Active Cruise Control & Undertaking

[splat]

Has anyone worked out when the ACC will allow undertaking?

 

Sometimes it detects a car in the lane to the right, and won't undertake it.  At other times it will happily try to go past.

 

Switching on the assist system page in the maxidot confuses me further.  There seem to be three scenarios:

1.  Car detected in lane to your right; shown as second car in display (or just one car to your right if there's nothing in front).  Car won't undertake.  Makes perfect sense.

2.  Display as above, but car tries to undertake.  I don't get this.

3.  No car detected to your right, for whatever reason, and car tries to undertake.  Fair enough.

 

At first I thought it was just in sport mode on the gearbox, or below about 50mph, but some trial and error has ruled this out.  Any ideas what causes the difference between (1) and (2) above?

 

Not a major problem, there's always the brake pedal, just interested in its logic...

 

Thanks!

[OliR]

surely you mean the accelerator pedal?

if the moron is sat in the middle lane for no reason and travelling slowly you are perfectly legal to pass them on the left  as long as you haven't changed lane to do it

[Hermit]

"..perfectly legal.." ???

I didn't think that would be.

[hwr1983]

11 minutes ago, Hermit said:

"..perfectly legal.." ???

I didn't think that would be.

 

It is legal to undertake on a motorway if you are in lane 1 and the traffic in lanes 2 and 3 are moving slower.

 

Quote

Rule 268 - Highway Code

Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

 

Edited 24 April, 2018 by hwr1983
Highlight relevant part

[penguin17]

10 minutes ago, Hermit said:

"..perfectly legal.." ???

I didn't think that would be.

Yes it is.   If the flow is traffic is slower in the outside lane then you're quite ok to pass the dutchy on the left hand side.

 

On the Superb 3 you get a SUV icon on the ACC screen when undertaking, it looks like a VW Tiguan.  Every other time the icon is an Octavia.  When the car hesitates to undertake then a quick dab of the accelerator allows you to drive past with no issues. 

[Hermit]

I am familiar with what you've quoted from the Highway Code:

"In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic..."

 

But what you are describing is a single car hogging the middle lane "for no reason". This is why its such a pain as you are meant to pull out and pass on the right. When its busy this isn't easy and it's understandable to pass on the left - with great caution, but if the other car then pulled left and hit you I think you'd be seen as the one at fault.

To quote you Oli: "if the moron is sat in the middle lane for no reason and travelling slowly.... "

 

Thats my understanding anyway.

 

Penguin17: Very subtle of the Superb to be using different car outlines in differing circumstances. Is it some engineers comment about Tiguan drivers?

 

 

[OliR]

The way I look at it say on a motorway where it is pretty empty and you are in lane 1 & you come across a car sat in lane 2 & clearly not overtaking anything I think its more dangerous for you to have to move across 2 lanes to overtake the car than to stay in lane 1 and pass? You are right though, you always have to be wary of them moving back over but at least on a motorway you have the hard shoulder if you need to take avoiding action.

 

Wouldn't be a problem if people drove as you should & kept in the left lane unless overtaking, there would be a lot less hold ups on motorways if you got rid of the 'middle lane moron's'

 

 

[john999boy]

28 minutes ago, OliR said:

The way I look at it say on a motorway where it is pretty empty and you are in lane 1 & you come across a car sat in lane 2 & clearly not overtaking anything I think its more dangerous for you to have to move across 2 lanes to overtake the car than to stay in lane 1 and pass? You are right though, you always have to be wary of them moving back over but at least on a motorway you have the hard shoulder if you need to take avoiding action.

 

I'm not too sure that I'd class moving across 2 lanes to overtake as 'more dangerous' than undertaking.

[ords]

On ‎24‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 21:35, OliR said:

The way I look at it say on a motorway where it is pretty empty and you are in lane 1 & you come across a car sat in lane 2 & clearly not overtaking anything I think its more dangerous for you to have to move across 2 lanes to overtake the car than to stay in lane 1 and pass? You are right though, you always have to be wary of them moving back over but at least on a motorway you have the hard shoulder if you need to take avoiding action.

