed limit in the passing lane is just as bad as the 16-plate S-Line finance queen tailgating.
You really need to be aware of other people on the road and not sit inside your cruise control bubble. Speeding up to let others pass is courtesy. Just like letting people out of junctions while traffic is stationary.
The inconsiderate fool sat pegging the speed limit in the passing lane is just as bad as the 16-plate S-Line finance queen tailgating.
gavsdavs said:
Apologies to the courteous Audi drivers on here, but it really is as if Audi are fitting windscreens that affect the visible size of the car the driver sees in front of them.
They should etch "vehicles in front of you are a lot closer than you think" on the _inside_ of the windscreen.
When you have a car less than 10 foot from your rear bumper on a motorway, it's almost invariably an audi
I don't find this at all, it's as often a Mondeo, a pretend off-roader or a van. The sheer number of Audis on the road seems to be the only reason many of them are seen be driven stupidly, subtract the pensioners and other jazz drivers and much of the population owns an Audi or a BMW. They should etch "vehicles in front of you are a lot closer than you think" on the _inside_ of the windscreen.
When you have a car less than 10 foot from your rear bumper on a motorway, it's almost invariably an audi
OT: If I'm making decent progress past I will maintain my speed, if I'm crawling past or not gaining at all (due to the overtakee speeding up) and someone is stuck behind me I will speed up a little to get out the way (assuming there are no speed cameras around that I'm aware of). I have no issue with people wanting to go faster than me though so long as they do it safely and courteously.
CarAbuser said:
The inconsiderate fool sat pegging the speed limit in the passing lane is just as bad as the 16-plate S-Line finance queen tailgating.
Not quite as 'pegging the speed limit in the passing lane' doesn't involve driving so close to the vehicle in front you'd be unable to stop in an emergency.My take on the OP's question is I'll speed up if I notice I'm in danger of slowing other people's progress. I try and make sure my overtakes aren't going to impede anyone else and will often hang back if necessary.
However if some asspipe starts hanging off my bumper when it's quite clear I have nowhere to go (ie a car in front or nowhere to go in the inside lane safely) I take great pleasure in maintaining an enhanced safety distance to the car in front and then hoofing it away from the
at full throttle leaving them tailgating nothing but empty space. These turds are usually driving slow POSmobiles, which goes some way to explaining why they then drive past all angry at licence losing speed some time later. 
daddy cool said:
I find that when some asshat comes tearing up behind me and sits an inch from my back bumper, i coincidentally notice i need to clean my windscreen. Again, and again, and again...
Must be a real drag for them having to move their wiper stalk 15mm downwards every now and then... 
On my commute to work I see a lot of people in the right hand lane doing about 75MPH the whole way until I turn off.
If they're making progress and not impeding others then I have no problem with it. But when they insist on just staying in the overtaking lane when there's plenty of room between the two cars they're "overtaking" then that bugs me.
Sometimes on my commute I will see people passing on the left lane in a very controlled and civil manner, only to get abuse and sudden speed change by those hugging the overtaking lane. In my opinion, if there's enough gap in the left hand land for someone to pass you on the left in a civil / non aggressive manner, then not paying enough attention to the road around you. Just my two pence.
If they're making progress and not impeding others then I have no problem with it. But when they insist on just staying in the overtaking lane when there's plenty of room between the two cars they're "overtaking" then that bugs me.
Sometimes on my commute I will see people passing on the left lane in a very controlled and civil manner, only to get abuse and sudden speed change by those hugging the overtaking lane. In my opinion, if there's enough gap in the left hand land for someone to pass you on the left in a civil / non aggressive manner, then not paying enough attention to the road around you. Just my two pence.
Disregarding the speed limit put in place on our roads, in my view it is just as knobbish to hold up the outside lane as it is to tailgate. If there is a line of traffic then obviously there is nothing anybody else can do, however logic dictates that this line of traffic is more than likely being caused by whoever is at the front of the line either not overtaking properly or simply failing to be observant to their surroundings ie. the person dawdling past at 5 mph faster than the middle lane.... If you are the person at the front of said line, then it is every bit as self important to hold everybody else up as it is to hang off of somebody's rear bumper. One is more dangerous than the other, but both are discourteous in equal measure.
Perfect example - last night on the A303 I was being followed by a BMW, both making good progress in outside lane. When overtaking a line of traffic in the inside lane, a woman in a Colt pulled out behind me, dangerously close to the BMW behind, and proceeded to overtake the rest of the queue at a rate of about 1 metre every minute. I checked my mirrors several times and each time I checked, the line of cars behind her was both growing in size and getting further and further away from me. In her eyes, the BMW was probably being arrogant because he wanted to get past quicker than she did. In everybody else's eyes, she was the chump holding everybody up just because she felt she could overtake at whatever speed differential she deemed fit.
Perfect example - last night on the A303 I was being followed by a BMW, both making good progress in outside lane. When overtaking a line of traffic in the inside lane, a woman in a Colt pulled out behind me, dangerously close to the BMW behind, and proceeded to overtake the rest of the queue at a rate of about 1 metre every minute. I checked my mirrors several times and each time I checked, the line of cars behind her was both growing in size and getting further and further away from me. In her eyes, the BMW was probably being arrogant because he wanted to get past quicker than she did. In everybody else's eyes, she was the chump holding everybody up just because she felt she could overtake at whatever speed differential she deemed fit.
If someone in an overtaking lane is making clear progress past the vehicles in the lane to their left then it's reasonable.
If someone is in the overtaking lane sat on snooze control for the convenience of not having to avoid nudging the vehicles in the cruising lane, and just happen to be creeping past the vehicles to their left over a number of minutes then it's unreasonable.
I just try not to be a dick, and I am really grateful when other drivers aren't dicks too.
If someone is in the overtaking lane sat on snooze control for the convenience of not having to avoid nudging the vehicles in the cruising lane, and just happen to be creeping past the vehicles to their left over a number of minutes then it's unreasonable.
I just try not to be a dick, and I am really grateful when other drivers aren't dicks too.
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