Comments on: CarAdvice College – Part Two: Safe Overtaking

By: wyhoon

wyhoon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:52:44 +0000

Good tips for all for safer driving. Just annoys me that chest beating wha whas have to make stupid comments about their own personal experiences to try to disprove your theorys. I travel 250k’s per day on country roads and agree with all your tips.Well done and stay safe.

By: Fenno

Fenno — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:37:53 +0000

I’d rather be on the right side of the road and slowing down after a brief-overtake than on the wrong side of the road for any longer than I have to

By: Keepleft

Keepleft — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:15:32 +0000

Don’t think its an ego thing myself, your example highlights that some see themselves as speed-limit enforcers. They block, speed up a little to keep you in check, that sort of thing.

Our speed focussed system means its much easier to play games than miding ones own business.

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:25:49 +0000

I am wondering if someone could help me with a simple question that my friends and I have been arguing about for quite a while. If, for example, 2 cars are following a truck and both cars have the intention of overtaking that truck. Is the second car back allowed to overtake both the car and truck at the same time? Or does he/she need to wait until the first car has overtaken and then go? Many thx

By: Stevothedevo

Stevothedevo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:31:54 +0000

My driving instructor told me to put safety first – when overtaking he told me to plant my foot and get back to the left hand lane as soon as possible. On a drive to Melbourne overnight from Adelaide I overtook a semi-trailer. Not just one but three of the buggers slipstreaming each other. I just planted my foot and unleashed the V8 power. By the time I had passed the first one and got back to the left side of the road again I had got it up to 190.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:19:41 +0000

reckless is right
ppl have this weird ego problem where they can’t be overtaken
they often accelerate as soon as u get alongside them
HOWEVER, tailgating is just stupid on a highway – as everyone constantly says here, that’s how ppl die
basically if u allow that 3 sec gap u have ample time to gun it past any dickhead before they realise what’s happening
and on the subject of speeding – if ur over the limit to safely overtake the cops will let it go
i’ve done 135km/h past a cop while overtaking a caravan and they don’t care
the only problem is if u run into the fixed speed cameras – thats something you cant explain a case to

By: realcars

realcars — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:19:20 +0000

I think some people don’t actually realise they are tailgating. My best mate is a serial tailgater and I mean he nearly swaps paint before he overtakes. Spoken to him about it and sees nothing wrong with it. Will tailgate for klms before he gets a break.

If the car in front has to stop or even slow for any reason well there is a tragic accident especially at highway speeds.

I have had people accelerate when I overtake them and I pull back in behind if possible. With a run up though i.e gap then your car should have sufficient speed to overtake anyway.

By: realcars

realcars — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:06:50 +0000

I got done by NSW Highway patrol two years ago for overtaking in the overtaking lane doing 110klms in a 100klm zone which had been a 110klm zone just before the officer and his speed camera.

Yes and it was a f$5$en old widebody doing 90klms in a 110klm zone.LOL

By: Geni

Geni — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:59:19 +0000

Maybe there’s just something about you Reckless that brings out the d*ckhead in people? I’ve had drivers who really suck at speed control, and yes come an overtaking lane, they do generally speed up, probably because in their little camry cage they feel safer when the road doubles in width. But I’ve never had someone actually accelerate to stop me overtaking them. Once they’ve seen me start to overtake they let me. Maybe when you’ve been an inch from their back bumper for the last kilometre they hate you enough to want you to crash Reckless?

Agree with you Captain, when someone is doing 90 – 95 in a 100 zone it is really difficult to overtake without speeding. To be honest I go at a speed that makes the overtaking safest, if that means a brief burst of 120kmh then so be it. If I get busted by the cops, then bad luck I suppose, if I can’t argue it away. But in NSW highway patrol do seem fairly liberal with the 10% extra if you only do it for overtaking.

By: MisterTwo

MisterTwo — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:14:15 +0000

Very good article well written and researched. I agree that for an overtaking maneouver to be safe (even with the too short overtaking lanes) you need to get well over the speed limit. I was driving between Orange and Sydney a few weeks ago and was having to regularly hit 135/140 to overtake safely. There were also times when the vehicle I was overtaking accelerated while I was alongside, however the hire car I was driving (FG XR6) had sufficient power to get past without a problem. If I was driving a slower car or trying to overtake at the speed limit then that would have been much more dangerous. There was also a time on the road out of Lithgow where I overtook a Volvo XC90 on an overtaking lane at 80kph (the speed limit) when the Volvo was doing 65 due to the twists. As soon as I got to the 60 zone and slowed the Volvo had caught up and was all over my chuff. The woman (and it usually is) driving was not happy that I had overtaken her, obviously.