Fed up with whinging speeders ?

tomstickland

It's really worrying the amount of people who have no idea when it's safe to overtake. You DO know 'what's going to happen' if you can see far enough ahead to be sure no one will 'come screaming out of nowhere'. Please define 'nowhere'. I can usually see the road ahead of me.

Yes, I've seen some very stupid overtaking maneouvres. Possibly the dumbest was an old chap in a 30 zone who chose to overtake a bike on a series of blind bends. I was following him and there was no way something coming the other way would have been able to do anything.

However, defining a safe situation is not binary. On my way to work there is a long straight with a bend at the end of it. If I overtake a vehicle that's travelling at 45mph and do so at 60mph I can safely do it. However, the more quickly I execute the overtake then the less time I spend exposed to the danger of a speeding vehicle travelling in the opposite direct. I'm talking about a non-overtaking vehicle travelling in excess of the speed limit on the opposite carriageway. I'm not going "to appear out of nowhere" because I'm travelling down a high visibility straight with my headlights on. The less time I spend actually overtaking then the more quickly I move out from a potentially dangerous situation.

And if you break the speed limit to overtake then YOU are the person on the wrong side of the road and YOU are the person putting others at risk.

You are the person on the wrong side regardless of what speed you use.

It doesn't matter how fast they're going, it just wasn't safe in the first place.

They made a bad decision and you seem to be agreeing that the speed is not the factor.

And the irony is that at peak periods it's impossible to do more than 50 on that road anyway. They overtake in order to catch up with the next line of traffic that's travelling at 50 mph.

Why does the traffic travel at 50mph though? Is it lorries?

scheming_gypsy

oldbill1969 wrote: »

An excellent post, from this we could turn this thread around and discuss a fairer system of penalties for been caught doing excessive speed. I will agree that the current system is a tad unfair in some respects. I won't go onto this on this thread but will start a new one for proposed penalties for speeding.

cheers Bill, i would thank you but for some reason it's the only post i can't thank... probably cos the system isn't used to people thinking i've said something useful :rotfl:

daleyd

oldbill1969 wrote: »

I think you now start to lose it when you start to make personal attacks, you don't know me so your in no position to assume that just because I have posted about speeders who have been caught whingeing that I am up my own !!!! or that I must be a bundle of laughs. As for my children I must apologise if I teach them values and right from wrong

I'm certainly not losing it and it wasn't a personal attack, it was an observation regarding your views on here. I may be wrong, but I don't think so.

oldbill1969

savvy wrote: »

But then couldn't that be termed as a personal attack???

That is in no way personal, i have'nt made a slur on this thread against anyone who has gone against my opinions, people resort to personal attacks in discussions when they can no longer make reasoned argument.

conradmum

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Lets change that to 50mph and the lorry is going up hill, the road seems clear ahead and there is a bend in the distance, there is plenty of room to overtake and the lorry cannot make the 50mph limit. You begin to over take and a young lad comes flying round the bend ahead 'out of nowhere'. Do you continue to travel at 50mph to overtake it hoping that all will be ok or safe in the knowledge that even though you're on the wrong side of the road, if anything happens he'll be prosecuted for speeding? or do you speed up to ensure your safetly? slowing down and going back in behind the lorry isn't an option as the lorry was causing a tailback and the car behind you also pulled out to overtake.

