Your opinion on extreme lorry "overtaking"

[Johnnytheboy]

944 Man said:

Read the Highway Code: keep left: drive properly and the problem that you described (and are the cause of) will disappear.

Accurate, and topical!

[320d is all you need]

944 Man said:

And that is the problem. Their speed is between them and the man, not you. If you are blocking them by hogging the centre lane with a self-entitled excuse like 'but I'm already going over the speed limit', then you are just as much a part of the problem as they are.

Read the Highway Code: keep left: drive properly and the problem that you described (and are the cause of) will disappear.

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

[Glenn63]

This is just the same as how hgv drivers feel when cars are doing 42mph side by side in 50mph road works.

[oyster]

320d is all you need said:

944 Man said:

And that is the problem. Their speed is between them and the man, not you. If you are blocking them by hogging the centre lane with a self-entitled excuse like 'but I'm already going over the speed limit', then you are just as much a part of the problem as they are.

Read the Highway Code: keep left: drive properly and the problem that you described (and are the cause of) will disappear.

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

Classic PH victim blame.
Instead of blaming the impatient, dangerous, tailgating fool - the law-abiding ‘victim’ is blamed for not being impatient, dangerous or law-breaking enough.

I’m also all ears from some on here as to what I can do faced with an HGV on my rear bumper when in roadworks travelling in Lane 1 at indicated 54-56mph?

[Second Best]

I occasionally drive my Mini on motorways. It's perfectly capable of doing 70mph, in the same way a 330d is capable of doing 140mph. However I tend to cruise at 60mph as the old A-series isn't screaming at me for the journey. 99% of the time, other road users wanting to go faster just make their way past without much fanfare.

If I'm on a 4-lane section of the M25 in light traffic, as I was around 9pm on Saturday evening, I have no reservations with passing a truck with a 3-4mph difference. I don't see a need to speed up if a slow overtake won't inconvenience anybody. Well, except the idiots who sit in the middle lane(s) and either do 90mph or match the speed of whatever's in front of them, but poor roadcraft shouldn't be my problem.

At busier times, such as Friday evenings, if I'm overtaking something slower I'll normally speed up to 70mph to perform a swift overtake, then return to L1 and ease down to 60mph again. Occasionally an elderly boomer will be affronted that I'm trying to overtake and speed off, but I either just return to L1 and resume doing 60, or just build up speed before the overtake.

Interestingly it's very very rare that anybody plays silly games when I'm in the Mini, people tend to assume I'm going to be slow and just leave me to my own devices. I remember driving my Mercedes on the motorway with a space saver fitted, unlike most I stuck to the 50mph limit on the tyre and I could feel the hatred from angry Ecosport/Zafira drivers for daring to drive slowly with an AMG Merc.

[PorkInsider]

Second Best said:

If I'm on a 4-lane section of the M25 in light traffic, as I was around 9pm on Saturday evening, I have no reservations with passing a truck with a 3-4mph difference. I don't see a need to speed up if a slow overtake won't inconvenience anybody. Well, except the idiots who sit in the middle lane(s) and either do 90mph or match the speed of whatever's in front of them, but poor roadcraft shouldn't be my problem.

At busier times, such as Friday evenings, if I'm overtaking something slower I'll normally speed up to 70mph to perform a swift overtake, then return to L1 and ease down to 60mph again. Occasionally an elderly boomer will be affronted that I'm trying to overtake and speed off, but I either just return to L1 and resume doing 60, or just build up speed before the overtake.

4mph difference is ~1.8 metres per second. So you'd be past a truck comfortably with space to spare in less than 20 seconds.

But 1mph is ~0.4 metres per second and a truck needs an extra ~10m to fully pass, so we're talking about 2 minutes for a truck to pass another at 1mph differential, which is commonly what these overtakes are like.

56mph is ~25 metres per second. The driver of a truck being overtaken would add less than 2 seconds to his journey time to facilitate the overtake of another truck by easing off for it to get past. Just 2 seconds...

