[Closed] Why do people overtake you and then slow down?

Must get in front mentality

it's not easy to drive at a constant speed. cruise control highlights this.

Must get in front mentality

Combined with no cruise control.

In addition, the ‘drive 0.25mph faster than the car in front so I’m almost constantly hovering in their blind spot and not really overtaking’ crew out in full force as well.

They have cruise control, and are thinking you are the frustration...

*must not say it... resist, resist...*

They probably had the draft power up, which then ran out once they were in front. They can't keep up teh wattage, so fall back into the pack.

DrP

(has zwift gotten to me..possibly..)

Because people are halfwits unfortunately. As a driver of lorries its infuriating when drivers just have to be in front just because, then decide the speed limit for even large vehicles is too much for them.
If you can't at least sit near the speed limit, get off the road

Irritating isn't it. Same as the mid-lane cruisers on near empty motorways.

I also get annoyed with those who drive through the countryside on 60mph limit roads at about 45mph and then carry on through the little villages at 45mph or worse still, as you go to over take on the faster roads suddenly speed up making the overtake unsafe and then when you pull in behind then they drop back to 45mph.

People who can park on the side of the road right on a corner or even at a junction because they have their hazards on and are only going to be a minute as they are just dropping stuff off for a friend. Park 20 yards down the road where it is safe and then walk.

Yeah it's annoying, another cruise control bugbear is also when approaching then overtaking a slow car, probably 1/4 will speed up when you're alongside and either match your speed, or shoot off into the distance at warp speed.

the wife will be all over the place speed wise on the motorway/duals (drives me potty).

I also get annoyed with those who drive through the countryside on 60mph limit roads at about 45mph and then carry on through the little villages at 45mph or worse still, as you go to over take on the faster roads suddenly speed up making the overtake unsafe and then when you pull in behind then they drop back to 45mph.

This. All over the Highlands.

Made worse if they are in a rental campervan which slows at every nice new view and a GoPro gets stuck out the window...

They have cruise control, and are thinking you are the frustration…

How so? If overtaking I just go past - if that means temporarily going more than 70 to clear the slower can then I do, dropping back to previous speed (but not slower than them!!) once the manoeuvre is complete.

I used to find mid sixties a good speed, most car drivers are going at least a bit quicker so all you have to worry about is overtaking lorries and the occassional slow car. Anywhere around 70 was just too frustrating for the above reasons.

That said, I had a Golf with adaptive cruise for a bit, and that was a godsend. 🙂

probably 1/4 will speed up when you’re alongside and either match your speed, or shoot off into the distance at warp speed

Yes, this also featured. One in particular was an old dear who, each time we caught up and moved to overtake, would lump her foot down, shoot off, and then slow right down again. Happened about 5 - 6 times with no other obvious factor (such as cars in front etc) on one stretch of road.

DRS

If you're been overtaken, you're going too slow.

Worst I've had was towing a caravan along a winding country behind an old guy doing 35mph and a massive queue built up behind me - I can well imagine they were thinking it was the caravan holding them up. Came to a short section of dual carriageway at a couple of junctions so I accelerated to 60 and overtook him. He then sped up, overtook me, cut me up just as the dual carriageway ended and slowed back to 35mph! Felt like I wanted to rip his throat out!! It was years ago but still makes me seethe

j4mie
DRS

That explains it! Thanks!

The two groups that I try to avoid 1. The “40 everywhere” crowd. Ignore the actual speed limits on A roads, just go 40 at everything 2. Middle lane on an otherwise empty M-way, I play a game where I try to circle them as many times as I can, overtake in lane 3 pull all the way over to lane 1, invariably they’ll overtake (they’re always doing a little bit over 70) and start all over again. Record is 3 complete circles around one in a journey past the lakes in the M6

Combined with no cruise control.

I think some of them do have cruise control but don't actually understand how it works!

it’s not easy to drive at a constant speed. cruise control highlights this.

^^Yup, you are on cruise and they don't realise how much their speed is changing.

The worst have to be the cruisers that refuse to change speed and take 10 minutes to overtake another vehicle (probably also on cruise control) that is 2 mph slower than them.

