over taking multiple cars?

[dugt]

i know that there have been many threeads about overtaking, but im interested in overtaking more than one car at a time


i feel safe in overtaking one car, but would apreciate some advice on more than one car

example, the other day i was following a line of cars, at about 8pm (so dark), the road was a 60 limit
the leading car was an old astra van, with a huge roof box and an equally huge trailer, it was doing between 30 and 35 mph
behind the astra was two other cars, cant remember what, but just hatchbacks

id seen a celica over take the que, taking each car individually, and i suppose you could say butting in a bit to get back in the line

we went round a round about, so all the cars bunched up, i intended to take each car individually
the lane was wide enough to still be on "my" side of the white line and see past the que from the drivers seat

when there was a clear straight, i pulled out (obviosuly checking all mirrors etc like usual) and went past the first car, i probably could have gone in infront of that car, but i saw that the road would be clear for long enough for me to pass all three cars, so i went for it

needless to say, i passed all three safely and with out drama


would you have done this?
what would you have done differently?
what should you do in this sort of situation?

thanks
doug

[Flibble]

I'd take all three together if it were safe to do so. It's generally a lot easier as you don't have to worry about getting back into the queue. You do have to be aware that someone in front might pull out on you so be wary of that.

ETA: I took 7 cars today on the cat and fiddle (the straightish part near the leek turning, not through the twisties!) - it's not dead straight, but the way the hill curves you have about a mile of visibility when it's not foggy. I don't think anyone else in the queue thought to look closer than the approaching bend!

Edited by Flibble on Sunday 22 March 23:51

[nerfherder]

No problem with what you did.

Obviously you have to watch out for cars in the queue deciding to pull out and not checking their mirrors for you, but what you described sounded fine.

I once overtook over a dozen cars following a tractor on an old Roman road (i.e. very long straight) with no junctions and perfect visibility. It seemed rude not to!

[dugt]

id followed the que of cars for nearly 3 miles before over taking, so i was fairly sure they werent planning on overtaking, and there road position was all wrong for overtaking, but i kept an eye out in case they did start to move

maybe i should point out i was in a 1 litre suzuki alto, which makes hedgehogs look speedy, to over take you have to keep changing down till your nearly in reverse and keep the throttle pinned all the time (but obviously not when you in neutral when changing gear as that would be silly)

doug

[Distant]

It sounds like you did everything ok and I'd have done the same.
Just a quick(ish) point that may be useful:

Don't embark on a multiple overtake unless you've got somewhere to come back in, unless you're sure you can take the whole lot in one go. You should be able to come back in without forcing anyone else to make room for you, the space should be there when you commit. If there's not a sufficient gap, and you can't do all the vehicles before the risk of an oncomer, then DON'T GO. Be aware of people in the line ahead also looking for the O/T and potentially closing the door on you.

There's nothing wrong with spotting your gap, moving out and doing the O/T, only to find that, when you arrive at the gap, you can continue on to the next gap, or complete the line. It doesn't happen often, but overtaking lines of cars in this way can be very satisfying.

Watch this video, for a good example of a multiple O/T at 4:10 (Ignore the fact it's at the end of a dual carriageway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs

See how he waits for the gap in front of the truck to open up, passes the small van and truck, into the gap he was aiming for, then realises he can do the next guy aswell so nips past him. (And, yes you can overtake on those hatched markings!)

Also, if you are leapfrogging, it's excellent form to come back in to the gaps without braking. It's much neater and more controlled than throwing the anchor out and annoying the guy you've just passed.

