people driving sooooo slow cos they dont know the speed limit!

Strider590

NBLondon wrote: »

Do you drive something sporty/boy racer looking? In my younger hot hatch days there was a small subset of idiots who assumed that an Astra GTE with spotlights on was a challenge to their masculinity.

Or given that we're talking about a white van - he was possibly on the phone with one hand, eating a pasty with the other and steering with his knees.

Nah, I drive a plain old boring looking Vectra...... Though strangely enough I have to admit when I went from a sporty 2 litre 306, to the Vectra I did notice that Van drivers especially tend to turn every overtaking move into a race.
Maybe they see a sporty car and think "no point racing, i'll just look stupid"? Maybe they have a grudge against stereotyped "rep mobiles"?

My other car, a Westfield, it always tends to be 4x4's that give me grief.

Different types of car get hassle from different types of drivers

Lum

lindopski wrote: »

I dont suggest you repeat my foolish trial but it did prove to me one thing, enough is never enough for the speeder/tailgater.

A sample size of one person isn't really valid.

What I think you encountered isn't someone who particularly wanted to get past, but someone who just doesn't want to think.

What this kind of driver does is they get behind a car, hopefully one driven by someone competent, and follow it at a certain distance, if the car speeds up, they speed up, if it slows down, they slow down. This removes the need to think too much or worry about speed limits. If there's a camera ahead then the car in front will slow down (if they're competent), thus the task of driving becomes a lot easier.

I have to confess that back in my previous job described above, there were times when I was hitting my limit for the day, but there was no opportunity to stop for a while, I'd spend a bit of time observing others and look for a driver who appeared to be sensible and competent and then do this.

Only real differences are I wouldn't follow as closely as your tailgater and it was just to get me safely to the nearest available place to stop for a nap, and that I would still aim to be aware of my own surroundings, my speed and what is going on rather than just blindly following the car in front. It was just an extra bit of insurance.

Cardelia

Trebor16 wrote: »

Just out of interest, but how many of you have been "victims" of obstructive driving? How many have had vehicles accelerate as they have gone to over take them, or swerved across in front of you, or postioned themselves in such a way as to onstruct your vision?

Personally I haven't witnessed such behaviour in a long long time. No one has speeded up on me when I have overtaken them, no-one has swerved in my way and I don't recall anyone blocking my view. In fact, if your view is blocked could it be because you are driving too close to the vehicle in front?

I was driving down the M4 yesterday morning behind some guy in the outside lane who was travelling at 60 mph. The inside two lanes were a little slower than this (55ish, maybe) but there were no gaps for the driver in front to pull in. When a gap finally appeared, and it was a big gap, he indicated left and pulled in. Instead of continuing at his current speed though, he floored the accelerator, got up to 80+ and had caught the next line of cars in the second lane before I'd had a chance to overtake him (not expecting him to speed up so much). Once he was back in the third lane, he slowed down to 60 again to overtake the line of cars.

This happens quite a lot in my experience. It's very annoying.

Knackered

Get a faster car. :money:

Cardelia

That's not the point

Anyway, I always overtake them the next time they pull in because I'm expecting them to speed up. It's just I don't expect it to happen the first time so I don't put my foot down when they pull in. Perhaps I should rethink my policy.

Lum

Maybe you should. If you suffer from people on single carriageways accelerating once they realise they're being overtaken, you may also want to try the "stealth overtake". Another manoeuvre that really should not be necessary but sadly it often is.

Knackered

Explain this "stealth overtake" concept.

interstellaflyer

I have come across a problem with the road that leads into our village, it is NSL, though I'm not suggesting that anyone should do 60mph, there are no centre lines however the road is plenty wide enough for two vehicles side by side, yet, I have on a couple of occasions been stuck behind some old battleaxe in an 'A' Class Merc who insists on doing between 20 and 25mph and if you attempt to overtake she moves out to the centre of the road to stop you, we are talking 3/4 of a mile of dead straight road with, as mentioned, more than enough room to overtake.

Lum

The idea of the "stealth overtake" is that because so many people like to accelerate once they realise they are being overtaken, this creates an unacceptable danger that needs to be mitigated.

So the procedure is as follows:

1) Do not tailgate, follow the person even further than your normal safe following distance.
2) When you want to overtake, accelerate towards the car in front but do not change lane yet. Be aware that you may need to abandon the manoeuvre, so be prepared to brake at any time, never get so close that you can't avoid hitting the car in front if you cannot pull out or they decide to brake. Ideally never get so close that the person is even aware of you.
3) Done correctly you should have a decent speed differential by the time you reach the overtaking point. 20mph is good and is legal if you are overtaking a 40 everywhere person.
4) Pull out and overtake providing it is still safe to do so.
5) The car in front will realise they are being overtaken and accelerate, but because they are driving a J reg Rover 214si they will never be able to match you speed before you are safely past them.
6) Check your mirror, pull in.
7) Check your mirror for comedy hand signals, or flashing lights.

Like I said, this style of overtake should never be necessary, but back in the real world it's likely the safest way to overtake someone these days.

It's probably helpful to have a front facing dash camera in case you encounter the same van driver that Strider described, however I've never had that happen to me yet. Pulling out to overtake earlier rather than later will mean that if they are going to straddle two lanes, you are more likely to have sufficient stopping distance.

Strider590

Knackered wrote: »

Explain this "stealth overtake" concept.

Keep your distance, don't let them think you plan to overtake.... Wait.... Wait.... Wait.... See a gap and floor it (if your on a dual carriageway don't change lanes for your accelerating), once your upon the car, do not indicate, pull out fast and overtake them before they've even figured out what's going on.

I treat all drivers as though they will put their foot down when you overtake, treat all drivers as though they want to kill you.... I use stealth overtaking a hell of a lot.

BUT it's an art form, you have to be very observant because there is an obvious danger in accelerating before you pull out to overtake.
I have had one instance where i've gone for the stealth and the other driver was too awake, saw what I was doing and swerved into my path causing some pretty heavy braking and lots of swearing.

If your behind a large van, there's an optimum distance where they cannot see your car, this is an ideal spot to be in prior to a stealth overtake. If they see your car sticking out on the right as they look along the side of the van, you'll probably see a huge puff of black smoke as they drop down a gear.

Generally the more information you give to the driver in front, the more difficult your overtake will be made.

Oh and if your overtaking lots of cars, do the stealth and then flash your headlights repeatedly and they'll all get confused and move over for you ;D