A polite plea to dawdlers.

[Hudds Lad]

Just back from a cruise and i'm sorry to say i let a good handful of boats overtake us.

Let a hire boat by on the approach to Brownsover, who we then found and passed trying to stop at the waterpoint there (we assume) and then once through the bridge we had to let him by again (he promised he wasn't stopping again) 🙄

Next day we saw a cruiser overtake a boat behind us, so decided we'd let it by as well, combined with a bit of wind we then grounded as he went by, no good deed goes unpunished  

[IanD]

38 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Just back from a cruise and i'm sorry to say i let a good handful of boats overtake us.

Let a hire boat by on the approach to Brownsover, who we then found and passed trying to stop at the waterpoint there (we assume) and then once through the bridge we had to let him by again (he promised he wasn't stopping again) 🙄

Next day we saw a cruiser overtake a boat behind us, so decided we'd let it by as well, combined with a bit of wind we then grounded as he went by, no good deed goes unpunished  

 

Same principle as on the road -- no point overtaking a dawdler if you know you're going to be stopping or turning off soon...

 

But that's down to the boat behind, it still doesn't give the dawdler reason to block them from overtaking safely where space permits. Also the same principle as on the road... 😉

[Higgs]

On the road, I'll keep my line. The driver in the car behind is driving for that car. They have to decide when it's safe to overtake.

 

 

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, Higgs said:

On the road, I'll keep my line. The driver in the car behind is driving for that car. They have to decide when it's safe to overtake.

 

Just yesterday shortly after we’d left the marina in the car, I saw a motorbike coming up fast behind. There were cars coming the other way but the road is fairly wide so I signalled left and pulled into the side a bit, biker came past and gave me a cheery wave. Why would you not want to do that?

[Higgs]

52 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Just yesterday shortly after we’d left the marina in the car, I saw a motorbike coming up fast behind. There were cars coming the other way but the road is fairly wide so I signalled left and pulled into the side a bit, biker came past and gave me a cheery wave. Why would you not want to do that?

 

All depends on what speed, and a bike is not the width of a car. But I'm not going to be thinking about pulling over for every vehicle that wants to overtake, apart from an emergency vehicle. If I'm travelling at near the speed limit, to be pedantic, it would be illegal for an overtaking vehicle to pass and exceed the limit.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Higgs

[nicknorman]

23 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

All depends on what speed, and a bike is not the width of a car. But I'm not going to be thinking about pulling over for every vehicle that wants to overtake, apart from an emergency vehicle. If I'm travelling at near the speed limit, to be pedantic, it would be illegal for an overtaking vehicle to pass and exceed the limit.

 

I was doing the speed limit, the biker was going a lot faster. But it’s not correct to be a vigilante and deliberately impede others because you feel entitled to enforce the speed limit. This is the argument that people use when they are driving in the outside lane at 70.00mph on their speedometers with a big queue behind. Apart from anything else, 70 on their speedometer is likely to be around 65 actual mph. My old Subaru had a full 10% error in the speedo. My current Skoda has about 5%.

 

As to cars, obviously it depends on the width of the road but there are plenty of places where the road is plenty wide enough for 3 vehicles. By signalling left and pulling over a bit you allow others to get on their way without holding them up. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Why take pleasure in holding other people up, it’s weird and not very nice.

Edited June 1, 2023 by nicknorman

[Higgs]

1 minute ago, nicknorman said:

I was doing the speed limit, the biker was going a lot faster. But it’s not correct to be a vigilante and deliberately impede others because you feel entitled to enforce the speed limit. This is the argument that people use when they are driving in the outside lane at 70.00mph on their speedometers with a big queue behind. Apart from anything else, 70 on their speedometer is likely to be around 65 actual mph. My old Subaru had a full 10% error in the speedo. My current Skoda has about 5%.

 

As to cars, obviously it depends on the width of the road but there are plenty of places where the road is plenty wide enough for 3 vehicles. By signalling left and pulling over a bit you allow others to get on their way without holding them up. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Why find virtue in holding people up, it’s weird!

 

I'm aware of what the actual speed is. I can add 10% on to what the speedo says. If a vehicle wants to overtake, they are in charge of their vehicle, I'm in charge of mine. I'm not aware that it is my place to make overtaking decisions for the other vehicle. If it's safe, I presume they then decide to overtake.

 

 

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I was doing the speed limit, the biker was going a lot faster. But it’s not correct to be a vigilante and deliberately impede others because you feel entitled to enforce the speed limit. This is the argument that people use when they are driving in the outside lane at 70.00mph on their speedometers with a big queue behind. Apart from anything else, 70 on their speedometer is likely to be around 65 actual mph. My old Subaru had a full 10% error in the speedo. My current Skoda has about 5%.

 

As to cars, obviously it depends on the width of the road but there are plenty of places where the road is plenty wide enough for 3 vehicles. By signalling left and pulling over a bit you allow others to get on their way without holding them up. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Why take pleasure in holding other people up, it’s weird and not very nice.

 

Methinks you've answered your own question here... 😉

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Higgs said:

 

I'm aware of what the actual speed is. I can add 10% on to what the speedo says. If a vehicle wants to overtake, they are in charge of their vehicle, I'm in charge of mine. I'm not aware that it is my place to make overtaking decisions for the other vehicle. If it's safe, I presume they then decide to overtake.

 

 

 

As a driver you have as much obligation to avoid an accident as the other driver. In an accident you wouldn't be vindicated if you could have taken reasonable steps to avoid an accident.

 

Pressing on regardless even if another driver is behaving like a tool will not absolve you of blame.

 

This is not understood by a lot of people.

