Forgive yourself.

[Flintstone]

irm said:

i don't see a problem with "lighting them up" but there is a difference between that and a "flash of headlights"

Are you saying turn your lights on for the duration of the maneouvre?


Edited to say:

With this topic in mind I went for a drive this morning to see what, if any difference, overtaking with lights on made.

In relatively light post-rush hour traffic I executed ten overtake maneouvres with lights and ten without. The ten without were the usual non-event. Interestingly the ten with lights resulted in one involuntary twitch of the steering wheel as I turned my lights on, two noticeable drifts toward the centreline (voluntary/involuntary blocking?) and one rude gesture.

This is the first time in 28 years of driving I've tried this and it will also be the last. Under normal circumstances I am able to complete the overtake and be on my way without fuss. This business of "lighting them up" seems to be asking for trouble. Not for me thanks.

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 10:16

[irm]

Flintstone said:

irm said:

i don't see a problem with "lighting them up" but there is a difference between that and a "flash of headlights"

Are you saying turn your lights on for the duration of the maneouvre?


Edited to say:

With this topic in mind I went for a drive this morning to see what, if any difference, overtaking with lights on made.

In relatively light post-rush hour traffic I executed ten overtake maneouvres with lights and ten without. The ten without were the usual non-event. Interestingly the ten with lights resulted in one involuntary twitch of the steering wheel as I turned my lights on, two noticeable drifts toward the centreline (voluntary/involuntary blocking?) and one rude gesture.

This is the first time in 28 years of driving I've tried this and it will also be the last. Under normal circumstances I am able to complete the overtake and be on my way without fuss. This business of "lighting them up" seems to be asking for trouble. Not for me thanks.

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 10:16

no - got position, got gear off you set

pull the stalk back and hold it back until you're past

its not f off I’m coming through its hello I’m here (bye bye i'm gone)

Don’t do it at every overtake just if I’m passing two or more and then not every time just if i think it’s necessary

[bertbert]

Flintstone said:

irm said:

i don't see a problem with "lighting them up" but there is a difference between that and a "flash of headlights"

Are you saying turn your lights on for the duration of the maneouvre?


Edited to say:

With this topic in mind I went for a drive this morning to see what, if any difference, overtaking with lights on made.

In relatively light post-rush hour traffic I executed ten overtake maneouvres with lights and ten without. The ten without were the usual non-event. Interestingly the ten with lights resulted in one involuntary twitch of the steering wheel as I turned my lights on, two noticeable drifts toward the centreline (voluntary/involuntary blocking?) and one rude gesture.

This is the first time in 28 years of driving I've tried this and it will also be the last. Under normal circumstances I am able to complete the overtake and be on my way without fuss. This business of "lighting them up" seems to be asking for trouble. Not for me thanks.

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 10:16

Excellent research, but where on earth did you find 20 overtakes? I can't remember the last time I actually found an opportunity to overtake!!

Bert

[Flintstone]

irm said:

its not f off I’m coming through its hello I’m here (bye bye i'm gone)

You may know that but how do they?

As my examples (above) showed some people will react in a less than perfect manner. Road rage is a serious risk and "lighting them up" isn't going to help not to mention those of limited situational awareness who panic.

Since discovering this I've asked just about every experienced driver I know if they do it. None of them do and none have ever had an incident while overtaking. Several are police drivers, some instructors, who laughed at the idea and without prompting raised exactly the same concerns as I have.

This may have been accepted practice a few decades ago but not now and certainly not for me.

bert said:

Excellent research, but where on earth did you find 20 overtakes? I can't remember the last time I actually found an opportunity to overtake!!

Bert

I'll confess it took some time but I had the day off, it was a nice day, roof down. Come to think of it I'd probably have gone for a drive anyway

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 22:08

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 22:09

[irm]

Flintstone said:

irm said:

its not f off I’m coming through its hello I’m here (bye bye i'm gone)

You may know that but how do they?

As my examples (above) showed some people will react in a less than perfect manner. Road rage is a serious risk and "lighting them up" isn't going to help not to mention those of limited situational awareness who panic.

Since discovering this I've asked just about every experienced driver I know if they do it. None of them do and none have ever had an incident while overtaking. Several are police drivers, some instructors, who laughed at the idea and without prompting raised exactly the same concerns as I have.

This may have been accepted practice a few decades ago but not now and certainly not for me.

bert said:

Excellent research, but where on earth did you find 20 overtakes? I can't remember the last time I actually found an opportunity to overtake!!

