Annoyed by unmarked police car driving…

And driving that close to me whilst flashing his lights was likely to help him catch the car any quicker?

If I’ve genuinely misjudged the speed of someone making progress – it happens no one is perfect and they flash their lights at me. I’ll generally accelerate a bit to get my manouvre done a bit quicker.

To be fair if I spot someone in my mirror I’ll do this anyway flash of lights or not.

Sometimes I also move from lane 1 to lane 3 if its clear that someone is about to use lane 2 to overtake slower traffic.

None of this is particularly hard

they flash their lights at me. I’ll generally accelerate a bit to get my manouvre done a bit quicker.

Not me – I was already speeding (doing about 75mph) and I wasn’t about to go faster because someone flashed me. Nor did I slow down – I just carried on with my manoeuvre.

Not me – I was already speeding (doing about 75mph) and I wasn’t about to go faster because someone flashed me. Nor did I slow down – I just carried on with my manoeuvre.

It gets worse. 🙁

Why?

And driving that close to me whilst flashing his lights was likely to help him catch the car any quicker?

Perhaps they thought you woul dget out the way?

Not me – I was already speeding (doing about 75mph) and I wasn’t about to go faster because someone flashed me. Nor did I slow down – I just carried on with my manoeuvre.

That ths spirti , speed cut them and blame them as you just do what you want

this is the problem on roads. It used to be that bad drivers were folk just doing what they want utterly uninterested in the consequences of other users we have now evolced so they do that and then blame the person they cut up

Brilliant

It gets worse.

Why?

johndoh – Member

they flash their lights at me. I’ll generally accelerate a bit to get my manouvre done a bit quicker.

Not me – I was already speeding (doing about 75mph) and I wasn’t about to go faster because someone flashed me. Nor did I slow down – I just carried on with my manoeuvre.

patriotpro – Member
Why did you not just ease of the throttle or prod the brake pedal?

Why did you not just ease of the throttle or prod the brake pedal?

So the best way to let a car by when it is up my back-end flashing its lights is to slow down again (perhaps braking too) and pull back in behind the car I was passing?

You haven’t thought this through have you?

Seriously, what’s so difficult in identifying a small gap, matching the speed of the cars in the outside lane, sticking an indicator on, looking for a reaction from the driver behind in the outside lane, moving over if they don’t close the gap, or looking for another gap if they do close up, then opening up a safe gap once you’re in the outside lane? It’s not difficult…

blame the person they cut up

I did not cut anyone up – he accelerated into the the space behind me. The gap was small, yes, but it was not dangerously so and had he kept at the speed that the first car passed me at then he would not have driven into the remaining space.

Was the gap smaller than 11m?

By the time he had finished it was 11mm

I bet all this could have been avoided if the OP had just undertook the middle lane muppet 🙂

Seriously, what’s so difficult in identifying a small gap, matching the speed of the cars in the outside lane, sticking an indicator on, looking for a reaction from the driver behind in the outside lane, moving over if they don’t close the gap, or looking for another gap if they do close up, then opening up a safe gap once you’re in the outside lane? It’s not difficult…

is it reasonably to assume that no “on you go” reaction was forthcoming given the subsequent actions?

Don’t know. I wasn’t there so can’t comment on that particular scenario.

stuff I used to teach.

I can see why you no longer teach this.

I don’t teach any more because I got sick of banging my head against a brick wall. Got sick of spending my time with rank amateurs who thought they were gods gift to driving when frankly they were dangerous liabilities.

I decided to do something where I had to use my brain. Driving safely and driving well are so incredibly simple yet 99% of people make a complete mess of it as evidenced by this thread.

Got sick of spending my time with rank amateurs who thought they were gods gift to driving when frankly they were dangerous liabilities.

Driving safely and driving well are so incredibly simple yet 99% of people make a complete mess of it as evidenced by this thread.

Nothing to do with an aloof nature and poor interpersonal skills?

Thought not.

“unsettling the car”

Now that is an interesting comment.

One thing that I’ve been told many times in my life is “i hate it when you’re correct”. I dont have a problem with that.

You should.

Because more than likely it means that you come across as a smug, self satisfied smart arse when it happens. ?

Worth thinking about.

johndoh – Member

Why did you not just ease of the throttle or prod the brake pedal?

So the best way to let a car by when it is up my back-end flashing its lights is to slow down again (perhaps braking too) and pull back in behind the car I was passing?

You haven’t thought this through have you?

Think this through.

Put your do-do back in. You’re a dangerous driver with a poor attitude to other road users. You carry on as you are dear, see where it gets you.

Just don’t expect sympathy when you end up on police,camera, action for all the wrong reasons.

We have a lot of unmarked Plods darn Sarf like, hotheads in BMW Estates and Skoda whatsits..

Zipping around our 30mph limits doing about 85..

Makes me mad it does, oh and overtaking at roundabouts pushing everyone ontot he grass..

