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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to overtake, before another driver?

118 replies

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 12:45

I don't think technically that I was, but I'm sharing for thoughts.

I'm driving along a single carriageway 60mph stretch of road and there is a car in front doing about 40mph in front of me and so I get stuck behind him. A car arrives from behind me, and I can see that they are itching to overtake both of us.

We then enter a straight bit of road where I have a good long view where I see I can overtake safely. I indicate (for a few seconds) and move out, while the car behind me tries to overtake both me and the car in front. My car doesn't have the greatest acceleration and the car behind starts beeping at me. I manage to overtake and the car behind can't, so he goes back in line. I carry on my journey and I can see for a longtime that the overtaker to be is stuck behind the slow car.

Was I unreasonable to overtake, knowing there was a car with greater acceleration behind me who wanted to overtake both of us?

OP posts:

twoheaped · 10/03/2020 13:34

Don't give it any more thought OP.
You indicated and you carried out your manoeuvre, that the following car couldn't get past before the road ran out is not your problem.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 10/03/2020 13:35

I get the impression the car behind you had already pulled out to overtake, and you pulled out infront of them.

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:36

"As far as I could see, they hadn't pulled out to overtake ...

and move out, while the car behind me tries to overtake both me and the car in front."

Which is it?

They're one and the same thing - I indicated and moved out, then the car behind me moved out to overtake both of us.

From what you saw? Did you actually look and check before you pulled out to overtake?

Yes, from what I saw. I looked before I went out. I didn't see them indicate.

OP posts:

TooTrueToBeGood · 10/03/2020 13:36

If he wasn't indicating and hadn't started to pull out then you were in the right. Often it's useful though to make it clear by your positioning that you are intending to overtake, before you actually get an opportunity to do so. That way, drivers behind you are less likely to assume that you are intending just to stay behind the slow car at the front.

TooTrueToBeGood · 10/03/2020 13:37

They're one and the same thing - I indicated and moved out, then the car behind me moved out to overtake both of us.

Unless there was a third lane this makes no sense.

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:38

I get the impression the car behind you had already pulled out to overtake, and you pulled out infront of them.

I think they were planning to, but from what I saw, they hadn't. I think what happened is that they were planning their maneouver, thinking they were overtaking two slow moving cars, and they didn't look to see that I was overtaking the car in front, and had signalled to do so.

OP posts:

ThePlantsitter · 10/03/2020 13:39

In this kind of situation it doesn't matter who's in the right (you were), you should drive in the way that's safest. You'd already clocked that person as a twat, you should have let them get out of the way. You didn't cause the dangerous situation but you ended up in one because you didn't let the other car go.

It's not fair but it's better than having an accident imo. Sometimes you have to treat people like they are mindless & dangerous for safety.

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:39

Often it's useful though to make it clear by your positioning that you are intending to overtake, before you actually get an opportunity to do so.

Which is why I indicated.

OP posts:

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:42

Unless there was a third lane this makes no sense.

What I think happened is that there was an aggressive driver behind me. He wanted to overtake me and the car in front in one manoeuvre, or when I overtook, he expected me to accelerate faster than I did. I'm not sure which of those two it was.

OP posts:

BarbaraofSeville · 10/03/2020 13:43

For the people lucky enough to not have noticed that many drivers seem to view indicating as unnecessary.

www.walesoncraic.com/government-asks-bmw-to-recall-5-million-cars-after-indicators-fail-to-work/

www.dailysquat.com/bmw-recalls-300000-cars-over-fears-they-include-indicators/

mathanxiety · 10/03/2020 13:44

When someone is clearly in a hurry, let them go. I think you were a bit unreasonable to overtake when you know your car doesn't accelerate fast.

Was the other driver indicating?

Reginabambina · 10/03/2020 13:45

If your car is so slow that you can’t overtake properly you should have let the other driver make their manoeuvre first. You should also consider getting a decent car if you drive on NS roads often.

ArgumentativeAardvaark · 10/03/2020 13:45

What is this about BMWs not having indicators fitted as standard? Is it some sort of in-joke?

