Overtaking another road user fills most people with dread and for good reason, overtaking is one of the most dangerous manoeuvres you can do when driving. The reason it’s so dangerous is because in order to overtake you must cross over on to the wrong side of the road for a considerable distance, until you have passed the road user and are well clear of it, before you can move back on to your own side of the road. In doing so, you run the real risk of another road user travelling towards you head on, and so the whole experience can be stressful and incredibly risky.
Due to the dangerous element of overtaking you should only really do so if it is absolutely necessary. If you are knowledgeable of the roads in the area, ask yourself, will there be a better opportunity to overtake later on? Maybe the single carriageway you are on is about to turn into a dual carriageway for example. Only overtake, therefore, if it is absolutely necessary to do so.
Solid double lines – don’t overtake!
There are also some places where you MUST NOT overtake. If you can’t see far enough down the road to complete the manoeuvre then you shouldn’t be overtaking. Examples of this include; the brow of a hill, close to a hump bridge, on a bend or close to a junction. Check the road markings before committing to overtaking. If the centre line is a solid white line it means that you are not allowed to place the whole of your vehicle on the other side of it. You MUST NOT overtake also if doing so would put other road users at risk, such as close to a pedestrian crossing or a school crossing patrol area. Be careful also of overtaking when a car ahead is signalling or positioned to turn right.
In order to overtake smoothly it is important that you don’t get too close to the vehicle in front, holding back improves your vision and helps you to see further down the road. Before you commit to overtaking it is important that you check your mirrors, both centre and right mirror, to check that nothing is overtaking you at the same time. A blindspot check is also recommended here. If it is clear you need to put on your right indicator to signal your intention to move out and move your position towards the right of your lane just left of the centre line. Do one final check of your mirrors and down the road to see if the situation has changed, and if it is still clear to proceed, then move out to overtake. It is important that throughout the overtaking manoeuvre that you don’t slow down, you must be travelling faster than the road user you are overtaking. You don’t want to increase the length or duration of the manoeuvre so try to proceed confidently. Keeping your speed up (but within the speed limit) and a safe distance from the road user you are overtaking, travel forwards until you can see the road user again clearly in your rear (centre) mirror. You know then that the rear of your vehicle is safely in front of the other road user and that it is safe to return back to your side of the road. You can then make progress once more. Some of the better driving schools will tutor on safe overtaking practices.
Remember that longer vehicles will take longer to overtake and so allow extra time when overtaking them. Cyclists are also prone to wobbling so always leave more room when overtaking one. As a final note, remember to only ever overtake to the right, never undertake to the left as the road user can’t see you. The only exception to this is when traffic in the adjacent lanes on a motorway, for example, is travelling more slowly due to an incident ahead.
