Overtaking queues and the chance of someone pulling out
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:10 am
Cross-posted from PH, but you guys always have something to add.
This morning I found myself here, on a road I know well: https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=50.984937,-1.515813&...
In front was a tractor, doing 20mph, and a line of cars, roughly as follows:
Tractor
Citroen Picasso
Recent Renault Clio
Something maroon
Possibly something else
Fake M badged BMW E36
Me, cooking Alfa 156
Noone in the queue was showing any willingness to overtake, as an excellent but time limited opportunity developed after the double white lines finish. Admittedly I did not wait long before deciding to overtake, which I will come back to.
I did the IAM taught technique of getting offside, having a look (clear as far as visible) and committing.
Now I am very conscious of the chance of someone pulling out, so I keep an eye on the cars I'm passing. I also know that the chance increases as I near the front of the queue, as the typical driver is reticent to do multi-car overtakes.
In line with that thinking, before I pass the Clio I pip the horn as a warning. Despite this, as I am nearly alongside the Clio, the driver begins indicating and moving out. The Picasso is still in front of her. I use the horn again, but there is a collision. Fortunately all that has happened is my wing mirror has been folded in, and, it transpires once we later pull in, the glass in hers is damaged. The other driver was an elderly lady.
What is the consensus on this kind of situation?
I'm also interested in your thoughts on the initial use of the horn. I wonder if it contributed, e.g. compelled her to get on with her own progress as if it were done by a following car.
In a way I feel that I've been taught a lesson about the risk threshold in this scenario being too high, especially without waiting sufficiently long for the situation to develop. In another way I feel that I exercised a good technique that probably prevented a worse outcome.
Although I regard it as less important than avoiding the accident, I'm also curious as to what the liability view would be. She didn't monitor her mirrors or check the blind spot before the manoeuvre, and yet I was doing something that could be described as 'fraught with difficulty', a bit like filtering on a bike.
This morning I found myself here, on a road I know well: https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=50.984937,-1.515813&...
In front was a tractor, doing 20mph, and a line of cars, roughly as follows:
Tractor
Citroen Picasso
Recent Renault Clio
Something maroon
Possibly something else
Fake M badged BMW E36
Me, cooking Alfa 156
Noone in the queue was showing any willingness to overtake, as an excellent but time limited opportunity developed after the double white lines finish. Admittedly I did not wait long before deciding to overtake, which I will come back to.
I did the IAM taught technique of getting offside, having a look (clear as far as visible) and committing.
Now I am very conscious of the chance of someone pulling out, so I keep an eye on the cars I'm passing. I also know that the chance increases as I near the front of the queue, as the typical driver is reticent to do multi-car overtakes.
In line with that thinking, before I pass the Clio I pip the horn as a warning. Despite this, as I am nearly alongside the Clio, the driver begins indicating and moving out. The Picasso is still in front of her. I use the horn again, but there is a collision. Fortunately all that has happened is my wing mirror has been folded in, and, it transpires once we later pull in, the glass in hers is damaged. The other driver was an elderly lady.
What is the consensus on this kind of situation?
I'm also interested in your thoughts on the initial use of the horn. I wonder if it contributed, e.g. compelled her to get on with her own progress as if it were done by a following car.
In a way I feel that I've been taught a lesson about the risk threshold in this scenario being too high, especially without waiting sufficiently long for the situation to develop. In another way I feel that I exercised a good technique that probably prevented a worse outcome.
Although I regard it as less important than avoiding the accident, I'm also curious as to what the liability view would be. She didn't monitor her mirrors or check the blind spot before the manoeuvre, and yet I was doing something that could be described as 'fraught with difficulty', a bit like filtering on a bike.