Just been reading on wales online , that drivers are moaning about tractors and caravan owners , not pulling over to let traffic past, now being a good caravaner, most of us would put our left indicator on when the road ahead is clear, but most of the time you get someone who just won't overtake , backing the rest up.
So if you notice a queue of traffic behind and the road ahead is clear just indicate left,leaving it on for as long as the road is clear, and see if they go.
When towing my trailer, I would slow down and indicate for those behind me to overtake.
What they do is not up to me to decide, I just do my bit to help.
I'd rather peeps do not overtake than to overtake dangerously like on a bend or over-estimated the power of their cars or distance required etc. etc...
DK
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No i wouldn't indicate left unless turning left or stopping.
If the weather is suitable i will have my window open and give them the thumbs up or wave them on when its safe and i see them trying to overtake.
I have had a couple of cars overtake the van and then have nowhere else to go with a bollard in the middle of the road as 2 lanes merged or overtook on the hatched area and then nowhere else to go.
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 08/7/2017
No i wouldn't indicate left unless turning left or stopping.
If the weather is suitable i will have my window open and give them the thumbs up or wave them on when its safe and i see them trying to overtake.
I have had a couple of cars overtake the van and then have nowhere else to go with a bollard in the middle of the road as 2 lanes merged or overtook on the hatched area and then nowhere else to go.
Agreed I wouldn't overtake if someone was indicating left if I couldn't see clearly ahead, there may well be a left junction approaching that I can't see etc.
Quote: Originally posted by phathamster on 08/7/2017
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 08/7/2017
No i wouldn't indicate left unless turning left or stopping.
If the weather is suitable i will have my window open and give them the thumbs up or wave them on when its safe and i see them trying to overtake.
I have had a couple of cars overtake the van and then have nowhere else to go with a bollard in the middle of the road as 2 lanes merged or overtook on the hatched area and then nowhere else to go.
Agreed I wouldn't overtake if someone was indicating left if I couldn't see clearly ahead, there may well be a left junction approaching that I can't see etc.
Spot on both! I don't recall the highway code suggesting a left turn signal is also an overtake me signal and I don't think many drivers would realise what the left signal is for.
Unless I could see the road clearly ahead and could see that there was plenty of time to overtake safely, it wouldn't matter to me if the caravan driver was signalling left, right, flashing his tail lights or waving his arms about, I would stay put
On the subject of the highway code am I right in the belief that it states that flashing your headlights at an oncoming vehicle is letting them know YOU are coming through and not letting them know you are giving THEM right of way??
Odd how this code has totally come to mean the total opposite to what the rule book states...
I must admit to not knowing what the Highway code states about headlamp flashes these days.
However, on all the driver training courses I went on within the course of my work about 15 to 20 years ago, a headlamp flash was considered to be a warning of approach on roads where a horn warning would not be heard. This was particularly relevant when belting down the outside lane of a motorway at 100+ mph and noticing a vehicle about to pull out from the middle lane in front of you.
We were also trained to using different lengths of headlight flash, so a full on flash for several seconds meant, 'Get out of the way I'm coming through fast' to a quick flash that meant, 'I am here...get back in lane' - lol.
The problem of course was that most motorists hadn't got a clue what a headlamp flash really meant, but it seemed to work in the majority of cases. It was the odd case when it didn't that you had to be prepared for.
When motorways first came into existence lorry drivers started using headlamp flashes to advise other overtaking lorries that it was safe for them to pull back in. They also started using the headlamp flash on other motorists so it gradually became a normal occurrence and developed from there into a 'I am giving way to you' signal.
I must admit to using it now to beckon other drivers to proceed and would think twice now about using it on a motorway as a warning, because approaching at speed behind another vehicle and flashing it will, without doubt, cause the driver to think you are giving way and pull out in front of you...possibly with disastrous results!
Quote: Originally posted by beachhuggy on 08/7/2017
On the subject of the highway code am I right in the belief that it states that flashing your headlights at an oncoming vehicle is letting them know YOU are coming through and not letting them know you are giving THEM right of way??
Odd how this code has totally come to mean the total opposite to what the rule book states...
If someone flashed their headlights at me I'd consider that a Warning that another speed camera is just around the corner bloody rozzers
I also don't pull over, simple reason is I don't hold up the traffic
I do indicate and slow down to let people pass, I do however only do it where the road can be seen clearly for a fair distance in front without any junctions etc, don't see the harm in it, better to do that the someone chance their arm and maybe cause an accident in which I may be unable to avoid, I have just come back from Cornwall and did it several times and in the main got a courteous response from most drivers
Travelling back home this evening towing my small trailer, apart from single vehicles, on two occasions I was aware of five vehicles suddenly catching up with me. On each occasion, as soon as it was safe to do so I slowed down and kept well into the left allowing them all to overtake.
Only one driver acknowledged my actions. Good manners on the part of drivers being allowed to overtake slower vehicles would probably encourage more drivers to slow down or pull in to allow overtaking
The article does not inspire confidence when they cannot even get the speed limits right.
169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.
"DO NOT" is not the same as "MUST NOT"
And how do they come to the conclusion that 6 cars = a long queue?
Which is safer travelling at your speed limit which maybe 10mph slower than the cars behind or pulling out of a layby from stationary onto a 60mph road where visibility may only give you a few seconds view?
Seen it from several angles, car, car+caravan, and also the HGV side. And you will always get someone that wants to overtake in stupid places and he/she who must always be at the front of the queue. Even when they need to hit 90mph to overtake and even then cut someone up for them to be in front of you at the next village or set of lights.
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Topic: indicate left to let traffic past
