Flashing to overtake; acceptable?

Renegade_Archer

If youre doing 60mph on a reasonable road, and someone drives up your arse and starts flashing his lights, would you feel offended? I was a bit tbh, I moved in to let him past, but I still thought it was a bit rude. I know its acceptable on the continent, but Id only seen it on the autobahns.




Opinions?




Ewan

OfflerCrocGod

Renegade_Archer wrote:

I know its acceptable on the continent, but Id only seen it on the autobahns.

There you go, he could have been German.

rander00

Thats doesnt happen often, least i never seen it. Maybe the person wa si na hurry or some sort of emergency. You wouldnt know.
I wouldnt be offended. Just let him by, without putting urself too out of the way.

Sure let them pass, if they want to go faster thats up to them.

Renegade_Archer

He looked like a young lad in his Da's Nubira to be honest with you, but he could have been German. In a 00D Daewoo. Happens

mike65

Its poor manners but good drivers see "trouble" comming and get out of the way! Some folk just wont wait on the other hand some folk just wont pull out the way or pick up the pace...the last time it happened to me it was a 5 series BMW driver...hmmmmm and I was going the legal max when it happened.

Mike.

kleefarr

If your in front, drive how you like. It's up to them to overtake you. :rolleyes:

oh.. and don't you mean 100kph?

SouperComputer

last time someone did that to me was on the M50.

Was doin 120Kph (jap import, so has it all in KM), the left lane (as feckin usual) was doin about 90Kph, and some A$$$hole drove up my arse and started flashing his highbeams.

So I did the courtious thing, whipped the handbrake! , let off a bit of smoke rather than predictable brake lights.

he dropped back then for some reason

mackerski

Renegade_Archer wrote:

If youre doing 60mph on a reasonable road, and someone drives up your arse and starts flashing his lights, would you feel offended?

If there's a driving lane to your left with space in it, and you weren't in the process of an overtaking manoeuvre, then you shouldn't feel offended, since you should have been in the left lane already. But I don't think that's what you're describing here. Were you on a road with hard shoulder? If so, then you may move onto it to allow a driver by, but you are not obliged to do so, and your decision might reasonably be coloured by considerations of convenience (yours) or politeness (his). Oh, or safety, so if ignoring him was going to cause him to tailgate you, and you could let him by without difficulty, then it's probably the thing to do.

As to the driver's own behaviour, I'd consider it inexcusable in all cases except where you were somehow in the wrong (as in a case of failing to keep left).

Dermot

AMurphy

Rude, maybe, maybe not.
I see no reason to flash or be flashed if I'm crusing along a reasonable road @60 and someone wants to pass.
However, if I were behind some mutt, that does 35~40 ont eh turns, then speeds up to 6-~65 in the straight and back to 35 again on the next bend. or if they were hogging the center of a "tight" road, I may flash them.

However, if someone comes up my rear and I'm in some turns, then starts flashing and waving hands about, etc.... I might get awkward...

However, given driving tactics in ROI, I think it is worthwhile to drive with lights on, that way you might become aware of someone behind, before they start flashing.

Sometimes when passing on a tight road, with only inches seperating wingtips, I might turn on the mains, just to insure that the driver ahead knows I'm there and not make a sudden move out into the center of the road.... it has happened. Even I'm guilty. Didn't observe a car had crept up outside me in my blind spot, while trying to tune the radio.

cormie

I was doing 60.00mph on the 60 zone on the M50 and there was a truck on my left doing 59.99, It took me ages to overtake him but I wasn't prepared to break the speed limit and overtake him quicker for guy flashing from behind.

I also think by not letting them overtake you if you are in the right, you are making the roads generally safer.

ubu

why on earth were you trying to overtake him so?
Its driving like this, that you think is safe just because your not breaking the speed limit that can cause a potential accident, common sense should prevail in a situation like this and an overtaking manouvre should be completed as quickly(and thus safely) as possible, or if it cannot be complted safely (quickly) then it should not be attempted.

Cormie, im sure you looked in your mirror before you pulled out to overtake the truck, and you would have seen a car approaching at a greater speed behind, would you not think to yourself that for the sake or the .01 mph an hour faster you'll be going it would have been safer to stay behind the truck and not risk an accident by overtaking in such a ridiculous way?

cormie wrote:

I also think by not letting them overtake you if you are in the right, you are making the roads generally safer.

