Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Racing incident - lucky to be in one piece

[zhed44]

Originally posted by Felix
A "Racing incident"?? You are joking, aren't you.

yes it was - i thought that might be obvious given that i was involved in an accident with a mondeo on the queen's highway.....

explanations and mitigation: well, he was driving at 10 - 15mph approx 6" from the kerb, leaving a 5' gap between his OS and the centre line. no side roads to the right, nowhere to go but straight on (or into me of course). come on, be honest, in that situation who wouldn't overtake?

if he hadn't suddenly hit the nitrous button, the whole manouvre would have been over and done with a long way before the bend became a factor.

however, hands up, it was a risky manouvre which i was lucky to get away with - but hey, "let he who is without sin etc etc"

and anyone that continues to flame me in a patronising, sanctimonious manner must forthwith sell their ducati and buy a BMW

[Edited on 13-9-2005 by zhed44]

[Felix]

Fair play, zhed, we all have made daft overtaking maneuovers in the past. Trouble is, the only seem daft after the fact.

[JPM]

Originally posted by zhed44

yes it was - i thought that might be obvious given that i was involved in an accident with a mondeo on the queen's highway.....

explanations and mitigation: well, he was driving at 10 - 15mph approx 6" from the kerb, leaving a 5' gap between his OS and the centre line. no side roads to the right, nowhere to go but straight on (or into me of course). come on, be honest, in that situation who wouldn't overtake?

if he hadn't suddenly hit the nitrous button, the whole manouvre would have been over and done with a long way before the bend became a factor.

however, hands up, it was a risky manouvre which i was lucky to get away with - but hey, "let he who is without sin etc etc"

and anyone that continues to flame me in a patronising, sanctimonious manner must forthwith sell their ducati and buy a BMW

[Edited on 13-9-2005 by zhed44]

Personally I never overtake on double whites mate, 1, it's illegal 2, they're there for a reason. I've seen too many people do it and end up nearly off, and the odd one or two pulled by the fuzz for doing so, 6 points I think

[zhed44]

glad to hear it. with a bit of luck you should live forever

i may be wildly inaccurate, but i thought that double whites mean "don't cross us" - ie: no mention of overtaking. surely then, given that if something isn't forbidden, then it is permissible, so if there is enough space to overtake without crossing the lines, then all other things being equal (other traffic/speed limits/visibility etc) it's ok to overtake.

anyway dad, i'm suitably admonished. i promise i'll be good in future.

[Jools]

But it's not illegal to overtake on double whites, only to cross the double whites while you're doing it, so if there's a big enough gap it might be incredibly risky but...

The hill you're talking about could almost be the one leading into the town I live in. It's a steep hill that has buses and delivery vans labouring up there in second gear at about 10 mph and it has double whites all the way up it. Right at the top of the hill there is a 90 degree right hander...still has double whites, but the road widens at this point so that, if buses and trucks keep to the left, you can get a car past quite safely without crossing the double whites. There is enough room on the left hand side of the road to paint a white line down the middle of it and call the leftmost half a crawler lane, but they haven't painted that line so it remains a single carriageway.

But... I've overtaken there. A slow moving vehicle keeping left leaves about an 8 foot gap. On a bike it's just a question of a quick flick of the right wrist and two seconds later you're past - with 4 feet between you and the vehicle and 4 feet between you and the double whites.

Illegal? No. Committing any due care and attention/dangerous driving offence? No, perfectly safe in my view (and all but the most zealous observer of the law). Stupid? No. Risky? No more than getting on a bike in the first place.

So it's not always stupid/risky/illegal just depends like anything else on road layout and other road conditions at the time.

[andyb]

Originally posted by Jools
But it's not illegal to overtake on double whites, only to cross the double whites while you're doing it, so if there's a big enough gap it might be incredibly risky but...

The hill you're talking about could almost be the one leading into the town I live in. It's a steep hill that has buses and delivery vans labouring up there in second gear at about 10 mph and it has double whites all the way up it. Right at the top of the hill there is a 90 degree right hander...still has double whites, but the road widens at this point so that, if buses and trucks keep to the left, you can get a car past quite safely without crossing the double whites. There is enough room on the left hand side of the road to paint a white line down the middle of it and call the leftmost half a crawler lane, but they haven't painted that line so it remains a single carriageway.

But... I've overtaken there. A slow moving vehicle keeping left leaves about an 8 foot gap. On a bike it's just a question of a quick flick of the right wrist and two seconds later you're past - with 4 feet between you and the vehicle and 4 feet between you and the double whites.

Illegal? No. Committing any due care and attention/dangerous driving offence? No, perfectly safe in my view (and all but the most zealous observer of the law). Stupid? No. Risky? No more than getting on a bike in the first place.

So it's not always stupid/risky/illegal just depends like anything else on road layout and other road conditions at the time.

Er .there are actually several situations where you CAN cross the white lines..................come on then get your highway codes out???

[andyb]

108: Double white lines where the line nearest you is solid. This means you MUST NOT cross or straddle it unless it is safe and you need to enter adjoining premises or a side road. You may cross the line if necessary to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10mph or less.
Laws RTA sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 26

[Dave_H]

Whilst overtaking without crossing the line isn't illegal, it may leave you open to driving without due care and attention, or some such charge.

The lines are indicating a hazard ahead and by overtaking, you could be seen to not paying attention to that hazard.

[zhed44]

well i'm very relieved and i'm also intelligent enough to realise i had an angel on the pillion seat last night as it could have been much, much worse.

[Mello-Yellow]

Done it myself on numerous occasions, when there is plenty of room left by the car and i know they have seen me by moving over and indicating left. Never do it when it's a tight squeeze because you can guarantee that the driver has not seen you and then end up in a lot more trouble than just being patient and waiting.