Why don't people overtake?
Discussion
Like most of you I supspect, I have often come across a string of cars, often including "fast cars" (things like MGFs and stuff I mean, ie not slow old rustbuckets) who seem perfectly happy to sit behind a big lorry/old dear at 40mph and not even consider overtaking them. Often quite annoying because the gimps don't leave enough room for me to overtake em one car at a time, and I've never quite figured why they won't pass the obstruction!
This one took the biscuit though.
I was driving home yesterday and some prick behind me had his front foglights on which I found very annoying and distracting. I gradually slowed right down on a straight bit to encourage him to overtake, and ended up doing twenty five miles an hour, down an arrow straight half mile stretch of road, no oncoming traffic, no side turnings, good visibility, and five or six numpties behind me who (for some reason) didn't overtake me!
Utterly bizarre behaviour. Why???
This one took the biscuit though.
I was driving home yesterday and some prick behind me had his front foglights on which I found very annoying and distracting. I gradually slowed right down on a straight bit to encourage him to overtake, and ended up doing twenty five miles an hour, down an arrow straight half mile stretch of road, no oncoming traffic, no side turnings, good visibility, and five or six numpties behind me who (for some reason) didn't overtake me!
Utterly bizarre behaviour. Why???
Whenever something like this happens, or people do inexplicable things, just repeat this mantra until you find enlightenment: "People Are Stupid." 
I think part of the 'not overtaking' thing these days is that so many numpties have been brainwashed by the 'speed kills' nonsense that to them overtaking = speed = danger! regardless of visibility and road conditions.
I once had someone hanging on my tail for 15 miles with so many opportunitues to overtake it wasn't true. Even slowing to 10 mph didn't help, not did going up to 70+ - there he stayed 6 feet from my bumper. Eventually had to handbrake-turn at speed into a side road to shake him off I was that sure he'd follow me if I signalled to turn...
I think part of the 'not overtaking' thing these days is that so many numpties have been brainwashed by the 'speed kills' nonsense that to them overtaking = speed = danger! regardless of visibility and road conditions.
I once had someone hanging on my tail for 15 miles with so many opportunitues to overtake it wasn't true. Even slowing to 10 mph didn't help, not did going up to 70+ - there he stayed 6 feet from my bumper. Eventually had to handbrake-turn at speed into a side road to shake him off I was that sure he'd follow me if I signalled to turn...
judas said:
I once had someone hanging on my tail for 15 miles with so many opportunitues to overtake it wasn't true. Even slowing to 10 mph didn't help, not did going up to 70+ - there he stayed 6 feet from my bumper. Eventually had to handbrake-turn at speed into a side road to shake him off I was that sure he'd follow me if I signalled to turn...
And while you were doing all that the tailgater was probably thinking 'why is this person driving so erratically?'
This morning was good, I was overtaking loads of numpties in my Niva, all within the speed limit!
nmlowe said: sometimes, I can't be arsed to overtake.
If the person in front is driving lower than the speed limit (but still at a reasonable speed) and I'm not in any hurry, I don't mind just sitting there and chilling out.
Obviousley I would overtake if needed.
Ah, but you being an enlightened PH member will actually leave a gap for the rest of us and won't go mad flashing lights or offering coffee if you get passed.
Had the same two weeks ago but on a dual carriageway one night.
Me doing a nice steady 75 due to being in no rush and not wonderful weather.
Car behind slowly but significantly closing on me (say 85mph), to sit just a little too close behind. And stays there. For miles.
Getting a little uncomfortable I slowed down a little. Still behind me. Sped up 30mph (alledgedly etc) and pulled out a good 1/4 mile gap, so slowed back to 75.
Idiot behind catches me up, probably doing 85, and then sits too close behind me again!
Only when I slowed down to 50 did he overtake, then was pulling away from me when I went back up to 75...
What goes through the minds of these people!?! Do they need to act like sheep so they don't have to think too hard?
Cheers, Phil
Me doing a nice steady 75 due to being in no rush and not wonderful weather.
Car behind slowly but significantly closing on me (say 85mph), to sit just a little too close behind. And stays there. For miles.