I would counter that the opposite is true, are you not safer if you allow someone to overtake you when safe to do so, than have them sitting behind you building up a head of steam because you wont let them pass and the possibly risking a dangerous overtaking manouvre that could cause an accident?

cormie

I was already in the lane overtaking cars that were going 50 or so. I knew I was gaining on the truck so I had every right to stay in the overtaking lane within the speed limit and complete the overtake. I'm not going to break the limit to complete the overtake just because somebody is flashing me to do so.

unkel

I feel flashing can be appropriate in some circumstances. It sure is not appropriate when someone is flashing you when you are overtaking at the speed limit and re-entering the driving lane as and when you safely can

mackerski wrote:

If there's a driving lane to your left with space in it, and you weren't in the process of an overtaking manoeuvre, then you shouldn't feel offended, since you should have been in the left lane already

The golden rule. I tend to extend this rule to accommodate anybody that might want to overtake me, if that is possible in a safe manner

Unfortunately, an Irish driver's average awareness of what is going on is extremely poor and I'm not even going into the example of the feckyes brigade :rolleyes:

Simple example: car1 is doing 60 in a 100 zone in the driving lane. Car2 is overtaking at 65. A car is driving at 100 (or at 160 for that matter - it is not up to us to pass judgement and impose a sentence, it might be a doctor, a garda or what not)

mackerski

cormie wrote:

I also think by not letting them overtake you if you are in the right, you are making the roads generally safer.

You'll have to back that one up with a quote from the "Rules of the Road". Otherwise we'll have to dismiss it as the BS it truly is. Go to Templemore if you want to find out how to make the roads safer (assuming they've discovered how). "Making stuff up" is one of the biggest Irish driving sins.

Dermot

cormie

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but say for example, I am doing to max limit, and somebody flashes me once to pull into the hard shoulder and if I don't they back off and continue to follow at a reasonable distance behind me keeping in the limit, is that not making the roads safer than if they were to speed off ahead?

mackerski

cormie wrote:

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but say for example, I am doing to max limit, and somebody flashes me once to pull into the hard shoulder and if I don't they back off and continue to follow at a reasonable distance behind me keeping in the limit, is that not making the roads safer than if they were to speed off ahead?

You're certainly within your rights. And I might do the same too (for different reasons). But it's by no means clear that an annoyed guy tailgating a car at 100km/h is less dangerous than a happy guy with an open road in front of him at, say, 120km/h. Now, clearly, if he's the sort of lad prone to tailgating, he may well be dangerous on an open road too - maybe he'll choose a speed that's not only illegal, but also excessive. However, he won't be dangerous to you, and that's got to count for something.

Dermot

unkel

You finally dig, cormie?

BTW - did you pass your test?

cormie

Ok, I guess it is safer for me to let him pass and carry on.

Bit of confusion meeting assessor for test. I was there at 9.50, was supposed to meet him at 10. I gave IAM my mobile number and waited till 10.40 before going home, rang them at about 10.50 and they said he was there.

They said I would have to pay again for re-test. I said I paid for a test I didn't get and asked to speak to supervisor. Supervisor rang me back and rescheduled for the 10th.

They don't give mobile numbers to assessors. Quite an unprofessional set-up really, the assessor could have at least given IAM a call and got them to call me and rang him back. I was waiting outside reception waiting on him to "Find" me. Bit of a joke.

stratos

Only ever happened me once. It was a huge volvo estate (aren't they all). He came up behind me flashing his lights, i had copped him further back, closing on me rapidly. My first reaction was to get a bit childish, then I said to myself oh what the hell and let him pass. As he tore by I could see a heavily pregnant woman holding onto the ceiling straps in the rear seat. So the lesson is if you are really in a hurry, get your girlfriend to stick a pillow up her jumper and sit in the back, you can drive as fast as you want, noone will report you.Seriously though, I was glad then I let him go.

unkel

That's a terrible miscommunication on your test day, cormie

It is stressful enough to go and do your driving test, you can do without all that sh!te. Wish you all the best for the next time!

cormie wrote:

Ok, I guess it is safer for me to let him pass and carry on

Indeed safer for you...

unkel

stratos wrote:

Only ever happened me once. It was a huge volvo estate (aren't they all). He came up behind me flashing his lights, i had copped him further back, closing on me rapidly. My first reaction was to get a bit childish, then I said to myself oh what the hell and let him pass. As he tore by I could see a heavily pregnant woman holding onto the ceiling straps in the rear seat. So the lesson is if you are really in a hurry, get your girlfriend to stick a pillow up her jumper and sit in the back, you can drive as fast as you want, noone will report you.Seriously though, I was glad then I let him go.

