February 5, 2012

Life from 15 feet up (5)

Have you ever wondered what life on the roads would be like if LGVs did not overtake each other at any and every given opportunity, and a law was passed to prohibit it?

Motorway traffic
Image by ☺ Lee J Haywood via Flickr

Picture the scene as it is currently, lorries making serene, stately, steady progress along the major arterials of our country, occasionally pulling out to overtake a marginally slower lorry, a jaunty signal to thank the lorry being overtaked for ‘flashing me’ back in, perfect harmony really, on we all go.

Picture the scene if overtaking was forbidden. No overtaking, long queues of lorries effectively in convoy in the left-hand lane. On and off the accelerator, on and off the brake, difficult journeys, horrendous.

Is this what you’d prefer? Is this what you’d prefer as your off ramp approaches?

Thought not.

Nick Ingram

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  • Morag

    Ah, but Nick, many lorry drivers seem to wait until there is a long shallow incline before overtaking, which is not a short activity. I have often been stuck for over a mile behind a lorry attempting to overtake another before it finally admits defeat, when anyone could see it wouldn't have made it. I am sure many – and maybe most – lorry drivers are more thoughtful about their overtaking decisions, but the selfish few spoil it for everyone.