Why do people not overtake me ?

[bigdods]

I have noticed this a lot now the evenings are getting dark. Example from Friday last week driving home ~6pm on what I think was a B Road (following sat nav). Bit twisty and bumps so as it was dark and I was not familiar with the road I was doing 50 in the NSL bits and 50 in the 50 bits.

For a short while I was on my own then another car came up quite quick and sat behind me. After a few miles I had about 10 cars behind me. Now being mindful of not holding people up on a friday night I was already looking for somewhere to pull in so they could pass.

As luck would have it we came to a short stretch of DC, only about a mile but I reckon with a bit of lead foot they could all have got past. Not a single one overtook. They all formed into a line behind me in the left lane. Go to another bit where there was a cralwer lane up a hill with a centre passing lane. Again they all formed a line behind me.

Why ? If you want to go faster (and they all clearly did) why not overtake when you are on a DC ?

I didnt bother pulling over as clearly no one was in a rush to pass.

[hombrepaulo]

They're all brain dead and playing follow the leader

[oldcynic]

They don't overtake because it's much easier to tailgate someone than to lead them - drivers seem to feel more comfortable if they're all huddled together.
Also they're stupid. They're probably posting right now about how slow you were driving and how you should have pulled in to let them past

[Mr Gear]

This thread plus this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...

= a universe back in balance.

Phew.

[sherman]

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

[16vMinuki]

Were you driving a police car?

[rb5230]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

What he said for sure.

[aka_kerrly]

rb5230 said:

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

What he said for sure.

This was my first thought to, I am often dubious of overtaking relatively new saloon cars that appear to be driving too conservatively especially at night when it's harder to spot the tell tale signs of a unmarked car eg extra aerials etc.

dave

[Matt UK]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

Are we back in the 90's?

[bigdods]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

Well its possible but even so, on a 70mph DC no one would go over 50 ? Even if they thought I was a police car thats just daft.

And would people really think that my 10 year old Omega is a police car ? I havent seen a police Omega for years,they stopped making them in 2003 and I cant imagine any force running a 10 year old high miler.

maybe I should get a sticker made up 'Not plod please pass to the right --> '

ETA: I dont think this is the answer, I wouldnt imagine people 10 or more cars back could really see what I was driving and none of them tried to overtake either. But People ARE stupid so who knows !

Edited by bigdods on Monday 29th November 13:26

[sherman]

bigdods said:

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

Well its possible but even so, on a 70mph DC no one would go over 50 ? Even if they thought I was a police car thats just daft.

And would people really think that my 10 year old Omega is a police car ? I havent seen a police Omega for years,they stopped making them in 2003 and I cant imagine any force running a 7 year old high miler.

maybe I should get a sticker made up 'Not plod please pass to the right --> '

People are thick and the cop shows still use footage out of Omegas so people will think they are still in use.

[matchmaker]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

I sometimes get the same reaction.

[redtwin]

Considering the road conditions with freezing temps, they were following you just in case there was a patch of black ice around the next bend.

If the Omega goes pirouetting off into a ditch, then slow down and drive around the ice.

[aka_kerrly]

bigdods said:

ETA: I dont think this is the answer, I wouldnt imagine people 10 or more cars back could really see what I was driving and none of them tried to overtake either. But People ARE stupid so who knows !

Edited by bigdods on Monday 29th November 13:26

You are overlooking the conditioning of drivers that has been taking place over the last few years. It is now largely unacceptable to overtake because Speed Kills. People who overtake are considered rude, inpatient, self centred, dangerous and shouldn't be allowed to share the road with people content doing under the speed limit and following each other with 1.5 car lengths gap between them regardless of the road conditions because this is being safe.

I've come across similar situations where there is a big line of cars, no one wants to overtake yet as soon as i've pulled out an gone past maybe 2/3 of the cars someone WILL decide that they also want to overtake an pull out in front slowing me down making the overtake more dangerous for both of us. Only one occassion have I overtaken a string of cars and found that one in the middle was a unmarked car and he pulled out to overtake to as soon as i went past and made no attempt to stop me.

dave

[Vipers]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

And the muppets behind you had absolutely no idea what the road speed was either

[Alfa numeric]

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

My Dad gets this as he's not the fastest driver and he pilots a dark blue Volvo S60. I once had to follow him down a dual carriageway in my car doing a steady 60. The combination of a hot hatch following a dark blue Volvo must have rung a lot of alarm bells because we didn't have a single car pass us for miles, and the queue in the NSL was quite impressive...

[GreatGranny]

Worse "I drive like a Grandad" thread eva!

[croyde]

Alfa numeric said:

sherman said:

If you were in you Omega they probably thought that you were an unmarked police car.

My Dad gets this as he's not the fastest driver and he pilots a dark blue Volvo S60. I once had to follow him down a dual carriageway in my car doing a steady 60. The combination of a hot hatch following a dark blue Volvo must have rung a lot of alarm bells because we didn't have a single car pass us for miles, and the queue in the NSL was quite impressive...

[tinman0]

bigdods said:

As luck would have it we came to a short stretch of DC, only about a mile but I reckon with a bit of lead foot they could all have got past. Not a single one overtook. They all formed into a line behind me in the left lane. Go to another bit where there was a cralwer lane up a hill with a centre passing lane. Again they all formed a line behind me.

Overtaking is very unfashionable at the moment.

[agxster]

I overtook a woman on a dual carriageway yesterday. She got annoyed as I passed her, sped up and then as we came up to a junction with a green light proceeded to drift into my lane and block me from passing. This caused me to slam on the brakes to avoid colliding with her.