(Note left/right here is for driving on the right, for driving on the left 
countries reverse the left/rights).

Here we have two important rules for multi-lane roads, one is that you 
should only move out to the left to overtake someone, and secondly you are 
not allowed to pass anyone on the right side (there are some exceptions for 
queues etc).  I know it's not like this in all countries.

As anyone who has driven probably knows already, the problem comes when 
someone stays in the left lane when they are not overtaking anyone and you 
want to go faster than them.  What are you meant to do if you are behind 
them in this situation?  What if you are directly behind in the same lane, 
or what if you approach them in the right lane?

I always wanted to ask someone in authority this question as appears there 
is no perfect option.

For me I usually wait around 5 seconds behind them in the same lane, then 
usually pull over to the right lane and wait there for a further 5-10 
seconds leaving them plenty of space to pull over if they want.  If they 
still do not move then I usually accelerate and swiftly pass on the right 
being ready to move over into the hard shoulder if they suddenly decide to 
change lanes.

My girlfriend says that I should flash them and not overtake on the right, 
but IME this is easily interpretted as quite aggressive behaviour and could 
lead to more problems (eg them still not moving over or even worse 
deliberate braking or other aggressive behaviour).

What do you do?

Post a reply to this message

On 07/06/2010 9:26 AM, scott wrote:
>
> My girlfriend says that I should flash them and not overtake on the
> right, but IME this is easily interpretted as quite aggressive behaviour
> and could lead to more problems (eg them still not moving over or even
> worse deliberate braking or other aggressive behaviour).
>
> What do you do?

IMO your girlfriend is right, undertaking is wrong. It seems the fashion 
ATM is to indicate you are going to overtake and if the driver is nor 
paying attention a short flash of your headlights generally does the trick.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Stephen <mca### [at] aolDOTcom> wrote:
> On 07/06/2010 9:26 AM, scott wrote:
> >
> > My girlfriend says that I should flash them and not overtake on the
> > right, but IME this is easily interpretted as quite aggressive behaviour
> > and could lead to more problems (eg them still not moving over or even
> > worse deliberate braking or other aggressive behaviour).
> >
> > What do you do?
>
> IMO your girlfriend is right, undertaking is wrong. It seems the fashion
> ATM is to indicate you are going to overtake and if the driver is nor
> paying attention a short flash of your headlights generally does the trick.

While I agree that undertaking is against the rules, I tend to do pretty much
what Scott does. Except that I keep going without any change in my speed, albeit
with a greater degree of alertness for sudden feckless lane-changes. My
reasoning is that it's probably safer to undertake than attempt multiple
lane-changes on a busy road (no other sort around here!)... and you never know,
maybe a 20-year-old 1.1L banger undertaking them will make it even more obvious
that they're in the wrong lane... :)

I strongly suspect that in the majority of cases, it is not simple
absent-mindedness but a deep-seated and utter lack of a) understanding of the
rules and b) common sense. MI5-issue wheel-laser on order.

Bill

Post a reply to this message

>> My girlfriend says that I should flash them and not overtake on the
>> right, but IME this is easily interpretted as quite aggressive behaviour
>> and could lead to more problems (eg them still not moving over or even
>> worse deliberate braking or other aggressive behaviour).
>>
>> What do you do?
>
> IMO your girlfriend is right, undertaking is wrong. It seems the fashion 
> ATM is to indicate you are going to overtake and if the driver is nor 
> paying attention a short flash of your headlights generally does the 
> trick.

Yes, I went through a phase of doing this, and most of the time it does 
work.  I put this down to the fact that most of the drivers doing this are 
just not thinking and totally unaware of what is going on around them, a 
quick flash lets them know you are there, and then they know the correct 
thing is to pull over.

But, I had a couple of occasions where my flash was interpreted as an 
aggressive gesture, and the driver ahead reacted accordingly.  In one case 
he didn't move over but gradually slowed down, in the other case he moved 
over, but just as I was about to pass he swerved back in front of me causing 
me to brake hard.  Since then I stopped flashing people to avoid risking 
something like that happening again.