As a driver of lorries its infuriating when drivers just have to be in front just because

I can see that this would be annoying for you, but it’s sometimes not nice sitting behind a huge lorry for a long time - sometimes you can’t see anything but the lorry. Doesn’t excuse slowing down once they’ve overtaken of course.

If you’re been overtaken, you’re going too slow.

Makes as much sense to say “If you’re overtaking you’re going too fast”.

Most memorable was on the M1 going south. Very late at night, not much on the road at all. Cruise control on, I hadn't needed to touch it for miles, was doing a fraction under 70.

Overtook a car doing 55-ish. No worries.
Then he came past me at 80.
Then I overtook him as he was doing about 50.
This went on for miles - I never touched the cruise control or gas pedal throughout any of it but his speed was between 45 - 85 in random steps.

The “40 everywhere” crowd. Ignore the actual speed limits on A roads, just go 40 at everything

The other end of the spectrum from that, the people who do between 2 - 5mph lower than the speed limit everywhere. 35 in a 40 zone. Reaching the 30 zone at the end, they stand the car on it's nose then rev back up to 28. Coming to the 50 zone at the end of that, he car squats down dramatically as it races off then there's a short period of BRAKE! / GAS! / BRAKE! to get it to 46. Next 30 zone, it's once again emergency stop territory to bring it back below 30. These people fondly imagine that they're very safe, law-abiding drivers. But if you're cycling in a 30 zone at (say) 26mph (slight downhill for example), they will attempt to pass you at 28mph.
Must Get In Front meets Must Not Exceed Speed Limit.

I don't see anything wrong with the middle lane on an empty motorway as long as you pull over if someone is flying up behind you...

lane one is often thrashed by lorries, potholes appear overnight.

I hate the idiots who speed in lane one and weave across all three lanes constantly overtaking vehicles too closely singnaling after they have started to manouver etc..as if they are trying to demonstrate what great keep left disipline they have, tosspots

I've also found the inverse. Happily driving along with cruise control on, overtake a slower car and pull in beyond them, still at a constant speed.
So many will decide that there is now a car infront that they must overtake they will speed up. They dont often slow down again though, just disappear off into the distance at the higher speed...

Overtook a car doing 55-ish. No worries.
Then he came past me at 80.
Then I overtook him as he was doing about 50.
This went on for miles – I never touched the cruise control or gas pedal throughout any of it but his speed was between 45 – 85 in random steps.

Exactly this happened to me also. Northbound on the M6, I had cruise set at an (actual rather than indicated) 70mph. A silver German family saloon came past me, pulled in front, then lifted off. So I pulled out, overtook him, pulled in. Rinse and repeat. We ended up circling each other like a bloody pulsar from like Preston to Westmoorland (Tebay) services, my speed didn't change 1mph throughout. Bloody weird.

Setting the Cruise to a slightly higher speed usually solves this.

I find that the vast majority of people can't reliably hold 70mph or chose not to at certain times. Setting it at 76/77 means that your remove a lot of the variability in speed. Most of the time, it's you doing the overtaking.

Exactly this happened to me also. Northbound on the M6, I had cruise set at an (actual rather than indicated) 70mph. A silver German family saloon came past me, pulled in front, then lifted off. So I pulled out, overtook him, pulled in. Rinse and repeat. We ended up circling each other like a bloody pulsar from like Preston to Westmoorland (Tebay) services, my speed didn’t change 1mph throughout. Bloody weird.

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about. I just don't get it.

Sitting behind a lorry in the current weather means you'll drain a full washer bottle very quickly.

I try not to worry about this sort of thing

As a driver of lorries its infuriating when drivers just have to be in front just because, then decide the speed limit for even large vehicles is too much for them.

As a driver of cars it's infuriating when lorries decide they just have to be in front of another lorry on a dual carriageway, so go to overtake and block the whole road while they do their 0.5 mph faster overtake, just to sit in front of the lorry they just overtook.

Some people just don't have enough commitment to speeding properly and are conflicted about slowing back down again to let full committed speeders behind them past. They start at 75mph then a faster car comes up behind so they speed up a bit, and before they know it they're doing 85mph when all they wanted to do was pootle along at 72mph (their preffered speed). Sometimes they misjudge the speed of the car they decide to pull in front of. Don't let it worry you.

