The Frustration of the "Bow wave" Effect

[NemesisUK]

Driving home along the M4 early evening, little traffic about so engaged the (radar) cruise control relaxed in the comfort of not having to keep checking my speed (the RX is so quiet, so easy to speed!). When approaching slow heavy goods vehicles, check mirrors and indicate to overtake (before the radar slows us down) move past no hassle. Come up to a slower private cars, do the same but 9 times out of 10 the slower car starts to accelerate as I move to pass (almost as if my 'bow wave' is pushing it forward) so I have to accelerate slightly to pass. Once passed I indicate to return to my lane, lift off and drop back to the set speed and the passed car slowly recedes in the mirrors.

Now why do drivers do this? Is it they are awoken from their distraction as they see me approach and think (subconsciously?) they should 'push on'? Lorry drivers never do this.

Occasionally the passed car will accelerate pass me only to drop back again and need to be passed again, irritating... 

[wharfhouse]

37 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Driving home along the M4 early evening, little traffic about so engaged the (radar) cruise control relaxed in the comfort of not having to keep checking my speed (the RX is so quiet, so easy to speed!). When approaching slow heavy goods vehicles, check mirrors and indicate to overtake (before the radar slows us down) move past no hassle. Come up to a slower private cars, do the same but 9 times out of 10 the slower car starts to accelerate as I move to pass (almost as if my 'bow wave' is pushing it forward) so I have to accelerate slightly to pass. Once passed I indicate to return to my lane, lift off and drop back to the set speed and the passed car slowly recedes in the mirrors.

No why do drivers do this? Is it they are awoken from their distraction as they see me approach and think (subconsciously?) they should 'push on'? Lorry drivers never do this.

Occasionally the passed car will accelerate pass me only to drop back again and need to be passed again, irritating... 

And I thought it was just me...!  Come up behind a car with my cruise control on and which is going just a bit slower than me - I pull out to overtake and that car speeds up leaving us side by side at the same speed - so I have to accelerate past and pull in dropping back to the cruise control speed and then they slow down and fall back so didn't want to be doing a faster speed anyway - really irks me as I just want to go on past minding my own way (giving them plenty of room) under cruise control...!

[Thackeray]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

Lorry drivers never do this.

They would if they could! I think lorries have limiters restricting speed to 90 km/hr (about 56 mph) and buses 100 km/hr.

[Moleman]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

No why do drivers do this? Is it they are awoken from their distraction as they see me approach and think (subconsciously?) they should 'push on'? Lorry drivers never do this.

Occasionally the passed car will accelerate pass me only to drop back again and need to be passed again, irritating... 

I have reached the conclusion that some people that have sad little lives and being difficult at any opportunity they get is the only way they can feel alive.

On a normal journey to Norfolk, single lane roads, this will happen multiple times.  

[Rabbers]

Driving on motorways, almost invariably with the simple utilitarian intent of getting to a destination, can be so boring and intellectually unchallenging as to lead some drivers to seek sources of mild excitement.  Regrettably but perhaps not unnaturally, this might include in one form or another and more or less unconsciously, the wish to irritate other drivers.

[Las Palmas]

Never use cruise control here on the island. Far too many cars on the roads or too many narrow bends in the mountains. On the roads cruise control constantly brake and then accelerate. I get much more comfortable driving without the cruise control.

[Spock66]

2 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Lorry drivers never do this.

No, they wait until you are approaching then pull out to overtake another HGV, then take 2 miles to overtake at a speed difference of 0.1 mph, then pull back in front of the HGV they have overtaken with a 6-inch gap.  HGV behind then repeats the process.

[Moleman]

17 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

No, they wait until you are approaching then pull out to overtake another HGV, then take 2 miles to overtake at a speed difference of 0.1 mph, then pull back in front of the HGV they have overtaken with a 6-inch gap.  HGV behind then repeats the process.

So true.

[Linas.P]

That annoys me as well, both when driving and as a passenger. I have noticed this happening and I think it is unconscious reflex for some drivers.

