follow the leader overtaking.

stratos

I was driving along today on a country road and a car coming towards me on the opposite side of the road pulled in blocking the lane, a truck behind him pulled out to overtake right in my path but no problem I was far enough away, I slowed and let the truck continue I then applied a little power to continue along my way but the stream of cars behind the truck just continued out blindly. The truck cleared me and pulled in leaving a totally startled Golf driver facing me at speed. I managed to burn weeds for a bit( I hate that sound of the local flora brushing my paint ) but the stream of cars continued. narrowly missing me.

I asked myself would I blindly follow the leader lemon like into a blind overtake. I got my ansewer a little later on the way back a car was pulled in on my left and everyone was just pulling out A guy in the ditch was manicaly waving people through, there was no way I could do It... I had to hang back untill i could see through the overtake, as a rigid cattle truck barrelled along rightly on his side of the road.
Why do people do this Blindly follow the leader on an overtake. You wouldn't overtake into a blind bend so why do it following a vehicle.

Rant over apologies.:o

colm_mcm

I honestly don't do this, but see it happen quite a lot. I don't think people put a lot of thought into driving generally though.

Captain Slow IRL

Did it once, in a rush - scared the sh!t out of me, never again:(

mickdw

Yes absolute lunacy. It appears that many so called careful safe drivers dont realise what they are doing in these cases. Its surprising the type of drivers who do it.

drunkmonkey

I think it's really funny especially when i'm the leader and none of the cars that decide to follow me have 300bhp under their foot... it always amuses me when a fiat driver thinks he's just going to follow behind me while I overtake 3 artics..

stratos

300 bhp thats gotta be about a 4 litre v8 or smaller with forced induction whats the car ? and I want one

milltown

See it most days at bus stops tbh. People who seem to think that a 20 second delay on their side of the road gives them automatic right of way on the opposite side.

drunkmonkey

stratos wrote: »

300 bhp thats gotta be about a 4 litre v8 or smaller with forced induction whats the car ? and I want one

she's from japan, 2 liter engine, forced induction, boxer engine, has a few world rally trophies under her skirt...i'll let you guess..:)

stratos

I don't mind the bus thing too much except people drive right up to bus and then pull out unexpectantly towards you. they should move out into the centre way before they overtake the bus, then everyone knows whats going on, I have time to move over and their driving down the centre of the road intentions are clear with room to abort. Not ideal but everyone knows whats going on. as long as everyone is willing to give an inch thats okay.

stratos

drunkmonkey wrote: »

she's from japan, 2 liter engine, forced induction, boxer engine, has a few world rally trophies under her skirt...i'll let you guess..:)

God I hope I'm right impressive Imprezza. just to add wonder how the xk would do against it.

fullstop

It's the same with passing a tractor or something on a main road. There was a line of cars stuck behind a tractor on a bad (main) road outside Monaghan. Cars were passing like this (follow the leader). When it came to my turn, I waited to see and there was a crest in the road which I couldn't see over. so I waited. The guy behing starts blowing his horn at me. WTF does he want me to do? Play Russian roulette with traffic?

bazzachazza

Never do it. You just don't know whats going to happen.

Driving home from Portlaoise to Athlone on the back roads. I was driving along, as I approached a blind bend I spot an Ambulance blue lights on and on my side of the road overtaking a car, he was booting it. Luckily there was a dirt track for me to dive down at 50mph or we were both going to need ambulances. He waved out the window to apologise.

Not strictly related but just goes to show in normal circumstances the unusual can happen. So when you do put your nose over the white line be very sure you can complete the move safely and in good time.

bladebrew

theres a brilliant video somewhere on youtube and break.com of why you shouldnt do this
a landcruiser apparently in iraq follows a truck overtaking a bus,the truck swings back into the right in front of the bus and the landcruiser is left on the wrong side of the road facing an oncoming truck so he swerves off the road into the dirt on the left!! he was lucky!

Seth Brundle

stratos wrote: »

300 bhp thats gotta be about a 4 litre v8 or smaller with forced induction whats the car ? and I want one

Sure even the E46 M3 is "just" 3.2L (straight 6) throwing out 343bhp and is a natural breather!