HTH

[dugt]

Distant said:

...
Watch this video, for a good example of a multiple O/T at 4:10 (Ignore the fact it's at the end of a dual carriageway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs

See how he waits for the gap in front of the truck to open up, passes the small van and truck, into the gap he was aiming for, then realises he can do the next guy aswell so nips past him. (And, yes you can overtake on those hatched markings!)
...

thats an interesting video, thanks for the link

at the risk of making my self look silly, what do the hatchings actually mean?, ive seen some that are there just to make the road narrower, as in 1.5/2 lanes in to 1 lane

can you drive on all of them?

doug

[Flibble]

dugt said:

thats an interesting video, thanks for the link

at the risk of making my self look silly, what do the hatchings actually mean?, ive seen some that are there just to make the road narrower, as in 1.5/2 lanes in to 1 lane

can you drive on all of them?

doug

As per the highway code:

if the area is bordered by a broken white line, you should not enter the area unless it is necessary and you can see that it is safe to do so.

if the area is marked with chevrons and bordered by solid white lines you MUST NOT enter it except in an emergency

So as long as it's a broken line bordering you can enter the hatched area. I'd be careful doing overtakes through hatchings unless it's obviously very safe though, or you may end up with a charge of DWDCAA.

[Chris71]

Obviously you should make sure you have enough space for any given overtake, but it does really annoy me when people queue behind a slow car, so, if safe to do so, I'll pick them off one by one, nipping back in as necessary.

[Distant]

dugt said:

Distant said:

...
Watch this video, for a good example of a multiple O/T at 4:10 (Ignore the fact it's at the end of a dual carriageway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs

See how he waits for the gap in front of the truck to open up, passes the small van and truck, into the gap he was aiming for, then realises he can do the next guy aswell so nips past him. (And, yes you can overtake on those hatched markings!)
...

thats an interesting video, thanks for the link

at the risk of making my self look silly, what do the hatchings actually mean?, ive seen some that are there just to make the road narrower, as in 1.5/2 lanes in to 1 lane

can you drive on all of them?

doug

Most hatchings mean nothing more than the council has a surplus of white paint and will use it up in all sorts of unnecessary ways!

You can enter the hatchings if they are bordered by a broken line and its safe and necessary to do so. I wouldn't do this too often due to other peoples possible perception of it, and I would use extra care if you do. But it is, ultimately completely legal.

[ADJimbo]

Distant said:

It sounds like you did everything ok and I'd have done the same.
Just a quick(ish) point that may be useful:

Don't embark on a multiple overtake unless you've got somewhere to come back in, unless you're sure you can take the whole lot in one go. You should be able to come back in without forcing anyone else to make room for you, the space should be there when you commit. If there's not a sufficient gap, and you can't do all the vehicles before the risk of an oncomer, then DON'T GO. Be aware of people in the line ahead also looking for the O/T and potentially closing the door on you.

There's nothing wrong with spotting your gap, moving out and doing the O/T, only to find that, when you arrive at the gap, you can continue on to the next gap, or complete the line. It doesn't happen often, but overtaking lines of cars in this way can be very satisfying.

Watch this video, for a good example of a multiple O/T at 4:10 (Ignore the fact it's at the end of a dual carriageway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs

See how he waits for the gap in front of the truck to open up, passes the small van and truck, into the gap he was aiming for, then realises he can do the next guy aswell so nips past him. (And, yes you can overtake on those hatched markings!)

Also, if you are leapfrogging, it's excellent form to come back in to the gaps without braking. It's much neater and more controlled than throwing the anchor out and annoying the guy you've just passed.

HTH

What he said... excellent advice.

[7db]

Distant said:

You can enter the hatchings if they are bordered by a broken line and its safe and necessary to do so. I wouldn't do this too often due to other peoples possible perception of it, and I would use extra care if you do. But it is, ultimately completely legal.

Or indeed hatchings bordered by a solid line provided they are more than 1m apart.

[softtop]

Distant said:

It sounds like you did everything ok and I'd have done the same.
Just a quick(ish) point that may be useful:

Don't embark on a multiple overtake unless you've got somewhere to come back in, unless you're sure you can take the whole lot in one go. You should be able to come back in without forcing anyone else to make room for you, the space should be there when you commit. If there's not a sufficient gap, and you can't do all the vehicles before the risk of an oncomer, then DON'T GO. Be aware of people in the line ahead also looking for the O/T and potentially closing the door on you.

There's nothing wrong with spotting your gap, moving out and doing the O/T, only to find that, when you arrive at the gap, you can continue on to the next gap, or complete the line. It doesn't happen often, but overtaking lines of cars in this way can be very satisfying.

