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The message from Cicero contains these words:

Oh for heavens sake read what I wrote both above and immediately below. I don't condone dangerous overtaking, much less promote it. Your contribution above is clearly from the standpoint of someone who won't overtake a single vehicle even when there is more than enough time to overtake a whole convoy safely.

The sort of aggression I find most alarming on our roads is from those whose principal aim appears to be to prevent anyone overtaking safely. They are the idiots who think they have a god given right to dictate the speed others drive at. Sadly their knowledge of the Highway Code seems to extend no further than the speed limits, and only the higher ones at that.

As David has already pointed out it is a fact of life that it frequently happens. That you are not aware of it strongly suggests your experience of overtaking is even more limited than your experience of figures of speech.

The message from "dennis@home" contains these words:

You shouldn't go around calling us idiots particularly when you have left yourself open to the charge that you would rather have the overtaker crash into oncoming traffic if he couldn't out drag you rather than let yourself be overtaken.

I'm sure (not that I like being called an idiot). No, it happens on motorways. Say someone is doing 60mph in lane 1, and I pull into lane 2 to overtake. They speed up to 70mph. Happens a fair bit. Long, straight, motorway.

I quite agree. That happens too.

The other annoyance (sound of worm can opening) is a similar cyclist trick. There I am, following a cyclist, being careful not to overtake because the road isn't wide enough. While the road *is* wide enough, cyclist is pedalling flat out. When it narrows so that it isn't safe to overtake, same cylist slows to a crawl. I'm sure it's deliberate. And yes, this is on the flat or even downhill; I appreciate that 'flat' to me my be 'uphill' in reality.

They have the option of pulling back in when they realise they have made a c*ck-up. It wouldn't be necessary for me to slow down and let them in if they knew how to drive.

The message from "dennis@home" contains these words:

Meanwhile you are deliberately closing the gap between you and the vehicle in front so even if they do get past they won't be able to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

As to the niceties of being overtaken I suggest you go out and buy a copy of the Highway Code and then read from end to end.

Not if the car infront is also accelerating from the bend infront of me.

It works like this.. car infront exits bend and accelerates.. this leaves a gap.. I exit bend and start to accelerate.. idiot behind sees gap and decides to overtake.. by the time he has exited the bend and started to overtake there is *no* gap. Now it is up to me to keep the idiot safe so he can do it to some other driver later.

================================ How strange! You give a detailed description of your own dangerous overtaking practice and when the danger (of which you are clearly ignorant)is pointed out you claim that wasn't what you really meant anyway. You claim that your statement was misunderstood and then suggest that my clear statement implied that one should not should overtake even when there is no danger. My statement was quite clear and unequivocal:

"People in the queue know that if they attempt to overtake they are quite likely to meet something coming the other way travelling at high speed - possibly somebody ignoring the speed limit because they're a 'good' driver."

------------------------------- You are giving free rein to you imagination again. You jump to the conclusion that people are deliberately preventing you overtaking when in all probability it is you who are too impatient to appreciate that other people have a right to choose their own speed.

--------------------------- Or, putting it another way, they're driving in their normal legal manner and you want them to get out of your way because you're in a hurry.

-----------------------------

-------------------------------- Your imagination still in overdrive! You have absolutely no idea of how I drive and yet you decide that I'm not competent because I don't drive to your dubious standards. You state elsewhere your readiness to meet emergencies but what you should really be considering is who is causing those emergencies. You need to take a serious look at your driving before you kill someone.

Cic.

The message from "dennis@home" contains these words:

I repeat go out and buy a copy of the Highway Code and then read it end to end.

Keep on digging. You are part of the problem, not the solution. If you don't intend to overtake the vehicle in front you should be leaving a gap for others to overtake you. Or, if you want to overtake, being in front means you should be able to start your overtaking manoeuvre before the car behind. One of these days your determination not to be overtaken is going to get someone else killed and you still won't believe you are doing anything wrong.

The message from Cicero contains these words:

You really are a total plonker if you think my description was of dangerous driving but do say why before I confine you to my killfile from which Denis has temporarily escaped.

The message from Cicero contains these words:

It is you who is jumping to conclusions time and time again. I have no problem with the idea that drivers should drive at a speed they are comfortable with provided they do so safely. You on the other hand climb on your high horse and call me a dangerous driver without a shred of evidence. You rant on about faster drivers trying to impose their speeds on slower drivers when the boot is very much on the other foot. What about my right to choose my own speed?

The message from Cicero contains these words:

You really have nailed your colours to the mast. There is nothing legal about dangerous driving.

The message from Cicero contains these words:

I take a keen interest in the way other people drive with a view to prolonging my own life. I have got a pretty fair idea of your driving from your attitude in this thread.

Next time you drive on a single carriageway road with overtaking opportunities stop admiring the scenery and watch how overtakees position their cars and then ask yourself why.

Odd that I said that several posts before you did. Has it just sunk in?

And there lies the problem. I may consider it too dangerous to overtake at that point.. I may also need to fall back so that I can see around the vehicle that I want to overtake. The idiot behind thinks that staying back to improve visibility is so he can overtake? Pretty dumb really.

Not necessarily. The energy of a moving car is proportional to the square of its speed. With increasing speed, it rapidly becomes much less viable to pull back (too much energy to dissipate too quickly in the face of oncoming traffic).

Most drivers obviously try to avoid their own accidents. Good drivers try to not to be around when others have their accidents, and that means expecting and allowing for others to make mistakes, and taking the steps necessary to prevent these becoming accidents. You seem to fail badly in the second category. Perhaps you imagine that he could have a head-on crash at a closing speed of 140MPH a few feet from you and you could continue driving on safely in the knowledge it wasn't your fault? Wrong on all counts, although you stand a good chance of being dead before you realise it...

I am sure. Line of cars. I estimated I could overtake half in the straight. As I did so a bloke deliberately closed the gap so I couldn't get in. Or so he thought...bloody stupid murderous bastard.

================================== I'll repeat *your* chosen words so that there can be no doubt about what you said:

Roger wrote:

----------------------- That is a clear admission that *you* will risk a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre simply to maintain some arbitrary target speed.

The fact is (as demonstrated by your own words in each of your posts) that you have created a fantasy world in which you see yourself beset by the enemy (other road users) who conspire to stop you driving with 'verve' and who won't listen to your oft repeated statement that you'll give up driving ".................when I find 70 mph too fast for comfort under any circumstances."

The full quote here:

"I hope I have sufficient strength of mind to keep to my often stated resolution to give up driving when I find 70 mph too fast for comfort under any circumstances."

If you happen to survive to that point and if you're not serving a prison sentence for manslaughter you will realise that in the real world the vast majority of drivers use their cars for very mundane purposes such as shopping, commuting and hundreds of other similar purposes. They don't see themselves as entering some kind of jousting tournament as you so obviously do.

Now I've told you so go ahead and 'killfile' me and let's hope that that's the only killing you do today.

Cic.

===============================

No reply required for this silly comment - Roger has 'killfiled' me.

Cic.