Being Overtaken While Overtaking

[Carrie Tella]

I am not sure if this is the correct forum. Sorry. Anyway, I hope you will answer my question. Thank you.

1) I was driving in third gear when the PUJ in front stopped for passenger/s, still covering 1/4 to 1/3 of our side of the road. I thought I knew what to do ... I braked a little and started to squeeze between that stopped PUJ and the opposite traffic. To my surprise, as my bumper is nearing the back wheels of the PUJ, I noticed that another vehicle was overtaking me on my left.

2) Not that I didn't want to be overtaken, but I was first. Besides he may hit oncoming traffic, or I may hit him. I don't want him to die. I didn't want him next to me or in front of me, so I accelerated. Another surprise ... the PUJ I was overtaking accelerated. Perhaps he wanted to overtake me too because his engine was loud and he was quite fast. So, I put pressure on the accelerator that I almost floored it, I think.

3) As I was overtaking, I followed an advice and looked at the right side mirror to see the front of the PUJ come into full view before I completely go back to my lane. I almost hit an opposing vehicle that had tires on the middle of the road.

Now, where did I go wrong? I don't want to die ... yet. :juggle: :pope:

[niky]

You only went wrong in assuming that the drivers around you would be sensible and do the safe thing. You're in the right as the first car in line, to try and overtake the jeepney, but many drivers will often try to seize the opportunity to "get ahead" and will try to cut you off.

Some jeepney drivers (not all) are complete a$$holes who block the road to unload, then will race to stay ahead of whoever's trying to get around them.

In such situations, let the guy behind you pass, the jeepney to race him, and those two idiots to have it out with each other when they crash...

Observance lang talaga. On Philippine roads, you have to have eyes in front, behind, to the side and to the skies (an armored car might fall on top of you) to keep safe. And a thick skin.

[alwayz_yummy]

in those situation where having a maximum torque of 35kg-m * 1800-2000 rpm are very useful..

well, back to topic-- you panic-ed, right.. huminto yung dyip, medyo may kalayuan ka, pag silip mo sa sidemiror, may umoovertake.. then bigla naman umarangkada yun dyip right?

ang pagkakamali mo-- you... HESITATED... buti sinuwerte ka at nakalusot ka...pasalamat ka nalang,at tatandaan mo to palagi---

[size=7]in driving, when in doubt, slow down and stop[/size]!

[chris_d]

Pag 2 lane road tapos nde naman ganun kabilis takbo ko usually hinihintay ko na lang mag unload yung jeep, pero kung walang oncoming traffic mag signal left ako to indicate na mag overtake ako, pero bago mag overtake dapat tingin ka muna sa rear view mirror, kung mukhang may mas mabilis na sayo na mag overtake rin paunahin mo na sya

[woohoo]

Pag 2 lane road tapos nde naman ganun kabilis takbo ko usually hinihintay ko na lang mag unload yung jeep, pero kung walang oncoming traffic mag signal left ako to indicate na mag overtake ako, pero bago mag overtake dapat tingin ka muna sa rear view mirror, kung mukhang may mas mabilis na sayo na mag overtake rin paunahin mo na sya

Right... madali naman malaman kung mas mabilis siya sa iyo, para kung ganun nga, paunahin mo na lang siya. Di bale nang ikaw ang mabitin, at least, iwasan ang sabit/bangga at magalit pa yung ibang tao...

... though in my case, I usually won't need to check behind, because I'm almost always aware of the situation at the back (and at the sides) by checking periodically, which is something I always recommend... kasama na sa defensive driving tips...

... yun nga lang, pagdating sa city driving, daming pasaway na nakamotor... lusot nang lusot kahit alanganin...

[Flagg]

Sino ba nauna lumabas? The vehicle behind or the TS? Kasi, in this special environment of ours, it's difficult to follow the queue rule; lalo na prevalent ang mga mahilig humadlang.

IMO, kung nauna yung nasa likod mag-overtake, the TS should yield.

Pero kung nauna ang TS, why go ahead and get the guy behind killed. One less POS on the road.

[puroy]

Sino ba nauna lumabas? The vehicle behind or the TS? Kasi, in this special environment of ours, it's difficult to follow the queue rule; lalo na prevalent ang mga mahilig humadlang.

IMO, kung nauna yung nasa likod mag-overtake, the TS should yield.

Pero kung nauna ang TS, why go ahead and get the guy behind killed. One less POS on the road.

based kay TS: "To my surprise, as my bumper is nearing the back wheels of the PUJ, I noticed that another vehicle was overtaking me on my left."

mukhang yung vehicle sa likod ang nauna kasi nagulat na lang si TS na nasa overtake/opposite lane na yung vehicle. unless sa rear mirror nya nakita na pa-overtake pa lang yung vehicle sa likod.

[coiter]

new driver? parang nagulat ka pa kasi sa nangyari that's a normal occurence especially in a 2 way street so get used to it. next time, kung di ka naman nagmamadali, huminto ka na lang kung nagaalangan ka and wait for the jeep to move. pabayaan mo yung nag oovertake sayo.

i've witnessed 2 incidents kung saan biglang nawala sa tabi ko yung nag-oovertake (actually parang nagcounterflow na) sa akin. na-head on ng kasalubong. :o kaya ingat na lang lagi

[XTO]

Well in driving, over anticipation help a lot. Malayo pa lang when I noticed that the PUJ in front has the intention to pick / drop or stop, almost simultaneously tingin na ko sa rear view and left side view mirror at on coming vehicle. my decision really depends on those….

