Speeding whilst overtaking
Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
I think we are lucky it's still legal to overtake at all.
But Morally Wrong. Must not overtake, the morris minor doing 35 mph in a NSL zone, as you might wake the driver and scare him into crashing.
Actually I got off with a producer, after legally overtaking an old biddy around a bend (which you could see around) who was struggling to do 30 on the straights and braking to 10 mph on the bends on a local B road.
Bib suggested I could have scared her by surprising her with suddenly appearing in front of her.
As I say. Morally Overtaking needs to be banned.
fluffnik said:
vonhosen said:
fluffnik said:
vonhosen said:
The limit point isn't wrong & being within it is better than being too quick for it.
Yes. The arbitrary number on the stick serves only to confuse matters.There is no consistent relationship between posted limits and the speed required to drive within the limit point.
The arbitrary number on the stick serves only to confuse matters.
The law is petty and worthy only of contempt.
Mr POD said:
Dr Jekyll said:
I think we are lucky it's still legal to overtake at all.
But Morally Wrong. Must not overtake, the morris minor doing 35 mph in a NSL zone, as you might wake the driver and scare him into crashing.
Actually I got off with a producer, after legally overtaking an old biddy around a bend (which you could see around) who was struggling to do 30 on the straights and braking to 10 mph on the bends on a local B road.
Bib suggested I could have scared her by surprising her with suddenly appearing in front of her.
As I say. Morally Overtaking needs to be banned.
tsuchan said:
I saw a policeman on TV, in one of those reality shows that follows policemen, who said in clear terms that it was okay to exceed the speed limit to complete an overtaking manoeuvre.
The key word in that sentence is ‘complete’. A court would argue that if you could not complete it without exceeding the speed limit, you should not have started. Logic will say, once you are committed and cannot pull back in, you should complete the overtake.Pica-Pica said:
The key word in that sentence is ‘complete’. A court would argue that if you could not complete it without exceeding the speed limit, you should not have started. Logic will say, once you are committed and cannot pull back in, you should complete the overtake.
Yep from 2009 nothing has changed you can speed under a necessity/duress defence which may happen on an overtake but only if it was the only alternative. If the car you are overtaking speeds up then almost always braking and dropping back behind is safer, if there is someone following you through and a car towards then it might be worth a punt, if that happened to me I would probably take the small risk of points over the much bigger risk of an airbag spoiling my film star looks. 
However if you misjudged the overtake or failed to account for something that you should have then getting off speeding would leave you open to careless dangerous etc.Like many I will occasionally creep over the limit when overtaking anyway, but I do it knowing it's illegal and willing to face the consequences. That said, as with all speeding, if I get caught then I feel I wasn't paying attention enough to be driving in the first place.
Edited by Graveworm on Saturday 21st July 17:34
tsuchan said:
I saw a policeman on TV, in one of those reality shows that follows policemen, who said in clear terms that it was okay to exceed the speed limit to complete an overtaking manoeuvre.
A traffic officer doesn't set the law.Maybe try doing an overtake over the limit past a speed camera and see what happens?
Red Devil said:
Is two months short of 9 years a thread resurrection record? If not, does anyone know who holds that distinction? 
And why would someone make only their third post in 6 1/2 year’s membership for it? This is where I’m convinced there’s some sort of trade in old PH membership accounts where someone takes over them, resurrects them and then uses them for some school holiday trolling. tsuchan said:
I saw a policeman on TV, in one of those reality shows that follows policemen, who said in clear terms that it was okay to exceed the speed limit to complete an overtaking manoeuvre.
I bet you cannot tell us the TV series in question or an episode number....because I'm kinda thinking that didn't happen.DeKo said:
In the interest of safety its sometimes necessary to speed while overtaking, but their rebuttal will simply be that if you couldnt do the overtake without exceeding the speed limit you shouldn't have done it at all.
Ah yes, but what if the person being overtaken suddenly sped up, such as is not unknown to happen? janesmith1950 said:
A traffic officer doesn't set the law.
Maybe try doing an overtake over the limit past a speed camera and see what happens?
One of my favourite overtaking spots is past a speed camera. Maybe try doing an overtake over the limit past a speed camera and see what happens?