LOL, nought for me to add to that experience

cormie

Thanks:) Although it's only the provisional ignition test. I wasn't a bit worried or nervous. The only thing I'm worried about is doing it in another car. I don't think that's really fair.

Silvera

Too many Irish motorist's view driving as a competition.
God forbid if somebody tries to overtake them, it's the "He's not getting past me - so he's not!" or "I've GOT to get in front at all costs! mentality that seems to prevail with many drivers.

And it's that very attitude that causes so many accidents !!!

Drive at a sensible speed and use common sense - if somebody wants to pass : LET THEM PASS A.S.A.P !

I used to think that flashing lights was somewhat ignorant. But many years ago I bought the (excellent!) UK 'Police Drivers Handbook' which states that 'flashing lights is often necessary to alert drivers of your presence' (and no I'm not referring to high speed police chases!).

(A lot of drivers could learn from that book, i.e. advanced driving techniques.)

Silvera.

cormie

If it is safe and legal for me to go into the left hand lane I will. However the time I mentioned above it wasn't. So I didn't break the law to do it. But if for example, I am passing a number of cars with adequate gaps between them and I am about to pass another a 50 or so metres ahead of me and I am being flashed from behind, I will pull in left, let them pass and then pull out into overtaking lane again.

It hasn't happened much, I've only driven 15K miles in my lifetime but one time it did happen I was in a situation as mentioned above, passing cars, car flashes from behind, I pull in, I pull back out, see him flash car up ahead, car up ahead doesn't move to left hand lane, so the flashing car out of nowhere starts flashing a blue garda light and the car that wouldn't budge immediately pulls in left. The car was undercover, not a marked garda car.

So I will let them passed but I won't break the limit to do so. :rolleyes:

John R

There are many more dangerous things to do on the road than breaking the speed limit, cormie and passing a truck ridiculously slowly is right up at the top of the list. If for any reason that truck had swerved into your path you would have been in serious trouble.

Depending on the setup of the mirrors on the truck, at some stage during your "legal" overtake you could well have been in a blind spot of the truck driver. If it was a left-hand drive truck odds on you were completely invisible for a considerable length of time meaning that the truck driver could have unknowingly pulled out on top of you.
There was a report on just this kind of accident on one of the motoring programmes a while back, apparently with the widespread use of LHD trucks in the UK by both continental and UK truckers this is becoming a very common accident on motorways.
I know of a number of Irish truckers that also drive LHD as they do the majority of their driving on the continent.

Having a bit of cop-on and giving some thought to your driving habits will make you a much safer and better driver than rigidly sticking to the letter of the law.

dudara

Correct me here if I'm wrong but aren't you obliged to make room for a faster moving vehicle as long as it is safe for you to do so. It doesn't matter what speed they are doing, it is not your duty to police the roads.

Irish motorists grasp of overtaking, lefthand lanes and just sheer commonsense is shocking.

cormie

John R, you are right for sure. I never thought of the LHD aspect I just don't want to get nabbed by the guards

mackerski

cormie wrote:

so the flashing car out of nowhere starts flashing a blue garda light and the car that wouldn't budge immediately pulls in left.

I have got to get me one of those lights...

Johnny Storm

stratos wrote:

Only ever happened me once. It was a huge volvo estate (aren't they all). He came up behind me flashing his lights, i had copped him further back, closing on me rapidly. My first reaction was to get a bit childish, then I said to myself oh what the hell and let him pass. As he tore by I could see a heavily pregnant woman holding onto the ceiling straps in the rear seat. So the lesson is if you are really in a hurry, get your girlfriend to stick a pillow up her jumper and sit in the back, you can drive as fast as you want, noone will report you.Seriously though, I was glad then I let him go.

LMAO

BrianD

Speaking of trucks, I notiiced that there has speed has been reduced to 80km/h (from 55mph before) and they are restricted to the LH lane of dual carriageways.

As for flashing? I don't use the hard shoulder so if I'm doing the legal limit and you are behind me, tough luck. Only exception I make is if I was pulling a trailer, had mechanical difficulties or you're an emergency vehicle. On dualers I drive on the left unless overtaking but if I overtake a line of cars and a car is doing less than the limit in the overtaking lane, I will sit behind allow a few moments for him/her to move over, then maybe flash once. If I'm forced to undertake I'll give them a blast of the horn!

Our man in Havana

Do you have the SI for that BrianD? when was the 80km/h limit brought in?