Overtaking just as the speed limit increases

Lum

I still say that the onus is on the overtaker if overtaking through a speed limit change. Speeding up after going through the NSL sign is a normal and expected thing to do and nobody checks their mirrors before doing so.

If a pedestrian were to step out in front of him, it would be fine as he'll be looking forwards. If a pedestrian steps out behind him. Not his problem, unless he's reversing.

Parva

I'm with Lumm on this. Personally, I drive 'briskly' but safely observing not only the speed limits and road conditions but also taking into consideration what the driver in front or behind may do if I decide to overtake the car in front.

Has the guy in the Imprezza now riding on my rear bumper suddenly appeared? If yes, he's likely a nutter, hang back, leave him enough room to get in-between you and the car in front and let him plan his trip into the next life at an earlier opportunity. Once he's gone then continue to assess the opportunity of overtaking the car in front assuming that he too isn't some idiot that drives at bang on 30mph and then accelerates to 60mph in 2.1 seconds when he hits an NSL zone.

Awareness about EVERYTHING that is going on around you (front and rear) is absolutely essential. 80% of my driving is done via the windscreen, 20% is done via the rear-view mirrors! Every manouvere I make, even on 3 lane motorways is planned to ensure that I do not get caught out either from behind or some silly manouvere or change from the driver I am overtaking.

I've managed to amass well over 20 years of no-claims (and by no-claims, I mean that nobody has managed to hit me either!) and this isn't through chance, it's through understanding what is going on all around you and being prepared.

mikey72

Parva wrote: »

I'm with Lumm on this. Personally, I drive 'briskly' but safely observing not only the speed limits and road conditions but also taking into consideration what the driver in front or behind may do if I decide to overtake the car in front.

Has the guy in the Imprezza now riding on my rear bumper suddenly appeared? If yes, he's likely a nutter, hang back, leave him enough room to get in-between you and the car in front and let him plan his trip into the next life at an earlier opportunity. Once he's gone then continue to assess the opportunity of overtaking the car in front assuming that he too isn't some idiot that drives at bang on 30mph and then accelerates to 60mph in 2.1 seconds when he hits an NSL zone.

Awareness about EVERYTHING that is going on around you (front and rear) is absolutely essential. 80% of my driving is done via the windscreen, 20% is done via the rear-view mirrors! Every manouvere I make, even on 3 lane motorways is planned to ensure that I do not get caught out either from behind or some silly manouvere or change from the driver I am overtaking.

I've managed to amass well over 20 years of no-claims (and by no-claims, I mean that nobody has managed to hit me either!) and this isn't through chance, it's through understanding what is going on all around you and being prepared.

Don't quite see who's the idiot in this one though.
So if the car in front is doing the maximum speed in the 30 mph zone, then quickly accelerates to the maximum speed in the 60 mph zone, you still feel that somehow, you should be given the chance to pass? Do you think you can get to 60 faster than the 2.1 seconds, so you feel you should be in front?
Do you want to break the 60 mph speed limit and the "idiot" is stopping you?
I still don't quite see your problem with him, and why you're so desperate to pass.

Strider590

^^ I'd pass a van, truck, caravan or 4x4 that was accelerating up to the speed limit.... Simply because they reduce my visibility when I'm behind them, I lose count how many time's the above vehicles simply swerve to avoid road obstacles like parked/broken down cars or huge potholes, instead of indicating for the benefit of the cars following them.

It's pretty scary when the large vehicle in front swerves to avoid something and leave's you almost no time to react to the hazard yourself.

Hence, I will overtake large vehicles even if they intend to do the speed limit.
This excludes artic's as even if/when they don't indicate for an obstacle, you do have a much better visual sense of what they're doing.

Mark_Hewitt

If someone overtakes you and then you try to 'out-drag' them to stop the overtake. If I were making the rules that would be Careless Driving and worthy of points on your licence. Irresponsible and downright dangerous.

Parva

mikey72 wrote: »

Don't quite see who's the idiot in this one though.
So if the car in front is doing the maximum speed in the 30 mph zone, then quickly accelerates to the maximum speed in the 60 mph zone, you still feel that somehow, you should be given the chance to pass? Do you think you can get to 60 faster than the 2.1 seconds, so you feel you should be in front?
Do you want to break the 60 mph speed limit and the "idiot" is stopping you?
I still don't quite see your problem with him, and why you're so desperate to pass.

Not at all, if the driver in front is driving to the sort of limits and speeds that I myself am happy with (taking into account weather conditions etc etc) then I wouldn't even bother to attempt an overtake unless they were going unnecessarily slowly in my eyes. I don't overtake for the hell of it and I certainly wouldn't bother if the end result means I'm going to gain perhaps a whole minute at the end of the journey!

I drive briskly but safely and I attribute this to being situally aware of all that is going on around me, not just what I see in front.

Mark_Hewitt

Parva wrote: »

Not at all, if the driver in front is driving to the sort of limits and speeds that I myself am happy with (taking into account weather conditions etc etc) then I wouldn't even bother to attempt an overtake unless they were going unnecessarily slowly in my eyes. I don't overtake for the hell of it and I certainly wouldn't bother if the end result means I'm going to gain perhaps a whole minute at the end of the journey!

I drive briskly but safely and I attribute this to being situally aware of all that is going on around me, not just what I see in front.

As long as a driver is doing the speed limit I generally won't overtake, unless I can see e.g. a lorry in the distance, it will make things much easier to overtake the car now so I'm in a position to immediately overtake the lorry when I get to it.

Lum

Strider590 wrote: »

^^ I'd pass a van, truck, caravan or 4x4 that was accelerating up to the speed limit.... Simply because they reduce my visibility when I'm behind them, I lose count how many time's the above vehicles simply swerve to avoid road obstacles like parked/broken down cars or huge potholes, instead of indicating for the benefit of the cars following them.

Don't drive so close to the truck in front and this stops being an issue.

rev_henry

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

If someone overtakes you and then you try to 'out-drag' them to stop the overtake. If I were making the rules that would be Careless Driving and worthy of points on your licence. Irresponsible and downright dangerous.

Also in contravention of the Highway Code. Approximately rule 167 IIRC.

Lirin

What I had yestarday- massive sale held near a roundabout. Car behind me went into left lane coming onto roundabout (right was correct) went around the roundabout, got held up in traffic the turnoff before the one we both wanted, and tried cutting us up- when we were level with him.

Coming home, the opposite- car sitting at 35mph in a 60mph zone, was busy so we couldn't overtake. Finally at short double lanes when we could, he decided to straddle both lanes...