Overtaking

[notb665]

If you want to overtake someone in the outside lane on the motorway, do you flash your lights at them, tailgate them, or (as I learnt in Portugal) indicate as if there was another lane to move into?

 

[Steve]

they should move over to let you by. nobody should be driving in the outside lane if the other lanes are free. and if the other lanes aren't free, you shouldnt be (or it would be pointless to try) overtaking anyway. If they dont move over, report them to the police.

 

[Diyisfun]

For me I will flash, but from a distance. ie do not wait until you are so close they cannot see your lights.

 

[JohnD]

Tailgating is certainly the wrong answer.

 

[Diyisfun]

Crafty wrote

they should move over to let you by.#

who moves over?

[/quote]
If they dont move over, report them to the police.
[/quote]

 

[Diyisfun]

Crafty wrote

they should move over to let you by.#

who moves over?

[/quote]
If they dont move over, report them to the police.
[/quote]
Ha Ha

 

[JohnD]

the right indicator often works, you need to be well back so they can see your whole car in their mirror, including the indicator, and they do not feel you are trying to intimidate them.

I believe no-one ever moves over for a BMW driver, or for someone who annoyed them earlier.

 

[notb665]

I never move for motorcyclists.

 

[JohnD]

You won't mind when they pass you on the inside, then.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

they should move over to let you by. nobody should be driving in the outside lane if the other lanes are free. and if the other lanes aren't free, you shouldnt be (or it would be pointless to try) overtaking anyway. If they dont move over, report them to the police.

I'm sure they'll be interested to hear your complaint that they were doing 70mph and you wanted to overtake them.

Also, make sure you've worked out the distances involved, and that there really is a gap in the slower traffic needed for someone to pull into to allow faster traffic to pass without them being forced to slow down or drive too close, i.e. to be able to maintain a minimum 2 seconds separation.

For once our bizarre distance measures make life easy - 1mph is within 2.2% of 0.5 yards per second, so for practical purposes, a 2 second gap is 1 yard for every mph.

Say for argument's sake you are doing 80mph in the RH lane, the traffic on your left is doing 60mph, and the guy behind you wants to do 90mph. If you do the sums, you'll find that if you are not to be made to drive too close to the person in front of you, or the driver behind too close to you, or you to be made to slow down, you need a gap in the traffic on your left of 380 yards to be able to pull over - nearly ¼ of a mile.

That's the system I work to, and if you come up behind me, and there isn't a big enough gap to the left, I won't move over.

 

[Steve]

Picture the scene. A quiet 3 lane motorway, lets say 6am sunday morning. I'm driving in the left lane, minding my own, when i approach another motorist in the middle lane, to my right, who i want to pass. There's no reason for him to be there, theres nobody else about. So i always make a point of moving behind them, into the outside lane, passing them, and moving back in front of them to the left lane (obviously while maintaining a safe distance, but doing it so they notice me doing it). Some people just dont get it. I can just picture them saying "well why doesnt he just drive in the outside lane?"

 

[keyplayer]

In the interests of safety and self preservation, if anyone spots crafty approaching in their mirrors, I advise pulling onto the hard shoulder and stopping. For about twenty minutes.

 

[JohnD]

People who habitually cruise along in an overtaking lane are convinced that what they do is right, you will not cause then to change their minds.

 

[hermes]

Picture the scene. A quiet 3 lane motorway, lets say 6am sunday morning. I'm driving in the left lane, minding my own, when i approach another motorist in the middle lane, to my right, who i want to pass. There's no reason for him to be there, theres nobody else about. So i always make a point of moving behind them, into the outside lane, passing them, and moving back in front of them to the left lane (obviously while maintaining a safe distance, but doing it so they notice me doing it). Some people just dont get it. I can just picture them saying "well why doesnt he just drive in the outside lane?"

Sure I will get hammered for this but I would go past on the inside in this situation.

 

[punchjoshua]

Agressive overtaking is all to do with your mood jeckyl and hyde scenario.
You often find that people that speed on the motorway are always the ones that keep to the speed limit in a 30mph limit.