Pedroskate

Nearly got wasted today.
On an A-Road in somerset, long queue of traffic behind a caravan, half a mile of clear road, I'm well back in the queue and nobodies interested in overtaking, so off I go. No stupid speed involved, and still no traffic in the oppositte direction and I'm now about 20 cars into the overtake. About 3 cars back from the caravan, a car apears in the opposite direction, so I ease off, brake and go to pull in infront of the second vehical. But no, the driver of the Jeep Cheroke I'm pulling in front of is now wringing every last horsepower out of his Jeep to close the gap. So I'm forced to stay out while he does his grim reaper impression (he looked like he was tearing the steering wheel in two pieces and had his purple face pressed hard against the windscreen mouthing obscenities). The oncoming car was too close to make it to the next car forwards or safely to the gap behing, so I braked, knowing he would drop back with me to continue blocking, then I easily accelerated into the gap he'd left (the oncoming car was close, but didn't need to take avoiding action).
I didn't gesture to the Jeep driver in any way (because I feel only pity for people like this) and he returned to normallity and dropped back a sensible distance.
I suspect he may have scared himself when he realised how close he came to becoming a statistic (I would never have gone head-on, or braked to a stop [you loose control over your destiny], but I would have broadsided him to avoid the head-on).

My concern in all this is that had this had a different outcome, I (not the Jeep driver) could have been facing charges for: Manslaughter, Dangerous driving, Reckless endagerment; all of which would have been difficult if not impossible to defend unless an independent witness came forward.
By the way, I've been driving for 25 years and havn't had any points or convictions since 1980. I'm no saint, but I don't endanger other road users (apropriate speed and all that).
I have become aware that overtaking on A/B roads is a dying art, with other motorists unwilling to overtake; but getting agressively anti when you overtake them. Even the most courteous piece of overtaking seems to be rewarded with flashing headlights and the w&nker hand signal.
I am not about to stop overtaking, but I will be better prepared in future; complete the manoeuvre quickly, allow plenty of room and watch the body movement of the the car and driver your going in front of.
I'd like to think there was a legal way of dealing with these morons, but I doubt it.

pslewis

Overtaking 20+ cars is idiotic!!!!

ANYTHING can emerge from a side turning way ahead of you ..............

I've overtaken 5 cars/vans/lorries/caravans in a single manouvre - but 20+??? No, madness!!

Pete

ZEN Performance

something like this: http://www.lancerregister.com/showth...threadid=87174

Bubba po

Mind you, the Grim Reaper must be your constant companion, eh, Pete?

Pedroskate

Like I said, clear road for half a mile, straight as an arrow and no side roads. Car towing a caravan at maybe 35mph, going past twenty cars didnt even need excessive speed.

JTaylor

Hello mate,

Glad you're ok. You probably get one or two that'll suggest you placed yourself in danger, i'll leave that to them.

All I can say is I've been in the same situation on some of my favourite roads (e.g the leisure drive up around Brixton, Tavistock to Oakhampton, Yelverton to Princetown...the whole of Cornwall) in car's ranging from a 1.3 106 Rallye to my RA. Following somebody in a 60 mph zone - they're doing 40mph, go to over take, they accelerate as hard as they ******* can to keep you exposed to danger. This doesn't happen so much now since I've been with Subaru, but I once got so pissed off with a farmer that did this in his Range Rover that I slowed him down to a halt, got out and asked him why he'd tried to kill me! He said "overtakinz illegal you basard....". I think it's psycotic and if he didn't have hands like spades, a dog and a shot gun I would have been much ruder.

Green Army

J

ForesterBoy

People who act like the Jeep driver should have the book thrown at them. Why-o-why on earth do they do it???? Its just the most stupidity, even if you disagree with someones overtaking manuevere as a better driver you make a gap for safetys sake. Sadly you see it quite a bit these days as well, people determined at all cost to close up any spaces on the road.

