So I was rolling along the A27 near Chichester and got to the 1st of the many roundabouts, went round it and started to accelerate. I’m in a merc with ■■■■ acceleration so the wagon behind me tried to overtake whilst I am trying to pick up speed. He gets his cab to halfway past my rear axle when he hits his limiter and I’m still accelerating. Clearly my top end is faster than his so I keep accelerating till I pull clear of him. After I’m clear he pulls back in really close and flashes his lights in anger.
Should I have eased off and let him past just because he had more horsepower and better acceleration knowing I would only have to overtake him again once I got back up to speed? He didn’t have to slow down, just had to change lanes.
Don’t like ■■■■■■■ off other professional road users, but this was in the early hours with no other traffic on the road. If I was joining a motorway from a slip and someone had pulled over to let me in then I would always hold back to let them pass as they are doing me a favour, but this one was trying to overtake because he was impatient with my acceleration even though he had previously seen my top end was faster than his.
Imo, if he was trying to overtake you on a single carriageway then he should have been 100% sure he was able to do so without causing any problems for anyone else on the road.
You did the right thing, why should you slow down in a vehicle that has comparatively poor acceleration because another driver is too impatient to wait a few seconds.
Anyway as you say all he had to do was pull back into the nearside lane so why he was getting wound-up is his problem not yours.
Squiddy:
So I was rolling along the A27 near Chichester and got to the 1st of the many roundabouts, went round it and started to accelerate. I’m in a merc with [zb] acceleration so the wagon behind me tried to overtake whilst I am trying to pick up speed. He gets his cab to halfway past my rear axle when he hits his limiter and I’m still accelerating. Clearly my top end is faster than his so I keep accelerating till I pull clear of him. After I’m clear he pulls back in really close and flashes his lights in anger.
Should I have eased off and let him past just because he had more horsepower and better acceleration knowing I would only have to overtake him again once I got back up to speed? He didn’t have to slow down, just had to change lanes.
Don’t like ■■■■■■■ off other professional road users, but this was in the early hours with no other traffic on the road. If I was joining a motorway from a slip and someone had pulled over to let me in then I would always hold back to let them pass as they are doing me a favour, but this one was trying to overtake because he was impatient with my acceleration even though he had previously seen my top end was faster than his.
As there are not many roundabouts on Motorways it is not likely that he hit the Speed Limiter and you still accelerated as Dual carriage ways are 50 and singles are 40mph
Think you did the R/B too slow that he got Fed-Up
I think you were correct. There is little or no forward planning amongst truck drivers these days. It would hardly hurt for him to wait a few seconds to see how fast you were. Another pet hate that shows a serious lack of planning is when I overtake a slow truck on the flat who then catches me at the very top of a hill but still insists on pulling out to overtake despite being obvious to everybody but him he won’t make it. It’s like the cruise control off button is electrified. Arghhhhh
And I thought it was cause “I is Stobarts innit” that is so ■■■■■■ annoying Luke!
It’s like the M6 north of Stoke! Tailgating and being blocked in as lanes 1 and 2 are all on the limit!
Immigrant:
As there are not many roundabouts on Motorways it is not likely that he hit the Speed Limiter and you still accelerated as Dual carriage ways are 50 and singles are 40mph
Think you did the R/B too slow that he got Fed-Up
you did nothing wrong mate, if you out accelerated its not your problem its his for not knowing his own pulling capabilities, iv’e done it loads of times thinking i was going to get the hopp on another and been beaten too it, such is life! i always smile to myself thinking what a pratt i had been. the only thing that does sometimes get my goat when i have been stuck behind a shopping trolley driver how insists on doing 32 mph on the single carridgeway and then on their limiter on the duel, but thats another story
its years since i read the highway code but seem to think it states that if being overtaken you should not accelerate but it is a code and not law and all circumstances are different
Who cares what the speed limit was, he was being an idiot and you did the right thing if you knew you were going to be faster when you both got going. How many lorry drivers stick to 50mph on a duel anyway? I get overtaken all the time and I’m limited to 50ish.
wildfire:
you did nothing wrong mate, if you out accelerated its not your problem its his for not knowing his own pulling capabilities, iv’e done it loads of times thinking i was going to get the hopp on another and been beaten too it, such is life! i always smile to myself thinking what a pratt i had been. the only thing that does sometimes get my goat when i have been stuck behind a shopping trolley driver how insists on doing 32 mph on the single carridgeway and then on their limiter on the duel, but thats another story
Milk Man:
Who cares what the speed limit was, he was being an idiot and you did the right thing if you knew you were going to be faster when you both got going. How many lorry drivers stick to 50mph on a duel anyway? I get overtaken all the time and I’m limited to 50ish.
and your point is?
at the end of the day, the OP asked if he was in the wrong, the truthful answer to the OP’s question is yes, there is no legal defence of his actions, he was in the wrong, unless as i posted earlier, his limiter was set at 50 and the other truck was set at a slightly lower speed
it is of course, the OP’s choice to willingly break the law, in just the same way as it was the choice of the other driver
and to answer your question, i do 50 on a dual carriageway, as i only do 52 on the motorways, this is a voluntary speed limit as the truck will do approx 57 if pushed flat out
Immigrant:
As there are not many roundabouts on Motorways it is not likely that he hit the Speed Limiter and you still accelerated as Dual carriage ways are 50 and singles are 40mph
Think you did the R/B too slow that he got Fed-Up
Thanks, Immigrant. I shall remember that.
I hope so,but thats not enough.isn’t it?
as good Christian you would have to confess next time you are in a church for what you done
No you did nothing wrong, it is the job of the person trying to overtake you to determine whether or not they can complete the manouvere in a safe manner, they clearly did not wait to see if they had enough speed to complete the manouvere, ergo they are wrong
Does the highway code not state that your should not speed up when someone is over taking you?
I’m not saying your wrong here, tbh i would have done the same. At the end of it you would have had to overtake him again anyway, regardless of speeding.
