Is overtaking someone you know rude?

[SilkClayFlowers]

On the school run home on Friday I overtook a woman collecting her Grandchild from the same school. It’s,a tiny school and had I recognised the car I wouldn’t have done unless I was in a rush.

She was going 35-40mph in a national speed limit zone albeit a country road during the last of harvest and all the traffic issues that can bring!

Today at collection her daughter (the school child’s mother) said, “oh you drive the polo, haha my mums not happy with you after you sped by” . She said this in a jokey way but it got me wondering if it’s not the done thing to overtake someone you may know.

I’ve only been driving for just over a year so am still a bit unsure about the unwritten etiquette.

Safely overtaking a slow driver isn’t being in a mad rush, it’s actually the best thing to do as it frees up the flow of traffic.

I think Vulpine is one of the drivers we are on about. Constant 40mph, doesn't slow down or speed up.

We aren't in a rush. We are driving the appropriate speed for the road, and aren't nervous drivers or just bad drivers.

@JellyBook

Not particularly sensible to overtake someone doing 35-40 on a country road, even if it is technically legal

Is it not? I'll overtake someone doing 50 in a NSL if I'm able to 🤷‍♀️ there's nothing foolish about driving legally and having places to go/people to see.

Ah Blueoasis, weakest form of argument to jump to that conclusion

You're the one who thinks 60 is rushing.

Not particularly sensible to overtake someone doing 35-40 on a country road, even if it is technically legal

Away and bile yer heid.
Not all country roads are single lane dirt tracks ffs. We have straight bits and actual tar in most rural places!
It's perfectly fine to.overtake if you can see far enough ahead.

I have seen some bloody idiots on main roads overtake just before blind bends, dips in road or when obvious traffic coming the other way. Doesn't matter what road you are on if you are a bad driver.
Good drivers know when it's safe to pass and it obviously was in ops case.

I only get upset by being overtaken when I'm doing the speed limit but the other driver wants to triple it!

Unless you're about to drip feed that she was the rear most passenger in a hearse, I can't see the problem.

Daft, you overtake who you like if there is no solid line. End of.

Blue - i never said 60 was rushing, i said over taking was, there's a difference

Not particularly sensible to overtake someone doing 35-40 on a country road, even if it is technically legal

Country roads in my area vary from single lane tracks to A roads. It's perfectly fine to overtake in many areas.

Not particularly sensible to overtake someone doing 35-40 on a country road,

Why ever not? If it’s a straight road and the visibility is good then there’s nothing wrong with overtaking.

Sounds like my mum, she always sounds mortally offended if someone overtakes her. She mutters, 'well, I don't know where they think they're going in such a hurry', and I think, 'in front of you mum, in front of you'.

i never said 60 was rushing, i said over taking was, there's a difference

You expect everyone to sit behind someone doing 35 mph in a 60 area?
Why? I dont want to take longer to get there if someone cant go faster than 35 all the way!

Vulpine, you seem to be implying that overtaking means someone is rushing.

That's not true. I was once driving home on a country road that is a) NSL, and b) has loads of safe places to overtake. I was behind a car doing 35 so as soon as it was safe, I overtook as I had some way to go. I was able to get to the next town, get a few things from Tesco, and when I was exiting the car park, that car was only just going by, with a huge queue behind him. Ludicrous.

@CalmFizz "If they know you you might as well have slapped them across the face with a dead fish."

Of course not all over taking is rushing, i certainly wouldn't needlessly sit behind a tractor, but by the ops own admission - she was. Alot of overtaking is a bit pointless as in the case of the op who arrived at the same time, approx, as the lady she over took.

@Vulpine, no offense, but you sound like the terrible drivers I overtake all the time... really dull and lifeless

I wouldn't give it a seconds thought. If it was safe to do so, and someone else is driving like a snail - why not?

That being said, perhaps the person you overtook DIDN'T think it was safe to over-take when you did? You say you've only been driving a year, which is very inexperienced still, really. For the person you overtook to mention it to someone else... There must have been something about your driving that was (in their mind at least) unsafe, reckless, or unnecessary.
Just be very careful over-taking, especially on rural roads. They are often national speed limit, but in fact most rural roads are nowhere near safe enough for that kind of speed.

I doubt the other driver knows safe driving zingally, she sped through 30mph zones at 40mph.

I drive on country roads to work everyday and I always overtake if it's safe to do so. Too many people pootle along at 30mph, totally oblivious to the traffic building behind them!

@strugglingtodomybest 😂😂😂😂 one of the rare occurances I actually laughed out loud 🤣

I hate getting stuck behind a 35-40-er on our semi-rural roads, precisely because I'll have to overtake them, and I don't particularly want to have to. But if you are first in the queue behind an unreasonably-slow-for-the-road-conditions pootler, then you really do HAVE to overtake, or you make it much harder for all the rest of the drivers behind you.

So, OP, YANBU to overtake. And the 37-40-ers in a 30mph zone piss me off terribly!

Vulpine you're saying overtaking and going faster than you is rushing, so going 60 is rushing.

Maybe get some advanced lessons to see how you're meant to be driving?

My best friends husband always overtakes me and usually flips me a V. I laugh because it doesn’t bother me. He’s like a brother to me but also a moron