Tim Streater gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying:

If I'm stooging along the motorway at 65, look in the
mirror, and decide to overtake as the klod behind is a long
way off, my expectation is that he will still be a long way
behind after I've moved to the fast lane. I don't expect to
find him up my exhaust because the **** was doing 110.

If you're "looking", but not for long enough to gauge their
rate of approach, then you're not looking properly.

There is that, but if their rate of approach is low you may
have to look for too long.

Umm, you'd be able to tell their rate of approach was slow enough
not to be an issue, wouldn't you...?

Normally yes, but if the clown is going really fast then he may
not be that visible when you look.

If your eyesight is so poor that you are unable to see somebody
closing at a difference of 45mph (20 metres per second), then I
wonder how you cope with pulling out of a side junction onto an NSL
road?

I mean he may not even have been in sight.

sigh
It's basic mathematics, Tim.

You're doing 65. He's doing 110. That's a difference of 45mph. 45mph is
72kph.
72,000 metres in an hour is 1.2km in a minute is 20 metres per second.

If he's "not in sight", then he's not going to be right up on your arse
THAT quickly, is he?

Well IME they are. Anyway, don't confuse me with facts, OK? :-)

Mmm...

You know the pedal furthest right? It can be pressed a bit harder to help
you get past the wagon and back left again more quickly...

And then I'd rather focus on the lorry I'm overtaking, thanks.

Your hazard perception priorities are wrong. The truck is a far more
predictable, and therefore lower, risk.

You wouldn't say that if you lived anywhere near the A14 between
Cambridge and Huntingdon.

Ooh, let me think - it's a whole five days since I was last on that
stretch of A14.

Then you really should know what I mean, especially when its busy, nose
to tail lorries in the inside lane. Having seen the regular stream of
accidents on that section of road as reported in the Cambridge Evening
News I used to make detours rather than take that stretch, if it looked
at all busy.

Despite the fact that closing speeds are VERY unlikely to be higher than
10mph or so when it's busy - precisely BECAUSE it's busy...?

Again, though, that just reinforces the suggestion that the wagon is a
lower risk than the car you may have missed seeing coming from behind
fast. He's just going to bimble along merrily nose-to-tail with the one
in front. If he's going to pull out, then you can see that - because you
can see him closing on the one in front. Wagon drivers tend not to do
unpredictable things.