Men and overtaking
Discussion
I have no idea about men, but I don't like being overtaken - it means I'm not driving fast enough. But once someone tries to overtake I make it as easy as possible for them to get past quickly by easing off a little. And I will evaluate a possible overtake any time the opportunity presents itself, unless there is no point due to conditions ahead, or it's unsafe or illegal. I have noticed that a lot of people seem to think that overtaking is illegal in itself - otherwise I can't understand the flashing lights.
Shuvi McTupya said:
Doesn't bother me in the slightest if people want to overtake me. I will generally give a little flash of my left hand indicator if someone is gaining fast and the road ahead is clear. .
This.With a drift to the nearside.
Motorbikes most often acknowledge the gesture IME.
My main bugbear is not the overtake, but the shoddiness of the execution of a lot of overtakes by people who buy fast cars and don't appear to have the skill to drive them properly.
As long as it's done correctly, it actually gives me a certain degree of pleasure to see a good car being driven well and driven quickly (within legality obviously), so if that involves me being overtaken then so be it.
As long as it's done correctly, it actually gives me a certain degree of pleasure to see a good car being driven well and driven quickly (within legality obviously), so if that involves me being overtaken then so be it.
Something i was pondering as i travelled down the motorway this morning was why do people happily break the speed limit to overtake a vehicle on a DC/MWAY, but they won't do it as often on a single carriageway? There are some that will overtake a vehicle doing 50 in a 50, for example, but there aren't many.
wazztie16 said:
Something i was pondering as i travelled down the motorway this morning was why do people happily break the speed limit to overtake a vehicle on a DC/MWAY, but they won't do it as often on a single carriageway? There are some that will overtake a vehicle doing 50 in a 50, for example, but there aren't many.
I've been held up by people on single carriageway roads who have then zoomed off on reaching a motorway frequently.
FK said:
My main bugbear is not the overtake, but the shoddiness of the execution of a lot of overtakes by people who buy fast cars and don't appear to have the skill to drive them properly.
As long as it's done correctly, it actually gives me a certain degree of pleasure to see a good car being driven well and driven quickly (within legality obviously), so if that involves me being overtaken then so be it.
Exactly this. Though it doesn't happen very often I have zero problems with being overtaken, provided the overtakee does it safely and provided they maintain their speed after the pass. People meandering past with a 2mph difference meaning I have to brake hard to let them in before they hit oncoming traffic pisses me off no end, as do people overtaking then slowing down and holding me up.As long as it's done correctly, it actually gives me a certain degree of pleasure to see a good car being driven well and driven quickly (within legality obviously), so if that involves me being overtaken then so be it.
Another annoyance is people passing very slowly on DCWs/Motorways and then slowing down even more as they draw alongside so they are sat next to me for ages. I'm most always on cruise control, but if I very gently accelerate they invariably speed up as well, and this seems to happen surprisingly often, not sure why.
amazing driver said:
Happy to be overtaken. That said it's a rare event.
Agreed. I even leave extra space in front if I'm not in a hurry so they can easily slot back in. Would be nice if more people did this rather than blindly following in a group a couple of inches from each other's bumpers, clearly too scared to overtake, so that I have to power through past five or six dawdlers at once in order to get past.I have also noticed when overtaking, some pensioners must mistake me for an HGV or long vehicle and are kind enough to flash their lights, presumably to signal it's safe to pull back in. Either that or in their permanently confused state they are mistaking the headlight flasher with the wash wipe ?
I once noticed most unladylike behaviour from a 1 series I overtook, but generally find aggression is rare outside of base spec BMWs.
Whilst on my motorcycle recently, while filtering alongside more or less stationary traffic I pulled up briefly just ahead of someone who, in their wisdom, tried deliberately to push me off by nudging my rear wheel with their front bumper.
It was a woman and she was clearly having a bad hair day, ranting and yelling out of the window. Maybe she was late for a meeting. She was angry that I had 'jumped ahead of her in the queue' but she needn't have fretted about my holding her up - within 10 seconds, once past a traffic island, I was gone.
These sort of moments remind me (as if I needed reminding) that we share the road with all sorts of sociopaths - male or female.
It was a woman and she was clearly having a bad hair day, ranting and yelling out of the window. Maybe she was late for a meeting. She was angry that I had 'jumped ahead of her in the queue' but she needn't have fretted about my holding her up - within 10 seconds, once past a traffic island, I was gone.