I personally don't have such issue as I generally focused when driving, I may be speeding sometimes, but I always look where I am going and at what speed. As such I never increase or reduce the speed unconsciously and I consider this to be "careless driving". If car changes the speed without cautious driver input (unless it is some sort of autonomy), then the driver is not in control of vehicle.

The solution to this issue is very simple - use cruise control... and I have actually commented on this when my friends are driving and not using cruise control on motorway... it just pisses me off so much when speed varies for no reason other than them not paying attention or simply not being consistent with accelerator. I got few excuses over the years, some say they "don't feel in control" of the car when using cruise control, or that it "makes them drowsy", but I always had arguments about it and I consider this inexcusable. 

I am not saying people must use cruise control, but I personally believe that if driver can't drive at consistent speed or even worse - varies the speed unconsciously, then they should not be on the road. 

[J Henderson]

5 hours ago, Spock66 said:

No, they wait until you are approaching then pull out to overtake another HGV, then take 2 miles to overtake at a speed difference of 0.1 mph, then pull back in front of the HGV they have overtaken with a 6-inch gap.  HGV behind then repeats the process.

Well, as someone who drives a truck, I want to stick up for those guys. 🙂

Yeah, we've all experienced the above scenario, even if it is exaggerated, but You'd be surprised just how much time can be lost when a driver is prevented from doing the full 90km/h.

The drivers are often operating within fine margins where a slight delay can have a disastrous outcome or knock-on effect. Their every move is also literally being watched like a hawk in multiple ways - tachograph, GPS tracking, on-board cameras and telemetry systems.

Not to mention, the recent ("Hierarchy of road users") changes to the highway code has placed them under additional scrutiny. So no, I personally don't mind waiting a minute or whatever for an HGV driver to overtake another.

They're just doing their job, so that annoys me far less than the main issue brought up by @NemesisUK (vehicles speeding-up when they are being passed).

Now that is annoying, and infuriating when you yourself are in a speed-limited vehicle and don't have the option of accelerating more to complete the pass.

[Illogan]

5 hours ago, Spock66 said:

No, they wait until you are approaching then pull out to overtake another HGV, then take 2 miles to overtake at a speed difference of 0.1 mph, then pull back in front of the HGV they have overtaken with a 6-inch gap.  HGV behind then repeats the process.

Unfortunately you're accurate.

 

It's because wagon-pilots are wholly obsessed with their own being, their 'schedule', their driving time limits, and believe that these parameters are supreme to road safety or any other road traffic's requirements.

Unfortunately, Bus drivers, taxi pilots, couriers and all other road users (including cyclists and e-scooter astronauts) hold similar beliefs.

[Moleman]

3 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

Yeah, we've all experienced the above scenario, even if it is exaggerated,

Hi John, I am sure you mean well, but this is not exaggerated.

Try the M11, trucks pull out and block both lanes for many miles and minutes. Not content to pass one truck, they go for multiple vehicles. Sorry you are at risk of being slightly late, how about the hundreds of drivers you impact with such action? Hundreds is correct on the M11, often see tailbacks close to a mile long, as two or more trucks play their passing game. Not funny. 😒

[wharfhouse]

10 minutes ago, Moleman said:

Hi John, I am sure you mean well, but this is not exaggerated.

Try the M11, trucks pull out and block both lanes for many miles and minutes. Not content to pass one truck, they go for multiple vehicles. Sorry you are at risk of being slightly late, how about the hundreds of drivers you impact with such action? Hundreds is correct on the M11, often see tailbacks close to a mile long, as two or more trucks play their passing game. Not funny. 😒

Recently on the M1 - the 4 Lane section - miles of artics and trucks occupying the first three lanes all moving hardly any faster than each other with a queue of cars trying to get past them all in the only remaining outside lane.... You might think that those in charge would have predicted that and perhaps limited heavy goods to continue utilising just two lanes when more than 3 lanes are available otherwise any concept of relieving congestion with extra lanes is nullified. 

