Following on from Sue's query with regard to aggressive lane changing, I would like feedback on the following comments:
One lorry pulls out on a motorway to overtake an other. When the lorry is a sufficient way past, the lorry that has been overtaken flashes to permit the overtaking lorry to pull back in. The overtaking lorry indicates left, pulls in, and then indicates right and then left to say thank you.
A car indicates rights to overtake a slower moving vehicle on the motorway. The car, physically behind, but in the lane to be moved into, flashes to permit the car to pull out. The car responds by indicating left and right or flashing the hazard lights.
This use of flashing as well as the use of the indicators and hazard lights is plainly not in accordance with the Highway Code, but it does, I feel, represent real life on the motorway. I therfore fell that the Highway Code should be updated to represent driving today and have often wondered whether a green light, for example, could be pressed to say thank you to cars behind. Note, that it would be on a mechanism whereby pressing it would produce a brief flash and thus could not be left on. I also wonder whether the use of flashing should be changed from the aggressive statement saying "I'm here", to a passive allowance or "Go on". A more active use of the horn could be employed to draw awareness to a vehicle if the driver feels that it has not been seen by another driver.
Any comments gratefully received.
Andy
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Andy,
There was a discussion about the flashing of headlights some time ago. Fow what it's worth I follow the rule of it means I'm here and nowt else, and try and use vehicle speed and positioning to show when I am giving way to another. I must agree that sometimes the one who is being given way to is so slow on the uptake that it gets frustrating.
Quite like the idea of the green light or whatever, a raised hand is OK for cars but not much use in a truck where there is no see through vision. Mind you just to be less than serious what about one of those dot matrix displays with a set of preprogrammed messages, from Thank you, through to You wassock (or similar)
Mind you on headlight flashing there was/is a website, and I am sure you will find the link on an old thread if you search on Morse Code where this guy had devised a headlight flash code based on Morse which different combinations of long and short flashes meant different things. Made my brain ache just reading it.
Also agree that the Highway code should be uodated more to reflect real life. Sometimes it happens, eg the bit about using hazard flashers to warn following traffic of an obstruction ahead, the travesty was the omission to include traffic zipping (one from each lane in turn) at road works for example.
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In S.Africa the hard shoulder is used for slower cars to drift into as others overtake. This action is commonly thanked by the overtaking car by flashing their hazard lights for a couple of seconds.
Er...that is all.
Dan
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Dan wrote:
>
> In S.Africa the hard shoulder is used for slower cars to
> drift into as others overtake.
Also seen in Ireland (Eire) on the wide N roads which are two way, but have
wide shoulders.
/john
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Here any attempt whatsoever to overtake anything at all with or without signalling is met by the overtakee immediately flooring his or her throttle. Being overtaken is not macho at all.
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Having read Sues earlier thread and now this one I thought I would put in my 2 penneth worth. Like many of the other respondents I get fed up when people don't move over. Many mornings on the M62 I can go for over 1/3 of the journey in the inside lane undertaking an empty 2nd lane and a full 3rd lane. Rodney Reason's usually at the front of the Q doing 69.9 MPH. I always use the LH most lane that is free. Even if it is only 10-15 seconds before I will have to pull out again, however the bike is more maneuverable than the car for this. I have always worked on the basis of, if there is no traffic in front and I have traffic behind I cannot be going fast enough for the traffic behind. If I can't pull in to the left because of traffic I go a bit faster until I can pull into the left. If I don't want to break our speed limits, most unlikely, then I'll start to indicate to move into the LH lane and hope I am allowed in, at least it shows to the driver behind that I am doing something. But Rodney Reason who will not go faster than 69.9 MPH no matter how long it takes to overtake, is a positive danger to himself and all other drivers.
Growletts points in a recent post about additional driver training are very relevant in these situations, people need to be trained for motorway driving.
Bill
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dont blame a driver (probably a few points short of a ban due to stupid speed enforcement) for driving at dead on 70, im afraid in this circumstance you have to be careful if you even slightly suspect there maybe unmarked plod somewhere behind you...
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blame p**s poor traffic policing
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The problem with headlamp flashing is that your signal to another driver that you are letting him in / proceed or whatever may also be seen and misinterpreted by somebody else. A likely example, though not on m/ways, is where a driver flashes his lights to let a vehicle emerge and a child waiting to cross the road further along thinks the signal is directed at him and dashes into the road.
Although we all use the flasher as a courtesy signal at times, I cannot see how it can officially have more than one meaning, to warn of one's prescence. Used for other reasons it needs to be done with care.
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The South African way of driving was great. We travelled some 2000 miles along the Garden Route in January 2001. I was prepared for some pretty hairy driving, but left feeling well impressed. Drifting over to the side of the (wide) road (over the yellow line) to allow faster traffic to pass with a quick flash of the hazards to thank the passed driver works very well.
I suppose there is a rife market for replacement hazard switches in South Africa!
Rgds
David
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David,
Did you go through Losotho by any chance and over the Sanai pass. We did this in a Basic Nissan Sentra, only when we got to the SA side did we find a massive warning sign indicating that it was illegal to attempt the pass in anything short of 4x4.
The car was basically new when we picked it up in Joberg by the time we got to Cape Town it was totally knackered. Gearbox and suspension was shot, it idled funny, it drifted to the right, ariel snapped off at some point down the pass and even the cigarette lighter stopped working somewhere along the garden route. Oh and there were a few dented body panels which was from a parking incident in Port Alfred.
Did you enjoy the experience of driving fast down an empty seemingly decent road only to have to swerv to avoid a pothole you could hide farm animals in at the last moment??
Dan
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I agree with Bill. I have given up flashing now and just undertake as a matter of routine. I drive a car with care and don't annoy other people on purpose like the creeps in the outside lane teaching everyone else a lesson.
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