I think a lot of it is because many motorists aren't that aware of what they're doing. They might speed up whilst concentrating but then slowly lose speed as they lose concentration, rinse and repeat.

There's also the people who slow down to overtake. In middle/left they're going at your speed or even a bit higher, so you wouldn't choose to overtake them, then when they pull into the outside lane they slow down by 10mph. You'd be going quite a bit faster than them on average so would like to overtake but could only do so by going like the clappers. On a moderately busy motorway this can go on for miles.

I try not to worry about this sort of thing

Best solution I've found!

On lorries, having driven a lot of underpowered things with heavy loads a long time ago, I have more sympathy with the lorry driver who wants to overtake the lorry in front than the car driver who's cross about this little inconvenience. He's as much right to get his overtake done at 60mph as I have at 70 and he'll pull back in as quick as is safe and sensible, which is more than can be said for most cars.

I also get annoyed with those who drive through the countryside on 60mph limit roads at about 45mph and then carry on through the little villages at 45mph or worse still, as you go to over take on the faster roads suddenly speed up making the overtake unsafe and then when you pull in behind then they drop back to 45mph.

This, but drivers doing 25-30mph on country roads where you can safely travel at about 40mph but it's impossible to overtake - however there are plenty of places they could pull over to let the vehicles behind them pass.

IME some drivers in Scotland will do the courteous thing, but it's very rare south of the border.

Setting it at 76/77 means that your remove a lot of the variability in speed

I used to employ this tactic when I had cruise control, new car has Adaptive Cruise Control so slows down instead of ploughing into the back of these people and I am less bothered by it to an extent.

Ogmios people, Ogmios.

As a driver of cars it’s infuriating when lorries decide they just have to be in front of another lorry on a dual carriageway, so go to overtake and block the whole road while they do their 0.5 mph faster overtake, just to sit in front of the lorry they just overtook.

It's all down to pressures in the industry. A lot of companies set very ambitious route schedules so the drivers have to go everywhere on the limiter to have any hope of keeping to it. Over the course of a 10hr day on long trips all the time saved by making those slow overtakes can add up to 20-30 minutes, especially if you manage to 'save' 1 minute with a ling overtake and arrive at your destination to unload 30 seconds before another lorry and not have to wait for a bay to become free. Add in that some lorries are limited to 56 and others to 50 or 52, depending on the company, and you have lots of factors that encourage 'elephant racing' all the time.

Whatever you may encounter on the roads is never a good idea to let it swing your mood about, it won't help your driving.

Its also good practice to remember you have no clue what is going on with the vehicle or driver/passengers in question. You may have even missed something that they have not.

Just be patient folk and drive like the fabulous people you are when on your bike.

This is the most annoying thing about getting a car with cruise control. Never really noticed it much or bothered much before.

Worst is vans coming tailgating then storming past down hills at 80mph only to slow to 60mph up the next hill as they have no power for their heavy load.

Car drivers I think its the catch up mentality, i.e. when someone is ahead they are a target to catch, once caught and passed there is no target so they slow, also agin they don't adapt their throttle input to the changing gradient.

Adaptive cruise control makes all this much much less annoying.

Glad it's not just me. I use cruise control alot, set it to 70 (actual 67 to 68) ands I have experienced all of the above things. Using cruise control does highlight how inconsistent some other drivers are at maintaining a set speed.

Ironically I used to speed a lot but started to get so paranoid I'd get caught I stopped, I've lost the worry from that perspective but it can be quite frustrating at 68, people going both slower and faster, sat in the outside lane breaking the law was a lot easier in that respect.

Has also made me realise though that a lot of drivers don't speed.

To make the point that you're in the middle lane of the motorway yet shouldn't be.

My Dad pointed out once that people who suddenly pull out on you will immediately turn (left or right). Soon as theyre in traffic the indicator comes on.

Anybody else think this was going to be about cycling?
*ahem* - not that anyone could ever possibly overtake me on a bike, even when I'm just dawdling. Ridiculous idea.

