whats the best way to make a slow driver go faster?

[Deleted User]

SailorSam wrote: »

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you're driving that you get the impatient driver behind you flashing his lights and making hand gestures wanting to speed off. Only minutes after he/she has passed you get to the next set of traffic lights, and there he is.

Happened the other day. This focus was weaving it's way across a multi lane traffic light controlled roundabout to get ahead of the traffic. Only for him to be stuck behind me at the roundabout at the end of the next section of the duel carriageway. Made me smirk.

rdr

Even funnier when you're on a bike.

Strider590

SailorSam wrote: »

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you're driving that you get the impatient driver behind you flashing his lights and making hand gestures wanting to speed off. Only minutes after he/she has passed you get to the next set of traffic lights, and there he is.

If your driving at the speed limit, better to simply ignore them. It must be a local thing but nobody ever tailgates me wanting to go faster.

With regard to overtaking, when I overtake someone I don't care if I might get stuck at the next lights, it's always worth overtaking because you might get to those lights just before they change OR you may pass a junction JUST before a tractor (or OAP) pulls out.
If it's safe to overtake a slow driver, it's always worth doing. I more often regret not overtaking than I regret doing so.

The only other group I always overtake include those who brake hard for every slight bend and every oncoming car, I find it very stressful being behind a driver who is braking nervously and unpredictably. Same applies to people with broken brake lights.

attila_

!!!!!!!! to allow more time. That's an idiotic answer. I failed my driving my driving test years ago as I got a major for going too slow on a national speed limit road.

If they are driving too slow they are either incredibly inconsiderate or do not feel safe in the car. Either reason is good cause to be using public transport!

interstellaflyer

tod123 wrote: »

hang on guys, if you are on a schedule , and the person in front is doing 20 in a 30 , then thats really annoying, and you need to get them to go faster!

Define slow, yes someone doing 20-30 mph in a 50 0r 60 limit is a menace and probably shouldn't be driving at all, you can fail your driving test for going too slow as well as going too fast, however it is not down to you to start acting agressively towards them, that could be classed as road rage. On the otherhand if you're the idiot that charges up to people in an agressive manner because they are doing 25-30 in a 30 zone, 50 in a 50 zone or 60 on an NSL single carridgeway, then it's you that needs to adjust your driving behaviour, being in a hurry is not an excuse, leave yourself adequate time to make the journey in the first place.

Lum

reeac wrote: »

The stealth overtake sounds like a dangerous maneouvre to me - disguise your move until the last possible moment having assumed that the driver in front doesn't use his mirrors ... and all based on the assumption that they are deliberately obstructing you. Have you heard of paranoia?

Ever heard of the advice to drive as if everyone on the road is an idiot who is out to kill you, and then you'll only ever be pleasantly surprised?

In any case, I've had people speed up on me while I was overtaking in a perfectly safe and legal manner. I've witnessed it happening to others plenty of times more. It's not really paranoia when you are just being prepared for something that can and does happen.

I don't always use the manoeuvre. You can get a feel for which drivers are likely to cause a problem, the most obvious example being lorry drivers are very unlikely to speed up significantly, and if the driver behind has clearly not used their mirrors since the Thatcher years they're less likely to be a problem too!


Compare the stealth overtake to the official procedure advocated by the IAM, which has you take up the "overtaking position" which is to follow at 1 car length slightly further right than the car in question, and when you decide to overtake, move fully into the oncoming lane, then make your decision, then stick your foot down.

That procedure may well have been fine in the 60s or whenever it was written, but these days, the person you are overtaking is just going to see some idiot tailgating them. If it's nighttime the uptick on your headlights is going to be shining in their drivers mirror which really winds people up. It's much more likely to provoke an aggressive response.


The lack of signalling is the most controversial part of the stealth overtake and you do need to be very careful with it. Unless the vehicles behind are cars that have clearly been happy to just plod along you really need to think carefully about it. If there's motorbikes around you most likely should be signalling.

Not signalling reduces the risk a little when the situation is just you and the slow person, but when there's other people around who are also considering overtaking, not signalling can increase the risk.

Raksha wrote: »

Stealth overtake? That must be what the guy in the sports car who overtook me on a single lane entry single lane exit roundabout was doing when I found him on the inside of me and planning on taking the same exit as me....... He was lucky I saw him and didn't let him put his nice shine car in the side of my ancient estate......

No, that was just an idiot. The stealth overtake still has all the requirements of a normal overtake before you can do it safely. In fact if anything, you need a slightly longer overtaking point because the stealth overtake assumes that the person is not going to offer any assistance and is, in fact, likely to speed up on you. This means you need to allow additional space.

mikey72

reeac wrote: »

The stealth overtake sounds like a dangerous maneouvre to me - disguise your move until the last possible moment having assumed that the driver in front doesn't use his mirrors ... and all based on the assumption that they are deliberately obstructing you. Have you heard of paranoia?

Why is it the only time you get stealth overtakers is when you're first in the queue behind the tractor, they're second or third in the queue, and as soon as you get a clear stretch, they think it's fine to try to be first out? Many's the time I indicate, check the mirror, and find a stealth overtaker thinking because they've attempted to pull out I should pull back in again? Even though I've been sitting on the white line, making it as clear as possble to those behind. Then cue the numpty desperate to pull around me in a double overtake if he does manage to follow me past.

Strider590

interstellaflyer wrote: »

leave yourself adequate time to make the journey in the first place.

See, this one sentence.... It's bullsh1t, such a shame after an other wise good post.

You didn't need to degrade yourself by throwing in a "one liner", the classic "it's not a race", "it's a limit not a target" and "leave yourself adequate time".

They're not answers.

What is adequate time?

Let's say for example you work a morning shift, your up at 5am to start work at 6am. You get up at this ungodly hour, you get yourself dressed, you make some lunch and you leave yourself 30mins to do a 9 mile journey (which on a good day takes 10mins at 60mph NSL). You then run into captain slow (and his mates) and your journey takes 45mins. Your late for work, your up for disciplinary action and all because some tw4t can't drive.... Boss (who starts work at 9:30am) comes out with "leave earlier".

Leave earlier? Yeah because that's possible when your fighting to get kids into bed before midnight, sometimes with drama continuing until 1am. How long before your next shift pattern change? 3 weeks?
3 weeks of 4 hours sleep each night, what's more dangerous behind the wheel? tiredness or being drunk?

It drives me mad when people come out with this stuff, they have no comprehension of what other peoples lives are like.

reeac

Deleted_User wrote: »

Undertake them if it is a duel carriageway you are talking about. Many a time I have been stuck behind someone in the 2nd lane when there is nothing in the 1st lane for as far as the eye can see.

"Duel" carriageway ... I like it!

Lum

mikey72 wrote: »

Why is it the only time you get stealth overtakers is when you're first in the queue behind the tractor, they're second or third in the queue, and as soon as you get a clear stretch, they think it's fine to try to be first out?

There's actually a much simpler explanation for that.

In deciding if a stealth overtake is necessary, what you should be doing is observing the driving style of the car in front. If the person comes across as a bit of a numpty that thinks that the NSL is a 40 limit and that mirrors are decorations then a stealth overtake should be considered. If the person seems to be driving in a sensible manner with good observation then a stealth overtake is probably not necessary.

Now, I know that you and I disagree on many of the finer points of driving, but you don't come across here as one of the above numpties and if I encountered you on the road I'd probably not try such a manoeuvre.

So, why do you get it when you're trying to get past a tractor? Because there's always the one !!!!!! who has to be first at all costs, and a queue of several cars is one of those situations that really does bring them out of the woodwork.