Overtaking Another Moving Vehicle

Overtaking on a single carriageway road is a manoeuvre that many drivers make such
unnecessary hard work of. This can be excused, however, because the chances are
that no one has ever taught them how to do it, so they have been left very much to
their own devices to find their own way of getting by.
There is a way of overtaking that significantly reduces the risk to you, to other road
users, and which makes the actual process so smooth and effortless to complete.
In this chapter we are going to look at the act of passing another moving vehicle on a
single carriageway road. Talking of making things difficult, when watching your fellow
motorist, how many do you see perform an overtake in the following manner? Maybe
you do it this way too?

Typical Untrained Method of Overtaking

Upon seeing what looks like a chance pass the vehicle ahead, you accelerate towards
the rear of it, and just prior to reaching it, swing out to the offside of the road to make
the pass this all being done whilst building speed and
in one continuous action.
Having overhauled the slower vehicle, then return to the
left side of the road (whilst braking) to bring the speed
down to match and to follow the next vehicle up the line.
We call this the Banana Overtake, or SlingShot method,
and you see people do it every day. This is actually a
very poor way of overtaking, and this is why.
When you decide to overtake by using the Banana
method, and you begin accelerating towards the back of
the vehicle ahead, at that time you are already
committing yourself to completing the full manoeuvre.
We say this because if the circumstances change during
this phase, and you have to abort, how do you retreat
from it? How do you abandon the idea and go back to
following the vehicle you wanted to pass?

Awkward isnt it? However, whilst changing your mind at this point means it is all going
to get a bit scrappy, you are not yet in too much of a bad position. You are at least still
on your correct side of the road, and are still travelling fairly straight. If you have got
further into the whole process when you change your mind and then withdrawal is
going to get a lot more difficult.
What if you have progressed to the stage of swinging out to the right before you
decide you need to back down? How do you abandon the attempt from there, and get
your car back into a position where you are again following the traffic?
If you change your mind at that point it really is a not good situation, as not only are
you going to have to hurriedly convert acceleration into heavy braking, but you are
going to have to fight with your car to keep it under control whilst you get it back in line
behind the one you were hoping to pass. Potentially, this is a crash situation.

This is Overtaking With No Secondary Plan

As we said, the point where you make that initial surge forward is where you have
already committed to completing the whole manoeuvre, and because you have
committed to it from that stage, any retreat method is not in the plan.
Depending upon how far into the manoeuvre you have progressed when the decision
to abort is taken, will determine just how messy the whole thing becomes. Messy, in
this context, does not refer to a collision, but how untidy the process of recovery will
be. The reality is you are going to potentially make a complete spectacle you make of
yourself.
You may well get away with it, depending upon what kind of car you are driving and the
condition of the road surface at the time. But, every time that you do get away with it
you are increasing the chances of your next attempt becoming your worst nightmare.
Whatever the case, when you start having to wriggle out of the tight spot, it means you
have been found wanting. It also means you have to follow the driver you just tried to
get passed knowing that he or she has got you weighed up as a complete wally.
Thats what happens when you abort the overtake. If you go through with the whole
thing you are applying a lot of power as you steer to the right to move out to the
offside of the road, steer left to straighten, steer left to again to regain the nearside,
and to the right to straighten up. That is four steering inputs being completed under
power, and that really can upset things.
Performing four direction changes under power, as with the Banana method, doesnt
do you any favours in terms of maintaining the balance and stability of the car, as with
each steering movement you are causing a major shift in balance, altering the loading

on each wheel and tyre.

Catch and Match Overtaking

This is a much better method, and as well as having a withdrawal plan built into it, the
Catch and Match method of overtaking is a system that will improve the control of your
vehicle when you actually complete the overtaking manoeuvre, and gives you a
method of withdrawal.
Firstly, you have got
to understand that
any road between the
front of your vehicle
and the rear of the
one ahead represents
an
amount
of
distance that has to
be covered when you
want to overtake.
Therefore, the further back you are when you begin the process, the longer it will take
to complete.
We call this area dead ground, and you see it illustrated in these images. Closing up
dead ground doesnt mean that you have to start hanging off the back bumper of the
vehicle ahead.
Continually tailgating the vehicle you are following would be daft, because you would
not see anything of the road ahead to know when there is an overtaking opportunity.
There would be, of course, obvious safety implications too.

