...that join after a few yards.

I was waiting at the lights yesterday and behind me came a woman in a Corsa. I was at the junction first and she took the right hand lane to get past me when the lights went green. We were the only cars on the road, so it is not as if I had cars behind me in a queue.

I usually just let cars in the right hand lane filter in front of me during busy times, but on this occasion I just saw it as pushing past as the road was completely empty apart from our two cars, so I pressed the accelerator more than normal in second gear and her Corsa was swiftly dropped. She followed me for a bit before turning right - meaning that if she had been in front she would have caused me to stop behind her during her turn.

Now, what do you do when there is a car wanting to get past? Is it OK to give the throttle a shove and despatch them, or should I let them past as easily as possible? Should I take the right lane even if the left lane is empty?

Your thoughts please.

TH

I see it as a challenge to my man-hood and will take the lead!

In all seriousness, there are a few known spots of this Preston and I'll do my best to ensure the ***** in the "incorrect" lane do not get any benefit from it.

personally it depends on my mood and the driving style of the other car

noramlly more than happy to let people beat me at traffic light grand prix however sometimes (normally with kids in Saxo's - you know - the ones who keep looking across at you ) i just can't resist

the aggressive people looking to queue jump will get it too.

If there are say 4 or 5 cars sat in the left lane and someone flies down the right aiming to despatch all of us in one quick pull away from the lights i'm inclined to get ahead of them, although generally the person behind me lets them in anyhow

in the end it's all pointless as any gains are generally balanced out further up the road but sometimes making kn0bs or pushy people drive like the rest of us normal people gives a warm fuzzy feeling inside

I rarely have to accelerate more assertively than usual to worry them, or even pull ahead of them.

Why should it matter?

You look after your own business getting to where you want to go safely and let others take care of themselves.

To be honest 9/10 times I will be in the right hand lane to go straight ahead, cause where I stay and drive mostly the left lane usually turns into a bus lane or has a bus stop with about 300 yards of the lights. Most people do therefore just queue up in a row on the right.

If someone sneaks down the left hoping to gain an advantage I burn them every-time cause I hate cheeky drivers who are impatient and can't form an orderly queue. Mostly its private hire cars and taxis who can't miss an opportunity to be first all the time.

I tend to pay more attention to the cars behind the lead in the right hand lane. I don't mind the front one moving away first, but that means the second in line is more likely to have a go. If it's your usual pint size chavmobile I'll just give it a bootfull and worry no more

The advice is to "take the line of least resistance", so, by taking the empty lane she did right. The fact that she didn't have the power to pull the skin of a rice pudding is a different matter altogether.

I don't see any problem with leaving lights briskly and would have done the same in your position. As Paul says, the lane of least resistance is an effective way of making progress through traffic and if you stop 1/2-1 car length away from the white line, you can set off on red-amber and be crossing the white line as the lights change to green to give you a bit of an advantage over the adjacent car which will only just be starting to move off. Means us drivers of "pint sized chav mobiles" can often get ahead of other more powerful cars

Of course, if you're going to be driving briskly towards a closing space, you need to be ready to concede position if the other person does similar and you're going to arrive at the same point at the same time. Safety first so make sure you have a contingency plan and space to drop into behind them

Chris

The Panda 100 is a classy little thing - I'm talking bean can equipped Corsas here

The Panda 100 is a classy little thing

Don't be massaging his ego now

Lane of least resistance in my book doesn't really include deliberately racing people off the lights. If there's an opportunity, by all means take it, but remain courteous towards other drivers. If you were both stopped and you just happened to be quicker off the lights than she was, not because you were "trying to teach her a lesson", that's fine in my book too. Sadly, however, it's hard to resist that temptation.

The Panda 100 is a classy little thing - I'm talking bean can equipped Corsas here

I'm not sure I'd call it classy but I know where you're coming from. :rofl:

Chris

Heh, I meant in terms of the drive.. although hit does look smart in the right colour. I took one out a year or so back and it was a blast, but on reflection I couldn't live with the lack of bootspace (work demands) and my other half would have hated the suspension. It was >this< close though

I can take any lane I like on my Bandit, and be

gone before most drivers awake to the green

light

I just let em go most of the time whatever they are driving. They are clearly more impatient than me if in the right hand lane at the lights.