There must be some reason why they mostly don't do it, preferring to sit there on their own limiter with the other truck alongside them for several minutes?

[Glenn63]

A lot do slow down to help the overtaker, like me, but unfortunately just like every other vehicle on the road these days, many a bellend are driving them with zero consideration for anyone else. Add to the fact that a lot of companies pay per day you just have everyone screaming around to get done and home those few minutes earlier.

[Mandat]

320d is all you need said:

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

Isn't it as simple as increasing the gap between you and the HGV?

I presume that you're talking about average speed camera zones, therefore raising your speed for a short period to increase the gap is not going to significantly increase your average speed.

[Mandat]

oyster said:

I’m also all ears from some on here as to what I can do faced with an HGV on my rear bumper when in roadworks travelling in Lane 1 at indicated 54-56mph?

Same response as above to 320d.

[MarcelM6]

Having experienced this yesterday on the A1 coming south, while I get mildly annoyed at elephant racing lorries, what really gets me aggravated are the dozy drivers who, once all trucks are back in Lane 1, then speed up from 54mph to 61mph and take forever to pass the 3-4 trucks that are now in a row.

Means that we have gone from 1 truck passing another, to 1 truck passing 3 trucks, followed by 20 cars trying to pass 4 trucks. And if you are number 20 in the queue that means 4 trucks + several cars. I don't blame the trucks, I blame the drivers of cars who seem incapable of accelerating to the NSL, overtaking trucks and the slowing down to whatever they are comfortable at. Probably the same drivers that pass schools doing 40mph..

Thanks goodness i don't do this regularly, I can see how it drives people mad.

[Mandat]

Mandat said:

320d is all you need said:

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

Isn't it as simple as increasing the gap between you and the HGV?

I presume that you're talking about average speed camera zones, therefore raising your speed for a short period to increase the gap is not going to significantly increase your average speed.

The other obvious option is to move to lane 2, to allow the HGV to overtake you in lane 1, then move back to lane 1 yourself.

[NickCQ]

Mandat said:

The other obvious option is to move to lane 2, to allow the HGV to overtake you in lane 1, then move back to lane 1 yourself.

It's really the only option if the vehicle behind you wants to maintain a higher speed but can't (be bothered to) move out to overtake you.

[sospan]

Yesterday I went East on the M4 to Cardiff. In the Port Talbot 50 average speed zone there was a lorry lane hopping. I set my cruise control to just passing 50 and progress was ok with nobody seeming to want to push through. I used lane 2 of 2 in steady pretty well speed matched traffic.
The lorry seemed to be on cruise/ limiter control and was jumping over into small gaps and literally a couple of metres behind a couple of cars.
The varying speeds around the 50 mark meant I was watching and speed adjusting a couple of times. When out onto the normal NSL stretches there were only a couple of times that cruise needed adjusting for long stretches of several miles.
The use of the limiter as a form of cruise control often seems to be one reason why lorries creep up behind traffic or pull out to pass. Couple that to lower power tractor units that also struggle uphill and you get the overtaking issues.

[320d is all you need]

Mandat said:

320d is all you need said:

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

Isn't it as simple as increasing the gap between you and the HGV?

I presume that you're talking about average speed camera zones, therefore raising your speed for a short period to increase the gap is not going to significantly increase your average speed.

No.

So I'm already speeding (doing 54 in a 50).

I'm being tailgated by a huge truck with potentially fully loaded trailer.

Which means if he wants to overtake he should maintain a safe distance until able to move over to over take.



And rather than suggesting these "professional" driver's use a little bit of their professionalism and slow down to a sensible gap

You suggest the car being tailgated has to speed up?

If that is what you are suggesting, you are a clown.

If I had a blow out or had to brake suddenly for some reason I could be killed because "Big Dave" is an insecure little tt whos only "moments of power" are when he's in his cab lording over other motorists in a machine significantly more likely to kill someone.