Berty

The only time I blindly follow the leader is on a roundabout when there is a high sided vehicle in the right lane. If they move onto the roundabout it must be clear and if its not they will get hit anyway.

I see more people afraid to overtake or having unpowered vehicles to complete an overtake more so than people blindly overtaking.

Henry Ford III

A common enough occurance. Dangerous too.

Happened me recently - I was driving in a 50kph zone (narrow enough road) and saw a cyclist with a child cycling behind him coming towards me. A car was behind them and over took. It was enough to make me brake slightly but otherwise ok. A 2nd car then followed it! I just stopped, the cyclists continued, and there was nowhere for the 2nd car to go. We ended up virtually nose to nose.

I simply shook my head, and as soon as the offending car had pulled back in to it's own side of the road, carried on.

The lesson is always make any overtaking decision strictly on what you can see. Assume nothing.

Henry Ford III

A common enough occurance. Dangerous too.

Happened me recently - I was driving in a 50kph zone (narrow enough road) and saw a cyclist with a child cycling behind him coming towards me. A car was behind them and over took. It was enough to make me brake slightly but otherwise ok. A 2nd car then followed it! I just stopped, the cyclists continued, and there was nowhere for the 2nd car to go. We ended up virtually nose to nose.

I simply shook my head, and as soon as the offending car had pulled back in to it's own side of the road, carried on.

The lesson is always make any overtaking decision strictly on what you can see. Assume nothing.

Cookie_Monster

Berty wrote: »

The only time I blindly follow the leader is on a roundabout when there is a high sided vehicle in the right lane. If they move onto the roundabout it must be clear and if its not they will get hit anyway.

+1

Berty wrote: »

I see more people afraid to overtake or having unpowered vehicles to complete an overtake more so than people blindly overtaking.

Thats my problem more often than not, the car just doesn't have the power unless the gap is huge:(

Sage'sMama

Driving on a coutry road recently when a car coming the opposite direction decided he'd pull out in front of me to avoid a pothole on his side of the road.I mean he'd rather cause a head on collision than slow down and let me pass before he has to swerve out.What a tosser.

Also see this a lot when there is cyclists or pedestrians on the road.

christy c

What I hate on country roads are people who cut accross the white lines at turns, this is ok if there's no ditch and you can see but not where the turn is completely blind. There are numerous occasions where I was approaching a turn and then saw a car on my side of the road and if i was 10 yards further down the road I would definitely have hit it. Really bugs me but worse it could cause a serious crash

Alun

It's not just on main roads, in the country or not, but it happens a lot in urban settings at low speeds where cars are (double) parked etc.

Actually, in general Irish drivers seem to think that if there's an obstacle of any sort on their side of the road it's their god given right to overtake it, and for the guy on the other side to facilitate this, and not the other way around which is the way it's supposed to be.

VanhireBoys

I cant do it - my yoke is LHD... It even scares me on a blind left hander when I cant see around the corner.

seamus

Berty wrote: »

The only time I blindly follow the leader is on a roundabout when there is a high sided vehicle in the right lane. If they move onto the roundabout it must be clear and if its not they will get hit anyway.

That's actually a recommended safety technique for cyclists and motorcyclists!

Cookie_Monster

Alun wrote: »

Actually, in general Irish drivers seem to think that if there's an obstacle of any sort on their side of the road it's their god given right to overtake it, and for the guy on the other side to facilitate this, and not the other way around which is the way it's supposed to be.

Nearly crashed yesterday cos of some aul one who thought that. Wet road and all so skided into the curb trying to stop in time.

BlackWizard

Sometimes I just don't overtake with anyone else because I had a bit a shock when I was learning to drive.

Slow car going down a national road. There is a car behind it wanting to overtake and I'm also behind that car. So the car pulls out and I follow just after. So once the car was finished overtaking it puts on the brakes and slows down leaving no gap for me to get in. I had to over take him aswell..

I felt like I was never going to leave the wrong side of the road. No cars where oncoming though. But this sort of thing could happen in a "follow the leader" scenario. That could end up being very dangerous.

I think that incident is why I never trust other drivers on the road. I'm always convinced they will do something stupid. And some of you might think that's great but really it ruins a casual drive having to figure out what everyone else is doing on the road as well as what I want to do.

KamiKazi

Yet another example of people driving like sheep.