Getting a little uncomfortable I slowed down a little. Still behind me. Sped up 30mph (alledgedly etc) and pulled out a good 1/4 mile gap, so slowed back to 75.
Idiot behind catches me up, probably doing 85, and then sits too close behind me again!
Only when I slowed down to 50 did he overtake, then was pulling away from me when I went back up to 75...
What goes through the minds of these people!?! Do they need to act like sheep so they don't have to think too hard?
Cheers, Phil
It all just boils down to lazyness, it demands effort and concentration to 'do manoeuvres' mirror, signal, turn the steering wheel press the pedal, far too much effort, and thinking involved, it's the same reason we have the lane hogs on any road with more than 1 carrageway, numpty driver doesn't want to think about 'driving' as long as they stay below the posted speed limit there 'safe' 
And don't get me started on cycle lanes, my local concil have just spent months reducing a good 2 lane road into a single lane and a cyclepath, funny thing is though running along side this new cyclepath there is an existing path which has been there years,
edited because I've just noticed the cylce lane thing was in a completly diffent thread, "doh"
>> Edited by raceboy on Wednesday 6th November 12:37
And don't get me started on cycle lanes, my local concil have just spent months reducing a good 2 lane road into a single lane and a cyclepath, funny thing is though running along side this new cyclepath there is an existing path which has been there years,
edited because I've just noticed the cylce lane thing was in a completly diffent thread, "doh"
>> Edited by raceboy on Wednesday 6th November 12:37
Imelda said:
filmidget said: What goes through the minds of these people!?! Do they need to act like sheep so they don't have to think too hard?
Cheers, Phil
That's exactly it. Put your mind in neutral and bimble along behind the numpty in front.
... off a cliff/under a lorry etc. The problem arises when you are the person in front ... how to shake 'em off without having your collar felt.
trefor said: how to shake 'em off without having your collar felt.
If you're worried about having your collar felt, you could pull over and stop, so they have to go past.
If you're not so worried about
, you could give it large and lose them. 
Or (and this is usually my preferred option) you could just slow down to about 20mph and really annoy them.....
RedTeg said:
Ah, but you being an enlightened PH member will actually leave a gap for the rest of us and won't go mad flashing lights or offering coffee if you get passed.
Of course!
Point taken though!
I thought this was a dig at people who just don't overtake when there is sufficient opportunity.
Note to self: I must read the posts more thoroughly!
>> Edited by nmlowe on Wednesday 6th November 13:04
Well after I'd crawled along at 25mph for a few minutes, traversing this epic straight we cam up to some bends and stuff so I knew there was no chance of him overtaking me through there. I floored it up the last bit of the straight and made a big gap, went a couple of miles up the road and made my turning before he caught up.
Not so much annoying as it was bizarre. Even in my dog slow use-it-when-the-supras-broken Bluebird I overtake more people in a day than these numpties must do in a lifetime!
we cam up to some bends and stuff so I knew there was no chance of him overtaking me through there. I floored it up the last bit of the straight and made a big gap, went a couple of miles up the road and made my turning before he caught up. Not so much annoying as it was bizarre. Even in my dog slow use-it-when-the-supras-broken Bluebird I overtake more people in a day than these numpties must do in a lifetime!
Most of my journey to college or work involves lots of twisty A-Roads with not many overtaking opportunities and not many straights to overtake on.
The amount of piss-poor overtaking manoeuvres i have seen is unbelievable!
The other day whilst driving to work, i got stuck behind some old fart in an old Cavalier doing about 25-30 on roads that can easily (and safely) be travelled on doing 50-55mph. The problem is that the visibility is not very good for overtaking. So we get to a straight section (he's doing 25mph FFS!) so i select 3rd and overtake him like he's just stalled it.
A perfectly safe overtaking manoeuvre - nothing coming the other way, visibility good enough etc...
So why the fook did he flash me?
Seems these days people resent being overtaken
Anyway later on, im doing 30 mph in a 30 zone only to be overtaken by beaten up jap car - what the hells the point in overtaking in a 30mph area?
he only ended up getting stuck behind a lorry which was going slow in front of us.
a few miles up the road, the bloke in the beaten up Jap car (probably only a 1.4) decides that he's gonna overtake a Focus Saloon and said Lorry.
