Safe Overtaking

Overtaking is crossing a slow moving vehicle on a multi lane highway or on single undivided roads. Both of them need different amounts of time and skill with different risks. Overtaking is legal unless officially marked by a no Overtaking sign.

Rules of Overtaking as per MVDR : Overtake only from right, however we sometimes need to overtake from left as trucks occupy right lanes mostly due to slow moving or wrong side traffic on left lanes,they prefer driving on the right lane.

If you are overtaking from left,be cautious and ensure that,the truck won't change lanes until you finish your overtake. Our natural reaction is to swerve left,if there's an obstacle, so overtaking from left is always risky and must be done quickly.

No Overtaking on :

1. Curves

2. Undulating roads

3. Roads where marked with continuous white or yellow line

4. Where marked with no Overtaking sign

5. On narrow bridges, intersections,culverts,where lanes merge

6. Near school zones, pedestrian crossing etc.

On curves, our visibility is limited as our line of sight is straight until we enter the curve, so a vehicle can suddenly appear if you are not prepared. We shouldn't overtake and we should protect ourselves from someone who does that by slowing down.

No Overtaking on undulating roads where there is a change in road elevation. This can completely hide a vehicle. If someone attempts to overtake from the other side,we should be able to protect ourselves by letting them know of our presence.

Overtaking an idle vehicle looks simple as the distance we need to cover is constant. But overtaking a moving vehicle takes time as we need to increase speed to cover more distance faster than the other vehicle. If it is a truck,which is longer than your car,you need more time.

Overtaking on multi lane highways: There's little risk of head-on collision unless someone jumps the median and comes on your side. Do not tailgate vehicles closely before attempting to overtake as there can be a barricade etc,which may force the other vehicle to change lanes.

On multi lane highways, risks are mainly due to cutting vehicles closely without checking mirrors.

Sometimes on highways, we always face this situation where there will be two heavy vehicles/cars(purple blocks) travelling at different speeds on two lanes as shown. Car drivers(red block) try to weave through the gap.

This can be dangerous as the gap calculation depends on our speed,speed of those 2 vehicles too. If they speed up or slow down or if they face an obstacle like a barricade,the gap narrows and we will be crushed in between.

Example :

On one of my drives,I saw a creta attempting a similar maneuver but stopped at the last minute. I'm glad he stopped the move. Here's the clip.

If the gap is more than 2-3 car lengths,and if there's no indication of speed increase by any of those vehicles, we can move but with caution. If the gap is only one car length and if there's a slope in the road,where speeds naturally increase,DO NOT ATTEMPT such a move.

Also,if there are more than 3 lanes, there's a risk of side swipe,if vehicles from lane 1 and 3 move to lane 2 to overtake a slow moving vehicle.

Give an indicator, check the mirrors and move to the Overtaking lane, complete overtake and come back to the left lane again once both the headlights of the overtaken vehicle are visible in your left side mirror. Follow proper MSM and PSL Routines.

Overtaking on undivided roads:

This is more risky as you need to go to the other lane where you have traffic coming from the opposite side. IF IN DOUBT,DON'T DO IT. As we have traffic on the opposite side coming towards us,we need more time,space and visibility

The risk of a head-on collision where the chance of survival is very rare is very high on undivided roads, so unless you are sure,don't do it. You need visibility of at least 100 metres and a time of at least 10-12 seconds to complete safely.

Always have knowledge of your vehicle before attempting to overtake on undivided roads. If it's not capable of fast acceleration required to cover a large distance before safely moving back to our lane,do not do it. Do not tailgate vehicles as it reduces your visibility.

Vehicles from the opposite side can also attempt an overtake and come head-on to us. Always anticipate that and be prepared by not tailgating and driving carefully around curves,road dips on undivided roads. Move to lower gear where you have more torque.