Safe Speed Forums

Do you undertake when L2 is full and L1 is empty?

Assume there is no traffic in L1 for a significant distance and that you want to go faster than L2.

I wished for more choices or more information. If I judged that all the L2 traffic was going to stay there in L2 and there was no slip road or layby ahead on the left, after a significant observation delay I might start to undertake.

The general answer would be: "no, I wouldn't undertake", but with possible exceptions.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I voted for the undertake, but I usually give them ample opportunity to pull over first. If they don't then they haven't really left me with a choice, have they???

Yeah I would do it after a while but cautiously if I thought it was safe enough, positioning myself away from the cars if the lane is wide enough in case they try and pull in without looking.

Sometimes you'll get a stupid situation on a 3 lane motorway where cars will be bunched up travelling in lane 3 but nothing in lane 1 or 2, if there's an empty "buffer" lane between the cars I'm undertaking I don't have such a problem undertaking.

First of all, it's important that we really get mad about the stupid drivers in the outside lane who are doing this. They're causing danger for us all.

That said, I would never undertake - even though in the eyes of the law it is perfectly legal, provided you take due care and attention about it. I have so little respect for the ability of the people mindlessly staying in the outside lane that I wouldn't put it past them to cut back into the inside lane, with no warning, and without checking whether I'm in the lane or not!

Better to stay back and arrive five minutes late than to end up in a mangled bit of steaming metal in some ditch...

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

Can't answer simply yes or no. It depends on circumstances. Would I ever undertake? Yes. Would I routinely undertake? No.

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Peter

I'm sure that was just a figure of speech! It's rather important that we really don't get mad about other drivers.

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Peter

Hehe, very good point. I didn't mean get mad whilst on the road. But sitting in the comfort of my home, sipping a cup of tea and posting on forums, surely I'm allowed to be... 'displeased'... with certain members of the driving population?

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

If the road is empty use it!

Only in our nanny state is it thought that people can only check one mirror at the most. Even the septic tanks manage more than one moving lane of traffic, even up to 5 and they are brain dead.

Angry as a Skate.

Les Chalards
Master of Fishmongey (retr.)

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If there are any fellow gene splicers out there, please check out my website and we can swop stories. http://www.leschalards.o-f.com/

There needs to be another option, start tailgaiting 1mm from the bumper of the car in front!

Seriously though, it takes an extreme case to make me under take. I has a friend prosicuted under just the circumstances you have described. Empty road, one car in lane 2. He waited and waited and then undertook(?) him. All the time he was being watched from a distance by an unmarked car waiting for him to do exactly that.

I do usually try to apply a bit of pressure, first put my right indicator, if that fails then flash my headlights a little. If that fails then I might undertake.

It all comes back to my post on lane hogging though! Driver education needs to be increased ten fold.

I noted robs reply.

surely the police should of nicked the moron in the outside lane, instead of rob's friend.. NO, hold on we are talking about plod. Forget I even mentioned it..

rgds
bill

ps (or at least stopped him for ten minutes and checked his tyres )

There needs to be another option, start tailgaiting 1mm from the bumper of the car in front!

Seriously though, it takes an extreme case to make me under take. I has a friend prosicuted under just the circumstances you have described. Empty road, one car in lane 2. He waited and waited and then undertook(?) him. All the time he was being watched from a distance by an unmarked car waiting for him to do exactly that.

I don't like tailgaiting it's a bit, well it reminds me of the camp curate from Camberley.

I have been stopped by the boys in blue hundreds of times, have never ever been fined or any such thing, a friendly smile and a pound or two of cod always seems to take their mind of my creamy codtastic van. Share the hip flask - then they don't notice my beery breath.

I once got stopped on the M1 after Big Dave Stellmans stag night my van was slightly largely overloaded, took three squad cars to stop me. But everything was amicably sorted they took the extra three stone plaice along with a stone of haddock. Cheery smiles all round. Norktastic.

The wife says I really should contact the Navy Gravy as they never sent my licence on after I was invalided out after a bit of a laugh in Port Said with a jewellers wife and daughter. How was I to know it was the Ambassadors brothers wifes sister?

Oh well safe speed to evryone.

Regards Les Chalards
Master of Fishmongery (retr.)

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If there are any fellow gene splicers out there, please check out my website and we can swop stories. http://www.leschalards.o-f.com/

Hi all,

Hi all,

I feel I must express my apologies for hogging the middle lane sometimes on the M8 from Glasgow to Greenock but there is a reason. From Glasgow to Paisley or vice versa there are a lot of on ramps coming on to the inside lane and when busy i consistently have to move in and out to let streams of merging traffic out as i feel moving out is safer than them having to adjust their speed/spacing and manouvere at the same time and if you are in the inside lane some times it is really hard to get back out. About a mile before the Greenock road starts you have to position yourself in the middle lane anyway as the inside lane splits off to the A77 and the remaining 2 go to Greenock. I have also noticed that the speed of the inside lane would average about 55-60MPH, middle lane 65-70MPH and the outside lane 75-90MPH my usual speed on the M-way is about the legal limit. Would it not be better to have the American highway system where the lanes aren't known as "slow", "fast" etc. as i thought it worked quite well when i was over there?

regards

Andrew

Depends on circumstances but I am liable to undertake rather than sit there getting my blood pressure up with the potential of doing something stupid once the red mist settles in. It's the safest option in the long run. :!: This is completely the wrong thing to do and should not be contemplated by anybody under any circumstances whatsoever.