Edited by 320d is all you need on Monday 19th April 16:48

[FiF]

Not going to get into the lorry up your bottle in an average speed cam section. But something came to my attention some years back that there does seem to be some asshats who deliberately play games in these sections.

They appear to look for someone who is trying to do it properly, ie driving up to the limit yet keeping left except when overtaking. They then position their vehicle alongside so that the other vehicle is prevented from pulling into lane 2 when they inevitably catch up slower moving traffic. Then as the vehicle in lane 1 slows down to a following position, they slow down too. Slow down a bit more the they slow. Speed up a little, so do they. It's clearly a game.

There is a way to deal with it but not particularly good driving.

[944 Man]

You certainly can: some are driven by complete bell-ends. (edited to add: I misread Fif's comment and thought that he said that you won't get an HGV bullying you)

What people do not realise, is that idiots holding up HGVs in the second lane is so prevalent, and that their ish behaviour encourages equally ish behaviour from the drivers of the vehicles that theyre obstructing.

It is so common, as a threads complaining about it, that in the absence of clear confirmation that they were in the nearside lane (absent, here), this will always be assumed.

If it happened to me, and it has rarely; then I would slowly decelerate. They will either pass you, or chase you across the desert in a demented attempt to kill you.

Edited by 944 Man on Monday 19th April 17:52

[Mandat]

320d is all you need said:

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

You specifically asked what you could do.

I gave you two obvious options;

1. Increase the gap behind you

or

2. Get out of the way

Obviously, in an ideal world the HGV driver's professionalism should stop them from tailgaiting in the first place, but while you are waiting for that professionalism to kick in, you can control the situation around you, and reduce the risk and hazard that the HGV is causing by either increasing the gap, or getting out of the way.

Clown, indeed.

[320d is all you need]

944 Man said:

You certainly can: some are driven by complete bell-ends.

What people do not realise, is that idiots holding up HGVs in the second lane is so prevalent, and that their ish behaviour encourages equally ish behaviour from the drivers of the vehicles that theyre obstructing.

It is so common, as a threads complaining about it, that in the absence of clear confirmation that they were in the nearside lane (absent, here), this will always be assumed.

If it happened to me, and it has rarely; then I would slowly decelerate. They will either pass you, or chase you across the desert in a demented attempt to kill you.

You made an assumption. You were wrong. It's OK.

[Glenn63]

Mandat said:

Mandat said:

320d is all you need said:

What?

I'm in Lane 1 already doing 54 and have a lorry up my arse.

What precisely do you suggest I do?

Other than make stupid assumptions that I would be in the middle lane (seems common on this forum) when no lane was specified.

Isn't it as simple as increasing the gap between you and the HGV?

I presume that you're talking about average speed camera zones, therefore raising your speed for a short period to increase the gap is not going to significantly increase your average speed.

The other obvious option is to move to lane 2, to allow the HGV to overtake you in lane 1, then move back to lane 1 yourself.

I’d say in this instance his limiter is probably at 54 so he can’t pass and is just sitting there, not defending his actions he should obviously be leaving the required gap to the vehicle in front. I doubt any trucker (even the biggest of bellends) expects people to move from lane one, if they are going faster and catch you they will just move to lane 2 and over take.

[Mandat]

Glenn63 said:

I’d say in this instance his limiter is probably at 54 so he can’t pass and is just sitting there, not defending his actions he should obviously be leaving the required gap to the vehicle in front. I doubt any trucker (even the biggest of bellends) expects people to move from lane one, if they are going faster and catch you they will just move to lane 2 and over take.

You could well be right, that if the HGV could overtake then he probably would instead of tailgating.

I don't recall ever being tailgated by a HGV like this, even in average speed zones, and even if I found myself in such a situation I would just give a short squirt of the accelerator to open up the gap behind me, in the knowledge that the HGV can't to likewise if they are on their limiter.

This seems so obvious, which is why I find it difficult to understand 320d's scenario, and why he would struggle with getting himself out of that predicament.

Edited by Mandat on Tuesday 20th April 21:16