I've not experienced the closing gap thing for a while, but I do tend to overtake in a very swift fashion when in the Elise.

The first thing a lot of them know about it is when I've just passed them.

That doesn't mean that I overtake in an irresponsible manner, I am fairly patient and chose my moments nowadays. I just believe that the quicker you can get the manoeuvre completed the safer it is.

 

I agree with the approach.

Trouble is, you don't always have the speed differential to guarantee the move. One has to believe the driver being overtaken has no reason to want to kill you or you'd never overtake anyone.

In the situation I experienced, the cars' relative performance was probably pretty equal, and it was only the fact that I had some momentum that kept me in front.

Had the other driver floored it when the road cleared and I hadn't begun the move, I could shrug it off. I've been known to do that with urban tailgaters when the road clears.

BUT, not when someone has half a car past me, a motorbike up their jacksie and the clear road is ending in XXX yds (I omit the distance because I didn't measure it and to avoid people with calculators and other diminishing gap/you should have known better pistonometers).

 

I can't disagree with that.

We all function on pattern recognition in order to be able to predict outcomes. Without a way to measure risk we simply wouldn't take risks.

What is unaceptable is the idiot with ego issues who slowly speeds up to put you in jeopardy. The only other explanation for the behaviour you've just described is that the other driver is unconsciously incompetent.

Both can end nastily.

 

I sort of had the obverse/ring situation.

Some old crumbly in an XTrail decides he wants to push into almost-stationary slow lane, because they've coned off the fast lane with no warning.

Trouble is, there isn't actually a gap, so he stops suddenly, forcing me to swerve round him (I tend to do that rather than brake in the 'Lude) & the poor buggers behind have to anchor up.

I just carry on & slide into the gap opened up ahead that he could better have used.

 

Sorry, depth perception ain't what it used to be.......

 

Another new one seems to be people that will proceed up long two lane exit roads to turn right, in the right hand lane, at the slowest possible speed without stalling, when the road front and back is empty apart from you/me

 

I think the only thing that will make any difference to these attitudes is a prolonged, high profile TV campaign along the lines of the AIDs ads or the Green Cross Code

Or those benefit cheat and TV licence cheat ads which demonstrate to us that benefit and TV licence fraud is a uniquely white offence

I find a lot of people hold the view that blocking, middle lane hogging, etc is acceptable/justifiable and this is often coupled with zero knowledge of the Highway Code

Consistency would be a good thing too - so for example, ALWAYS merge in turn

 

Well, if you can only do 20 in your Ppinggponng Lalala and cannot rotate your head to use the door mirror, there's NFW you can merge into a lane where everyone else is happily doing 70. So you have to get in it in Eastbourne. Or Hertford, apparently; they've been doing it here for years. Unless it's taken them years to drive from Hertford to Sussex, of course...

 

Zipp merge is the name of the game .

 

It's by far the most effective system, but I've seen nervous drivers even manage to f uck that up.