Very quiet road, just me and one other car: I would undertake no messing about, minimum inconvenience for both. Minimum chance of one or the other getting annoyed. :!: This is completely the wrong thing to do and should not be contemplated by anybody under any circumstances whatsoever.

Moderate level of traffic, Car hogging lane inconsiderately nothing in front of them, nothing behind me: If they pass more than one opportunity to pull in then I would hang back and flash them, if they continue to lane hog then I would pull over to the left at the next opportunity but still hang well back. This usually has the desired result because most inconsiderate drivers will think you are going to try to undertake and move over to block you. While they are moving over I accelerate and am past before they can do anything else stupid. (helps to have a powerful car). :!: This is completely the wrong thing to do and should not be contemplated by anybody under any circumstances whatsoever.

Same situation but traffic behind me or if plan A failed: I'm afraid I would go for the undertake provided I could do so with a reasonable measure of safety. Not diving past but using just enough speed to give them time to see me but not be in their blindspot for too long. :!: This is completely the wrong thing to do and should not be contemplated by anybody under any circumstances whatsoever.

Heavy traffic (i.e. a normal day): I would pick a lane and stick to it, keeping a reasonable distance from the vehicle in front of me. This is as advocated by the highway code.

Very heavy traffic: As heavy traffic but. Seat back a few degrees, 2nd gear, trickle along leave an oversized gap to allow for variations in traffic speed. If someone wants to cut in front of me then fine, they'll change lanes again in exactly 25 seconds. No point getting stressed about it.

[edited to add disclaimers]

Buy a motorbike, there is an extra half overtaking lane This is completely the wrong thing to do and should not be contemplated by anybody under any circumstances whatsoever.

Will only resort to undertaking in extreme circumstances. For example: once followed a Roller out of Wales along the A55 dual carriageway. He was sat in the outside lane doing 50mph, nothing on inside lane. After giving him every opportunity to let me pass (ten miles worth of opportunity), I gave in and went round him... as did most of the cars which had been sat behind me! I think that guy managed to p1ss off alot of people.


Kaz

The trouble with doing the 'right thing' and waiting patiently in line is that you may be keeping perfectly calm but you don't know what the guy five cars back is like. He may well be about to do something extremely stupid and you might get caught up in the result.

In my opinion it is better to calmly move yourself up the line and give others the opportunity to do the same. Usually the lane hogger will get the message after a couple of cars pass on their inside.

I'm sure everyone would agree that it is much safer to undertake one car than undertake several at speed with the red mist in full effect.

The only time I would not undertake would be in the case of HGVs due to their large blind spots. Although with the numbers of LHD HGVs on British roads we are effectively undertaking them all the time.

I don't think the answer is to go for a US style freeforall. It would be much better if the lane hoggers were clamped down on.

One excuse they will use is they are driving at the speed limit so nobody should be passing them anyway - another reason to abolish speed limits if you ask me.

Bus lanes are good for this, but only when they're out of service.

I actually had a copper pull me over for going in a 7am-10am bus lane at 5pm because I managed to undertake roughly 50 cars that don't read the signs that the council put up at the side of the road. I wasn't speeding (20mph) and I wasn't endangering anyone.

Still, the copper decided to try and make a point of me, so I've submitted an informal complaint and told that I would like an apology, which was refused, so it has been escalated to a formal complaint to the Inspector of the relevant transport authority and am awaiting results.

However, I cannot agree more with the people that use the word "education". I regularly undertake out of sheer frustration when people use only the right-hand lane of a dual carriageway, or the middle lane of a motorway. I've got a brilliant picture that my passenger took for me of a Vauxhall Corsa sitting in the middle lane of the motorway, a good few metres infront of me, and a good few miles away from the nearest traffic to overtake.

And yes, I know it's dangerous. But I'm impatient, and am waiting for the day when I get pulled over for doing it.

Has anyone noticed how frequent roundabouts on DC's work wonders at getting people out of the fast lane?

The kind of cattle that just get in the fast lane and sit there are the same ones who can only go straight on at a roundabout if they approach in the left hand lane.

I've noticed this on the A34 (no rdbts)/A43(plenty). You can get through the cattle a hell of a lot quicker on the A43!

I regularly use the A34 dual-carriageway (with lots of roundabouts), and it's frequently my observation that many people will travel in lane 2 if they want to be turning right from the roundabout about a mile ahead.