If someone pulls up next to you in the right hand lane at the lights they must know that they have to outdrag you, rely on your courtesy in letting them pass or moving back into the flow at some point and unless they have a faster car than you then they are not in full control of the situation.

If the boots on the other foot and im in the right i will back of if they are pushing it, even if i think my cars faster....just cant be a*r*s*e*d

i get this in the lorry, yet i can often move it off the line quicker than them so it can be interesting, but so many have to get past me only to brake 200 yds up the road cos they turning right. im sure the highway code says about using courtesy to other drivers.

i get this in the lorry, yet i can often move it off the line quicker than them so it can be interesting, but so many have to get past me only to brake 200 yds up the road cos they turning right. im sure the highway code says about using courtesy to other drivers.

Id be very couteous to a lorry in drag mode:D highway code or not!

So many junctions I see up and down this land have illogical, and non signposted/lane marked turning lanes leaving outdragging as the only option.

The best ones are where there's no sign at the side of the road and the only way to tell is by looking at the painted arrows on the tarmac....and when there's cars/hgv's/etc waiting over the top of them, you can't help but be in the wrong lane sometimes !

i get this in the lorry, yet i can often move it off the line quicker than them so it can be interesting, but so many have to get past me only to brake 200 yds up the road cos they turning right. im sure the highway code says about using courtesy to other drivers.

I remember back when the MAN 17:361 and 22:361 were new trucks, see a couple of them with empty cans on back waiting at a set of lights. A VW T2 pulls up in the outside lane, and tries to beat them off the line. 0.25 miles later, the MANs were going 10mph faster than he was.

Edited 24 September, 200916 yr by KenONeill

i get this in the lorry, yet i can often move it off the line quicker than them so it can be interesting, but so many have to get past me only to brake 200 yds up the road cos they turning right. im sure the highway code says about using courtesy to other drivers.

Is overtaking another lorry at 0.1 MPH faster than it on 2-lane carriageway showing courtesy to other drivers

My IAM instructors always taught me to go for the right hand lane if there was any traffic in the left hand lane (even one car), as others have said, take the path of least resistance. If the driver on the left is in a more powerful car though I would be plan to filter in behind them rather than pulling away to get in front of them.

Is overtaking another lorry at 0.1 MPH faster than it on 2-lane carriageway showing courtesy to other drivers

didnt say it was, perhaps some members here need to get out in a lorry and experience what its like to be in charge of one of these vehicles. You can start overtaking another lorry with some good speed only to find when you are level the lorry you are overtaking speeds up leaving you stuck there. If you slow and try and pull back behind it you will find the cars that are an inch away from the back of you getting even more irrated.

Then there are the lorry drivers who illegally coast down the hill up to speeds of 70mph (remember they are restricted to 56mph by law) only to get stuck on the next flat or hill when their restrictor cuts in again.

Personally i think the 56mph is too low especially when coaches can still travel at 70mph which usually carry more weight. But my only logical thinking of why the government introduced it was so when lorries are as you put it overtaking at 0.1mph it slows speeding motorist down.

If the driver on the left is in a more powerful car though I would be plan to filter in behind them rather than pulling away to get in front of them.

One way round this at traffic lights with shorter phases or roundabouts is to scrub off your speed early but keep the car rollling so you don't need to come to a stop. This'll mean you can take advantage of performance in your 2nd gear when the lights change and you arrive at the line/gap on the roundabout while the other car will be starting from a standstill and using 1st.

Of course, you always need to watch the reaction of the other car and if there looks like there will be a conflict, be prepared to have a plan to drop back in behind them as you suggest

Chris

I can take any lane I like on my Bandit, and be

gone before most drivers awake to the green

light

What is a green light !