Overtaking

[inlinefour]

did an overtaking manouver last Sat when the salesman did not get out of my way after me politely asking him to move. I knew I did not have enough room (funnily enough I was the same on the CBR), so I ran the bastards foot over and scragged his leg also. He got upset, until I told him that I had done it on purpose...

Only get one life, make sure you live it as long as you can, however don't ride like a pussy or you will never get the feeling that you are truely alive.

[slinky]

Dont think too hard about it, or else you will lose your 1-2 second window of when you could have gone

[scumdog]

Dont think too hard about it, or else you will lose your 1-2 second window of when you could have gone

Is that 'gone' as in killed yourself with a screwed up overtaking effort or is it 'gone' as in passing a car?

[gixermike]

I find that when I'm in the Ute and people overtake me, they just dawdle past, trying to go as slow as possible...an put themselves (and me) in really dodgy head to head situations. I think it's because they are so scared of getting a speeding ticket they try to stick close to 100k's, rather than just putting their toe down and getting it done quickly and safely...and then backing off once past...

[The Pastor]

I find that when I'm in the Ute and people overtake me, they just dawdle past, trying to go as slow as possible...an put themselves (and me) in really dodgy head to head situations. I think it's because they are so scared of getting a speeding ticket they try to stick close to 100k's, rather than just putting their toe down and getting it done quickly and safely...and then backing off once past...

You can thank the speed camera's and cops waiting at the end of over taking lanes for that one!

[terbang]

A human factor or a human quirk is that when we are surveying the scene ahead for danger we tend to only look for something bigger than us, perciving that as our major threat. Objects smaller than ourselves tend to get overlooked and can become invisible as the brain blocks them out. Thats why us motorcyclists are often, well nearly allways, invisible to cage drivers.

[Motoracer]

Good post Paul, how's that ankle of yours coming along?

[beyond]

Thanks Motoracer,

Yep, ankles all good. Clocked another 3500kms on the bike since getting it back. Man I love riding.

It's going in for it's 6,000km service on Thursday.

I did find out what caused my off by the way:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=43736

[BurningPlastic]

One thing to keep in mind when overtaking is where any cars behind you happen to be.

A mate ended up under a bus when he moved out a little to see around a truck, and the following car thought it would be a good idea to pull up next to him so that when he saw the bus coming the other way, he had nowhere to go (wall on the other side of the road).

[bluninja]

I go by the rule of thumb that if I can complete my overtake in 1/3rd of the available clear road I'm safe. That allows someone to appear travelling at the same speed as me in the opposite direction as I start my overtake and still give me a margin for error on getting back to my side....it also allows me road space to complete the manoever and setup for the next bend.

I would have to be pretty unlucky to overtake at 100 mph and have something appear travelling towards me in excess of 200 mph just as I start. But then I have the option of braking hard and aborting....OR giving it a bit more to complete my manoever quicker. Actually there aren't that many vehicles on the road capable of exceeding 200mph on the straight, let alone exiting a bend.

[Ixion]

The mention by the last poster of aborting an overtaking manoeuvre is an important point.

The decision to overtake or not is determined by what is behind you as well as what is in front of you.

If there is no traffic behind you, you can allow less overtaking space, since if something does appear at high speed round that corner, you have the option to abort , brake hard and slip back where you were. Whereas if there is traffic behind you, it will like as not move up into your "place" immediately you pull out, leaving you nowhere to go back into if you want to abort.

I have saved quite a few people from nastiness in such circumstances, by NOT moving up when they pull out. A few moments later they ahve been very glad to be able to drop back into where they came from.

[McJim]

It also doesn't help when so many people in New Zealand are guilty of attempted murder...accelerating while being overtaken.

As Billy Connolly said of New Zealand drivers "If I overtake you it's nothing personal."