Thing is, we have more accidents caused by this lot around our way than most Counties in the UK.

Triple Grrrr.

Just don’t expect sympathy when you end up on police,camera, action for all the wrong reasons.

Seriously – I let out a little LOL there.

Nothing to do with an aloof nature and poor interpersonal skills?

Aloof

Not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant.

Me – nah – more of a “Doesn’t suffer fools gladly” kind of bloke. And Tootall – you’re the one who is making judgements on people’s interpersonal skills based on a thread on the internet.

Nealglover – why should I have a problem with it? Smug – self satisfied smart arse – or “we could have saved all of this hassle if you’d just believed me in the first place”?

So, if you indicate to pull out to overtake and the driver of the car coming up behind you in the lane you want to pull into flashes his lights, do you continue the manoeuvre or wait until he’s past?

psling – that depends on other things like their speed and whether or not they are closing the gap or not.

I’d continue the manoeuvre or abort based on my assessment of the vehicle behind’s movements and the other traffic around me. The flashing of lights is irrelevant, only that driver knows why he/she is flashing them.

So, if you indicate to pull out to overtake and the driver of the car coming up behind you in the lane you want to pull into flashes his lights, do you continue the manoeuvre or wait until he’s past?

If someone flashed before I had puled out I would assume he is inviting me to pull out. I usually wait to be sure the gap is still there though – very rarely do I react to someone flashing their lights as an ‘invitation’.

But in my case, I indicated and pulled out. Then, when the car reached me, he started to flash to suggest I was in his way. So I carried on past the car I was overtaking then pulled in as I would normally do.

If I had known he was in an unmarked police car (ie if his blue lights were flashing) I wouldn’t have pulled out or (if I was already in the fast lane, speeded up momentarily to get out of his way more quickly). As it was, as far as I was concerned, he was just a knobber being a knob because my using the outside lane had gotten in his way.

As I said, it’s an advanced technique that I wouldnt expect the vast majority of drivers to know about or be able to perform safely.

😆

That’s made my day.

Just highlights the need to be aware and make judgements, not just based on what it says in the Highway Code (which of course we all know says that the flashing of headlights is a warning in much the same ways as sounding the horn is).

To be able to mind read would be the ultimate aid to driving (indeed, to using the road whether on bike or on foot, too) 8)

Incidentally, regarding this whole ‘flashing people out of the way’ thing and the passive-aggressive ‘well, I’d brake / match speed with traffic / was doing the speed limit’ responses it seems to be soliciting:

There’s a difference, is there not, between a quick flash of the lights to the car in front, and sitting on their bumper going ‘flashflashflashflashflash’? The former is alerting the other driver to your presence (the only prescribed usage of flashing headlights in THC), the latter just being an aggressive arse. I can understand people being spiteful in the latter case, but not really the former.

if I was already in the fast lane

No such thing. </pedant>

Cougar – Member
if I was already in the fast lane
No such thing. </pedant>

Really? 8) Hence the second time I mention it, I refer to it correctly

because my using the outside lane had gotten in his way

Gotten? Did this happen on the American M62? If so, you were lucky you were only flashed.

But in my case, I indicated and pulled out. Then, when the car reached me, he started to flash to suggest I was in his way.

you were in his way, he was a police officer following someone he wanted to pull over.

If I had known he was in an unmarked police car (ie if his blue lights were flashing) I wouldn’t have pulled out

There would have been a perfectly good reason he didn’t use his Blues. Like not alerting the driver of the vehicle he was following that they were being followed, until he was in a position to pull them over.

As it was, as far as I was concerned, he was just a knobber being a knob because my using the outside lane had gotten in his way.

But rather bizarrely, even after you realised the actual situation was different, you still don’t see a difference 😐

He flashed his rear blues, to let you know he was Police, this was to let you know he wasn’t just some idiot tailgating, and that he was trying to pass for a reason.

(How you don’t realise all this really is beyond me 😐 )

This is all good fun 🙂

Perhaps Mr Policeman was following a car, and flashed you out as part of the ‘keeping up the act of deceit’ to foil the suspect car. The when Mr Villan wasnt looking in his mirrors he flashed you to get out of the way.

Oh and there are plenty of other unmarked cars on the road with drivers taught ‘advanced driving techniques’, not know to civilians.

Mums the word 8)

Glupton – Have you dont the Audi advance driving school techniques? 😆

Funkydunc – I try to drive as little as possible nowadays. Probably drove less that 500 miles last year and most of that was a trip from Edinburgh to Bristol… Driving cars on roads full of people who dont know what they’re doing is scary.

you’re the one who is making judgements on people’s interpersonal skills based on a thread on the internet

You have presented more than enough to go on.

Driving cars on roads full of people who dont know what they’re doing is scary.

you were in his way, he was a police officer following someone he wanted to pull over.

you were in his way, he was in an unmarked police car and driving aggressively on my bumper a police officer following someone he wanted to pull over.