I get it in town quite a bit where we are, there are a lot of traffic light junctions that are two lanes marked for straight over that then merge into one once you're over the junction. Seems that most people use the left lane so you get like 20 cars in it and nothing in the right hand lane. I go for the right hand lane and guess what, you get over the junction and some dick head whose chosen the left hand lane wants to drive alongside you to try and make some kind of point. I dont care whether they pull ahead of me or drop in behind me, but nope, they just want to drive along beside me to be awkward WTF ?

What is wrong with half the drivers these days ????

JTaylor

I think the general public's perception of people driving quickly is akin to an axe murderer. Daily Mail readers get so upset when they're being overtaken that they lose their sanity entirely and think "**** it, I'm gunna kill the ****". It's the way they look ahead that used to get me (I don't seem to have this problem in my current car). Dead straight they stare, almost as if they can't look their victim in the eyes.

dsmith

Just about sums it up really. Before dual carriageways were so common, overtaking was an accepted part of life. Now (obviously depending where you live) the need is increasingly rare. Cheerfully admit on a recent trip to scotland it took a will to build the confidence in me/car to correctly judge the required distance for an overtake - I just dont get enough practice.

OzzyWRX

What a complete and utter tit (guy in the Jeep), I swear these morons don't realise it's illegal to accelerate whilst someone is overtaking you. Grrrr.

Dazza's-STi

Fully agree mate... fully... and from the way you've put it across you'r obviously one of the more lets say considered among the performance car drivers.... the same thought process as i me thinks... yep there are some seriously deranged people out there.. and its not just becouse your in the scoob. I've a new scenic as well as the scoob and it happens just as much in that... came across a stupid bat in a landi , who even tho i was indicating to get in a lane in a two lane road at 20mph for ages then decided speed up... so i then forced my way in to a horn beep... f£$Q daft cow, it was just slow moving traffic and i needed to do a right ahead so no last minute stuff... wtf is going on in these people heads... I never ever make a move without a good signal time beforehand but still the odd driver is a total dick...

rant over...

Brit_in_Japan

That's from the highway code, so he would have been guilty of some dangerous driving charge had it ever gone to court. It's amazing how many drivers seems to have such fragile egos and be so wrapped up in their own importance that they are prepared to risk a big accident because someone dares to over take them.

DEEDEE

I agree its frustrating when everyone is out for a Sunday drive and seem to have all day to do it in, but if it was a queue for a cash point or petrol or any other would you want to push in then, I know its not the same but this is what people see you doing. Queue jumping

ForesterBoy

Good to see that. If the van drivers actions could have been proven it would have been good to have seen a prosecution against him.


http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/...ry7478226t0.asp

ForesterBoy

WOW !!!! Thats a new one to me. Does any one really see overtaking as 'queue jumping' ????

Blimey, people have bigger problems than I ever could have thought, that statement has shocked me to be honest, if there are people driving around on our roads wth that kind of mentality we've got problems.

NotoriousREV

People do. I went to a Steam Rally yesterday and on entering the car park there are big yellow signs saying "form 2 queues" and "use both lanes" but of course everyone was in 1 queue in 1 lane so I used the empty one only to have some fat pr1ck in a Nissan Navarra try and force his way in front of me

I've said it before and I stand by my comments now: people are idiots. Every last one of them.

ForesterBoy

I think you might just be right LOL !!!!

Perhaps the problem is most people in England cannot read the English road signs nowdays ?

Part time bus lanes are another thing people have a problem with round here. There's whacking great sign's stating 'BUS LANE 7AM TO 7PM' yet no matter how much traffic there is at 8PM I will be the only car in that lane, and again, you get people flashing, sounding their horns and making gestures. Tw@ts.

Trouble is, try as you might, you'll never manage to tell 'em anything.

