Undertaking on the motorway.

[RUSSELLM]

On Sunday I travelled from J27 on the M5 all the way back to J2.

I wasn't hanging about & occasionaly I would get stuck behind a car in lane three doing say 70 mph, I would leave a safe stopping distance, going from memory I think the highway code suggests a min. of 315 feet.

Have you ever tried leaving this distance or even half of it & see what other motorists behaviour is ?

I must have got undertook at least ten times, only for the vehicle to then take my "safe distance" thus making me drop back.

Is it me or does anyone else get annoyed by this ?

[RUSSELLM]

Imagine your waiting to use a cash point machine, personally I don't like to be leaning on the person who's using it, so I tend to leave a gap.

If somebody at the end of the queue, thinks "oo, there's a big gap there I'll get in", I would feel obliged to tell them to get back.

Funny, that in a car, the only way of communicating this would be via hand signals or by using the car (headlights, horn etc..)

I'm very suprised that "Road Rage" is as rare as it actually is, as in any walk of life, most people wouldn't stand for it.


Best just to keep cool, but I do find it annoying.

[RUSSELLM]

blindswelledrat said:

I think you need to be a little realistic about stopping distances on motorways. The highway code stopping distances are a little outdated for cars with modern brakes, and in any case leaving that distance is assuming the possibility that the car in front could possibly stop dead instantaneously with no warning. That doesnt happen often. Furthermore of you are leaving a gap of anything more than 100 feet on a busy motorway i would argue that there is no need for you to be in the outside lane. As it stands motorways are often "full" with cars leaving 30 feet stopping distance thus if each car left the required 315 feet there would only be room for 10% of the traffic on that motorway. It doesnt work.

I think the comments above could be part of the problem. In your mind, if I'm doing 70 stuck behind traffic & have left a distance of over 100 feet, you feel that I'm in the wrong lane & would see no problem in undertaking me.

I've no doubt there's motorists out there who think that distance should be 315 feet (legal), 200, 100 (like your self), 50 & a cars length (nutters) & there lies the problem.

We have a percentage of people, even on this small thread who think the highway code is wrong.

How can we ever expect everybody to drive the same ?

[RUSSELLM]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

I thought that 315feet is the minimum stopping distance not the gap you should leave between yourself and the next vehicle....

Should these two figures not be the same then ?

I must have missed this bit in the highway code when I took my test.

Pray, tell, what is the minumum gap between myself & the vehicle in front, whilst travveling at 70 mph ?

[RUSSELLM]

It's hardly suprising there's so much grief on the road, between the lot of us there's no agreement on how far to travel from the vehicle in front at 70 mph.

For what it's worth, the two second rule equates to 205 feet at 70 mph.

Try leaving two hundred feet gap on the motorway & see what happens

edited to add, Even more worrying is that there are people on the roads that think that it is physically impossible for a vehicle in front of them to come to an instant halt.



>> Edited by RUSSELLM on Wednesday 6th July 15:20

[RUSSELLM]

Observer2 said:

An oncoming vehicle suddenly swerving and crashing head on? You can't make allowance for that sort of event.

Can't you ?

So what are the minimum stopping distances for in the highway code ?

Was it just to fill a page ?

Sorry for my ignorance, I'm confused

>> Edited by RUSSELLM on Wednesday 6th July 16:36