Advanced Driving Hub

Like many advanced riders, I reflect on near-misses to ensure I avoid these situations in future. And I'd like your thoughts on this one.

While out over the bank holiday weekend, I started to overtake two cars. There were at 40 mph in a NSL, and I used a 3-stage overtake at the start of a long straight. Rather than nail it past them both at once, I was calm and treated them as two separate overtakes. After passing Car 1, I remained offside but double-checked if it was safe to overtake Car 2. It wasn't. A tree branch flew onto the road in front of me, and I just had time to avoid it by returning to the nearside behind Car 2. In that millisecond, I couldn't tell if the branch had been blown onto the offside road by a gust (it was windy enough) or knocked there by Car 2.

While the offside was clear when I began the 3-stage overtake, I hadn't expected the arrival of a tree branch. So, I'd like to know your thoughts on this scenario.

Phew. You were fortunate that there was adequate space betweeen Car 1 and Car 2.

The information changed and you dealt with it.

Not being there the only query would be the amount of space between 1 and 2 and whether it was one of those situations where it was a 2 car overtake or not at all.

Don't see a problem you dealt with the situation without causing an accident and anyway this is why you have insurance.

It was a squeaky derrière moment. While I know it's not always possible to prevent these moments, I wanted to work out if there's a better way in future to avoid a similar close call. On reflection, I can only think to be extra-cautious on rural roads when it's gusty because of the possibility of debris being blown into my path.

janetwise-griggs wrote:this is why you have insurance.

And it's why I have good leathers and an airbag! But I’d rather avoid needing them

you could be on your side, on an empty road and have a branch fall or be blown in front of you... not sure that it is totally related to the overtake other than it taking your focus away from your surroundings...

Ohlins wrote: While I know it's not always possible to prevent these moments

On reflection, I can only think to be extra-cautious on rural roads when it's gusty because of the possibility of debris being blown into my path.

Sometimes it's going to be luck of the draw and nothing more (and why automated vehicles won't ever avoid all 'accidents').

Being extra-wary after a storm is one level of care, but you can't predict where debris will be ejected. Guessing, you presumably hadn't seen it before the incident? But even then, the car might have straddled it, or thrown it to either side. Classic example of this is a plastic carrier bag on a motorway, good luck on predicting which way that will go between the cars.

Ohlins wrote:

janetwise-griggs wrote:this is why you have insurance.

And it's why I have good leathers and an airbag! But I’d rather avoid needing them

And skills.

A week after attending a course and being introduced to swerving, I was in L2 of the 329M (a two lane motorway). Car ahead on L1 drove over a piece of carpet - which flew up in the air. And then sideways. Dropping into L2.

Press left. Press right. Straight again L1, then regain L2.

Ohlins wrote:On reflection, I can only think to be extra-cautious on rural roads when it's gusty because of the possibility of debris being blown into my path.

akirk wrote:you could be on your side, on an empty road and have a branch fall or be blown in front of you... not sure that it is totally related to the overtake other than it taking your focus away from your surroundings...

While being more cautious in windy or stormy conditions is a great start, (with the same applying to driving), I think the very last point is probably the most important; might your focus on the overtake have stopped you taking into account the conditions and surroundings?

As a few here know, I'm sometimes too focused on the overtake, to the detriment of safety ...

While I wasn't focused excessively on the overtake, any overtake demands significant attention. If I have $10-worth-of-attention and spend $6 of my 'attention budget' on an overtake, it only leaves me $4 to spend on other things requiring attention.

Also, I will be more mindful of windy conditions on roads bounded by foliage. With hindsight, it's reasonable to expect gusts can blow stuff onto the carriageway. I have added it to the Caution List, alongside riding through deer parks at dusk and roads passing through pheasant breeding grounds. (Incidentally, Close Encounters of the Animal Kind are why I bought an airbag.)

Ohlins wrote:riding through deer parks at dusk

Not just in parks, they sometimes even go into the edge of towns.

according to several studies, 400 drivers and their passengers are injured in collisions involving deer each year, and possibly as many as 1000, and up to 20 are killed. As for the deer, it’s estimated that at least 40,000 are killed on UK roads each year, and possibly as many as 74,000. The peak months for collisions are May and October to January, and peak times are the early morning, when deer go in search of a mate or new territories.