Why the upset when overtaken by a van?

[R1 Loon]

I've spent the weekend putting some serious miles on my new workhorse van lugging my trackbike around the NW and out to Anglesey and it never fails to amaze me how upset people seem to be when overtaken by a van.

The van in question is a big old girl (LWB, Hi-roof), albeit with a nicely remapped turbo diesel engine which will comfortably break 110 when fully loaded and get there reasonably quickly too.

What I can't understand is the looks of horror on car driver's faces when I overtake them, the way they stare at their speedo (or pretend to be fiddling with the radio ) . The one that really pisses me off though is the habit people have of speeding up.

I cruise at a steady 85, showing on SatNav & Snooper GPS, catch cars up, yet they then accelerate hard to 100+. You can see them staring in the mirrors, expecting me to disappear, but when I don't they just seem to get angrier & angrier.

This happens with about 50% of the cars I overtake, so what the hell is going on?

Oh and today's biggest culprits an Alpina (not convinced btw) 3-series, a Mini Cooper S and three YES THREE MX-5s. Pathetic, either speed up, or accept you're going to be ovetaken and try to drive at a constant speed, there's no need to slow down for a gentle curve on dual carriageway / motorway.

[Flintstone]

Wow.

Short news day?

[Chicane-UK]

Because sometimes when you're already doing the speed limit, or even over the speed limit and then someone comes past you in a van at significantly over the speed limit you just think "Plum" - that's why.

[boomboompow]

[Adam205]

OH NOES. Vans are taking over the world! Sell your MX5s lads and ladys.

[BDR529]

boomboompow said:

stealing that pic.

[R1 Loon]

Thanks for missing the point people. I don't get this in a car (or pretty rarely) and never on a bike, so why specifically the van?

I don't enjoy driving it, apart from the trackday at the end, so hardly a pro-van poster.

Still, looks like I've upset the comedians, so I'll go & sit in the corner and have a little cry.

[Deva Link]

R1 Loon said:

I cruise at a steady 85,

You can't have driven down the A55 at 85 - you'd have been pulled for speeding about 20 times.

[Speed_Demon]

Worst "I HAVE A FAST VAN" thread ever

or perhaps "I'LL TAKE ANY ACCELERATION/IN CAR MOVEMENT I SEE AND INTERPRET IT AS RELATED TO ME, AND MY DRIVING OF A VAN BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE MY VAN IS SPECIAL!"

Just busting your balls, that's how it came across though.

[WhoseGeneration]

Hmm, car derived van then?
Nah, it's "How does he get away with it?"
In times past a good maxim to follow was "Never be the fastest on the road".
Meaning, tuck in behind one faster, allowing them to take any "heat".
Perhaps that still lingers in some minds.
Then, never assume others, whatever their vehicle, have the driving skills (godlike or not) you do.

[Speed_Demon]

More seriously, I think it's because people probably interpret it as intimidation, just because the van is big, whereas it's nothing to do with them, you're just trying to make faster progress, obviously.

[Flintstone]

Oh come on. What did you expect on here?

For what it's worth I think you're imagining it though. I used to drive a white van, didn't hang about either but I don't recall getting any evil or disbelieving looks. Well, not until they saw The Times on the dashboard instead of The Sun

[boomboompow]

BDR529 said:

stealing that pic.

Been waiting literally days to use this 4chan does have it's pitfalls, but it can turn up some comedy gold from time to time Had to censor it a bit for PH-use mind...

[BDR529]

R1 Loon said:

Thanks for missing the point people. I don't get this in a car (or pretty rarely) and never on a bike, so why specifically the van?

I don't enjoy driving it, apart from the trackday at the end, so hardly a pro-van poster.

Still, looks like I've upset the comedians, so I'll go & sit in the corner and have a little cry.

I think most people either hate van drivers, or the concept of vans exceeding the speed they are travelling at. A fuse blows in their brain somewhere. I think you should apply a racing paintjob and see how many people react to that

[johnnyboy101]

+1 that damaged my lungs

BDR529 said:

stealing that pic.

[R1 Loon]

Deva Link said:

You can't have driven down the A55 at 85 - you'd have been pulled for speeding about 20 times.

Was fine, a few “Risk Zones” but no cameras AFAICS or Snooper activations

Speed_Demon said:

Worst "I HAVE A FAST VAN" thread ever

or perhaps "I'LL TAKE ANY ACCELERATION/IN CAR MOVEMENT I SEE AND INTERPRET IT AS RELATED TO ME, AND MY DRIVING OF A VAN BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE MY VAN IS SPECIAL!"

Just busting your balls, that's how it came across though.

I suppose it could read that way, but it’s not fast by any stretch of the imagination. It was more around the way people drove ie speed up, or worse pull out in front then slow down and drive slower & slower to well below the posted limit.

WhoseGeneration said:

Hmm, car derived van then?
Nah, it's "How does he get away with it?"
In times past a good maxim to follow was "Never be the fastest on the road".
Meaning, tuck in behind one faster, allowing them to take any "heat".
Perhaps that still lingers in some minds.
Then, never assume others, whatever their vehicle, have the driving skills (godlike or not) you do.

I was far from the fastest, plenty came past me and I was more than happy to let them go past. It’s not my place to regulate their speed, nor am I god-like in my driving.

[Stu R]

People hate vans. Certainly seem to when I'm driving them and I'm fairly considerate.

Edited by Stu R on Sunday 27th February 22:39

[WhoseGeneration]

Btw, "remapped" the brakes too?

[y2blade]

John,well done
you seem to have contained all the PH morons in one thread..quick lock them in and throw away the key

[R1 Loon]

WhoseGeneration said:

Btw, "remapped" the brakes too?

Nah, I hardly use it and it stops OK

It's not much of a remap anyway, was just to get it to acclerate a bit quicker, so it always needed to stop from the speed it can hit, which isn't exactly rapid.