DRIVING: keep left unless overtaking, and only do that if it's really worth it.

Key Takeaways

Now, this one's about driving. The norm is for us BS to think we're all great drivers and scoff at all the idiots on the road. Well, I don't think I'm a great driver. I try to spot my mistakes and learn from them. So, I might think, yeah, I took that corner a bit too fast, or I could have pulled out then because I do rather wait until there's a bigger gap than I really need. I'm sometimes the guy who needs to reverse in and out a couple of times before I'm happy with the way I've parked. So, not a great driver, but I'd like to think I'm observant and I keep alert. Someone once told me that many drivers fall into a light trance as they motor along, but that's unforgivable. You're in charge of a ton of fastmoving metal. You can't go all daydreamy. But you see them, don't you? the ones who cruise along at 60 miles an hour in the middle lane, not overtaking anything, quite oblivious that they're causing a blockage. When you do manage to get past them, a quick glance confirms it. They've got a wistful half smile, not even considering that they should pull into the slow lane. Worse, though, is what I saw on the M25. If you don't know it, the M25 is the motorway around London. It's either gridlocked or a racetrack and so it needs full concentration. I got past one car cruising along in the third lane at 60 and a glance showed the driver was using one hand to hold some papers over the steering wheel while the other hand held her phone to her ear. She was having a business meeting between junctions 9 and 8. People do this. So, first couple of points, stay fully alert while you're driving and keep in the slow lane unless you are actually overtaking a slower vehicle. And before you overtake, consider whether it's worth doing. If you're a lorry driver and you're driving along a two-lane carriageway quite happily at 60 m an hour, what do you do when you catch up with another lorry doing 59? Well, we all know what he'll do, don't we? First chance he gets, he pulls out to overtake in the second lane, but as he's only going 1 m an hour faster, it takes him a minute or more to get past. In all that time, you've got a rolling blockade as cars willing and able to do 70 clog up behind him. Lots of people delayed and the congestion takes ages to clear. And how much time is saved? Suppose this lorry has a journey of 100 miles ahead of it and is now going to do it at 60 instead of 59. How much sooner will it gets to its destination? 5 minutes? 10? No, less than 2 minutes after 100 miles. And if you're in your car and you ever take someone doing 65 in order to do 70, after 100 miles, which will take you almost an hour and a half, you'll get where you're going less than 7 minutes sooner. Was it worth it? Back to the M25. Some of you will know Rygate Hill between junctions seven and 8. It's a steep old climb, so when a lorry hits it, it slows down. The lorry behind thinks he's slowing down. I'll overtake. So, he pulls up, but now he's on the slope and he's slowed down by it. The M25 has four lanes. And I once got into the fourth lane to squeeze past a rolling blockade of a lorry, a tanker, and a car transporter, all trying to overtake each other at the top of the hill. I could hear their engines screaming. I got past and the motorway was empty. the cars could all move over to lane one and drive at 70 mph with nothing else there because everyone was held up behind these stupid slow vehicles. I live in a village and the nearest town was about 4 miles away. The road to it has a 50 mph limit, but many times I've been going along it at 50 and some idiot comes screaming past me. Then when I get to Canterbury, all he's done is get in front of me at the traffic lights instead of being behind me. If I turn off or park, his overtaking has made exactly zero difference except for the energy and brake lining wasted and the small chance of him coming a cropper by overtaking me at way over the limit. I'll never endorse driving over the speed limit. And if you'd seen the consequences of a crash on someone close to you, nor would you. So there's no point in overtaking unless you are going to go significantly faster than the vehicle you are passing and for a considerable diff distance. So don't drive too fast, but don't go needlessly slow either. Uh for instance, once the lights go green, you can move off right away. Not if someone's still crossing the road, say, but if it's all clear, you can go as soon as it's green and immediately accelerate up to the local speed limit. Now, I know some people are watching and thinking, "No, when it goes green, you have to count to 10 before moving off, then do the first quarter of a mile at 15 miles an hour." But you don't really. Anyway, please click thumbs up, subscribe, and share. Stay safe.