Driver in overtaking lane at 65mph

skea56

McKneff wrote: »

OPtion 4

Go back to the inside lane and still stay behind her. You were quite happy to stay at that speed, seeing as you were behind her doing it.

You both should have been in the inside lane anyway.

and NBLondon too!!

True bill - knew someone would think of a 4th option!!

You're right, like I said I was in no rush so could have moved on in - I'll know for the next time.

thanks everyone again

sk56

Lum

NBLondon makes a very good point.. You already have one person causing a problem. No need to add to it by following them in L2.

If you don't intend to pass, follow them in L1 and leave a sufficient gap that they can pull over without feeling like they're cutting in front of you.

The gap is important, if you follow really close they are likely to get flustered and not want to move over even if they eventually realise that they should move over.

skea56

Lum wrote: »

What you will probably find here is that they are driving one of those cars with a very optimistic speedo. Since speedos can legally overread by up to 10%+6.25mph they probably thought they were doing 70 and that anyone who wishes to get past is therefore a dangerous baby+kitten murdering speeder and they're doing the world a favour by policing the roads so that the police don't have to.

I did laugh at this!!

almillar

Firstly, she had every right to be in that lane, at whatever speed, if she was actually overtaking someone, or turning right soon, but that's clearly not the case here.
Anyway, on your bestest behaviour, all you can do is give a flash to let her know you're there. Repeat.
You shouldn't undertake. After giving her a couple of flashes, that's what I'd do though. I'll be happy to argue with any police officer that someone driving 2 miles in the outside lane is causing an obstruction.
If I was one of the 'undertakers' behind you, I'd be arguing that I was overtaking a queue of (2) slow moving vehicles!

Also:

I have been involved in a car crash where EXCESS speed was the contributing factor,

fixed that for you.

PollyOnAMission

I asked my instructor this question when doing my advanced driving course. The general upshot of his response was:

Undertaking is not permissbale unless you are in a queue of traffic, with different lanes moving at different varying speeds e.g. when there is a hold up on a motorway and you are stop/start OR when you are in lanes that go to different places.

Headlight flashing is to warn people of your presence and therefore it is acceptable to flash your lights to make someone aware you are there and that they should pull over. He said you should follow at a safe distance (not intimidating them) and give them a flash. In theory this will alert them to your presence and make them move over but obviously it doesn't always work that way! If they didn't move over when flashed...hmm, not sure! You certainly shouldn't undertake but sometimes there are few other options. Was this in lane 3 of 3 or 2 of 2? If a 3 lane road I would probably move back to lane 1 to undertake so at least you are not right next to them doing it. But in general driving I find that a headlight flash (done in the right way) usually works. It's people who speed up behind you in the overtaking lane, while you are overtaking someone in the slow lane, get close up behind and flash/gesticulate aggresively that I can't stand. People who don't seem to realise that you have the right to overtake at your chosen speed, even if it's not as fast as their chosed speed! I also can't stand people sitting in the overtaking lanes when they are not overtaking. If people just learned how to use motorways properly traffic in this country would flow so much better!

iolanthe07

I often undertake these days when drivers hog lane 3 and won't move over. If you do it carefully and do not weave in and out I don't see how it is dangerous. It is not illegal. It is commonplace in the US where I lived for 5 years and works perfectly well there.

Lum

It's only dangerous because people don't expect it and tend to change lanes without looking. In (some parts of) the US, it's normal and expected and therefore less dangerous.

So long as you're aware of this and have a contingency plan (such as moving to the hard shoulder) it's fine.


That said, using lane 1 to overtake someone lane 3 is about as safe an overtake as you're likely to get, and would be very hard to prove due care and attention either.

jaydeeuk1

On the A38 south around burton, poss just before, there is a turning in the outside lane for lories to turn right to a farm or lorry park or something, with a short 'slip road' meaning lorries have to slow down to 20 or so whilst still in the outside lane. In this situation you have to undertake.

Lum

even the highway code "rule" that advises against undertaking states that it's perfectly fine to undertake a vehicle that is turning right.

k12479

NBLondon wrote: »

Option 1 is wrong. No need to tell her to move in - you're not there to police other people's driving.

Unfortunately, the police aren't there to police other people's driving either, nowadays. If you were to stray a few MPH over the limit, however...

People remaining in the wrong lane reduce motorway capacity. According to this article, by up to a third: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/oct/11/transport.world

On my daily commute I frequently pass upto 10 cars or so in a row by driving in the first lane while they all sit in the middle lane.