Must stay in front, must stay in front...

DanR

I do a lot of driving around the country for my job covering the 32 counties. Just one thing I noticed is that male drivers just cannot stand being overtaken.

I'm lucky enough to have cruise control on my car so when I hit the motorway I stick it at the speed limit and relax. I will see the car in the distance gradually get closer and closer until it's time to overtake. So I pop out into the overtaking lane and pass by and move back into the inside lane once they are visible in my rear view mirror and carry on. 30 seconds later you can guarantee if the driver is a bloke 9 times out of 10 he will fly by me and pull back in 100 metres up the road.

Then he will get closer and closer until I have to overtake again. All the time I am not changing my speed and sometimes this will happen 2-3 times. C'mon people! Are we that caught up in the rat race that we get so petty about being in front all the time?

By the way I'm a bloke and women are generally not bothered when overtaken (I know there will be exceptions girls).

Omcd

I came across some twat in a BMW on the M7 a while ago who displayed pretty much that behaviour for 30 or 40 miles. He obviously didn't want to cruise quite as fast as me, but for some reason couldn't hack me in a lesser car passing him, so after I first overtook him, he came zipping by again, then sat in front of me for a while slowing me down, then as I threaten to pass him again he boots off down the road, then settles into his pace again and I slowly catch up, and just as I'm coming up again he zips off again, and so forth for most of the way to PortLaoise:rolleyes:

Berty

I drive for a living but only over the 26 counties. I will be damned If Im working out the state for the same money. :eek: I want international travel commission if thats the case. :pac::pac:

I cannot say I notice this leap frogging or need to always be in front. I do overtake more people than overtake me and YES I do drive fast. At least I admit it.

I tend to drive on mostly regional roads so overtaking is not as common as the motorways but as most Irish people fail to understand or follow the rules of the road I just get on with driving defensively.

Also, cruise control. You SNOB :mad:

Omcd

I would have thought cruise control is fairly useless here as Irish drivers are all over the place, making it fairly impossible to maintain a steady 100 - 110 ks (or 120k ish in the 120ks). Left lane generally doing 80ks, middle one also if there is one, right most lane traffic flys along at much higher speed.

Voodoomelon

What wrecks my head is sticking the cruise control to 120km, going mile after mile with no problem, and then I go to overtake a slower moving car. I'm overtaking the slower moving car at 120km, so the overtaking isn't lightening quick and then some ar$ehole comes right up behind me just metres away from my rear and sits there until i'm finished overtaking.

Happens without fail, drivers in this country don't seem to be able to maintain distance in the overtaking lane unless you're doing 140km +.

L1011

On constant cruise control at 130km/h I overtook and got re-overtaken by the same Lexus THREE TIMES between Maynooth and Athlone yesterday. Wasn't by any means instantaneous, he'd reappear after ten minutes and go past again, the slow down to below 120 again after a while... Also overtook an Audi doing about 100 which then flicked out behind me, shot past me when I pulled back in, never to be seen again.

Berty - my C4 Van has cruise, its not a snobs thing at all.

Tabnabs

The one that wrecks my head is you go to overtake and the knob speeds up to pace you exactly. So faster and faster you go to complete the overtake and have to give up when over the limit by just too much, slip in behind and he slows down again... :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

mickdw

Dyflin wrote: »

The one that wrecks my head is you go to overtake and the knob speeds up to pace you exactly. So faster and faster you go to complete the overtake and have to give up when over the limit by just too much, slip in behind and he slows down again... :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

You need to have more power

Berty

MYOB wrote: »

Berty - my C4 Van has cruise, its not a snobs thing at all.

Ah It was tongue in cheek. The new Ford Focus Ecotec has loads of extras including cruise.

Its something I wish I had.

Zube

DanR wrote: »

30 seconds later you can guarantee if the driver is a bloke 9 times out of 10 he will fly by me and pull back in 100 metres up the road.

Yup, see it all the time.

One (rather illegal) way to avoid this is to really boot past. If you come up behind a lad who's doing 120 ad you pass at 125-130, they almost always respond. If you put the foot down and pass at 150, and stay there until your 100 meters ahead, they tend not to bother.

Anan1

Voodoomelon wrote: »

What wrecks my head is sticking the cruise control to 120km, going mile after mile with no problem, and then I go to overtake a slower moving car. I'm overtaking the slower moving car at 120km, so the overtaking isn't lightening quick and then some ar$ehole comes right up behind me just metres away from my rear and sits there until i'm finished overtaking.

If there's a car coming up from behind, would it not make more sense to accelerate to 130-140 for the overtake and then settle back to 120 once you're back in the left lane?

vectra

DanR wrote: »

I do a lot of driving around the country for my job covering the 32 counties. Just one thing I noticed is that male drivers just cannot stand being overtaken.

I would be slightly guilty there
BUT
For a different reason
I am not bothered about being faster than the guy that overtakes me
My reason for preference to being out front is to try avoid as many stonechips as possible on my bonnet

NullZer0

I hate this.... although I've been guilty of it myself when I was younger.

