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 Sling–Shot 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 isn’t 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.

That’s 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, doesn’t 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 doesn’t 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. Wouldn’t 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.

Don’t forget that once you have returned to the nearside, and if there isn’t 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.

Let’s see how this works in the first of our video clips, entitled Look and Withdraw.

Don’t 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, don’t 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 2–seconds. 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 2–second 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 isn’t that much better than the old banana or sling–shot 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 all–time vital ingreatients, 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 can’t 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 don’t 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

Multi–Vehicle Overtake

Another single carriageway road overtake to consider is the multi–vehicle 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 multi–vehicle 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, part–way through the overtake, whilst you re–assess 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 re–establish 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 film–making participant, completes a five–vehicle overtake, which involves two cars, a van and two trucks, all of wbich takes place on a winding B–class 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. Don’t 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

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Part–1 Identifying Overtaking Opportunities
Part–2 Planning & Preparation to Overtake
Part–3 Overtaking Another Moving Vehicle
Part–4 Creative Overtaking Opportunities

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This page was last updated
Thursday, 27-Jan-2011

Overtaking Another Moving Vehicle