Does anyone else here refrain from flashing other drivers who are hogging the outside lane?
I do. Getting caught behind someone dawdling along in the middle/outside lanes absolutely boils my ****. Yet I do absolutely nothing about it, except grumble inwardly. I was flicking through a thread on Pistonheads discussing the same thing earlier, and I think its a peculiar British thing that most people in this country wont seem to signal to others that they are behind held up, either out of politeness, a feeling that it's too aggressive, or merely the fear of antagonising someone.
I'm not talking about sitting right on someone's bumper giving them the good news with continuous full beam. Just a quick flash from a fair distance. So tonight, on my way home from swimming, I thought I'd test whether it actually works at all.
First car I came up behind was a BMW 5 series sitting in the outside lane. Making good progress, but no one inside him and I was gaining on him. I moved out behind him a fair way back (200 metres perhaps), and gave just a quick tap. He duly moved over and I passed, thanking him with hazards.
Second car was a Volvo estate. Outside lane, 65MPH maybe, no one on his inside. Again, quick flash from a fair way back (don't want to antagonise someone who might try braking checking in response). No response. I sat behind him at a good distance for a while and he didn't budge, despite there being no one inside him. I wasn't going to flash a second time and instead undertook giving him a wide berth.
Third car, white Mercedes coupe, outside lane. Again, I checked no one was inside then gave a quick flash. He didn't move over, but instead booted the throttle (I know because of the smokescreen of soot he deposited over me) and sped up, but stayed in the outside. I still count this one as a win though; he didn't move over, but he sped up so the end result was he was no longer holding me up
So anyone else ever bother doing it? Or do you think it's too aggressive? I certainly wouldn't flash someone more than once, nor would I get close. Nor would I do it if they were clearly passing someone, so it's no good doing it in rush hour traffic. I just wonder if more people were inclined to give others a signal that they were being held up, there'd be less lane hogging. Although being pessimistic, I guess it's more likely that we'd end up with people getting annoyed at the indecency of someone wanting to go faster than them and might just end up braking to intentionally annoy them further.
I do. Getting caught behind someone dawdling along in the middle/outside lanes absolutely boils my ****. Yet I do absolutely nothing about it, except grumble inwardly. I was flicking through a thread on Pistonheads discussing the same thing earlier, and I think its a peculiar British thing that most people in this country wont seem to signal to others that they are behind held up, either out of politeness, a feeling that it's too aggressive, or merely the fear of antagonising someone.
I'm not talking about sitting right on someone's bumper giving them the good news with continuous full beam. Just a quick flash from a fair distance. So tonight, on my way home from swimming, I thought I'd test whether it actually works at all.
First car I came up behind was a BMW 5 series sitting in the outside lane. Making good progress, but no one inside him and I was gaining on him. I moved out behind him a fair way back (200 metres perhaps), and gave just a quick tap. He duly moved over and I passed, thanking him with hazards.
Second car was a Volvo estate. Outside lane, 65MPH maybe, no one on his inside. Again, quick flash from a fair way back (don't want to antagonise someone who might try braking checking in response). No response. I sat behind him at a good distance for a while and he didn't budge, despite there being no one inside him. I wasn't going to flash a second time and instead undertook giving him a wide berth.
Third car, white Mercedes coupe, outside lane. Again, I checked no one was inside then gave a quick flash. He didn't move over, but instead booted the throttle (I know because of the smokescreen of soot he deposited over me) and sped up, but stayed in the outside. I still count this one as a win though; he didn't move over, but he sped up so the end result was he was no longer holding me up
So anyone else ever bother doing it? Or do you think it's too aggressive? I certainly wouldn't flash someone more than once, nor would I get close. Nor would I do it if they were clearly passing someone, so it's no good doing it in rush hour traffic. I just wonder if more people were inclined to give others a signal that they were being held up, there'd be less lane hogging. Although being pessimistic, I guess it's more likely that we'd end up with people getting annoyed at the indecency of someone wanting to go faster than them and might just end up braking to intentionally annoy them further.
