Astraist wrote:Interesting. I've learned to overtake much like what Ivor described: Hanging back, seeing the upportunity, accelerating forward in my own lane, passing to the next lane and completing the overtake. By hanging back we maintain the safe following gap from the traffic in front, keep our field of vision clear, allow the car in front/behind/oncoming to notice we are about to overtake and can use the space in our own lane to get up to speed without being in the dangerous opposite lane.
Is the opposite lane necessarily dangerous? If it's not safe to move offside to have a look before committing, I'd have thought it's not safe to overtake.
Astraist wrote:It is true that during that brief moment where we close up against the car in front, we open ourselves to risk, but since we have to ensure that the chance for an overtake is indeed safe, we need to make sure that nothing will cause the overtaken driver to act in such a dangerous way. Even if he does stop suddenly, we can still brake and than steer. Since both cars are still moving, and since we ready ourselves to overtake only when the off-side is clear, we should be able to use it as a clear escape route and than return to our lane.
The idea of moving offside before you commit is to help you see everything you need to see in order to make the decision whether to overtake or not. It's not only the offside that needs to be clear. From your own lane you can probably see whether there is any oncoming traffic, or any junctions or other hazards offside. But what about nearside? Moving offside may give you a better view of a nearside junction, or it may reveal the cyclist ahead that you hadn't seen (and which may be the very reason the car in front of you does brake or change direction suddenly). If there's a line of traffic ahead with some gaps, can you see your landing spot? Can you see which drivers are maintaining a consistent gap that you could return to?