Driving etiquette………..

Yipee ! I qualify.

I bought my first real cycle when I was 14 and rode it for a full three years before I passed my driving test at 17.

Somehow, I don't think winky will be impressed !

Well, I was driving home last night, with the cruise control engaged and doing a steady 75mph down  the dual carriageway of the A303 between Boscombe and Basingstoke. Nobody behind me so I pulled out to overtake a lone car that I had been steadily catching up. I would estimate his speed at about 66 or 67 mph. But he was also catching up a long stream of cars and lorries doing about 57 mph.

I soon realised that I would wind up alongside the lone car just at the point that he would need to pull out to overtake the stream ahead – assuming he maintained his steady 66/67 mph.

What would you do in my situation ?

I had this exact situation for my first ever speeding ticket. I sped up to give him a chance to pull out behind me without having to brake. Unfortunately this took me up to over 80 just as a drove past a stationary patrol car complete with radar.

I now slow down and let the other car complete their manoeuvre first. Basically I was told there is no situation the police will accept where going slower was not the safer option

Change my situation so that I didn't ever have to drive on motorways in the UK again. (I did this, actually)

Yes, I wasn't prepared to accelerate since this would have put me over 80 mph and I didn't consider this was going to be safe, regardless of radar checks or otherwise.

The UK motorways are easier to negotiate than the Transcanada between say Sicamus and Golden. Those big trailers doing 100+ kph creep up on you mighty quick if you let your own speed drop through the Eagle Pass, or between Three Valley Gap and Revelstoke, not to mention the Horseshoe Pass and the Ten Mile Hill east of Golden.

But more generally, I do agree that driving in Western Canada, Alaska and the NW US States is a lot more relaxing (and picturesque). And I do like the politeness at 4-way junctions !

BTW, the A303 is not a motorway - but we'll let that pass......(if you'll pardon the pun)

Impossible to answer for sure without being there, but what I WOULDN'T do is continue at the same speed and cause the other driver problems - I'd either gently speed up to be enough ahead for the car to pull out withou slowing (and in advance see the position if s/he was being observant, or slow to allow the person out before me. But it would then be annoying if said person didn't pull out, so chances are if I judged it safe to do so I'd probably speed up.

I think that is a good assessment, and the mark of a morally-minded driver - not that i'm in any position to be a good judge on these things !!

I think your response also helps to illustrate just how much decision-making is required, even during relatively simple journeys with relatively simple decisions to make. Not only do you have to make decisions, but you have to make them not knowing precisely what the other driver(s) will do.

Stop speeding.

If my maths is right (??!) your closing speed with the slower car would be about 11 feet per second, such that it should not take long to overtake him (you are of course exceeding the speed limit). He should have seen the slower traffic well before you approached and should have moved out to overtake, which, again, should not take long. To be courteous to you he migt feel obliged to move up to the legal limit to clear your path more quickly, but he would be entitled to resent delaying overtaking just so you could continue in excess of the limit.

All this with the proviso that speedos are inaccurate to varying degrees and so each of you might have thought you were doing 70 !

Nothing wrong with your maths. 11 fps is about right

Allowing for a two second gap both before and after overtaking, during which both he and I would feel "constrained", would translate into about 40 or 45 seconds of potential conflict. (assuming my maths is about right. ? - no guarantees on this one BTW)

This is a typical nub of driving etiquette - who should give way, and how ?

In reality, I backed off and pulled back into the nearside lane, well behind him and waited to see what he did. This would give him the option of pulling out, or pulling out and speeding up etc. He actually slowed down to match the slow moving stream ahead, so I indicated, pulled out and over-took.

Don, you are obviously a gentleman!!

Here's a driving etiquette question;

When stopped at a red light that turns green and the car in front of you does not proceed (likely due to the driver's immersion in their smart phone) how long should you wait before blowing your horn?

Especially annoying to me since I live in a state where hands-on cell phone use while driving is illegal, yet blatantly ignored. I adhere to the law.