Well, for a start I wouldn't be overtaking if I wasn't sure I could do so without being able to do it in time to avoid cars coming in the other direction - even speeding cars. Yes, unfortunately in this day and age we do have to allow for speeding drivers (such as yourself) doing stupid things.
If I had stupidly got myself into the situation you describe of course I would either speed up or brake in order to get back in and avoid a collision. Well done. You've managed to think of a situation where not speeding would cause a crash. Now please justify why you speed to overtake in unsafe situations with no reason whatsoever except for the fact that you want to get home five minutes earlier.

conradmum

tomstickland wrote: »

However, defining a safe situation is not binary. On my way to work there is a long straight with a bend at the end of it. If I overtake a vehicle that's travelling at 45mph and do so at 60mph I can safely do it. However, the more quickly I execute the overtake then the less time I spend exposed to the danger of a speeding vehicle travelling in the opposite direct. I'm talking about a non-overtaking vehicle travelling in excess of the speed limit on the opposite carriageway. I'm not going "to appear out of nowhere" because I'm travelling down a high visibility straight with my headlights on. The less time I spend actually overtaking then the more quickly I move out from a potentially dangerous situation.


You are the person on the wrong side regardless of what speed you use.


They made a bad decision and you seem to be agreeing that the speed is not the factor.


Why does the traffic travel at 50mph though? Is it lorries?

Sorry but I drive defensively too, and it doesn't entail becoming exactly the person I'm trying to avoid - speeding drivers.
The traffic travels at 50 because of roundabouts, lorries, plain volume of traffic. The road's only 9 miles long. It isn't going to kill anyone to avoid overtaking on it, it does kill people who do overtake, and the innocent drivers coming the other way, though.

scheming_gypsy

you'll never be sure you can do so without being able to do it unless you're on a perfectly straight road or have a satelite view of the road ahead.

Now before i justify why I would speed to overtake in unsafe situations please highlight where i've said i would? i have said that i'll drop down a gear and speed past the car i'm overtaking. This is purely to ensure the time take to overtake is minimal, keeping me on the wrong side of the road for the shortest time possible.

the only time i have had to do anything stupid whilst over taking was in a situation like i asked you about. The car in front of me began to overtake a lorry but didnt even bother to approach the speed limit. I'd pulled out behind the car as there was plenty of time for us both to overtake safetly IF the idiot in the car in front of me realised they didn't own the road.
The car was probably going 1mph faster than the lorry it was overtaking and by this time traffic had appeared in the opposite direction and the chances of us both overtaking the lorry were looking pretty bad for me. All i could do to make sure nobody (apart from possibly myself) was to overtake him whilst he overtook the lorry. Yes it sounds stupid and irresponsible but when you're in the situation yourself you only have a split second to decide how you're going to see your family again. My rear view mirror told me that i made the right choice as the car i over took just continued to tootle along and pulled in directly in front of the lorry. If i'd stayed behind him and hoped for the best i'd have been at the mercy of the other cars around realising what was happening and slowing down. Like i said it was a split second decision so slowing down and hoping the car now behind the lorry would realise what was happening was as risky as overtaking a car that was alredy overtaking.

When i started to over take the lorry there was plenty of time, it was the selfish and blind actions of the car in front of me that caused any problem. When you're driving it isn't just about you and the cars in front, there are also cars behind you that can be affected by your choices.

scheming_gypsy

conradmum wrote: »

Sorry but I drive defensively too, and it doesn't entail becoming exactly the person I'm trying to avoid - speeding drivers.

your driving ethics are all wrong. Speeding drivers is not a code word for dangerous drivers.

savvy

oldbill1969 wrote: »

That is in no way personal, i have'nt made a slur on this thread against anyone who has gone against my opinions, people resort to personal attacks in discussions when they can no longer make reasoned argument.

It's how one perceives it, IMO you have made a slur in your opening post, anyway it's not the issue here so I shall rest my case.

Hapless_2

A point of order to those who say schools are only used at certain times of the day/year etc.
After school clubs, holiday clubs, after school sports, after school sats study, community sports facilities, cubs, brownies, guides, scouts, WI meetings etc etc, many of which take place at schools. Schools are no longer just 8.30-3.30, some schools are used by the whole community.

Also many school crossing patrol workers get injured/killed by drivers going too fast, not paying attention etc. So whether someone is crossing stupidly or no, what is the excuse for hitting a school crossing patrol? They wear reflective gear and carry a huge lollipop fgs!