From a safe following distance continually adjust your

lateral position on the road so as to maintain your view
ahead of the vehicle you wish to pass. The information
you need will be obtained by looking down the outside,
the inside, through the windows (if it is a car you wish to
overtake), over the top and even underneath when
circumstances provide for it.
Think of it as if you are trying to watch a TV programme,
and someone is walking around the room getting in the
way. Wouldnt you then frequently adjust your position
so you could still see the screen?
When you anticipate that an overtaking opportunity is
about to appear, change to a gear ratio that is going to
give you the best response from your car at your current
speed, ready for when you commence the manoeuvre.
Whilst maintaining your view beyond the vehicle ahead,
close in to reduce the amount of dead ground and
match its speed (see diagram opposite).
When it is clear to do so, and whilst continuing to match the pace of the vehicle ahead,
step your car out to the offside of the road and hold there whilst you have a good hard
look at all areas of actual and potential danger ahead. We refer to this as the Launch
Position, and as you can see from the picture below, this is like formation flying, but
with a car.

You Now Have a Backup Plan

The great thing about this method is that you now have a built in withdrawal plan if you
need it. Whilst in the Launch position you have not yet committed yourself to passing
the other vehicle. If circumstances change, and you wish to withdraw from the
overtake, think how easy it will be just to steer back to the left. You should be able to
do this with no change in speed, no braking, and all without fuss or drama. It really is
very simple.
Dont forget that once you have returned to the nearside, and if there isnt going to
immediately be another opportunity to pass, drop back to a safe follow distance, as
remaining up close in the Overtaking Position for any length of time may appear to be
oppressive.
Lets see how this works in the first of our video clips, entitled Look and Withdraw.

Dont Take What You See at Face Value

When you get the opportunity to pull out into the Launch Position, and if you see there
is oncoming traffic, dont just dismiss the situation as an overtake that is not going to
happen. Take a deeper look for more detail.
Before you lose your view, try to identify the last vehicle in the oncoming line, so that
after you have moved back in to the left, you can wait for that vehicle to pass by, using
it as a back marker to indicate when it may be safe to move out to take another look.
As well as identifying the last vehicle in the line coming towards you, look beyond and
into the distance to see which way the road travels, or what else lies ahead. For
example, there may be two cars coming towards you, but you may also see beyond
that the road bending to the left, which could tell you that,
It may also be there is some other fact which will affect the outcome of an overtake,
such as the presence of a 30mph speed limit, double solid white line system, or road
works.

Observation and Planning in Action

The system of maintaining observation, identifying developing overtaking opportunities
from the Launch Position, and using oncoming vehicles as back markers, is
demonstrated in our next video clip.

Notice with this system that when the intended overtake is viable, all that is required
from the Launch Position is to accelerate, and because of the way in which you will
have set this up, you will be overtaking with the steering pointing straight ahead.
As you begin to overhaul the vehicle you are passing, begin to throttle back so that you
are no longer accelerating, but maintaining speed. When it is appropriate, steer back to
the nearside to regain your normal position, and if there is any braking to be done,
always complete this after you have regained your own side of the road, and not whilst
steering.
If you think about it you are completing the manoeuvre with the car at a high level of
stability throughout, because at no time are you completing any steering changes
whilst accelerating or whilst braking.

The beautiful part of this method of overtaking is that whilst you are out there in the
Launch Position, you feel so much in control. From there you can take your time and
can see all there needs to be seen, knowing that whenever you want you can just slot
back in behind the vehicle ahead.
This takes any anxiety out of overtaking, allowing you time and space to make well
informed decisions as to what to do. If you are not sure about how it works then try this
as a means of gaining pactice.

An Effective Way to Safely Practice Overtaking

Take your car onto a dual carriageway or a motorway at a time when the road is fairly
quiet. Find a truck or other slow moving vehicle that is occupying the nearside lane and
drop in behind it. Having matched your speed with that vehicle, select the most
responsive gear for that speed, as if preparing for an overtake on a single carriageway
road.
Next, check mirrors, and without increasing speed, move out to the next lane and hold
in the Launch Position for about 2seconds. Now apply power to complete the
overtake, but as you get to the front of the vehicle, ease the throttle back to a
balanced or neutral setting before steering into the nearside lane ahead of it.
When you step the car out, and whilst taking that 2second pause, just consider how
easy it would be to return to a following position, if you wanted to abort the idea of the
overtake. Now isnt that much better than the old banana or slingshot method?
In the next video clip we join the action behind a line of three vehicles and with the
driver immediately ahead being obviously keen on making progress. This brings a little
extra spice to the mix, as the driver we are following we know is also going to be
looking to take advantage of any overtaking opportunities that may appear. That
means we have to drive even more defensively and need to avoid appearing to be
getting competative.
Two overtakes are performed in all, firstly a single vehicle, and then further on, we
overtake two together. It is not so mush the actual overtaking manoeuvre that is of
particular interest, but the application of the three alltime vital ingredients,
observation, anticipation and planning.