0.1 seconds, they should be paying attention. The amount of women ive sat behind while they do their makeup and hair. If only i had a penny for every time, I'd be able to buy a tenth of a Costa coffee by now.

I definitely would not do what others seem to constantly do to me in these situations and that is....

Speed up until i'm along side the car on the inside lane, then slow down to match his speed thereby stopping him from pulling out. What is that about.#

the times i see someone flying up behind me, you pull over to get out their way they then stop by the side of you and do the exact same speed. What are they doing.

I wonder if this is an illusion ? - it probably isn't, but let me explain.

I often notice that I am catching somebody up. I maintain my speed and pull out to overtake.

As I draw alongside, they seem to have accelerated to match my speed. Frustrating.

I then feel obliged to speed up in order to complete the overtake.

Once past, I then get thefeeling they have slowed down to their original speed.

I'm pretty sure its not an illusion, simply because I tend to use the cruise control.

I hope its not me causing your angst, but if our speeds seem to match, something is going on!

If the driver is clearly not paying attention to the road, e.g. I can se him/her looking down, then just a fraction of a second would not seem unreasonable. Otherwise I'd wait at least two or three seconds as she/he might for example be having difficulty getting into gear, or have stalled, or may be a car that automatically switches off the engine and is a bit slow re-starting. And all that is needed in both of these scenarios is a brief 'toot', to prompt the driver to look up and see the lights have changed, not a long loud irate blast! If of course that prompts no apparent change then a longer louder honk a couple of seconds later would seem entirely reasonable.

in Britain the official use of the horn is to let other drivers know you're there, which is just what the above actions are doing.  And as a complete aside, it's amazing how most drivers don't use the horn where that would be entirely appropriate, such as pulling out at a blind junction, or approaching a narrow blind bend...

the use of mobile phones, in particular the keypad as in texting, when driving is another matter altogether...

Very courteous Don.

I frequently drive a good part of the dual-carriageway A1 & often encounter this situation. I'll always slow down and maybe flash the driver on the inside lane; they usually get the message & acknowledge the favour. If it's in a three-lane stretch & I'm in the middle lane about to overtake, I'll indicate & move into the offside lane to allow them to come into the middle lane. Again, I find folks seem to appreciate this.

You sometimes come across a driver on the nearside lane who's stuck behind slow traffic & indicating their desire to pull out. I'll always let them out but on occasion they just sit there, even when I flash them out. Not paying attention.

Ah ! Three lane driving !

Yes, I often pull out into the outside lane to allow the vehicle in front to move into the middle lane to overtake even slower traffic. Lorry drivers in particular seem to appreciate this, although I sometimes feel a bit guilty if that lorry then runs side by side with the traffic he is overtaking (for the next two miles or so) because he's only slightly faster than the nearside lane of traffic. This causes following, faster drivers to bunch up in the outside lane !

Looks like most of on this here forum are paragons of virtue when we are driving

I think this is commonly the focal point for unnecessary stress and strife. It's not about entitlement. It's about observation, planning and positioning yourself so as to stay in control of your situation. Part of this is assuming that no one else has seen you or will act in accordance with the law, highway code or rules of the road.  Of course you would back off. In the unlikely but possible event that the other driver has lost control or lost consciousness, what's the etiquette for that? In the situation you describe, you are positioned with full visibility and you have full control. You need to keep that control and not destabilise the dynamic. by plunging in. Some may call that etiquette. I call it common sense. Don't expect any manners/etiquette/sense out of the other driver - you might see some, or they could be reading a book, sending a text or eating a meal.

Sure Harry, I could have used the term "Self Preservation" or no doubt some other term rather than "Etiquette" and I guess its a bit of a mixture for many of us. Driving is full of risks. I guess most of us actively assess those risks most of the time we are driving. Assuming the "other" guy is an unconscious moron is probably a good starting point !

I think we often do it without consciously thinking about it. And we should probably all try harder. Which is not always as easy as we might think.

+1

Doesn't flashing usually mean "get out of my way, I'm coming through"? There is no way I'd pull out in front of a car that had just flashed it's lights at me.