DezB – Member
No, I headbutted the **** trailer and called it a poof. Did you read my “what happened was…” post?
Yes, but it doesn’t answer my question.
What it says is that at the point he started his overtake (or was alongside), YOU were accelerating. He started to overtake based on your relative speed a few seconds before coming along side you (remember, he’s higher up and can see further) and as you hit the downslope, you accelerated and thus decreased the relative speeds between you, thus making it harder for him to clear you in the space available. Having been in this situation before with trucks and tractors (they don’t anticipate that you’ll speed up so dramatically when moving from either a flat or especially a slight rise to a downhill), they can’t easily back out of the move once started (again, they think they’ll not be able to slow enough to pull in behind you and so will crush you) so the best thing is to back off and brake slightly so that he clears you quicker.
I’ll fully admit that it’s terrifying, but would also say that whilst it ended up dangerous, I’d doubt it was done maliciously or carelessly and that it could have been mitigated somewhat by backing off.