Idiots on the straight single carriageway A road usually brake immediately upon seeing said camera whilst, if clear, I pull out and drive past at an indicated 65. The look on their faces when the camera completely fails to flash is priceless!
sunday-driver said:
Is it a defence when prosecuted for speeding to say you were performing a safe overtaking manoeuvre at the time? (73 in a 60, single carriageway). I always thought you were allowed to exceed the limit when overtaking, but I may have read that in Viz or something.
What did you gain by overtaking?Did it generally assist your smooth progress or was the car you overtook up your chuff at the next traffic queue?
Was the car you overtook being driven in such a manner you were nervous of unexpected manoeuvres?
Did it you save a massive amount of time?
Did it ensure you arrived at your destination in time for an important interview / save a life / create a life (pregnant female on board)
If the other car was say doing 50 then did you need to be doing 73 to get by?
If the other car was on the 60 limit why overtake?
WJNB said:
What did you gain by overtaking?
Did it generally assist your smooth progress or was the car you overtook up your chuff at the next traffic queue?
Was the car you overtook being driven in such a manner you were nervous of unexpected manoeuvres?
Did it you save a massive amount of time?
Did it ensure you arrived at your destination in time for an important interview / save a life / create a life (pregnant female on board)
If the other car was say doing 50 then did you need to be doing 73 to get by?
If the other car was on the 60 limit why overtake?
Missed one:Did it generally assist your smooth progress or was the car you overtook up your chuff at the next traffic queue?
Was the car you overtook being driven in such a manner you were nervous of unexpected manoeuvres?
Did it you save a massive amount of time?
Did it ensure you arrived at your destination in time for an important interview / save a life / create a life (pregnant female on board)
If the other car was say doing 50 then did you need to be doing 73 to get by?
If the other car was on the 60 limit why overtake?
Q:Did you enjoy overtaking?
A:Yes I f
king well did 
BertBert said:
vsonix said:
Ah yes, but what if the person being overtaken suddenly sped up, such as is not unknown to happen?
But then the best course of action is almost always to brake and come out of it.No, the best course of action is to complete the manoeuvre that you committed to as quickly and as safely as possible, because sometime it's safer to break the limit than it is to behave erratically in an attempt to stick to it.
vsonix said:
...until you've found the gap you just left has been filled by the car that was behind you.
No, the best course of action is to complete the manoeuvre that you committed to as quickly and as safely as possible, because sometime it's safer to break the limit than it is to behave erratically in an attempt to stick to it.
Have you thought that through? The physics and the maths are against you. If the driver is speeding up so much that your overtake is no longer on then the car behind you is not going to be filling that gap. What you will be doing is increasing your speed towards the danger so anything that happens is worse and harder to avoid. Against a constant speed car even supercars struggle to accelerate at close to one g. at overtaking speeds. If that car is actually accelerating then it's way harder. Conversely, most cars can get manage 1g under braking which will be helped by the overtaken car increasing speed to way beyond hypercar relative accelerations. Of course, as above, no matter what you are now going to arrive at the hazards later and and slower. If it were really necessary as you suggest you could fall in behind several cars far more safely than trying to stick the overtake. As I said in my earlier post, there may be some rare occasions where it is not possible but the smart move is nearly always back out and let common sense prevail over pride. No, the best course of action is to complete the manoeuvre that you committed to as quickly and as safely as possible, because sometime it's safer to break the limit than it is to behave erratically in an attempt to stick to it.
Edited by Graveworm on Sunday 22 July 19:55
p1esk said:
....but I know what you mean about people who are forever touching the brakes at the mere sight of a bend, even when they are already driving quite slowly. 
The worst thing about being behind someone like this is the constant uneccesary bright red lights shining in your face. Not only is red stressful in general but there's an element of 'cry wolf' syndrome involved. Now when I'm pootling along at the speed limit or under it, I'm usually doing low revs in fourth or fifth, I use the right gear for a corner, make my braking adjustment if necessary just before entering then roll through. I use them sparingly and only when I have to. But when you have Nervous Norman in front who brakes when he sees a car coming in the opposite lane, brakes on the approach to a corner, keeps trail braking through the corner, brakes again when he sees a pothole - you get so used to seeing the red lights that if he genuinely does have to make an emergency stop, they cease to have meaning, because they're never NOT lit! Yet all of a sudden on the straight stretch with broken lines they're up to NSL, or speeding up as you go to pass. For the good of my sanity I'd rather get past these stress inducing erratic types even if it means breaking the limit for 15-20 seconds whilst I get past them. Edited by vsonix on Monday 23 July 15:27
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