[i]I also get annoyed with those who drive through the countryside on 60mph limit roads at about 45mph and then carry on through the little villages at 45mph or worse still, as you go to over take on the faster roads suddenly speed up making the overtake unsafe and then when you pull in behind then they drop back to 45mph.

This. All over the Highlands.

Made worse if they are in a rental campervan which slows at every nice new view and a GoPro gets stuck out the window…[/i]

To make the point that you’re in the middle lane of the motorway yet shouldn’t be.

there it is; exactly the point i was about to make.

The absolute worst thing about this is when you move from a car with cruise to a car without and you find yourself doing it, unable to stop yourself only recognising it when you notice that car you just overtook is pulling out to overtake you.... you think "what an idiot whys he speeding up now when i've just overtaken", and glance at your speedo and realise you've slowed.

I think many drivers have poorer eyesight than they're willing to admit and simply can't read their speedometer (digital or otherwise).

They rely on the car in front to moderate their speed and just go flat out until they catch someone up.

Car drivers I think its the catch up mentality, i.e. when someone is ahead they are a target to catch, once caught and passed there is no target so they slow, also agin they don’t adapt their throttle input to the changing gradient.

I think this is spot-on actually.

Must be some latent competitive urge.

mahalo
To make the point that you’re in the middle lane of the motorway yet shouldn’t be.
there it is; exactly the point i was about to make.

Thanks for playing, but nope.

Adaptive cruise control could also somewhat explain the original annoyance.

Go past a car whilst sitting in cruise at say 80 (high but using as an example)

Get past car, pull in then your car immediately slows as the next car in the lane is triggering the ACC radar.

I find this if I leave my ACC on the longest range but tbh don't use the bloody thing as it is frustrating.

Much rather use the speed limiter instead and gauge speed by conditions etc. That way if somebody comes past me I don't have the option to follow them instinctively without mashing my foot into the floor to overcome the limiter.

One that hasn’t been mentioned that also pees me off, drivers that don’t increase the acceleration when driving up a hill, often behind drivers whose speed at the top of the hill is a good 20-30 mph (nsl) less compared to the speed we were travelling at the bottom

Speed cameras? Slamming on the anchors in case there's a sneaky camera under the gantry.

One thing that I've noticed is that I like to drive at my preferred speed (assuming light traffic) whereas a lot of other drivers seem to want to drive in their preferred lane. If I'm cruising along at 70mph and there's a car in the lane going slower than that, I'll overtake (before then going back to the inside lane, I'm not a moron) and aim to maintain a steady speed. But some people just seem to stick in their lane irrespective of traffic, with their speed varying between 60 and 80. That has never made sense to me - at least from a fuel / time efficiency perspective. I suppose this might happen more now because more people have adaptive cruise control.

I can't actually remember the last time I drove on a motorway, though. September, perhaps.

To make the point that you’re in the middle lane of the motorway yet shouldn’t be.

there it is; exactly the point i was about to make.

^^^^^^^^^^^ very much this, quite often see people sat at 60 in the right hand lane for no reason whatsoever, completely oblivious to the world around them

pothead

To make the point that you’re in the middle lane of the motorway yet shouldn’t be.

there it is; exactly the point i was about to make.

^^^^^^^^^^^ very much this, quite often see people sat at 60 in the right hand lane for no reason whatsoever, completely oblivious to the world around them

Yes, er, but - as I've said before - I wasn't!

how to drive

Setting the Cruise to a slightly higher speed usually solves this.

I find that the vast majority of people can’t reliably hold 70mph or chose not to at certain times. Setting it at 76/77 means that your remove a lot of the variability in speed. Most of the time, it’s you doing the overtaking.

Back when I was doing lots of motorway miles, and I discovered the wonders of cruise control, (up until last August I’d never owned a car with it fitted), I used to set it for 80mph, which related to an actual 72-74mph, according to my satnav and the make/model of car.
This meant I was staying at a comfortable speed, slightly faster than those sticking to an indicated 68-70, come hell or high water, and low enough for everyone else in vans and posh German cars to tear past and dwindle into the distance. I’ve not driven anywhere far enough on a motorway to really use it yet - maybe next year...

