To wonder why this driver beeped his horn at me?

[HangingBasketCase]

Driving home from work I decided to overtake a van in front of me that was going really slowly. It's a 60mph road but the van must have only been doing 40 at the very most, I was almost bumper to bumper with it and I was doing 40! So I waited for a long straight stretch of road that's known locally as the straight mile, indicated and overtook him. It was perfectly safe to do so, nothing was coming in the opposite direction, no double lines in the middle of the road, perfect driving conditions but for some reason the git started beeping his horn at me as I passed him! Then once I'd passed him I could see him shaking his head in my rear mirror!

Now I'm really questioning myself. I use this I road daily, I've been overtaken by other drivers on it myself, no problems. I was always under the impression that overtaking is perfectly legal as long as it safe to do so. Which from where I was sitting it was? What did I do wrong? I felt a bit intimidated if I'm honest, which probably sounds stupid. But there you go.

[o0]

Sounds like you were tailgating him. If you'd driven bumper to bumper with me I'd have beeped too I think.

[BadtzMaru]

Were you tailgating him before you overtook if you were "almost bumper to bumper" with him, maybe that's what got him riled up.

[GoodboyBindleFeatherstone]

"Bumper to bumper" sounds like you were driving aggressively and being intimidating yourself.

[OHolyShite]

Why were you bumper to bumper with him? Haven't you heard of stopping distance?

My Dad drives up the arse of other motorists until he can overtake them. It's aggressive bullying behaviour.

[ApocalypseNowt]

Yup. Probably getting beeped for the tailgaiting rather than the overtaking.

[ApocalypseNowt]

tailgating i mean

[OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat]

If it was a big van (more than 7.5 tonnes, I don't know what that looks like) he couldn't legally go more than 40 mph on a single carriageway road.

Tailgating is a big no no too - you could have been invisible to him.

If you link to the road in question on google earth, someone might be able to spot something you've missed.

[Lampy]

If someone drives bumper to bumper behind me I slow down. It's not even a conscious thing really, it just doesn't feel safe so my speed drops accordingly.

[december12]

Yep, you were driving like and arse and he told you so.

FWIW, the closer someone is behind you the slower you're supposed to drive. If the arse drive behind you isn't allowing any stopping distance then you have to allow double stopping time yourself, to cover both your own and their stopping time.

[Tsoukalosy]

You tailgated him then felt intimidated that he beeped you? Your not really equipt for driving are you?

[BrereRabbit]

You don't know why he was doing 40, but it was clearly for a reason. He could have been able to see something in the road that you couldn't, on the way to the garage to get something fixed, have been carrying a really heavy load, worried about the weather (especially today). There are lots of reasons he might have been travelling slower. Yes you were being unreasonable to be almost bumper to bumper with him. I sincerely hope you did not have DC in the car with you because if he slammed on that would have been incredibly dangerous and not to mention you're fault for not leaving a stopping distance. If he was driving slow, you drive slower too until it's safe to overtake, but you need to leave a gap.

[Chippednailvarnish]

I was almost bumper to bumper with it

There's your answer.

[LennyCrabsticks]

Seriously?

[HangingBasketCase]

If he didn't want me to get so close to him then he should have put his foot down and drove at the speed limit! I hate tailgating and always try and avoid it, but if you have a slow coach in front of you what do you do? Any slower and I'd have stopped!

[SnowSpot]

Tailgaiters scare the crap out of me. It sounds like you were doing that and he was making you aware. Perhaps you need to revise your stopping distances?

[LennyCrabsticks]

Oh you are taking the piss, surely?

How do you avoid tailgating people in a 30 zone?

[HangingBasketCase]

It wasn't a big wagon, just a normal work van. Even wagons don't drive that slowly.

[LennyCrabsticks]

Lorries and vans quite often have limiters these days meaning he couldn't go any faster.

You sound like the worst kind of shit driver.

[Tsoukalosy]

Wow its actually agressive speed junkies like you that cause accidents not people driving 40.

[QweenCnut]

OP, your last comment is ridiculous

[BrereRabbit]

Really sorry if that sounds cross. But people that drive up people's back ends seriously don't realise how much danger they put the cars around him in. I wish people would realise it doesn't make people magically go any faster. I will drive however fast or slow I feel like is safe for the circumstances. And just because people like you are in too much of a hurry or are too thoughtless and impatient to leave a wide enough gap, others are put in dangerous positions.

[SnowSpot]

Hangingbasketcase - from your last comment, it sounds like you were doing the very thing you say you hate - tailgating.
I guess in answer to 'what do you do' is that you drive safely, which is keeping the stopping distance, even if it does mean it feels slow, and overtaking when appropriate.
I sound like my mum.

[HangingBasketCase]

Well Lenny, in a 30mph zone everyone is doing 30, or should be anyway.

[isthisunfair1967]

The speed limit is a maximum, not a fucking target.

[isthisunfair1967]

Only a fool breaks the two second rule.

Yes, I am that old.