Driving along my usual commute on the A1(m) which is basically two full lanes of cars doing 50-60, I was please to see the person behind me in the Toyota Avensis kept a gap similar to the one I had from the car in front of me.
Not a big deal really, but normally when I try and keep a safe gap (not lane hogging at all!) I am tailgated/undertaken by the BMW/Audi behind so I felt strangely grateful for this display of courtesy.
I felt like saying thank you for making one days commute that little bit less stressful.
I must be getting old....
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If there is sufficient room for a vehicle behind you to move left, undertake, and pull back in front of you then you are in the wrong lane.
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So you think a 2-3 car length gap at 60mph is too long? Drive a BMW do you?
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So you think a 2-3 car length gap at 60mph is too long?
Much too short. Should be twice that.
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>> So you think a 2-3 car length gap at 60mph is >> too long? Much too short. Should be twice that.
The 2 second rule at 60 mph is (unless I am mistaken) is 0.033 miles. There are 1609m in a mile which equals 53 meters
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I drive a BMW - what's your point?
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I never suggested leaving a decent gap between yourself and the car in front was the problem.
For someone to be able to pull in, undertake you, and pull back into your 2-3 car gap then there must be a gap of at least 5 car lengths on the inside lane for you to move into. Not applicable in every circumstance, but if you are regularly undertaken then perhaps that should tell you something.
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I never suggested leaving a decent gap between yourself and the car in front was the problem. For someone to be able to pull in, undertake you, and pull back into your 2-3 car gap then there must be a gap of at least 5 car lengths on the inside lane for you to move into. Not applicable in every circumstance, but if you are regularly undertaken then perhaps that should tell you something.
I think there's a word missing, the word 'safely'. The problem is people will pass you on the inside when it is not safe to do so. I sometimes get people trying to do it when I'm trying to move back to the left hand lane. The thing is if you pull back into the left hand lane as soon as you have passed you are going to cause the person you overtook and the cars behind it to brake. When waiting a few moments to give the other car some room, people can pass you on the inside, and with me they are always speeding!
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If there is sufficient room for a vehicle behind you to move left, undertake, and pull back in front of you then you are in the wrong lane.
A good general rule perhaps, but impossibnle to say it's true all the time.
What about if you pull out correctly to overtake a car, and then the traffic in the lane you've gone into slows, leaving you just behind the overtakee, but temporarily not catching up. Should you yo-yo back and forwards from the other lane?
For that matter, were you to do so, you'd just hit the bloke trying to undertake!
There are plenty of examples of people 'being forced' to undertake because someone is genuinely lane-hogging, but there are also plenty of examples of people who undertake wilfully and dangerously.
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I wish they would just do away with overtaking lanes altogether. Allow people to stay in whichever lane they are in regardless of the speed in any other lane. Australia has this rule (along with the brilliant idea of being able to go through a red traffic light to turn right), and it promotes much more efficient use of road space. No quibbling over whether someone is lane hogging or not, no need to move across two lanes to overtake a middle lane hogger legally, and just generally fewer lane changes.
I'm actually convinced that the reason the variable speed limits improved the M25 traffic flow has nothing to do with the limits, and everything to do with the fact that the road signs actively discourage you to avoid changing lanes. The result is a much more even spread of traffic across the lanes, as undertaking, whether intentional or not, is fully accepted on this stretch.
Cheers
DP
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Sorry, that should read go through a red traffic light to turn LEFT. Sorry!!
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I wish they would just do away with overtaking lanes altogether. Allow people to stay in whichever lane they are in regardless of the speed in any other lane. Australia has this rule (along with the brilliant idea of being able to go through a red traffic light to turn right), and it promotes much more efficient use of road space. >>
Well, there's the rub. The government WANT congestion so that they have an excuse to tax us off the roads. Hence all the road narrowing, etc. as highlighted recently in Autocar.
More efficient use of road space? Heaven forbid!
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My original point was that when overtaking the slightly slower lane and maintaining a safe gap I would get a 3 Series/A4 undertaking, and forcing in front of me causing me to brake to leave a safe gap again.
I had meant this as a positive thread on the merits of someone elses driving for a change!
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I had meant this as a positive thread on the merits of someone elses driving for a change!
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Join the club Snakey. You try to make an innocent point round here and get jumped by a load of irascible zealots not all of whom have the full set of marbles.
A bit like real life come to think of it.
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My original point was that when overtaking the slightly slower lane and maintaining a safe gap I would get a 3 Series/A4 undertaking, and forcing in front of me causing me to brake to leave a safe gap again. I had meant this as a positive thread on the merits of someone elses driving for a change!
Ahhh - 3 series drivers - I see your point now ;-)
Yes very annoying when people feel that they have to push in all the time and it gives me great satisfaction when they have been doing their lane dodging for me to then overtake them.
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Got undertaken by an A4 with a thrusting young executive at the wheel on the M621 into Leeds - and I was in the nearside lane. Unfortunately for him, there was an unmarked plod in front of me. Haven't laughed so much in ages when I saw him get nicked.
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Oh dear, if someone is driving needlessly in the outside lane I carefully undertake them quite regularly. Needless to say I don't do it in traffic, but if the road's almost empty and they're blocking my way for no reason then I'm afraid they will be undertaken with a *very* close eye kept open for them moving over to the left!
Yes, I drive a 3 Series but also did it in a succession of Fiestas, a Fusion and a Mondeo, so I fail to see the link between the car that I drive and my driving style.
Blue
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