Watch this video, for a good example of a multiple O/T at 4:10 (Ignore the fact it's at the end of a dual carriageway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvrhb1mDkYs

See how he waits for the gap in front of the truck to open up, passes the small van and truck, into the gap he was aiming for, then realises he can do the next guy aswell so nips past him. (And, yes you can overtake on those hatched markings!)

Also, if you are leapfrogging, it's excellent form to come back in to the gaps without braking. It's much neater and more controlled than throwing the anchor out and annoying the guy you've just passed.

HTH

ok, watched the whole thing, all ok apart from the Alfa at about 16. That dip was not visible long enough from what I could see to establish if it was clear, cars appear to be in them longer than you think and I would not have attempted that move.

[7db]

softtop said:

ok, watched the whole thing, all ok apart from the Alfa at about 16. That dip was not visible long enough from what I could see to establish if it was clear, cars appear to be in them longer than you think and I would not have attempted that move.

It's hard to know what was visible from the driver's eye height, but at the point where Reg is committed, you can see the top of the lead vehicle in the dip on the camera's eye view.

[Distant]

7db said:

Distant said:

You can enter the hatchings if they are bordered by a broken line and its safe and necessary to do so. I wouldn't do this too often due to other peoples possible perception of it, and I would use extra care if you do. But it is, ultimately completely legal.

Or indeed hatchings bordered by a solid line provided they are more than 1m apart.

Sorry, not sure what you mean here? As long as the hatched area is more than 1mtr wide? Or the solid line has gaps of 1 metre?

[Distant]

7db said:

softtop said:

ok, watched the whole thing, all ok apart from the Alfa at about 16. That dip was not visible long enough from what I could see to establish if it was clear, cars appear to be in them longer than you think and I would not have attempted that move.

It's hard to know what was visible from the driver's eye height, but at the point where Reg is committed, you can see the top of the lead vehicle in the dip on the camera's eye view.

Sorry, didn't intend to turn this into an analysis of the overtakes on that video, thats already been done to death when it was originally posted (The link is on the you tube page). I would think that a man of Regs qualifications wouldn't embark on an O/T unless it was safe, regardless of how it looks on the video.

[7db]

Distant said:

7db said:

Distant said:

You can enter the hatchings if they are bordered by a broken line and its safe and necessary to do so. I wouldn't do this too often due to other peoples possible perception of it, and I would use extra care if you do. But it is, ultimately completely legal.

Or indeed hatchings bordered by a solid line provided they are more than 1m apart.

Sorry, not sure what you mean here? As long as the hatched area is more than 1mtr wide? Or the solid line has gaps of 1 metre?

As long as the solid lines bordering the hatching are more than 1m apart (among other constraints)

[King of Dings]

I thought overtaking was illegal in the UK these days....

Judging by the amount flashed headlights I get from people I overtake.

[7mike]

7db said:

Distant said:

7db said:

Distant said:

You can enter the hatchings if they are bordered by a broken line and its safe and necessary to do so. I wouldn't do this too often due to other peoples possible perception of it, and I would use extra care if you do. But it is, ultimately completely legal.

Or indeed hatchings bordered by a solid line provided they are more than 1m apart.

Sorry, not sure what you mean here? As long as the hatched area is more than 1mtr wide? Or the solid line has gaps of 1 metre?

As long as the solid lines bordering the hatching are more than 1m apart (among other constraints)

Never heard off this, unless I've misunderstood, any chance of a reference to the relevant rules/law?

[7db]

Try TSRGD images for DWL systems. 1013.1 off the top of my head.

[Chris71]

King of Dings said:

I thought overtaking was illegal in the UK these days....

Judging by the amount flashed headlights I get from people I overtake.

Tell me about it. They don't like it if you take a wider line to improve visability either - even if you're miles away.

I think people just fail to appreciate speed or distance. The fact that they can't or won't overtake in a relatively short space doesn't mean someone in an R500 or something couldn't! Conversely, taking a wide line around a corner 500 yards away is very different to swerving out in front of them.

Let's just face it, most A-to-B drivers are numpties.