These sort of moments remind me (as if I needed reminding) that we share the road with all sorts of sociopaths - male or female.
standards said:
This.
With a drift to the nearside.
Motorbikes most often acknowledge the gesture IME.
Please do not do this. It happened to me, I had a brand new Arai, the car in from moved left and threw up a rock that hit my new helmet hard. The acknowledgement might not be what you thought it was!With a drift to the nearside.
Motorbikes most often acknowledge the gesture IME.
The responsibility for the overtake belongs to the overtaker, not the overtakee. The motorcyclist has a much better view than you do, being higher up, and any unexpected manoeuvre, no matter how well intentioned, creates an additional layer of hazard.
CBR1000RRider said:
Please do not do this. It happened to me, I had a brand new Arai, the car in from moved left and threw up a rock that hit my new helmet hard. The acknowledgement might not be what you thought it was!
The responsibility for the overtake belongs to the overtaker, not the overtakee. The motorcyclist has a much better view than you do, being higher up, and any unexpected manoeuvre, no matter how well intentioned, creates an additional layer of hazard.
On the continent it is accepted etiquette for car drivers to pull slightly to one side when a bike approaches from behind. This is largely due to the large sections of single carriageway roads with a solid single white line which means no overtaking unless its a tractor or similar doing less than, I think, 25 KPH. In France I'd say that 90% of drivers will pull over allowing the bike to pass without crossing the white line. So I'm all for it.The responsibility for the overtake belongs to the overtaker, not the overtakee. The motorcyclist has a much better view than you do, being higher up, and any unexpected manoeuvre, no matter how well intentioned, creates an additional layer of hazard.
Getting back to the OP's original question, over here the French and Germans seem not to have a problem with being overtaken but a good chunk of the Spaniards do seem to have a problem. On a single carriageway road where the limit is usually 90 kph if I come up behind in my car with them religiously doing bang on 90, if it's safe I overtake often to me met by lights flashing, horns sounding and sometimes a bit of fist waving. I think it offends their Spanish machismo. There's another group who will speed up as you come up behind them - again it must be a machismo thing. Or it could be that they're jealous because with Andorran plates on the car he fixed cameras are of little or no concern to me.
wazztie16 said:
Something i was pondering as i travelled down the motorway this morning was why do people happily break the speed limit to overtake a vehicle on a DC/MWAY, but they won't do it as often on a single carriageway? There are some that will overtake a vehicle doing 50 in a 50, for example, but there aren't many.
I'm sure it's because of the reduced risk of an OT on a MW/DC than on a single carriageway.CBR1000RRider said:
The motorcyclist has a much better view than you do, being higher up, and any unexpected manoeuvre, no matter how well intentioned, creates an additional layer of hazard.
+1. I too don't like car drivers in the UK moving to the side when I'm on the bike. I prefer cars to avoid needless lateral movement, and I'll make my own decision about overtaking.Salted_Peanut said:
+1. I too don't like car drivers in the UK moving to the side when I'm on the bike. I prefer cars to avoid needless lateral movement, and I'll make my own decision about overtaking.
+2Moving to the left doesn't actually do anything. If I desperately needed that additional 6 inches mid overtake, I'm f*cked anyway....
TimmyMallett said:
Salted_Peanut said:
+1. I too don't like car drivers in the UK moving to the side when I'm on the bike. I prefer cars to avoid needless lateral movement, and I'll make my own decision about overtaking.
+2Moving to the left doesn't actually do anything. If I desperately needed that additional 6 inches mid overtake, I'm f*cked anyway....
Pica-Pica said:
TimmyMallett said:
Salted_Peanut said:
+1. I too don't like car drivers in the UK moving to the side when I'm on the bike. I prefer cars to avoid needless lateral movement, and I'll make my own decision about overtaking.
+2Moving to the left doesn't actually do anything. If I desperately needed that additional 6 inches mid overtake, I'm f*cked anyway....
I’ve only got a work van to scoot around in just now, so theres no chance of me overtaking anything but as long as the overtake is well executed and safe then who doesn’t love to watch a sports car having its neck wrung then hearing the exhaust as it goes by.
I was overtake years ago by an v10 m6 and it was epic as it went past, never forgot it.
Also watched a bike overtake my cousin on one wheel which was also great
I was overtake years ago by an v10 m6 and it was epic as it went past, never forgot it.
Also watched a bike overtake my cousin on one wheel which was also great
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