Did i do this right?

[Benbay001]

Came up behind a tractor on a NSL A road earlier, traffic coming the other way so i was waiting for an opportunity to overtake.

The road looks like (and is)


I sat in the hatching to allow the best view past the tractor, which i wouldnt have thought twice about, if it hadnt been for an oncoming coach who flashed me.
I assume he was worried i was about to attempt the overtake, but i had been sat in that position for quite a while so he had plenty of time to notice my road position.
Anyway, over to you, was i in the wrong? (im not actually sure on the legal position of sitting in the center hatching)

Sorry for the very badly written post, im not really sure what im after, maybe a bit of reassurance that i did nothing wrong.
Cheers.

[ashleyqprw12]

I suppose a "legal" view would be if you had to be in the markings your to close so should of dropped back to get the best view.

I believe the driver flashed you as a precaution as he/she was perhaps unsure of your actions / gap for them to pass.

You have to pass eventually otherwise half the county would be at standstill, i think as long as you completed the overtake safely legal action wouldn't of been taken if witnessed?

[Benbay001]

ashleyqprw12 said:

I suppose a "legal" view would be if you had to be in the markings your to close so should of dropped back to get the best view.

I believe the driver flashed you as a precaution as he/she was perhaps unsure of your actions / gap for them to pass.

You have to pass eventually otherwise half the county would be at standstill, i think as long as you completed the overtake safely legal action wouldn't of been taken if witnessed?

The road goes around to the left, if id have dropped back far enough to get a view to the left of the tractor i would have been too far back to pass safely if an opertunity arose. I was say 10 meters away from the tractor at 20 mph

[davepoth]

Benbay001 said:

ashleyqprw12 said:

I suppose a "legal" view would be if you had to be in the markings your to close so should of dropped back to get the best view.

I believe the driver flashed you as a precaution as he/she was perhaps unsure of your actions / gap for them to pass.

You have to pass eventually otherwise half the county would be at standstill, i think as long as you completed the overtake safely legal action wouldn't of been taken if witnessed?

The road goes around to the left, if id have dropped back far enough to get a view to the left of the tractor i would have been too far back to pass safely if an opertunity arose. I was say 10 meters away from the tractor at 20 mph

Fine to take a look; but you need to remember that the traffic oncoming has as much of a right to use that bit of road as you. Certainly with a "heavy" coming the other way there's a possibility someone else might try and overtake as well.

[ScoobyChris]

Benbay001 said:

The road goes around to the left, if id have dropped back far enough to get a view to the left of the tractor i would have been too far back to pass safely if an opertunity arose. I was say 10 meters away from the tractor at 20 mph

I wonder if positioning to get a view down the tractor's left hand side would have given you a better idea of when an opportunity was developing further head so that you could plan the overtake and move across to the hatchings accordingly, rather than waiting in a compromised position for an overtake to come to you. It would also give you a better view of entrances, etc the tractor may "suddenly" decide to pull into on the left, as well as cyclists, etc that he may want to go round.

Chris

Edited by ScoobyChris on Thursday 19th April 15:54

[Snowboy]

I would have used the hatching to see ahead.

There’s a lot of interesting hatching round my way.
I’m not sure of the law exactly, but I think if the hatching is encased in a dashed line you are allowed to drive into it, if it’s encased in a solid line you aren’t.

I think it’s there as a way to create more space for overtaking.

At least, if you drive from Worcester through Evesham to Stratford along the A45 that’s how it seems.

[anonymous-user]

I wouldn't sit in the hatching continuously looking for an overtake opportunity.

I would move into the hatched area (as it has broken lines) to have a look if I needed to, but I would try and look down the left too or get a view by dropping back a bit. If there wasn't an overtake on, I would move back out of the hatchings.

[sinizter]

JPJPJP said:

I wouldn't sit in the hatching continuously looking for an overtake opportunity.

Might stay there a bit, but wouldn't stay there the whole time.

But I also do not think it is wrong to stay there the whole time. You can always move over if it looks like an oncoming vehicle needs to use the hatched area.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

It's always difficult to judge from Streetview because of the height of their cameras, but it looks like in that situation there would be two positions that would give you a useful view.

The first is a few car lengths back and looking up the inside, and the second is in the opposing lane to the right of the hatched area. You need a view from the first position to safely move into the second position, and you need that view before committing.

Sitting anywhere other than left and looking for that view is likely to lead to missed opportunities.

[WhoseGeneration]

Snowboy said:

I would have used the hatching to see ahead.

I think it’s there as a way to create more space for overtaking.

I suspect the opposite, it's to discourage overtaking on a road where formerly there was, perhaps, space for three abreast.
It's to try to stop opposing overtakers meeting.

[Benbay001]

Looks like what i did was legal, but could have been better. The bank on the left hand side is supprisingly high (ie cant see as well as you can in the photo)
Thanks

[johnao]

Benbay001 said:

... if id have dropped back far enough to get a view to the left of the tractor i would have been too far back to pass safely if an opertunity arose. I was say 10 meters away from the tractor at 20 mph

No, I don't think you would have been too far back. It just so happens that the ideal position would have been approximately where the camera car is in relation to the dormobile(?) in front of it. This position gives you excellent vision along the left-hand side of the vehicle in front enabling you to see when an overtake opportunity is developing. As soon as the last oncoming vehicle has passed you can move offside, decide if the overtake is on, and if yes, you can then commit to the overtake.

As for being too far back to pass safely. You should consider two things. Firstly, you should be able to safely and quickly accelerate up to and passed the tractor because of the large speed differential you should be able to generate so, another 10 meters of space between you and the tractor is of very little if any consequence. Secondly, if the overtake is dependent upon not having that extra 10 metres of road space between you and the tractor it may be argued that the overtake was not on in the first place.

[Benbay001]

johnao said:

No, I don't think you would have been too far back. It just so happens that the ideal position would have been approximately where the camera car is in relation to the dormobile(?) in front of it. This position gives you excellent vision along the left-hand side of the vehicle in front enabling you to see when an overtake opportunity is developing. As soon as the last oncoming vehicle has passed you can move offside, decide if the overtake is on, and if yes, you can then commit to the overtake.

As for being too far back to pass safely. You should consider two things. Firstly, you should be able to safely and quickly accelerate up to and passed the tractor because of the large speed differential you should be able to generate so, another 10 meters of space between you and the tractor is of very little if any consequence. Secondly, if the overtake is dependent upon not having that extra 10 metres of road space between you and the tractor it may be argued that the overtake was not on in the first place.

The bank on the left is much higher IRL so you dont get a view that far around, if you stayed left the view would be much shorter, especially combined with it being necessary to be further back. (that doesnt make much sense, so you will just have to trust me on that)

[waremark]

One further course about your road position - you may find yourself in conflict with a motorbike overtaking unwisely towards you, which you may not have seen until very late. I find it hard to believe that a position for the left view would not have been more suitable. But you were definitely legal.