Idiots, as you say.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

...so that would include you then

Signed,

A Idiot

ForesterBoy

EVERYONE LOL

NotoriousREV

Absolutely. There are NO exceptions

andyfish

I have noticed an increase in driver agression toward me since picking up the scoob in june (my driving habits or style haven't changed since then). doesn't matter whether i'm trying to get out of a side road or making an overtaking manouver or just trundling along doing 28mph in a 30mph zone (this last one really seems to press the buttons of the morons behind me - please discuss). conversley, i have tried to be a lot more considerate when driving the scoob, always letting people out of side roads etc, making friendly eye contact when doing so and trying to spread a bit of good nature when out on our roads. there is often a bit of surprise in their eyes - we are all used to aggressive driving habits and it's catching us by surprise when another driver (especially in a performance car) is courteous towards us.

undoubtedly you made an error of judgement in thinking you could get past all 20 cars without meeting oncoming traffic (we all make errors of judgement), but this doesn't excuse the cesspit in the jeep.

stevie boy

people that view a line of traffic as a queue are the sort that that pull out with out looking in the mirror just because they're (first in the queue) behind the caravan, when you get on the horn to stop them taking your front end out you are the w@nker or every now and then they twig they're in the wrong and hide by pulling their cap a little further down.

even if there are side roads to the main road, so long as there are no solid white lines on your side you are quite entitled to overtake using the wrong side of the road, as the people in the side road are at a GIVE WAY so they are supposed to GIVE WAY to people on the road they are joining no matter which way or side they are travelling. although extra caution is needed as a lot of people will only look to the right when turning left at a T junction.

nothing wrong with setting out to overtake 20 cars as its not set in stone "overtake all the cars or die", if an r1 appears coming the other way might mean you only get passed 1 or 2 cars. but if that r1 doesn't come and the slight bend opens out to reveal another half of a mile of clear road, then might aswell crack on.

pslewis if you'd only press the loud pedal enough to let that little needle go passed the big 3 and into the danger zone, even you might muster enough power to work your way up to an overtake or two! and remember to pull your cap down in acknowledgement!!

stevie

Chip

Which is what you should have done on this occasion.

You overtook not knowing whether there would be enough of a gap to pull in in the event of an oncoming vehicle appearing. By trying to pull over you most certainly would have caused other cars to brake to allow you into a gap.

To overtake 20 cars you could not possibly have been able to see whether a gap was safely available for you to pull into in the event of an oncoming car.
Even what may have looked like a gap from a distance could have been deceiving as many cars are towing trailers at this time of year which you would not have seen.



Chip

StickyMicky

20 fooken cars

holy ****

i would be warey of more then 3 myself

pmsl @ the que jumping thing tho

16vmarc

Was he drinking Grolsh?

Pedroskate

None of us set out to overtake 20 cars, you pick a safe point to overtake too, reapraise the situation when you get there then pick your next safe entry point. If you don't do this there is a real danger of running parralel to a slowing or stopping line of traffic, with nowhere to re-enter; then you realy are in danger and it's all your own fault. I was surprised to find the road so clear for so long, so think of it as a series of overtaking manoeuvres llinked together to form one continous one (without the weaving in and out bit). I didn't need to exceed the speed limit for the road to do this.

ForesterBoy

I think you're mis-reading the 20 cars thing ?

He never said his intention at the outset was to overtake the whole lot in one hit come what may, which is what you are thinking maybe ?

If you are moving at anything more than a crawl there should be easily be enough gap between you and the car in front to allow another one in if neccesary at any time.

'Gap closing' to stop anyone who's overtaking from returning to the correct side of the road at any point they need to is merely a form of road rage and pure bad driving. And what really beats me is how these 'gap closers' have NO regard at all for any one coming the other way towards the vehicle that they think they are so cleverly forcing to stay out on the other side of the road.

Why don't people just chill a bit, learn to drive more sensibly and make the roads safer for all of us ?

paul-s

I think that people see it as you invading their space, que jumping, and therefore belittling them. I believe this is the reason for their actions, the 'how dare they have the cheek to make me feel small'. they dont want you to feel like your better than them. hence people dont like you overtaking and pulling in front of them.
anyone agree ?

richee

u got in it one mate sad as it is. all to do with power male ego thing. i used to get picked up by an old work mate. and if he got overtaking he used to see red. who they think they are he used to say flying after them. dick head must have had a small dick

scoobfan

I think it's partly a Scoob thing, the menacing scoop, the vents !!

I have seen people in front of me driving quite sedately, as soon as
you get up behind them, wham, they start driving like a demented troll.

And those tossers who drive within 2 inches of your bumper......

Ah well, make me laugh !

Rob