Bert

I'll confess it took some time but I had the day off, it was a nice day, roof down. Come to think of it I'd probably have gone for a drive anyway

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 22:08

Edited by Flintstone on Tuesday 13th March 22:09

ok (you don't mention how large your pool of friends is)

but its done here its what i've been taught and what i've seen done and i know its taught here

your position in the road will indicate you wish to overtake unless you're a "swan necker" and then you're just going to piss people off

if you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't simple as

and as for road rage never suffered from it as a result of doing it

[R_U_LOCAL]

It may be recommended by some people on here, but it's not exactly taught, is it? I haven't recommended it in my original post, and I don't recommend it for the reasons that Flintsone has so nicely described.

I wasn't taught to accompany overtakes with a headlight flash when I did my original advanced course, it wasn't taught on my instructors course, and I've never taught it myself.

Just because it's something you favour doing yourself, doesn't mean that it's the correct way to do it.

[irm]

R_U_LOCAL said:

Just because it's something you favour doing yourself, doesn't mean that it's the correct way to do it.

never said it was

[Flintstone]

irm said:

R_U_LOCAL said:

Just because it's something you favour doing yourself, doesn't mean that it's the correct way to do it.

never said it was

I have to ask.



Why do it then?



(Oh, circle of friends = a radius of 1.3)

Edited by Flintstone on Saturday 17th March 21:23

[havoc]

irm said:

no - got position, got gear off you set

pull the stalk back and hold it back until you're past

its not f off I’m coming through its hello I’m here (bye bye i'm gone)

Don’t do it at every overtake just if I’m passing two or more and then not every time just if i think it’s necessary

I find myself doing this sometimes if I'm overtaking multiple cars, most often if it's on a wide A-road and I'm overtaking down the centreline with cars coming the other way (in effect I've created a 3rd lane). However, I'm using dipped not main beam. It's just another way of making sure people know you're there - turning the lights on as you pull out means you suddenly appear in people's wingmirrors more noticeably (for good or bad), and also people coming the other way can't miss you - the combination of manoeuvre out and 'lighting up' draws their attention to you.

[R_U_LOCAL]

havoc said:

irm said:

no - got position, got gear off you set

pull the stalk back and hold it back until you're past

its not f off I’m coming through its hello I’m here (bye bye i'm gone)

Don’t do it at every overtake just if I’m passing two or more and then not every time just if i think it’s necessary

I find myself doing this sometimes if I'm overtaking multiple cars, most often if it's on a wide A-road and I'm overtaking down the centreline with cars coming the other way (in effect I've created a 3rd lane). However, I'm using dipped not main beam. It's just another way of making sure people know you're there - turning the lights on as you pull out means you suddenly appear in people's wingmirrors more noticeably (for good or bad), and also people coming the other way can't miss you - the combination of manoeuvre out and 'lighting up' draws their attention to you.

Irrespective of how wide the road is, you should try to avoid making a line of three moving vehicles abreast. This is a mistake that motorcyclists often make - they assume that because they take up less road space, it's safe to overtake in the face of on-coming vehicles.

It isn't safe and it's a very ill-advised move. You should try to time your overtakes so you're not three-abreast (two alongside and one on-coming) whenever possible. If there isn't a suitable gap in oncoming vahicles to allow you to do so, you should wait.

[WhoseGeneration]

Interesting this talk about the headlights flash while executing an overtake.
Ok, this is from some years ago, when I was a member of the IAM and an Observer for the local Group. We, as Observers, were checked annually by a Class One driver from the local Police Constabulary.
I had been using a friendly light horn "beep" when overtaking.
The Class One assigned to me though suggested that a flash of the headlights was a better method of alerting the "overtakee".
I have used that since, although observing that sometimes it does seem to raise the hackles of a few drivers.
I am no longer a member of the IAM, so may be a bit out of date.
My wife is still, so I do see the magazine.
Why am I no longer a member?
Well, we moved location in the UK. In our new location I saw appalling driving by the local Traffic Police. I even wrote to the the then Chief Examiner of the IAM detailing what I had observed. He replied, with his views, which were not critical of mine.
Anyway I don't think our revered Government would want us ordinary drivers to overtake.

[havoc]

R_U_LOCAL said:

Irrespective of how wide the road is, you should try to avoid making a line of three moving vehicles abreast.

It isn't safe and it's a very ill-advised move.

If there isn't a suitable gap in oncoming vehicles to allow you to do so, you should wait.

On a modern main A-road that would pretty-much preclude overtaking, and the particular road I'm thinking of (A46 between Alcester and Stratford, before the hill) is over 4 cars wide from white line to white line...it wouldn't take a lot of extra land to make that stretch into a D-C.

I can appreciate your argument, and yes it's arguably not as safe as a 'normal' overtake as you've two numpties to keep an eye on, but is it THAT ill-advised when you've still got a 4-6ft lateral gap to the oncoming traffic (and a 3ft gap to the overtakee)...I can think of plenty of B-roads where the speeds are little different but in normal driving you've no more (or even less) separation than that...so by inference there is as much risk in driving on a B-road as performing that overtake.