I use to have a 200BHP Civic (but it really didn't look it)... just waiting for the guy in his new BMW to pass..... If they started slowing me down and overtaking me repeatedly I'd just leave them in a position where they cant overtake... ...

Man....I loved that car!

KamiKazi

iRock wrote: »

I hate this.... although I've been guilty of it myself when I was younger.

I use to have a 200BHP Civic (but it really didn't look it)... just waiting for the guy in his new BMW to pass..... If they started slowing me down and overtaking me repeatedly I'd just leave them in a position where they cant overtake... ...

Man....I loved that car!

uRock

Lord Nikon

iRock wrote: »

I hate this.... although I've been guilty of it myself when I was younger.

I use to have a 200BHP Civic (but it really didn't look it)... just waiting for the guy in his new BMW to pass..... If they started slowing me down and overtaking me repeatedly I'd just leave them in a position where they cant overtake... ...

Man....I loved that car!

If the guy in his new BMW m5 passed you, you would still look like a skanger in a Civic.

DanR

Dyflin wrote: »

The one that wrecks my head is you go to overtake and the knob speeds up to pace you exactly. So faster and faster you go to complete the overtake and have to give up when over the limit by just too much, slip in behind and he slows down again... :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Yes yes yes, get this all the time too. Sad behaviour if you as me. Can be dangerous if coming to the end of a motorway and the limit is about to drop to 100 from 120kmh. They will sometimes speed up to 125-130 to be in front when the limit drops and then cruise at 90 when it's more difficult for you to pass on the smaller road.

Suppos it makes them look cool?:cool:

DanR

Also, cruise control. You SNOB :mad:[/QUOTE]

Too right old chap;)

NullZer0

neuromancer wrote: »

If the guy in his new BMW m5 passed you, you would still look like a skanger in a Civic.

Yes but I could live with that.

Why?
Because I understand the the Irish people as a nation have to label everything and well... find the bad things in everything.

I just like Honda's... I'm not a skanger though! Really want another one now.

You

neuromancer wrote: »

If the guy in his new BMW m5 passed you, you would still look like a skanger in a Civic.

I for one wouldn't mind been blown off the road by an M5:D
That's what M5's are for....

Voodoomelon

Anan1 wrote: »

If there's a car coming up from behind, would it not make more sense to accelerate to 130-140 for the overtake and then settle back to 120 once you're back in the left lane?

And have someone else force me to speed? I got done for speeding overtaking before, it ain't gonna happen again. And certainly not because of someone else.

Anan1

Voodoomelon wrote: »

And have someone else force me to speed? I got done for speeding overtaking before, it ain't gonna happen again. And certainly not because of someone else.

I don't really think an indicated 130km/h is going to get you caught on a motorway, is it?;) I do take your point about speeding, but I also think inching past another car when there's a car behind you waiting to overtake is a bit discourteous.

DanR

Anan1 wrote: »

I don't really think an indicated 130km/h is going to get you caught on a motorway, is it?;) I do take your point about speeding, but I also think inching past another car when there's a car behind you waiting to overtake is a bit discourteous.

No driving up the arse of someone that is in the middle of overtaking is discourteous.

LittleEve

I drive up and down the motorway to work and I just cba gettin annoyed with people driving up the back of me when i'm overtaking, so i just pop back into the slow lane and let them on their way!!

Atomic Pineapple

I drive the motorway to college and back everyday and can't say I've ever seen anything like that on a consistent basis.

Dartz

Anan1 wrote: »

If there's a car coming up from behind, would it not make more sense to accelerate to 130-140 for the overtake and then settle back to 120 once you're back in the left lane?

Wouldn't this be a bad idea?

I was specifically warned off accelerating until I have a clear road in front of me, (i.e, in the other lane) in case the target car decides it wants to jam on for whatever reason.

And if they do decide they want to speed up on the way past... Well, whatever you do is your choice, legal or not. Do what you think is safest for you and yours.

Anan1

Anan1 wrote: »

I don't really think an indicated 130km/h is going to get you caught on a motorway, is it?;) I do take your point about speeding, but I also think inching past another car when there's a car behind you waiting to overtake is a bit discourteous.

DanR wrote: »

No driving up the arse of someone that is in the middle of overtaking is discourteous.

That's not discourteous, it's dangerous.

Dartz wrote: »

Wouldn't this be a bad idea?

I was specifically warned off accelerating until I have a clear road in front of me, (i.e, in the other lane) in case the target car decides it wants to jam on for whatever reason.

I meant move into the overtaking lane, accelerate, pass, move back into the driving lane. Just like any other overtake really.;)

Dartz

Anan1 wrote: »

That's not discourteous, it's dangerous.I meant move into the overtaking lane, accelerate, pass, move back into the driving lane. Just like any other overtake really.;)

Ah...

I misinterpreted. Inching past is dangerous in anyways,.