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:48

If your car is so slow that you can’t overtake properly you should have let the other driver make their manoeuvre first. You should also consider getting a decent car if you drive on NS roads often.

What does that mean? Surely overtaking properly is when you go faster than the car you are overtaking in a safe manner. Is there some rule that one has to exceed the speed of the car in front by a minimum amount?

OP posts:

LuckyLickitung · 10/03/2020 13:50

Assuming you have indicated first before they (failed to) indicate and pulled out YANBU.

You can often tell which cars are itching to overtake on principle, but indicators are there for a reason. You can't just charge and swerve around on the roads and assume other drivers will telepathically anticipate your actions.

I encounter a similar issue on a 3 lane dual carriageway. I enter from a roundabout that puts me in lane 3, and aside from lane discipline, will need to be in lane 1 or 2 for a future roundabout. It's urban so the speed limit is capped at 40, plus there are abundant hazards such as pedestrian lights, side roads and bus stops. The number of times I have a safe gap and location to move left and indicate and some indicator-less arse abruptly swings into the gap as I begin to manouver

TooTrueToBeGood · 10/03/2020 13:51

Then it's starting to sound like either you weren't fully aware of what was going on around you or you know full well what happened and just don't want to admit it.

If he was trying to overtake both of you then that implies he started his overtake before you in which case you should have let him proceed. If he pulled out after you then the assumption is he is trying to overtake with you. You don't seem very clear which it was, or possibly you decided that because he was, to your mind, an aggressive driver you were just going to pull out anyway. Being an aggressive driver is not good. Being an arse in response to aggressive drivers (and your evidence that he was seems rather limited) is no better.

ThatUserNamesTakenTryAnother · 10/03/2020 13:51

SudokuQueen

I think op is trying to say it was a BMW behind her.

Fifthtimelucky · 10/03/2020 13:54

It sounds like it was your right to go first, but that you were a bit selfish (or perhaps just thoughtless).

When I'm in a car with poor acceleration and know that the person behind me has a more powerful one and is eager to get past, I tend to let them go first because they will have passed the car in front before my car has built up enough speed to do so.

Letting them go first doesn't hold me up but going first myself holds them up.

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 13:55

Then it's starting to sound like either you weren't fully aware of what was going on around you or you know full well what happened and just don't want to admit it.

No, he definitely went after me, but what I don't know was whether

a) whether he wanted to overtake me (which was still in his mind in the left lane), as he hadn't seen me come out, or
b) he expected me to accelerate faster.

Either way, I moved out first and indicated

OP posts:

Reginabambina · 10/03/2020 13:55

Overtaking properly is when you aren’t stuck on the wrong side of the road for extended period of time preventing other people from being able to overtake.

MintyMabel · 10/03/2020 13:59

If your car has poor acceleration meaning you have to overtake slowly, you should begin that acceleration in your own lane and only overtake when you have enough speed to do it quickly. I would put good money on the fact that you were too close to the car in front.

There is nothing more irritating than someone overtaking a car by passing it so slowly they prevent anyone else from doing the same.

Original poster

BowermansNose · 10/03/2020 14:00

Overtaking properly is when you aren’t stuck on the wrong side of the road for extended period of time preventing other people from being able to overtake.

This is a bit like the thorny question of whether there is a minimum speed to drive in the third lane of a motorway (85 mph minimum?). I overtook the car at the national speed limit and I got in safely. I had a clear view of the road in front and could judge if I had time to do so. I don't see that I'm responsible for the car behind me. Especially if they don't indicate. Where I admit I could have been safer is by recognising they were an idiot, let them behave aggressively. They kind of proved the fact they were an idiot by beeping me to get out of their way.

OP posts:

ThePlantsitter · 10/03/2020 14:00

I think you're overthinking the other driver's intentions and they probably just wanted you out of the way one way or the other because they were so much more important than you.

My advice would be let the aggressive driver go next time, but stop worrying about this time.

JemimaPuddleCat · 10/03/2020 14:00

I assumed it was an Audi.

MintyMabel · 10/03/2020 14:02

Is there some rule that one has to exceed the speed of the car in front by a minimum amount?

Rule 163 - move quickly past the other vehicle.

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