1. if there are incoming – no way to take the risk to overtake – if someone behind you would take the chance, let him do and watch.
2. but if there are no incoming vehicles, malayo pa lang lalabas na ko ng konti so that following vehicle will notice that I have also the intention to pass – but really depends kung di pa siya (following you) naka labas too. Kasi kung ganun eh malamang kayo mag-abot at pagtawanan kayo ng dyip na loko-loko. The best pa rin magbigayan para iwas sabit.

[mbeige]

Once again, asserting your right of way can be dangerous at the wrong moments. Learn when to yield and anticipate their actions well in advance.

[Memphis Raines]

It always pays to drive defensively.





.

[StraightSix]

Once again, asserting your right of way can be dangerous at the wrong moments. Learn when to yield and anticipate their actions well in advance.

Exactly.

---

What you did was wrong and illegal*.

When you stepped on your brakes and tried to squeeze between the stopped PUJ and opposing lane/traffic, you have indicated that you are slowing down with no intention to change lanes. If you were intending to, you should've looked in your mirrors and turned on your indicator lights if it was safe to do so.

When you noticed the overtaking PUJ the first thing you should have done was to slow down or maintain your speed and let it overtake you. If the overtaking PUJ made a dangerous mistake, it certainly didn't need another mistake from you that made the situation more dangerous.

But don't worry, you're in the Philippines - where the line between what's right and what's wrong is usually blurry.

* https://go.lto.net.ph/xpresslane/?q=node/6#Passing

[yapoy86]

in those situation where having a maximum torque of 35kg-m * 1800-2000 rpm are very useful..

well, back to topic-- you panic-ed, right.. huminto yung dyip, medyo may kalayuan ka, pag silip mo sa sidemiror, may umoovertake.. then bigla naman umarangkada yun dyip right?

ang pagkakamali mo-- you... HESITATED... buti sinuwerte ka at nakalusot ka...pasalamat ka nalang,at tatandaan mo to palagi---

!

this is right... NEVER EVER HESITATE in driving.. marami nadidisgrasya sa ganyan attitude of drivers hesitating.. hindi malaman nung ibang driver kung hihinto ka ba o didiretso... its better to have a good estimation of whats in mind of drivers in front of you... you need to calculate and expect their moves...defensive driving nga eh if in doubt andyan lang sa tabi ng accelerator ang brakes USE IT

in the case above... kaya ka inovertake nung car sa left side mo is because you slowed down so ang estimate nung car sa left eh hihinto ka eh bigla ka pala mag accelerate so nag alanganin sya and nowhere to go kaya nag accelerate na din para unahan ka.. yung jeep nag accelerate din to get momentum for his jeep kaya sabi mo parang kumakarera sayo.. maingay lang makina nun kumbaga 120kph 100 ingay bente takbo...

[niky]

Just in defense of the TS... from the information given, it is not clear whether the PUJ behind her also signalled its intent, which it probably did not, but this is a common bad habit amongst Filipino drivers. If the car in front of you is in the process of overtaking, you shouldn't try to overtake it at the same time. That's also common sense and also on the LTO site:

Where Passing is not Safe

1. When there is a long time of cars ahead.
2. When you intend to turn or stop very soon.
3. When an incoming car is too close.
4. When the car ahead is going at or near the speed limit. Speed limit is still applied when passing.
5. When sight distance ahead is limited.
6. When the maneuver would have to be completed in a no-passing zone such as hill, curve or intersection.

As a newbie, the TS doesn't have the experience to use her indicator signal... (few people actually do), but common sense is... in a queue, let the person at the head of the queue go first. What the PUJ driver did was try to jump the queue by pulling out immediately and gunning it, even though the vehicle in front is showing an inclination to also pass. That's poor safety.

In this incident:

PUJ number one did something illegal, speeding up while being passed.

PUJ number two did something deemed unsafe, which is passing from the end of a line of vehicles... and, from the given situation, was apparently counterflowing on the left side of the road trying to edge past... which is both unsafe and illegal.

TS got caught between the two, performing a technically illegal action of accelerating while being overtaken, but consider that PUJ number two was trying to execute an illegal overtaking maneuver in the first place.

Personally, I think your initial instinct was right... basically if you're the first overtaker, your job is to get around the obstruction quickly so that anyone following you will not be in harm's way. But even though PUJ number one was doing something illegal, speeding up while you were overtaking him, common sense dictates that you should just let him through... no need to get into an accident on the account of the pig-headedness of others. Next time, given the state of idiocy on the road, watch your mirrors. Road sense lang yun. ;)

[puroy]

mukhang di alam ni TS kung ano ang Yield and kung anong klaseng driver ang mga jeepney drivers. :peace:

[Carrie Tella]

God! As if you were there Niky. That's it. You understood what I was trying to say ... and ask. Merci. :bond:

[Carrie Tella]

Thanks everybody. :shake: Thanks a lot Niky. :foryou::thankyou:

[rion]

sh*t like that always happen.

be thankful nalang walang nangyari.

[shadow]

*TS, welcome to the Philippines....get used to it, if you will continue driving in our wild,wild street...