Overtaking

[Dennis_374238205]

I have been caravanning now for over 3 years and been to the South of France twice .. so I have a few miles under my belt...however I am still not totally confident of overtaking on motorways and judging my overall length when getting past another vehicle..sometimes I use my vehicles shadow ..sometimes a calculated guess.

Does anyone have any useful tips/advice on knowing when you are sufficiently far enough ahead of the other vehicle to move back in lane?

I do use my extension mirrors but I find these are not very useful at speed.

 

[JeremyClarksson]

I tend to indicate to pull in when I think I am past the vehicle and wait for a flash, if I do not get one after a few seconds I judge I should be OK to pull in - but take my time in case there is a problem.

Nobody should criticise you for taking a reasonable amount of time for this manoeuvre.

It seems generally accepted to flick indicators from left to right and back to left to acknowledge and say thank you for a flash.

 

[MikeP]

It's just something you get the feel of. You can't time it or anything, as that would assume that you and the person you are overtaking are keeping to respective constant speeds. The shadow trick is pretty useful. Sometimes I find that, by the time I have waited for an appropriate gap etc, the traffic pattern has changed and I am OK where I am.

Sometimes it has to be a calculated guess, and as long as you err on the side of caution you should be OK. If you start to move over and see the bonnet of the car you have overtaken suddenly dive, you know you're too close!

Remember to have a sufficient speed differential. There's nothing worse than sitting in someone's blind spot whilst you build up steam to overtake. And if the manoevre is going to take half a mile or more, then it's best to stay where you are - lest you get tarred with the same brush as lorry drivers.

 

[Oldfogey]

This is where caravans with a straight through view have an advantage - I just wait till I can see the other vehicle on my interior mirror.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi dennis

it's a question of practice really in time you will get a feel for it plus as garry said go past left indicator on wait for flash 99% of the time a hgv will flash you in cars about 50% if you can see through the van oldfogey probably got the best solution. other wise its just a guess??

my usual overtaking manouver goes like this:- step on the gas as you approach check outside lane for traffic, indicate, pull out if clear sometimes I get a flash from traffic to pull out, as I know my car is roughly the same length as the van estimate how long it takes to pass with the car then treble it, indicate left wait for flash and pull in, if no flash stay in outside lane for another two car lenths and pull in with indicator still on.

others may do it slightly differently but this works for me.

colin

oh and ps, if your extention mirrors vibrate a lot on the move try wrapping the clamp to the car mirror with gaffer tape while travelling this will cut most of it out.