Exceeding the speed limit whilst overtaking - opinions

Exceeding the speed limit whilst overtaking - opinions

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Discussion

66comanche

2,369 posts

160 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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To me speed limits are just something to be aware of with regard to plod/scameras, there are plenty of times I'll travel way in excess of the limit if I know the road, conditions are right, etc. Luckily I live in a fairly rural county where you can within reason get away with it. When overtaking I go as fast as possible with no thought to the NSL unless I'm going to need to 'hop' part of the queue and 'push in' (as people would see it).

Luckily I have no car at the moment so this post can't come back and bite for a while at least. biggrin

veryRS

409 posts

146 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Fast enough to complete the overtake safely within the limits I can see are clear.

sulli

584 posts

220 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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66comanche said:
To me speed limits are just something to be aware of with regard to plod/scameras, there are plenty of times I'll travel way in excess of the limit if I know the road, conditions are right, etc.
Same here

Mastodon2

13,826 posts

166 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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chris182 said:
Yep, same. It is easy to see some big numbers as you draw level though (90+ leptons overtaking a 50mph vehicle). I do worry about what PC Plod would have to say if ever they caught one doing this.
I think 90+ might give a a talivan officer good reason to target you. I think the reasoning would be "If you needed to do 90+ to complete the move, it wasn't a good overtake", regardless of how much space there was on the road. That said, my overtaking routine (on a track, obviously) in my old Cupra R was to select 3rd gear, pull out, WOT and and full boost past, sometimes shifting to 4th along the way then pull in. That car could cross the 50-90+ lepton gap in a flash! A lot of turbo cars are just hitting their stride at these speeds some restraint is needed to stop silly numbers from flashing up.

Scantily

394 posts

172 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Personally when I overtake i engage warp speed until I'm past, it's safer to get it all over and done with as quickly as possible I feel.

Aeroresh

1,429 posts

233 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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I think getting caught speeding whilst overtaking is more likely to get you hauled up in front of a magistrate for dangerous driving, etc than a mere speeding offence.

The official line will be if you cant complete the manoeuvre within the posted speed limit and visibility you have, its not a safe manoeuvre to complete

andy-xr

13,204 posts

205 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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15mph or lower (or is it higher?) difference to speed limit of the car in front is my rule, 45/60, 35/50

I try not to barry it past people doing 15 in a 30 though, sometimes it's better to be patient and just let them get on with it

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

171 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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If you can't overtake confidently and safely without breaking the speed limit, the overtake isn't on. It is that simple.
You can make up rules for yourself, say it is OK to do 80 for a moment for an overtake, but it's just as stupid as saying 85 is the default motorway limit. 99% of the time you'll get away with it, but when you get caught/have an accident, no point complaining.

heebeegeetee

28,777 posts

249 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Shouldn't this be in the Advanced Driving forum?

Surely the rest of us are going as fast as we can, aren't we? smile

FloppyRaccoon

1,916 posts

167 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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vonhosen said:
FloppyRaccoon said:
I remember my driving instructor telling me it was okay to break the limit a bit to complete an overtake.
That won't cut the mustard as a defence.
Just giving an opinion from a professional on the matter, I didn't say I'd ever use it as a defence.

BorkFactor

7,266 posts

159 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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I always give it a bootfull while overtaking - I want to be on the wrong side of the road for as short a time as I can possibly get away with (obviously driving safely and not cutting anyone up).

I rarely exceed 80 leptons by the time I get back in - although I did get caught out the first time I did a proper 3rd gear overtake in the 328i after being used to considerably less powerful cars! Lets just say I was thankful that plod wasn't sitting round the corner, and I will drop to 4th from now on hehe


Sam.F

1,144 posts

201 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Generally I just boot it to get past as quickly as possible having ascertained that there is no potential Talivan presence. That being said, I occasionally do creep past at the limit on the A66/A595 even if there is a Talivan in circumstances where the traffic in front is dawdling along and I am on a long straight with nothing coming the other way - there is after all no law against overtaking!

Chris71

21,536 posts

243 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Adam_W said:
Personally I'm one for giving it everything while passing then slowing when back on the correct side of the road.
As a general rule I do the same.

If I've got a really long line of site on a long straight road with no oncoming traffic I might take it a bit more gently, but I usually try to get overtaking over and done with as quickly as I can.

I think technically breaking the speed limit while overtaking is as illegal as anywhere else, but you'd have to be a pretty harsh copper to do someone for 62mph during a safe, otherwise-legal overtake. And I guess you shouldn't be overtaking unless your view is good enough to see anywhere a road side speed trap might be lurking.

66comanche

2,369 posts

160 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Just realised, this thread is discussing staying within the limit while overtaking, I'll happily overtake people akready doing the NSL, sometimes even if they're at 10-20mph more than NSL depending on my mood/the conditions.

fluffnik

20,156 posts

228 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Once again blanket arbitrary speed limits show themselves to be a bad idea.

We really should be rid of them and all the parasites that feed off them.

0000

13,812 posts

192 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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I slow down to overtake so I don't frighten the poor sods too much. wink

RevHappy

1,840 posts

163 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Full loud pedal, get out and back ASAP. I don't care if you can see for miles. If you need to pass get it done quickly and cleanly.

Mastodon2

13,826 posts

166 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Sam.F said:
there is after all no law against overtaking!
Sadly I think this is lost knowledge to the majority of drivers in the UK these days.

anonymous-user

55 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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Unfortunately the law has to panda (sic) to the lowest common denominator, which these days is practically below the inteligence of a radish. These people need a "speed limit" to try to prevent them doing something stupid.

For anyone else with the ability to think for themselves the speed limit is simply a arbitory, but legally binding, "suggestion" as to a maximum safe speed. if we ignore the fact that a modern car can outperform the 1960's car, at which time the limits were set, by a massive margin, we can also realise the fact that this limit cannot cover every eventuality. The ultimate risk descision between your speed and safety lies with each driver. Whilst going faster is obviously going to result in a more severe accident, there is no direct link between risk and speed. In fact, as mentioned, under certain circumstances, faster = less risk.


Contigo

3,113 posts

210 months

Friday 13th April 2012
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RevHappy said:
Full loud pedal, get out and back ASAP. I don't care if you can see for miles. If you need to pass get it done quickly and cleanly.
Indeed, the problem is in mine if you gas it fully you are twice the speed limit in no time biggrin