Discussion
Driving home tonight I had the following situation; but was I right to feel angry about the other drivers reaction, or was I in the wrong?
Three cars in a line with me following, 2-3 car lengths in between each of the 3 vehicles travelling at ~ 50mph on an NSL A road.
I decide to overtake along a straight stretch with good visibility and where I can see ~ 1/4 mile ahead 2 vehicles turning onto the road intending to head in the same direction as me, the first of which was a lorry.
I planned my overtake such that I would pull in in front of the three vehicles, slow down behind the two recently joined, thus being in the right position to overtake them, assuming clear road, in a few corners time.
I got past the first car and realised that the second vehicle turning onto the road had swung a wide arc, changed their mind and was heading towards me.
I decided to abort the manoeuvre earlier rather than push on and potentially cause a problem with the oncoming car, so I indicated and started to move into the 2-3 car length space, at which point the driver behind speeded up and tried to force me back onto the wrong carriageway into the path of the oncoming car.
A split second decision saw me 'fake' a movement of pulling in again to give him notice that I was indeed pulling in and then I did pull in after he had dropped back slightly, still with a few hundred metres between me and the oncoming car.
Que lots of gesticulating etc from the driver concerned, who then proceeded to take huge risks in order to keep on my rear bumper over the next 10 miles back to my home town, and then proceeded to follow me whilst still driving aggresively.
I managed to lose him with a few back streets and got home, but it left me questioning myself as to whether I was in the wrong or not. It is not the first time I have had an adverse reaction to perfectly safe overtaking, and I seem to remember a thread on here recently along the same lines.
Your thoughts please. I have just signed up to RoSPA and am awaiting contact from a Tutor, possible one to run pas him as well.
Three cars in a line with me following, 2-3 car lengths in between each of the 3 vehicles travelling at ~ 50mph on an NSL A road.
I decide to overtake along a straight stretch with good visibility and where I can see ~ 1/4 mile ahead 2 vehicles turning onto the road intending to head in the same direction as me, the first of which was a lorry.
I planned my overtake such that I would pull in in front of the three vehicles, slow down behind the two recently joined, thus being in the right position to overtake them, assuming clear road, in a few corners time.
I got past the first car and realised that the second vehicle turning onto the road had swung a wide arc, changed their mind and was heading towards me.
I decided to abort the manoeuvre earlier rather than push on and potentially cause a problem with the oncoming car, so I indicated and started to move into the 2-3 car length space, at which point the driver behind speeded up and tried to force me back onto the wrong carriageway into the path of the oncoming car.
A split second decision saw me 'fake' a movement of pulling in again to give him notice that I was indeed pulling in and then I did pull in after he had dropped back slightly, still with a few hundred metres between me and the oncoming car.
Que lots of gesticulating etc from the driver concerned, who then proceeded to take huge risks in order to keep on my rear bumper over the next 10 miles back to my home town, and then proceeded to follow me whilst still driving aggresively.
I managed to lose him with a few back streets and got home, but it left me questioning myself as to whether I was in the wrong or not. It is not the first time I have had an adverse reaction to perfectly safe overtaking, and I seem to remember a thread on here recently along the same lines.
Your thoughts please. I have just signed up to RoSPA and am awaiting contact from a Tutor, possible one to run pas him as well.
Thanks for the input guys.
As identified, yes I did make assumptions, yes one of them did turn out to be inaccurate, yes I did deal with it, yes I have learnt something
I never overtake coming up to junctions, even if there is good visibility, however tonight I made an assumption and ignored what I normally do.
The road in question is from Swindon / Wroughton down to Avebury if anyone knows it.
As identified, yes I did make assumptions, yes one of them did turn out to be inaccurate, yes I did deal with it, yes I have learnt something
I never overtake coming up to junctions, even if there is good visibility, however tonight I made an assumption and ignored what I normally do.
The road in question is from Swindon / Wroughton down to Avebury if anyone knows it.
Edited by M005 on Thursday 20th September 23:01
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?
The perfect overtake would always have plenty of time and space, but these situations are often few and far between.
Instead the opportunities are often 'short lived' and may require a two or three stage approach to get past a few vehicles.
I guess the point is that perfect opportunities rarely exist requiring higher skill levels in order to maximise those opportunities that are available.
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?
The perfect overtake would always have plenty of time and space, but these situations are often few and far between.
Instead the opportunities are often 'short lived' and may require a two or three stage approach to get past a few vehicles.
I guess the point is that perfect opportunities rarely exist requiring higher skill levels in order to maximise those opportunities that are available.
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