The lost art of overtaking

[Pidgeonpost]

Anyone else think that use of the gearbox is also a bit of a lost art for overtaking? I'm frequently surprised to be stuck behind an overtaker on a hill who can't or won't drop down a gear to get past something travelling much slower. I guess with autoboxes it doesn't apply so readily because if they apply 'pedal to the metal' the kickdown saves them thinking about it.

[eagle58]

I remember road signs on a Caribbean Island that used to make me smile but had a serious message:

[andy_d]

i Do overtake,, as/when needed/safe to and ,, it must P them right off the number of drivers who cant Stand a 04 plate volvo estate going past them,, esp on M-way (MLOC need shooting with a eco friendly hippy tree hugging milk float driver,,twice) the number who sit there at 65 in the middle lane, or cant hold a steady constant speed Until a volvo estate (far too old on a 04 plate!!) wafts past at 70mph ,, then Have to floor it and re-overtake due to muppet behind the wheel,,,agghh pass me the hippy launcher please "!!"

and other car drivers on any other road that "omg nooooo a old car passed me,,must prove my cars better cos its newer/costs more" and re-overtake,usually in an unsafe manner/place/both,,,


id use the gearbox more to overtake, if i didnt have an auto with a nice kickdown feature

[morsing]

Originally Posted by baggy798

[...]

Here's another overtaking vid. I left some room for a run up, but then the silvertop in the 3 pot Pewgat overtook as well, took all my momentum away! Bit dodgy with the car appearing at the layby, but I pulled back in a bit to make space if they did set off. Always look both ways when coming out of a junction, people!

Hmm... Not entirely convinced about that one (I'm an IAM driver as well).

But, repeating what someone said on page one, the art of driving is totally lost these days for 99.9% of motorists, which is a shame (and dangerous).

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by andy_d

i Do overtake,, as/when needed/safe to and ,, it must P them right off the number of drivers who cant Stand a 04 plate volvo estate going past them,, esp on M-way (MLOC need shooting with a eco friendly hippy tree hugging milk float driver,,twice) the number who sit there at 65 in the middle lane, or cant hold a steady constant speed Until a volvo estate (far too old on a 04 plate!!) wafts past at 70mph ,, then Have to floor it and re-overtake due to muppet behind the wheel,,,agghh pass me the hippy launcher please "!!"

and other car drivers on any other road that "omg nooooo a old car passed me,,must prove my cars better cos its newer/costs more" and re-overtake,usually in an unsafe manner/place/both,,,


id use the gearbox more to overtake, if i didnt have an auto with a nice kickdown feature

Don’t even get me started on that…. Driving a Ben it’s a regular occurrence for me and also with my Subaru. If I’m approaching a motorway slipway to come off I can pretty much guarantee someone will cut in front of me so they’re not behind a van even though there may be nothing behind me. I drive my van at a spirited 70mph so it’s not like I’m going to be in their way. Once off the motorway I generally overtake em again if on a dual carriageway. Or I’ll overtake someone on the motorway and they’ll bust their chuff to overtake me because I’m in a van…. Pathetic mindset

TT

[Ulrikas PA]

As we are speaking Subaru, I took the Impreza Turbo out for a run the other week in the evening on a quiet A road with lots of straights and up and downs. I was doing a sensible speed for my Subaru until I went to overtake an X1 BMW doing a steady 50-55 mph.

As I overtook from about 10 car lengths back he floored it and by the time I was pulling back in with a decent gap, my speed was reading in kilometres. I slowed down to sensible speeds on engine braking (sorry, IAM) and the BMW went back to their 50.

No road rage, but someone didn't like the idea of being overtaken.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

As we are speaking Subaru, I took the Impreza Turbo out for a run the other week in the evening on a quiet A road with lots of straights and up and downs. I was doing a sensible speed for my Subaru until I went to overtake an X1 BMW doing a steady 50-55 mph.

As I overtook from about 10 car lengths back he floored it and by the time I was pulling back in with a decent gap, my speed was reading in kilometres. I slowed down to sensible speeds on engine braking (sorry, IAM) and the BMW went back to their 50.

No road rage, but someone didn't like the idea of being overtaken.

German car mindset

TT

[MikeGMT]

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

No road rage, but someone didn't like the idea of being overtaken.

In that situation I would have let discretion be the better part of valour, and abandoned the overtake when dealing with someone with that attitude. I would much rather have them in front.

[Forg]

I see a heap of people asleep at the wheel, and have for the last 40-50 years been conditioned to sleep along in a daze at a randomly-varying amount under the speed limit 'cos that way they can afford Random Road Usage Tax without having to concentrate.

These people tend not to like being reminded they're going too slowly though, so when you try to overtake them they speed up ... it's usually not enough to stop you overtaking if you're on the wrong side of the road, because only the stupidest person would stick to the speed limit when on the wrong side of the road despite the incorrect/dangerous laws that say you have to ... however if an overtaking lane appears you often can't get past them without running the risk of Plod putting another "ker-ching" into the government cash-register.

But if you DON'T go past them you're then stuck behind them again soon enough when they dribble back down to that randomly-changing number under the speed-limit & continuing to not notice anything about what's going-on around them. And when they clip the ongoing car or plough into the tree 'cos they're not paying attention, there's a solid risk you're going to be affected. 2% of people (not in a heavy vehicle) who're travelling country roads at under the speed limit are doing so for good reason (eg. they're taking the full bowl of jelly to the party) - the other 98% are people you just don't want to be anywhere near when they're driving.

[Ulrikas PA]

're the other 98%. Yes, just had one. Saw police car in mirror way back, pulled over with indicator. Car behind oblivious comes up to middle of road on my 'shoulder'' wanting to pass with cars coming other way. Blocks road to siren and horn-blasting police car.

People just drive in their own bubbles these days.