Good afternoon to you all. I'm new here so please be gentle with me! I've been reading the forums for a while and found them all to be entertaining and informative so I thought it's about time to change all that!
Anyway, I work as a coach driver, spending what feel like days on the motorways of this fair isle. I've noticed a peculiar new trend over the past few months that I'm at a loss to explain. If I'm in the inside lane and need to overtake something then I'll do the usual mirror checks nd stick my right hand indicators on. Quite a few times now there's been a vehicle in the middle lane about thirty feet away. They'll either hang back to let me out or, more usually, slam on the brakes before I've pulled out then stick behind my coach while I complete the manouevre then accelerate past me once I've pulled back into lane one and either give me a filthy look or blast the horn. Sometimes I'm luky enough to get both. The thing I can't comprehend though is that very often lane three is completely empty and available for them to pull into to pass me while I'm overtaking in lane two. Why are they seemingly afraid to use lane three? Most odd.
Also, has anybody else noticed that quite a few car drivers now choose to use full beam in bad weather during daylight hours? Doesn't achieve anything other than significantly increase the risk of an accident as they blind the poor sap coming the other way!
Hope this made sense folks, and I look foward to some friendly banter!
Cheers.
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I've never understood this behaviour either........Just another symptom of the middle lane syndrome. I have come across plenty of drivers who will not overtake (when lane 3 is empty) but will wait behind until you pull over to lane1. As for those who slam on the brakes and then speed past cursing - I expect this is a defensive overreaction because you caught them daydreaming away - had they been paying attention they would anticipate your need to overtake before you had indicated and taken appropriate action. However, to a degree, this overreaction can also be explained because so many people (again the daydreamers, no doubt) seem to believe they have a right to pull out in front of you just because they flicked their indicators on a second or two ago.
BTW, welcome to the BR - I mostly lurk these days but it certainly is entertaining (and whiles away those quiet hours at work)!
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I have come across this fear lane three quite frequently, my theory is that they believe each lane is for a special use.
Lane 1: Trucks
Lane 2: Cars
Lane 3: Maniacs doing over 90mph
The mentality is "I am travelling within the speed limit so I don't need to use lane 3"
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..then accelerate past me once I've pulled back into lane one and either give me a filthy look..
I'd love to know how they do this - looking behind from (presumably) a car seat height at a lofty coach seated driver? Must be literally, rubbernecks.
Seriously though, it's sounds like part of the same behaviour set as happens when somene's overtaking you at a nett 1mph (in lane 2/3), when you're gradually being boxed in & having to slow for a lane-1 vehicle. I sometimes (rather naughtily) use some hefty mid-range torques to 'undertake' , often draws the same response. Funnily though, they always then seem to speed up & show you 'what for' ... makes me laugh.
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Actually, the thing that is annoying me at the moment is the tendency for truck drivers to immediately occupy lanes 1 and 2 the moment traffic starts to get heavy, which means there's a vast difference in speed between lanes 2 + 3 and making it rather difficult to pull out and overtake.
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Welcome in. You may find it becomes habit-forming. Me, I try and limit myself to 6 hours a day ;-)
Noticed your phenomenon towing the caravan back up th M1. Some folk appeared keen to keep me in lane 1 behind a truck by travelling next to the 'van. But then I was patently on holiday and presumably their journey was more important.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Similar to those who are in lane 2 on an empty motorway................ approach from behind moving from lane 1 into lane 2, give the lights a quick flash so I don't have to go into lane 3. They pull into lane 1 and once you've overtaken them, they pull back out into lane 2............madness.
Also, since I've recently got a car with cruise control, its amazing how many overtake and then slow down, causing you to have to cancel the cruise!
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I am sure that it can't be just here in Devon, but why do some folk immediately hit their brakes when one overtakes on a clear straight 'A' road and there are no other vehicles in sight fore or aft?
VBR MD.
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Because, Mr Devon, they have the brains of Ambrosia Devon Custard. Devon knows how they make them so stupid... :-)
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By the way, I wasn't going for the world record for how many times you can fit the word 'Devon' into a one line post on a motoring website's forum.
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In Norfolk they tend to accelerate!