Post a reply to this message

On 07/06/2010 12:54 PM, scott wrote:
>
> But, I had a couple of occasions where my flash was interpreted as an
> aggressive gesture, and the driver ahead reacted accordingly.  In one
> case he didn't move over but gradually slowed down, in the other case he
> moved over, but just as I was about to pass he swerved back in front of
> me causing me to brake hard.  Since then I stopped flashing people to
> avoid risking something like that happening again.


How close were you driving to the car?
Tailgating is one of the things that irritate me most.


refuse to drive in the slow lane when I know that every couple of 
minutes I will have to pull out and cross at least one lane.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
> What do you do?

I've had a few problems with the CLOC. (Center Lane Owners Club.) 
Annoying, isn't it? Still, sometimes there just isn't a lot you can do.

Post a reply to this message

> How close were you driving to the car?
> Tailgating is one of the things that irritate me most.

Yeh me too, personally I have two distances that I usually use.  One for "I 
am happy to go the same speed as you", which I guess is around a 4 second 
gap.  The other is "i want to go faster, please move over when you can", but 
it certainly is not anything close to tailgating, usually still the largest 
gap on the road!


> refuse to drive in the slow lane when I know that every couple of minutes 
> I will have to pull out and cross at least one lane.

I don't mind people doing that, as long as it is not so busy that they are 
causing people behind to slow down unnecessarily (when people in lane 2 have 
to either brake or pull out into lane 3 thus causing people already in lane 
3 to brake).  The worst is when you come up behind a middle-lane hogger, you 
can't overtake on the correct side because there's a train of cars going 
20mph faster than you, and the "slow" lane is empty, thus you have to slow 
down and wait for no reason or perform an illegal undertake.

BTW there's nothing wrong with changing lanes every couple of minutes, most 
autobahns here away from the cities are 2-lanes, and unless you drive 50 or 
150 mph you'll be changing lanes usually at least once a minute.

Post a reply to this message

>> What do you do?
>
> I've had a few problems with the CLOC. (Center Lane Owners Club.) 
> Annoying, isn't it? Still, sometimes there just isn't a lot you can do.

On 3-lane roads it less of a problem (I've very rarely seen an outside lane 
hogger on a 3 lane road that wasn't going really fast), you can usually 
overtake CLOCs eventually without issue.

Post a reply to this message

"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> Yeh me too, personally I have two distances that I usually use.  One for "I
> am happy to go the same speed as you", which I guess is around a 4 second
> gap.  The other is "i want to go faster, please move over when you can", but
> it certainly is not anything close to tailgating, usually still the largest
> gap on the road!

The worst is when you leave a gap and someone pulls up and slides into it, like
"ooh a couple of feet clearance, that'll do". It's not their gap, it's mine!

Post a reply to this message

On 07/06/2010 1:48 PM, scott wrote:

>> gesture. How close were you driving to the car?
>> Tailgating is one of the things that irritate me most.
>
> Yeh me too, personally I have two distances that I usually use. One for
> "I am happy to go the same speed as you", which I guess is around a 4
> second gap. The other is "i want to go faster, please move over when you
> can", but it certainly is not anything close to tailgating, usually
> still the largest gap on the road!
>


car behind, in my rear view mirror. The other thing I forgot to mention 
are those drivers who overtake you and pull in about 4 feet in front of you.


>> just refuse to drive in the slow lane when I know that every couple of
>> minutes I will have to pull out and cross at least one lane.
>
> I don't mind people doing that, as long as it is not so busy that they
> are causing people behind to slow down unnecessarily (when people in
> lane 2 have to either brake or pull out into lane 3 thus causing people
> already in lane 3 to brake).

Right.

> The worst is when you come up behind a
> middle-lane hogger, you can't overtake on the correct side because
> there's a train of cars going 20mph faster than you, and the "slow" lane
> is empty, thus you have to slow down and wait for no reason or perform
> an illegal undertake.

That is inconsiderate. :-(

>
> BTW there's nothing wrong with changing lanes every couple of minutes,
> most autobahns here away from the cities are 2-lanes, and unless you
> drive 50 or 150 mph you'll be changing lanes usually at least once a
> minute.

Yes every couple of minutes is OK, I was being imprecise. It is the car 

out into the RH lane. Overtakes and returns into the LH lane only to 
repeat the manoeuvre 10 seconds later that gets on my wick.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

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