Hi folks
Having passed my class 1 in January and getting out on the road not long after I have a question that’s bugging me.
I know it’s abit of courtesy to flash another hgv or bus/coach driver back in after they have overtaken you on a motorway or dual carriageway but my question is when?
I’ve been flashing them in once they are about half a truck length in front of me, is that too soon? To late? Should I flash when they indicate?
Some drivers move straight over as soon as I flash and give a quick left & right indicator salute whereas some drivers don’t bother moving over at all and some move over without any form of a thanks.
What does everyone else do? What’s the unwritten rule? Of course the written rule is don’t flash at all.
Cheers all
flash in when 2 second gap reached is the safe method
bet they pull in before that and you have to back off 
If you want to flash others in, do it when you feel the distance between you is safe if the speeds between you were the same, ie when the stopping distance is enough because soon as he’s in front you are driving blind so to speak.
As Rog, chances are they’ll be in before you have a chance to flash, i imagine lots of drivers think i’m one who won’t flash others in, but there’s no point in flashing in someone who’s been back in front 10 or 20 seconds before they cleared the front of my vehicle adequately.
British plate yes foreign plate no.
Also irish no.
Flash the other driver in when there’s a safe distance between your vehicles, what you consider to be a safe distance will depend on the speed of both vehicles and the road conditions.
If the other driver stops suddenly and you won’t be able to stop in time then it’s not a safe distance.
Cheers everyone.
I only drive at night when the motorways are relatively dead. The company i work for tells us not to rush about so i take that literally and cruise along at 50mph so i get overtaken a lot.
Usually by the time ive flashed them and they’ve actually moved over, theres a safe enough gap.
One white lane line (short or long) for every 10mph
IE - if following at 50mph then you need a minimum of 5 lane lines between vehicles
If you think it does not work - try it and see
I always flash drivers back in. Sometimes you dont see them flashing especially when your taking forever to overtake and they dont back off so you go into your own little world not checking the mirrors as often as you should though i always give a 1 2 on the indicators even if I didn’t see them flashing just incase they did
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I’ll always flash drivers in but I’m finding more and more drivers nowadays move in before I have chance to flash me lights not sure why maybe folks are more impatient these days or perhaps it’s because I work for a supermarket.
Remember that, if you flash, that is taken as an invitation to move back. So you need to be comfortable that you have sufficient gap between you and where he will be.
I totally agree with ROG. And yes, the majority will move back before the flash and then you need to back off for a couple of seconds to get the gap back. And frustrating as it seems, it’ll cost you nothing noticeable in journey time and will keep you safe.
The ONLY exception I can think of, and I’m stretching it a bit, is if there’s an emergency vehicle in a rush behind the guy that’s overtaken you. In that case, I’d flash him in as soon as he’ll clear me but I’d be seriously slowing down at the same time. Cant ever remember having to do that, but I guess it could just happen.
All the best, Pete 