The Overtaking Lane That Ends
You are driving a loaded ute on a rural highway at 95 km/h in the left lane of a two-lane section. The right lane is an overtaking lane that ends in 400 metres, marked by a sign you have already passed. A car ahead of you in the left lane is doing 85 km/h. Behind you, a road train is gaining and is now about 60 metres back, sitting in the left lane. You indicate right and begin to move into the overtaking lane at about 250 metres before the merge point. Your ute accelerates slowly when loaded. At 150 metres before the merge, you are alongside the slower car but only half a car length ahead of it, and the road train is now 40 metres behind you in the left lane.
1. Should you complete the overtake or abort it? Explain the decision using the distances and speeds given.
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Abort the overtake. Work the numbers rather than the feeling that you are nearly past.
At 95 km/h you cover about 26 metres per second. From 150 metres before the merge you have roughly 5.7 seconds of lane left. You are only half a car length (about 2.5 metres) ahead of a car doing 85 km/h, so your speed advantage is about 10 km/h, or 2.8 metres per second. In 5.7 seconds you would gain only about 16 metres - not enough to pull clear and return to the left lane with a safe gap in front of the slower car, especially with the road train closing behind.
A safe return needs you ahead of the overtaken car by a margin you can judge in the mirror, plus braking room. You do not have that margin. Ease off, indicate left, and drop back behind the slower car. Overtaking is only lawful and safe when you can complete it and return without forcing anyone else to change speed or direction.
2. What is the risk created by the road train's position, and how should it change your plan?
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The road train is the controlling hazard, not the slow car. It is 40 metres behind you and closing, with limited ability to brake compared with a ute, and it cannot use the overtaking lane to go around you once you are committed. If you brake hard mid-overtake to drop back, the truck may not stop in time.
So the plan must be decided before you commit, not during. The correct approach is to stay in the left lane, hold a steady speed, and let the road train pass or settle behind you before you attempt any overtake. If you have already moved right, complete the move only if you can clear the slow car quickly; otherwise accelerate gently back into a gap you have already confirmed is clear, and signal early so the truck driver can read your intention.
Heavy vehicles need far more distance to stop and to change speed. Treat a close-following truck as a reason to reduce your own manoeuvring, not to hurry through one.