He indicates and pulls out, and slooooowly moves forward. Then as he draws by the Focus the Focus driver suddenly pulls out to overtake too, with virtually no indication. This is much to the jap drivers surprise.
Because they were following the lorry so closely, neither of them had a good run-up for overtaking, and neither of them had good visibility for overtaking.
The Focus is only 1/3rd of the way from overtaking the lorry and now traffic is starting to come the other way!
The tw@t in the Focus only just about makes it past the lorry, but the bloke in the rusty jap car has had to back off and go behind the lorry again.
Later, he successfully overtakes the lorry.
The scary thing is, this happens all the time on my roads - people dont put enough effort and fore-thought into overtaking.
Time saved on journey by overtaking for Focus driver = 10 seconds
Time saved on journey by overtaking for Jap driver = 5 seconds
amount of lives that could have been lost because of their incompetence = loads
I'd rather some people wouldn't overtake, simply because they are incapable of doing so property, putting their own lives at risk and others.
If you’re gonna overtake – do it properly, do it safely and do it for the right reasons!
>> Edited by Super_Marv on Wednesday 6th November 13:42
The amount of piss-poor overtaking manoeuvres i have seen is unbelievable!
The other day whilst driving to work, i got stuck behind some old fart in an old Cavalier doing about 25-30 on roads that can easily (and safely) be travelled on doing 50-55mph. The problem is that the visibility is not very good for overtaking. So we get to a straight section (he's doing 25mph FFS!) so i select 3rd and overtake him like he's just stalled it.
A perfectly safe overtaking manoeuvre - nothing coming the other way, visibility good enough etc...
So why the fook did he flash me?
Seems these days people resent being overtaken
Anyway later on, im doing 30 mph in a 30 zone only to be overtaken by beaten up jap car - what the hells the point in overtaking in a 30mph area?
he only ended up getting stuck behind a lorry which was going slow in front of us. a few miles up the road, the bloke in the beaten up Jap car (probably only a 1.4) decides that he's gonna overtake a Focus Saloon and said Lorry.
He indicates and pulls out, and slooooowly moves forward. Then as he draws by the Focus the Focus driver suddenly pulls out to overtake too, with virtually no indication. This is much to the jap drivers surprise.
Because they were following the lorry so closely, neither of them had a good run-up for overtaking, and neither of them had good visibility for overtaking.
The Focus is only 1/3rd of the way from overtaking the lorry and now traffic is starting to come the other way!
The tw@t in the Focus only just about makes it past the lorry, but the bloke in the rusty jap car has had to back off and go behind the lorry again.
Later, he successfully overtakes the lorry.
The scary thing is, this happens all the time on my roads - people dont put enough effort and fore-thought into overtaking.
Time saved on journey by overtaking for Focus driver = 10 seconds
Time saved on journey by overtaking for Jap driver = 5 seconds
amount of lives that could have been lost because of their incompetence = loads
I'd rather some people wouldn't overtake, simply because they are incapable of doing so property, putting their own lives at risk and others.
If you’re gonna overtake – do it properly, do it safely and do it for the right reasons!
>> Edited by Super_Marv on Wednesday 6th November 13:42
what are you guys driving? I ve had the (mis)fortune to drive a few normal cars lately and at 60 or more, overtaking is a nightmare, you need to slam into 3rd and scream the engine to creep past. most less than capable drivers will just try and do it in 5th and give up. hence they just have to stay behind.
I prefer the generous motorist approach, if I see you wanna get past, I indicate left, and wave my hand in a come-by method
courtesy is always rewarded with a thankyou wave. and no ones drive is effected.
I prefer the generous motorist approach, if I see you wanna get past, I indicate left, and wave my hand in a come-by method
courtesy is always rewarded with a thankyou wave. and no ones drive is effected.
Super_Marv said: If you’re gonna overtake – do it properly, do it safely and do it for the right reasons!
So many nutters I have seen overtaking around blind corners or towards a blind crest simply because they have become frustrated. Do they have a Death Wish?
And, of course, they overtake about four cars because of the people who aren't going by the tractor ahead.
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