[Higgs]

3 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

As a driver you have as much obligation to avoid an accident as the other driver. In an accident you wouldn't be vindicated if you could have taken reasonable steps to avoid an accident.

 

Pressing on regardless even if another driver is behaving like a tool will not absolve you of blame.

 

This is not understood by a lot of people.

 

If I see a twerp in the rear view mirror, I will take evasive action, but not because I feel obliged to help overtaking, but to keep my position safe.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Higgs

[nicknorman]

11 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

I'm aware of what the actual speed is. I can add 10% on to what the speedo says. If a vehicle wants to overtake, they are in charge of their vehicle, I'm in charge of mine. I'm not aware that it is my place to make overtaking decisions for the other vehicle. If it's safe, I presume they then decide to overtake.

 

Rather than the I KNOW MY RIGHTS attitude, why not help to make the world go round by being courteous and considerate of other people? Pulling over a bit and briefly signalling left shows you have seen them and that you are probably not the sort of tosser with tiny genitals who accelerates as soon as someone tries to overtake.

[Higgs]

6 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Rather than the I KNOW MY RIGHTS attitude, why not help to make the world go round by being courteous and considerate of other people? Pulling over a bit and briefly signalling left shows you have seen them and that you are probably not the sort of tosser with tiny genitals who accelerates as soon as someone tries to overtake.

 

Once in a blue moon I probably would give the overtaking vehicle some road space. It wouldn't be on my must-do list. I'm there reading the road as well, for my own space.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Higgs

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Higgs said:

 

Once in a blue moon I probably would give the overtaking vehicle some road space. It wouldn't be on my must-do list.

 

 

 

Do you drive an Audi?? or is it a BM?

[Higgs]

1 minute ago, M_JG said:

 

Do you drive an Audi?? or is it a BM?

 

Neither -Audi drivers are a pain.

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

4 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Do you drive an Audi?? or is it a BM?

You seem to have spelt Volvo and Mercedes incorrectly?  

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

You seem to have spelt Volvo and Mercedes incorrectly?  

Surely the Volvo/Mercedes is the dawdler in front (grey-haired driver with trilby) and the Audi/BMW is the tailgater behind (sharp-suited young salesman)? 😉

[Hudds Lad]

7 minutes ago, IanD said:

Surely the Volvo/Mercedes is the dawdler in front (grey-haired driver with trilby) and the Audi/BMW is the tailgater behind (sharp-suited young salesman)? 😉

I hate them all equally at the moment, Audi/BMW are usually driven recklessly with little to no care of other road users, but it's usually a Volvo or Merc that will pop into your lane without indicating and proceed to overtake another vehicle by doing 0.1mph more than they are.

 

Also, i think it's the law to wear driving gloves as well if sporting a trilby/panama hat  

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

I hate them all equally at the moment, Audi/BMW are usually driven recklessly with little to no care of other road users, but it's usually a Volvo or Merc that will pop into your lane without indicating and proceed to overtake another vehicle by doing 0.1mph more than they are.

 

Also, i think it's the law to wear driving gloves as well if sporting a trilby/panama hat  

 

Phew I'm safe then -- I've had all those cars in the past but the last two have been Skodas, and I don't have either a trilby or a panama or a sharp suit or driving gloves. See avatar for hair colour though... 😉

[Tony Brooks]

21 hours ago, nicknorman said:

So it would be for an insurance claim on the canals, the applicable UK law is the BW bylaws. I really don’t see the difficulty with this concept.

 

Sorry to open this up again, but I think that within the last few years we had a request for help from a boater who had been T Boned at a junction and the insurance company denied responsivity on the grounds of COLREGS. The chap seemed to be having a hard time getting them to accept CaRT by-laws re sounding of horns and giving way at junctions etc.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Tony Brooks

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Sorry to open this up again, but I think that within the last few years we had a request for help from a boater who had been T Boned at a junction and the insurance company denied responsivity on the grounds of COLREGS. The chap seemed to be having a hard time getting them to accept CaRT by-laws re sounding of horns and giving way at junctions etc.

 

 

Sounds like a case of an insurance company using spurious reasons to try and wriggle out of paying a claim. Of course we all know they *never* do that, don't we? 😉

[Tony Brooks]

Just now, IanD said:

 

Sounds like a case of an insurance company using spurious reasons to try and wriggle out of paying a claim. Of course we all know they *never* do that, don't we? 😉

 

I agree, but it shows that CaRT bylaws are not the be all and end all of inland boating.

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I agree, but it shows that CaRT bylaws are not the be all and end all of inland boating.

 

Or it shows that the insurance company wrongly misinterpreted which laws apply on the canals, not that COLREGs apply there -- which seems to be the case.

 

If they're one of the marine insurers that mainly deals with lumpy water boats with canal boats as a small sideline, they may have some excuse for making a genuine error -- though of course they should know which laws apply where because that's their job. If they're one of the few insurers which specialise in the inland waterways (are there any?) they have no excuse...

Edited June 1, 2023 by IanD

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, Higgs said:

On the road, I'll keep my line. The driver in the car behind is driving for that car. They have to decide when it's safe to overtake.

 

 

I pull close to the kerb when I have a bike come up behind me

[IanD]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

I pull close to the kerb when I have a bike come up behind me

Oh dear, thinking of other road users, that's reprehensible -- as a car driver "ME ME ME" should be your motto... 😉

 

Erratum : for "road/car", read "canal/boat"

[Higgs]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I pull close to the kerb when I have a bike come up behind me

 

I keep away from the curb, if I see a cyclist. They are more vulnerable. The motorcyclist would lose out there.