How to overtake safely
By Cafa, eHow Member
Overtaking on a busy two-way highway is the ultimate test of driver's ability. Some pass it, some don't. There's an error which most of the drivers make, and it's overtaking by acceleration, that's why I made this article. Even the "easiest" overtake might be fatal if done wrong, and even the hardest one can be controlled if you follow these steps:
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step 1. You have a responsibility towards all the drivers and the passengers in your own lane and in the incoming lane. You're the one initiating a dangerous move, and you're responsible for it. Usually there's no less than 5-10 people being affected by your move. Keep that in mind. That's your first step.
Step 2. Slow down and develop at least a three-second distance from the vehicle you'll be overtaking. This is the essential part which makes the entire process easy and safe, and the biggest mistake you can make is to get as close as possible to the vehicle in front. Tailgating doesn't help here.
Why are we doing this? Let's compare the two styles, overtaking a vehicle which travels at 60 mph. If you're right on his tail, at the moment when you start overtaking, the difference between the speeds of the two vehicles is zero, which means you overtake by acceleration, and it takes you a few seconds to develop 80 mph needed for overtaking. However, if you're already 20 mph faster at the moment when you start passing the vehicle, you'll be ahead of it much sooner.
There's another difference. When overtaking by acceleration, you don't have many chances to turn back to your starting point if things go wrong (incoming traffic). An accelerating car is also harder to stop, as you first need to come to stable speed, and only then start reducing it. When overtaking by speed, you're accelerating near your own lane, which means you only have to make minimal speed & direction adjustments to go back to your original position.
Step 3. Gear down, to the lowest possible gear. Depending on your speed, it might be 2nd, 3rd or 4th. Now your car is ready to overtake, but it doesn't mean you have to start right away. Some other things need to be done first.
Step 4. Don't mind the road signs much, rely on your own judgment. The engineers who built the road can't tell you what you can or can't do in your own unique situation, so don't trust the signs blindly. Examine the situation ahead of you and have the big picture in your mind at all times. You want to be sure that the next 15-20 seconds of the road is clear from incoming traffic. In the night, don't search for headlights, search for illuminated road, which indicates a car is somewhere near. It's one of the reasons why overtaking during the night is much safer than during the day.
Step 5. Turn your turning signal on. You'll leave it on until you finish overtaking, as it draws everyone's attention, and everyone instantly knows someone is overtaking or attempting to overtake. It's important to prevent the car behind you attempting to overtake both you and the slow vehicle. He might just attempt an overtake at the moment you do, because it's very likely he'll see the same chance as you did, and decide to take it. It also goes for the vehicle in front of you, if both of you are riding behind a vehicle which is slowing you down.
Step 6. Move to the center of the road, and then accelerate. Examine the situation in front of you, keep an eye on possible incoming traffic. Look as far ahead as you can. In case there's incoming traffic, slow down, go back to your lane completely, and go back to Step One.
Step 7. Switch lanes and keep accelerating as much as your car can. As soon as you switch lanes, turn your high beam headlights on, to warn the incoming traffic. That way, the incoming cars can see you before you see them. Another important thing - you should be driving on the shoulder of the road, not near the center. If near the center, steering towards the shoulder slightly throughout the overtake, you'll be in problems if you need to steer back promptly. Ideally, you should be on the shoulder of the road when starting to overtake, steering towards your own lane all the way throughout the overtaking process. Even if the situation doesn't allow that, remember you should not be steering away from your own lane after you already switched lanes. Not even a little bit.
Step 8. If you made a bad judgment and need to go back to your own lane, remain calm, as two lanes are wide enough for three cars to pass. Both the incoming car and the vehicle you're overtaking will drive towards the right shoulder of the road (probably). You need to decide will you go back to your lane ahead of the vehicle you were overtaking, or behind it. If you want to go ahead, signal the turn, and the vehicle you are overtaking will slow down, as they already saw you're in trouble, they just need to know what is your decision. Most of the time, a better decision is to abandon the overtake and go back to your original position. To do that, brake hard, without steering - unless you really have to avoid hitting the incoming car and decided anything is better than that, even sliding off the road or hitting the fence at full speed. In that case, steer and brake at the same time, but avoid braking first and then steering hard, you'll oversteer and spin. Try to steer gradually. In the case you have enough time, first brake hard, then release the brake and steer back to your lane.
Step 9. If there is more than one vehicle in front of you, it is often wiser to seize the opportunity and overtake multiple vehicles in one pass, than to risk again later. If the road is open, do it, but remember it's illegal, and keep your eye on the incoming traffic. When you passed the last vehicle you wanted to overtake, signal the turn and go back to your own lane. I repeat, signal the turn. It means a lot to everyone, even when you're overtaking in one-way traffic. Just do it.
Step 10. Always be aware of the incoming traffic, they overtake as well, and they make bad judgements because they didn't read this article and because they think their cars can outrun death. A man who is able to judge the speed of the incoming traffic wasn't yet born, but be aware that fools who THINK they can do it are born every day. This article is "moderately challenging" for a reason, it takes a lot of skill to do this perfectly every time, not needing any luck. Any fool can overtake and survive, but - how many times?
**Source
www.surfindia.comThis articles is written specially for a 4 wheeler, but still applicable to bikes also. I know you guys don't have enough time to read this long post but still i must tell that this article will help you a lot.
thanks
how to overtake and traffic rules about overtaking