A problem more dangerous than speeding...

There's a lot of fuss about speeding where I live at the moment, with a new Community Speedwatch team and our unimaginative, vote-hungry Borough Councillors being pictured on their newsletters holding fake smiles and a 20mph sign. I understand that next year they're going to be holding red flags...!

Now really chaps. 30mph limits are OK around town. 20mph limits should be the rare exception rather than the norm. We buy cars to get us from A to B efficiently, but doing so depends on us being allowed to drive them...

If we're campaigning for greater road safety, there is an even more dangerous problem that we need to tackle.

Undertaking. The act of overtaking another vehicle on its left.

The Highway Code, rule 163, states;

• Only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so.
• Stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left.

So you can overtake on the left when traffic is queueing, but rule 163 is clearly not a licence to undertake free flowing traffic doing Motorway speeds.

In practice, what seems to happen on the Motorway is that impatient motorists overtake on the left when the traffic is free flowing and moving at speed. If there's a gap and the opportunity to weave through traffic those impatient fools will go for it.

Now I write about this tonight, because I encountered  a really good example today of why undertaking is dangerous.

I was in lane 3 of the M27 and shortly about to join the M271, so I needed to change lane. There's a huge blind-spot on the left of the van and another blind spot behind (due to the twin rear doors), so I tend to do such lane changes steadily, in two separate manoeuvres. Being cautious has saved me from bending the van on a number of occasions.

My lane 3 to lane 2 manoeuvre was routine. No problem.

But just as I started the lane 2 to lane 1 manoeuvre, I noticed a blue Rover in my rear view mirror, closing quickly, travelling probably 20mph faster than the 60mph or so that I was doing, and darting from lane 3 to lane 1 in an attempt to undertake me. A split second later the blue Rover appeared in the passenger door mirror and was virtually alongside me, just as I was driving over the dotted line between lane 1 and lane 2, part-way through my lane change.

Good observation allowed me to alter my line, leave a bit of room and avoid a big shunt. The driver of the Rover braked hard and ran over the hard-shoulder before dropping well back without any horn tooting or light flashing, clearly having realised his mistake.

When clear, I completed the lane change and slowed down a bit more. Just to make the point about impatience.

Personally, I hope the other motorist messed himself - big time.
I trust he has now learned the lesson.

Undertaking at high speed is contrary to the Highway Code and is dangerous, particularly when undertaking vans and lorries which have blind spots.

The rule is there for a reason.