[NemesisUK]

30 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

They're just doing their job, so that annoys me far less than the main issue brought up by @NemesisUK (vehicles speeding-up when they are being passed).

Indeed, no complaints from me, they don't do it deliberately to annoy, unlike Reginald Molehusband in his modern day Austin 1100

[Linas.P]

I have opinion of truck overtaking as well, but to be fair this is completely different topic which deserves it's own thread. 

The only other thing I wanted to say - the unconscious zombies on motorways are obviously "mildly" annoying, but they are outright dangerous on country lanes when road opens-up for limited opportunity to overtake and the xxxxxbag you overtaking starts accelerating as well. I know it is already illegal to accelerate whilst being overtaken (that applies to all roads), but when it is done on single lane road I think it should be prosecuted same as attempted murder. 

[MartinH]

As an aside, I routinely set the cruise on the IS250 — a crude control by today's standards. When I borrowed a UX with ACC, it was apparent how much greater the programmed stand-off distance from the vehicle in front was than my own habitual visual assessment — the car would back off long before I would do. Driver can vary that distance using the ACC settings, but it was an interesting lesson in how one's own habits may fall short of best practice.

[Redefined]

Edited and deleted.

[Rabbers]

8 hours ago, MartinH said:

…. When I borrowed a UX with ACC, it was apparent how much greater the programmed stand-off distance from the vehicle in front was than my own habitual visual assessment — the car would back off long before I would do. Driver can vary that distance using the ACC settings, but it was an interesting lesson in how one's own habits may fall short of best practice. ….

The ACC is a very useful thing to have in motorway driving, no question about it.  And insofar as its reaction time might be superior to yours, its value increases in proportion to your speed.  The only thing I dislike about it is purely subjective and relates to my personal nature as a worrier, in this case about the reliability of technology and my ever increasing reliance on it.  Specifically, at high speed, as the obstacle ahead comes closer and the ACC (which I generally set to the closest distance mark unless the traffic thickens) starts slowing the car, I am often unable to suppress the fleeting thought of what would happen in the event of a system malfunction.  And the answer is that however remote the possibility thereof might be, I am nevertheless putting myself at risk of imminently kissing my **s goodbye.

[MartinH]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:19 AM, Rabbers said:

 the fleeting thought of what would happen in the event of a system malfunction

Now there is a meta-topic

[Rabbers]

34 minutes ago, MartinH said:

Now there is a meta-topic

Why is that?

[Mr Vlad]

The overtaking of a slower car only for that slower car to accelerate so that you look a fool is oh so a common occurrence. As you may know I drive 7.5 ton truck and unfortunately its limited to 54mph. Yes 54mph. Now I've come across too many dozzy barstuards who trundle along in their own little world at 52mph. They ate rudely awoken by a truck dareingly overtaking them and with steam coming out of their ears speed up to OMG 55mph. This behaviour of the dozzy barstuard is infuriating at best. 

Now then about a 4 lane motorway. The M62 heading from Bradford to Manchester is an expletive nightmare. Yes I see everytime I go there that the 1st 3 lanes are occupied by trucks. Bang out of order in my book. In those situations of 4 lanes of motorway trucks should be limited to the 1st 2 lanes. I'm sure it's written somewhere that this is the right protocol. 

As for cruise control. There ate pros and cons with it. Personally I only use it in situations where the speed limit within roadworks are speed camera monitored. Any other time no. Why? Because the use of your right foot is way more economic than any type of cruise control. And yes I've used radar type cruise control and yes its ruddy great when a car pulls out and the system reacts quicker than you but that's all its good for.

So about the bow wave. Very interesting interpretation. 👌 

[Rabbers]

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

…yes its ruddy great when a car pulls out and the system reacts quicker than you but that's all its good for.

That might in itself be considered a good enough reason to have ACC, but I would add hard and unexpected braking by the vehicle ahead as  another not unusual scenario where I have been thankful for it.