The problem is that no-one, absolutely no-one, actually drives at 70 on a motorway. You've got the speed-limited trucks doing mid-50s; less-confident drivers cut from the "it's a limit not a target" cloth doing 60; the self-righteous "I'm doing the speed limit, everyone else is wrong" brigade doing an indicated 70 on their overreading speedo which is actually about 65; folk playing the 10%+2 card and doing an indicated 78; the same doing an actual 78 when it's probably displaying about 85; the ones in expensive cars who are far too loaded to give a damn about any potential fines so long as they're sub-100 and not into licence-losing territory; and the very occasional one who absolutely gives zero shits, thinks they're on the Nurburgring and probably stole it.

The traffic police don't do 70 even, or they'd just end up surrounded by a little bubble of the same well-behaved drivers for miles and miles.

I try not to let others wind me up, occasionally I fail though and it’s the middle/outside lane hoggers that do it when they’re holding up a stream of vehicles.

And yes at times I do either undertake them or swing across 2 lanes and back again in front of them. Apart from that I’m pretty laid back.

If someone Overtakes and slows so what, I just go past them again.

It's perfectly acceptable to pass slower-moving traffic on the left. Just be conscious that the docile pricks probably haven't seen you and might do something random.

Used to notice a fair few of the overtake and then slow down brigade when I drove a company van with a limiter. Very annoying.

Before I had cruise control, on a long motorway drive I would often look for a car doing the speed I wanted to do (about 75mph) then use them as a pace setter. Makes for a less tiring drive where you're constantly looking at your speedo. I've noticed people doing the same to me now I've got cruise control.

One guy I used to work with admitted that on long motorway drives he would challenge himself on how long he could close his eyes for, what a cock!

It's psychology
Herding

It’s perfectly acceptable to pass slower-moving traffic on the left.

Its really not. Illegal and dangerous and will get you prosecuted if spotted

It’s perfectly acceptable to pass slower-moving traffic on the left.

Its really not. Illegal and dangerous and will get you prosecuted if spotted

Potentially dangerous definitely yes. The illegal part depends on your preceding actions I was told. If you have been in the left lane continuously before hand then you are not undertaking - they are in the incorrect lane. If you have been changing lanes before hand for what ever reason then it can be argued that you are undertaking. I think it would be discretion of the officer and I suspect it would be easier to prosecute you than the middle lane moron.

The problem is that no-one, absolutely no-one, actually drives at 70 on a motorway. You’ve got the speed-limited trucks doing mid-50s; less-confident drivers cut from the “it’s a limit not a target” cloth doing 60; the self-righteous “I’m doing the speed limit, everyone else is wrong” brigade doing an indicated 70 on their overreading speedo which is actually about 65; folk playing the 10%+2 card and doing an indicated 78; the same doing an actual 78 when it’s probably displaying about 85; the ones in expensive cars who are far too loaded to give a damn about any potential fines so long as they’re sub-100 and not into licence-losing territory; and the very occasional one who absolutely gives zero shits, thinks they’re on the Nurburgring and probably stole it.

The traffic police don’t do 70 even, or they’d just end up surrounded by a little bubble of the same well-behaved drivers for miles and miles.

This.

In a past life when I was doing +30k pa and before all the 'smart' tech my normal speed was as fast as was safe (aided by a radar detector) - plus as someone who'd spent a lot of time driving in Germany and the like, felt total comfortable well in excess of the speed limit.

I still speed, but no where near as I use to - but for me it's all about the conditions (probably +30 years of motorbikes mean I'm more 'appreciative' of varying conditions and their impact than the average car/van driver).

And if I catch you up on a single carriageway road, I will overtake when it's safe.

Re: passing on the left, what you do after it would matter as well.
Continue in the left lane at the same speed= no problem.
Cut across the car in the next lane to your right= definitely not on.
Also it depends why you are passing them, have you put your foot down to do it?
Or, is the guy in lane 2 or 3 slowing down for no perceptible reason.
If you’re going to do it, you need to bear in mind that a percentage of drivers don’t actually realise they’re in a car.