Think of Overtaking Like Piloting a Plane

Overtaking in a car, in some respects, is like piloting an aircraft. For example, you

would never take off in a plane if you didn't know where you could land. The same
applies with the car, as cant make it up as you go along, as you have to identify where
you are going to return to the nearside and before you even start.
This is planning, and if you dont plan your overtake thoroughly you will quickly find out
that you are left out on a limb, and will probably then be taking several bites out of your
seat cushion but not with your teeth!
Sometimes you will see drivers perform what we call a follow through overtake, and
you may even do this yourself. This is where one driver will latch onto the car ahead,
which itself is completing an overtake, and follow it through as if on tow by an invisible
rope.
The invisible tow rope is fraught with danger, and whilst there may be sufficient space
for the lead vehicle to complete the manoeuvre, the driver who is leading you through
is certainly not judging the overtake to allow for your car following to make it as well. It
is so easy to become shut out in the cold with nowhere to run

MultiVehicle Overtake
Another single carriageway road overtake to consider is
the multivehicle overtake, but when explaining this we
stress that it should only be practiced by those who
have been trained to a high level of advanced driving.
The process, for the uninitiated, is quite complex. Get it
wrong and you have several witnesses who could give
evidence against you in a court of law. Get it right and it
is a very satisfying achievement.
When overtaking more than one vehicle on a single
carriageway, and all or some of them are travelling far
enough apart to afford you enough space for your car to
slot in between, look at the whole task initially and then
break it down into more manageable pieces.
The multivehicle overtake is a bit like eating a large
piece of steak where you will cut it into more
manageable pieces so the food will easily fit into your
mouth.
The build up procedure and assessment process is
much the same as we have already given, except you appreciate this may not happen

all in one go. Firstly, you need to understand, there is nothing wrong in holding your
position on the offside of the carriageway, partway through the overtake, whilst you
reassess the situation and whilst covering a usable gap between two vehicles.
Staying out on the off side gives you two options. You can either to stay out there and
overtake the next vehicle in the line, or to move into the gap to your left. It may be that
moving into the left is the only way that you are going reestablish your view of the
road ahead, whereas other times, moving to the left will cause you to lose that visual
advantage.
Often, by staying out on the offside, you can maintain your view advantage and remain
in a position from where you can safely launch into the next overtake.
In this next video clip, Roger, who is a genuine Ride Drive customer, and our willing
filmmaking participant, completes a fivevehicle overtake, which involves two cars, a
van and two trucks, all of wbich takes place on a winding Bclass rural road. We show
the film sequence twice, once in slow motion with narration added, together with visual
effects to help explain what is happening, and then to show the sequence of events in
real time.
Take note of the planning process in operation and how this one piece of film footage
incorporates most of what has been spoken of so far in terms of road positioning,
observation, anticipation and planning. You will see that even though five vehicles are
passed in one continuous overtaking action, the application of planning actually breaks
it down into three parts.

Just To Recap on Overtaking

We have said it several times within this series of articles that overtaking on a single
carriageway road is potentially the most dangerous manoeuvre that you can complete
in a vehicle, Certainly there is plenty of opportunity for it to go horribly wrong.
Always remember that when following other vehicles, whether dealing with overtaking
or not, all decisions you make should only be calculated on the basis that it is you as an
individual performing the manoeuvre. Dont let others drive the road for you by
allowing yourself to be drawn along as if on tow, or you could find you are pulled into
some very awkward circumstances. Each overtaking opportunity has to be judged
upon its own merits and circumstances at the time.
When considering an overtaking manoeuvre common sense rules have to apply. When
in doubt, hold back, and always be prepared to give ground. Road driving should never

develop into a contest and you should never cause any other road user to alter course
or speed.
Julian Smith Ride Drive Limited

WARNING This series of driving tips articles has been made available to you to read,
and if you wish, to print or save, and you may do so completely free of charge.
However, this permission is given where the material is for personal use only. Any
reproduction, copying or publishing for any form of personal gain, financial or
otherwise, or for any form of distribution, without prior permission, will not be tolerated
and will be considered as a breach of copyright. Please do not abuse the good faith
that has been extended to our site visitors in producing this material. If you are unsure
as to whether your intended use of this, or any other written article that you find
published on this website, will be offensive, please ask for guidance.
Make Your Comment

Part1 Identifying Overtaking Opportunities

Part2 Planning & Preparation to Overtake
Part3 Overtaking Another Moving Vehicle
Part4 Creative Overtaking Opportunities

You Are Here Home Advanced Driving Tips Menu Overtaking Opportunities
Overtaking Another Vehicle

This page was last updated Monday, 13-Oct-2014

Overtaking Another Moving Vehicle