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Also since I've recently got a car with cruise control its amazing how many overtake and then slow down causing you to have to cancel the cruise!
You need a car where you can adjust the cruise speed with buttons on the stalk - C5 :)
I can go amazingly long times in fairly clear traffic with the cruise on using this technique - it's almost acting as an alternative accelerator / brake, albeit a pretty benign gentle brake.
Funny though - cruise is supposed to make for a more relaxed journey, but I can't count the number of times someone has pulled in front of me ahead in lane 3, and I find myself screaming 'GET OUT OF THE WAY' because I want to avoid turning the cruise off until I absolutely have to :). It's my own little competition to see how far I can get each time - fair whiles away the hours I can tell you !!!.
I know - I need a life :(
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welcome to this site.
As a car driver, have you noticed that other equally weird breed of driver.
They go in the 3rd lane and overtake, lane 1 and 2, at say 60-65mph, causing a massive hold up, then explicably speed up to 80mph, once they have moved back into lane 2.
I'd prefer to go past at 80mph, then slow back down once I've gone past and moved back to lane 2 or 1.
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'GET OUT OF THE WAY' because I want to avoid turning the cruise off until I absolutely have to :).
Ha ha! me too.. I don't know if you drive an auto, but if you do you can take 'single-stalk car driving' a step further. There are rondabouts & other 'speed limiters' on the stretch A55 that I regurarly use - it's fun to see if you can engage/disengage the CC in perfect time for these, so that the auto box goes from say 2nd-3rd to 5th & back down again etc. When overtaking or coming up behind a bunch of overtaking cars, I like to time the CC disengage/engage so that no 'footwork' is required. The incremental speed increase/decrease function allows for fine control when required to accelerate or resume at a different speed should road conditions dictate.
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Which stretch of A55 is it? I love that road....
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Which stretch of A55 is it? I love that road....
The stretch I'm referring to is anywhere from Bangor to Colwyn Bay/Abergele-ish. As you probably know, there are several speed limit changes/tunnels & roundabouts on it. It provides me with innocent amusement (..within the realms of safe driving of course!) to see how long/far I can go just using the CC stalk & steering wheel to drive!
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I know where you mean! I don't get on there very often except when I have the odd spin into North Wales, it's a quick way of getting back Chester way once I've finished hacking round Snowdonia or similar. Will try your game next time I am on there...
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Hi Badwolf, noticed this myself. They are happy to tailgate at 70ish then overtake when I have pulled into lane 1, and all the time lane 3 is blissfully empty. My theory is they are scared stiff of lane 3 because they think they are a target for cameras or traffic cars. Thats why they overtake so slowly, even if they happen to be in lane 3. Instead of completing the manouvre quickly and returning to lane 2 they dawdle along for miles doing 2mph more than the vehicle they are overtaking, and consequently build up their very own tailback. They could not be more wrong, in Cumbria and Scotland they have a camera for each lane, so they can't hide in any lane. very stange. Concrete
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It's sometimes rather good being restricted to 62mph as you've time to watch the chaos unfolding around you (which, of course, has nothing to do with me being restricted to 62mph!). And don't even get me started on truck drivers who take five miles to overtake that pesky lorry in lane 1 doing 1mph less than them!
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I don't understand the behaviour of a large percentage of drivers ~ much too aggressive. I think it's a sign of the times. Aggressiveness is now common in all walks of life. It all seemed to start with "Who you looking at?" and built up from there.
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L\'escargot.
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I noticed this today driving home from the Lakes, the M6 north of Lancaster is a delight, you can actually use the lanes as intended, long cruise controlled distances in lane 1, overtaking the occasional Heavy in Lane 2, and into lane 3 to get the bi-turbos spinning, south of Lancaster it all went south (IYKWIM), dawdlers in one and two driving with no anticipation pulling out at random (Green R reg Escort - pulling out into lane 3 at sixty forcing the "maniacs" to slam on ) one exquisitely, nay brilliantly driven black 07 reg 3 series, now that is how to drive....total discipline (I think he may have been a cop) oh and squeezed nearly 50mpg out of my car.....despite "spirited" driving....
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