 

Wouldn't be a problem if people drove as you should & kept in the left lane unless overtaking, there would be a lot less hold ups on motorways if you got rid of the 'middle lane moron's'

 

 

Unless it's a "smart" motorway.

[OliR]

11 hours ago, ords said:

Unless it's a "smart" motorway.

 

I live near Birmingham so have the joy of the M6 smart motorway on many occasions... its amazing how many people don't know how they work so the hard should is virtually empty most the time  

 

Many times I have drove in the hard shoulder when its been completely empty and passed all the other cars sat in the other lanes held up & travelling slowly

[OliR]

On ‎24‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 15:10, john999boy said:

 

I'm not too sure that I'd class moving across 2 lanes to overtake as 'more dangerous' than undertaking.

 

That's the point though.. you are not undertaking!

[john999boy]

6 hours ago, OliR said:

That's the point though.. you are not undertaking!

 

I think @Hermit summed it up correctly and really can't see why you still think it's okay in the circumstances you described.

 

[OliR]

16 hours ago, john999boy said:

 

I think @Hermit summed it up correctly and really can't see why you still think it's okay in the circumstances you described.

 

 

Its perfectly okay... its within the law so what really is the need to move across from lane 1 to lane 3 then all that way back to pass some idiot who cant drive!

[Gabbo]

I have the same situation as Oli almost everyday as there is a 15km section of smart motorway where I live.

When the highway is empty 90% of people will sit in the middle lane because they dont understand the Inside lane.

 

I feel more of an idiot weaving constantly from lane1 to 3 to 1 than to just stay at a constant speed in lane1 and pass them on the Inside.

 

Intersting many more people seem willing to move from the middle lane to undertake and back again when the highway gets busier....

 

 

However, I'm sure if the police saw me (although I enter the highway in lane1 and never change) I would be the one getting a fine rather than the 50-60 people that were driving 20km below the speed limit in the wrong lane & blocking hundreds of other road users.

[john999boy]

On 26/04/2018 at 13:03, OliR said:

I live near Birmingham so have the joy of the M6 smart motorway on many occasions... its amazing how many people don't know how they work so the hard should is virtually empty most the time

Many times I have drove in the hard shoulder when its been completely empty and passed all the other cars sat in the other lanes held up & travelling slowly

 

This is a totally different scenario to which you described earlier and is definitely okay as per the Highway Code.

 

4 hours ago, OliR said:

Its perfectly okay... its within the law so what really is the need to move across from lane 1 to lane 3 then all that way back to pass some idiot who cant drive!

 

Without labouring this point, why not link to a place where it says that undertaking a car is fine 'if the moron is sat in the middle lane for no reason and travelling slowly you are perfectly legal to pass them on the left as long as you haven't changed lane to do it '

 

If you can then:-

 

[Mark7]

So glad I don’t have that problem any more as there is no issues with overtake on the left side in Australia 

[RIncewindwiz]

 

 

On 4/27/2018 at 17:38, john999boy said:

 

 

Without labouring this point, why not link to a place where it says that undertaking a car is fine 'if the moron is sat in the middle lane for no reason and travelling slowly you are perfectly legal to pass them on the left as long as you haven't changed lane to do it '

 

 

Something like

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/answers/can-you-overtake-on-the-nearside-of-another-vehicle

 

[Hermit]

To me the highway code is very very clear on this issue:

 

"Rule 268. Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right."

 

 

It says first - do not undertake. It can't be any worded any clearer.

 

Then it gives an exception for when the road is congested and the 'lanes of traffic' (not a single car) are moving at different speeds.

 

 

So maybe we are all right.

It is not 'illegal' as if it was it would be prefaced with "MUST" or "MUST NOT" (page 1 of highway code) but the code clearly says not to do it.