Obligation to overtake?
Discussion
Could there by any existing motoring law which obliges drivers to overtake slower moving vehicles, creating an offence when a vehicle contributes to causing an obstruction by not doing so?
It is a very typical scene on rural, A-road roads: tractor or HGV plugging along at 30/40 mph, next driver so petrified of overtaking but travelling so close that they can't see past anyway and not leaving a gap for more assured drivers. Next vehicle maybe not powerful enough to do both vehicles in one go. Car behind that can't do all 3. And then you end up with a snake of 40 vehicles, no spaces between vehicles to pull into. And everything almost grinds to a halt. Then the kamikaze overtaking begins. And all because the driver of the first vehicle behind to tractor/HGV is sh*t at driving (the tractor/HGV driver should pull in occasionally, but sometimes this isn't always convenient).
So, is there a way of getting the not good enough to overtake, inconsiderate drivers off the road using existing legislation?
It is a very typical scene on rural, A-road roads: tractor or HGV plugging along at 30/40 mph, next driver so petrified of overtaking but travelling so close that they can't see past anyway and not leaving a gap for more assured drivers. Next vehicle maybe not powerful enough to do both vehicles in one go. Car behind that can't do all 3. And then you end up with a snake of 40 vehicles, no spaces between vehicles to pull into. And everything almost grinds to a halt. Then the kamikaze overtaking begins. And all because the driver of the first vehicle behind to tractor/HGV is sh*t at driving (the tractor/HGV driver should pull in occasionally, but sometimes this isn't always convenient).
So, is there a way of getting the not good enough to overtake, inconsiderate drivers off the road using existing legislation?
The HGV should be pulling over if it's causing an obstruction.
We all know that the Grauniad reading 40 everywhere numpties won't ever cause an accident, so they will drive off towards the pearly gates at a rock steady 42.7 mph...
Best pull over for a nice pub lunch, and have a calming cigarette (outside of course).
Seriously though, we need to replace all NSL signs with 60/70 markers - I honestly believe that some people have no idea what the speed limit is (hence you get the flashers who probably think that you have blasted past them at 60 in a 40, when in reality, they drove past a NSL sign 5 miles ago, but had no idea what it meant...
We all know that the Grauniad reading 40 everywhere numpties won't ever cause an accident, so they will drive off towards the pearly gates at a rock steady 42.7 mph...
Best pull over for a nice pub lunch, and have a calming cigarette (outside of course).
Seriously though, we need to replace all NSL signs with 60/70 markers - I honestly believe that some people have no idea what the speed limit is (hence you get the flashers who probably think that you have blasted past them at 60 in a 40, when in reality, they drove past a NSL sign 5 miles ago, but had no idea what it meant...
If a driver does not want to overtake then it shouldn't be forced upon them to do so, placing someone outside their comfort zone when driving a car, and forcing them into an exposed position would be madness shirly. The solution is of course that if they do not want to overtake, they should drop back from the slow vehicle and then continue to match it's speed, leaving enough space of course to allow the faster cars to leapfrog them one at a time when conditions allow.... can't see how you realistically would legislate/police/enforce it though so it remains (ASFAIK) under the "good driving practice" banner.
Bing o said:
Seriously though, we need to replace all NSL signs with 60/70 markers - I honestly believe that some people have no idea what the speed limit is (hence you get the flashers who probably think that you have blasted past them at 60 in a 40, when in reality, they drove past a NSL sign 5 miles ago, but had no idea what it meant...
Very worringly I believe you could be rightpaulsm said:
Bing o said:
Seriously though, we need to replace all NSL signs with 60/70 markers - I honestly believe that some people have no idea what the speed limit is (hence you get the flashers who probably think that you have blasted past them at 60 in a 40, when in reality, they drove past a NSL sign 5 miles ago, but had no idea what it meant...
Very worringly I believe you could be rightSo extend that to the average numpty and he is right, though I don't agree with the replacing of NSL signs with 60/70 markers as it's more complicated than that.
What are you going to have? Big signs like you see on the exits from the ferry ports trying to explain the NSL for all classes of vehicle?
To start with I'd rework the NSL limits, simplify all different limits for different classes and take an opportunity to shift things up/down as appropriate and bring it all into line with Europe. Sorry for saying that E word but it makes sense, e.g. get rid of the heavies restricted to 40 on SC NSL nonsense. Also review all these numpty councillor induced inappropriate limits and thus give a big keep your hands off message to said councillors.
Motorways and trunk road duals above a certain design standard @ 80 min. I'd prefer 90 but no chance of that.
Everything else 60 unless signed otherwise.
working on the KISS princple.
Bing o said:
Seriously though, we need to replace all NSL signs with 60/70 markers - I honestly believe that some people have no idea what the speed limit is
That won't help, because IME the drivers who think NSL=Numpty Speed Limit (a somewhat intangible and quite random value which can only be described as being no more than 20MPH below whatever the actual NSL is for that bit of road) also seem quite incapable of interpreting 2-digit numbers when surrounded by a red ring... to them, 60=50, 50=40, 40=30 and 30=40.
TTwiggy said:
jwo said:
what annoys me is the numpties that do tail gate the slow moving vehicle. If someone has no intention of overtaking, sit back leave a gap and let other people get on with it.
or the ones that leave a gap, then fill it when you try to get past... 
t encounter per chance TT?!!touching cloth said:
If a driver does not want to overtake then it shouldn't be forced upon them to do so, placing someone outside their comfort zone when driving a car, and forcing them into an exposed position would be madness shirly. The solution is of course that if they do not want to overtake, they should drop back from the slow vehicle and then continue to match it's speed, leaving enough space of course to allow the faster cars to leapfrog them one at a time when conditions allow.... can't see how you realistically would legislate/police/enforce it though so it remains (ASFAIK) under the "good driving practice" banner.
Yes I think that's the way to approach the problem. If a driver feels unable to overtake even a slowish moving vehicle on a single carriageway road we should not try to force them to do it, but I do think the authorities should mount some form of publicity campaign to get such drivers to leave decent gaps in front of themselves.There's a good deal of holiday traffic on the roads in our area curently, and this problem of long queues and no decent gaps is a bit of a nuisance. I can understand people wanting to potter about fairly slowly and enjoy the scenery - I do that sometimes - but they need to be aware of other road users and make suitable provision for the quicker drivers.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
jwo said:
TTwiggy said:
jwo said:
what annoys me is the numpties that do tail gate the slow moving vehicle. If someone has no intention of overtaking, sit back leave a gap and let other people get on with it.
or the ones that leave a gap, then fill it when you try to get past... t encounter per chance TT?!!TripleS said:
Yes I think that's the way to approach the problem. If a driver feels unable to overtake even a slowish moving vehicle on a single carriageway road we should not try to force them to do it, but I do think the authorities should mount some form of publicity campaign to get such drivers to leave decent gaps in front of themselves.
The real difficulty come when you try to fight their attitude that overtakers are queue jumpers
Bing o said:
twister said:
Oh, how I wish that were true... these days I'm seeing more and more people driving to (limit-10) outside of the 30's, with the "40 everywhere" brigade slowly decreasing in size.
They must all have moved to Dorset/Hants then. Can't move for the s.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff