How to overtake as a rider - Part 10

Overtaking

In theory, overtaking is very simple, but not in India. You are told to overtake from the right-most lane as if you are going to find that lane empty. And, other vehicles are going to let you pass with a smile. And, as if nobody is going to suddenly pop-up in front of you. And, as if nobody is going to cut you from the side forcing you to brake hard. Wake up, reality is very different which is why there are so many accidents and road deaths of bikers, especially during overtaking.

I am going to list out some of the overtaking best practices I have learned from my own riding experiences and mistakes.

• Match your speed then take off: In situations where you are about to overtake two vehicles from the middle or on the side but with very little clearance space then it is not advisable to shoot past them at high speed. This is what you should do when you are approaching vehicles from behind at high speed:

  • Brake and slow down enough to match the speed of vehicles in front of you,

  • honk or flash your headlight,

  • wait till the driver of the vehicle in front of you notices your presence,

  • wring that throttle hard and take off in style.

• Always keep a buffer zone: Before overtaking, always make sure that there is enough extra space (between the vehicle ahead and your bike). This is important in case you need to brake hard and pull back as the vehicle ahead makes a sudden lane change and the overtaking gap closes. While most drivers will notice your bike and will let you pass but some will deliberately come in front of you or squeeze you to the median divider. Yes, this happened to me so many times in India but having enough experience in this, I know how to handle the situation. I compare these drivers to ruthless murderers who do not care whether you die or what happens to you and your family. So, always make sure of enough buffer space between two vehicles (in front of you) or between a vehicle ahead and the median, before you overtake. I always go to the furthest distance away from the vehicle I am about to overtake. For example, on a 3-lane highway, if I am overtaking a truck on the middle lane and I am on the right-most lane then I will not overtake and pass the truck in close proximity. I will go to the extreme right, near the median and then overtake. I do this so I have enough space between my bike and the truck while I overtake. In case, even if the truck suddenly had to come to my lane for some reason, I will at least have enough space to either quickly overtake or brake and pull back. Keeping a large buffer zone before overtaking is even more important in case of large vehicles. You don't want to get entangled between those huge wheels of trucks and buses. There is no chance of surviving that. I have personally seen many instances of riders being crushed under the wheels of trucks.
  

• Get noticed before overtaking: When you approach vehicles from the back and intend to overtake them, it is in your best interest to announce your presence before you try to pass them. So, even if you make a mistake while overtaking, they don't accidentally hit you, and hopefully give you enough space to overtake. Best ways to get noticed is to honk, flash your headlight using the high beam or aux lights, or tailgate them from a safe distance until they see you. At the same time, do not get too close, honk or flash lights too much that they get annoyed. You do not want to piss them off so much that they want to run you over instead of giving way. Effective and safe riding in India involves a lot of mind games and mind control.
  

• Before overtaking, quickly read the intent of the vehicle in front of you: Whenever I am behind a vehicle and want to overtake it, I first check for a few things:

  • I will look beyond the vehicle in front of me and see if there is an intersection or a turn coming up. If yes then there is a possibility that the vehicle in front of me can suddenly slow down and turn without looking behind (as it frequently happens in India). So, I am extra careful and make sure that the driver of the vehicle in front of me has noticed my bike before I overtake.
    

  • I also tend to look at the head movement of a car/vehicle driver through the rear glass window or rearview mirror reflection. Many Indian drivers have this habit of turning their head slightly in the direction they are about to turn, and they may or may not look in the rear view mirror. Even if they look, they do not look properly enough to cover the entire backside view before turning. At least, you get an indication that they are about to turn. In such scenarios, I will honk and flash light before speeding-up and overtaking or slow down and wait till the situation is clearer.
    

  • Another way to know whether they are about to turn or stop is by observing the car speed. If the vehicle speed suddenly slows down on the road then only two things are possible, either the driver is about to make a turn (or U-turn) or the idiot is checking his/her phone. All these observations can only be done at nominal speeds. At high speeds, you won't have much time to make all the observations and calculations. Also, once you practice the habit of observing these patterns long enough, it comes naturally to you subconsciously.
    

  • In the case of bikers, it is fairly easy to read their intention before they are about to change direction. Indian bikers, especially in small cities, towns and villages, have peculiar riding habits that can be easily observed. If they are riding in the middle lane and want to turn right, they will turn their head and look to the right side, maybe up to 45 degrees, before turning. They won't actually look behind, just look a bit to the right and listen for any other vehicle next to them. That's all they check. And, before turning, some will let go the throttle and slowdown while most will change lanes without looking back, making a large arc curve at the same speed. So, always be careful of overtaking other bikers at high speed.
    

  • In case of overtaking trucks and buses through a narrow space, I get on the driver's side and wait for the driver to take notice of my bike. In my experience, 90% of the times, the driver will either let me pass or at least wave his hand to signal his intent. Usually, they let me know that they are about to move in front of me so they can overtake another vehicle first. The idea is to establish and sustain communication with other drivers from a distance till the transaction is over, which is to overtake and move on. You'll be surprised how much people respond to non-verbal communication if you know how to convey your intent with subtle gestures in a non-aggressive way. Another thing to note before overtaking is the size, type and speed of the vehicle in front of you. If it is a small vehicle like an autorickshaw riding at high speed, the chances of it suddenly changing lane is not likely as it will lose balance, flipover and crash due to its dynamics and three wheels. At high speeds, an autorickshaw driver will be too scared to turn instantly. Similarly, tall and long buses and trucks are less likely to turn or change lane abruptly at high speeds. What you should be careful of is when these vehicles are moving at slow speeds and you are overtaking them at high speed and closely.

• Always expect someone or something to suddenly show up in front of you: If you want to survive on Indian roads, always expect something or someone to pop-up in front of you out of nowhere. This is even more true around blind corners while overtaking large vehicles or through blind intersections where you cannot see what or who is coming from the other side. In India, as if coming from another dimension, people just appear in front of you out of nowhere and hope that you will somehow avoid them or go over top of them. In such scenarios, you not only have to save yourself but save them and your motorcycle too. As you can see in the photo below (figure 1), the three red arrows inside the yellow circle show the possible spot from where a person can jump in front of you. If the truck was stationary, the chances of a person, biker, cyclist or an animal running across the road is even higher.
  

Figure 1

But, since this is a wide road along farmlands, there is no intersection ahead, I had already scanned the road in front of the truck, having good visibility of the road on both sides, and being at a relatively high speed, I could overtake the truck confidently. The chances of something suddenly coming across is very less. Also, as you can see from the blue arrows, my bike was already moving to the right extreme lane before overtaking so there is ample space between my bike and the truck.In the below image (figure 2), a very slow-moving truck has occupied the right lane and was struggling to climb up the steep curvy-road. As I was about to overtake it from the left lane, I was careful of three possibilities.

Figure 2

The perpendicular red arrow shows the possibility of a person or cow suddenly crossing over and showing up in front of the bike (which is common on this stretch). The yellow arrow represents any vehicle that is coming in the opposite direction. Please don't ask me the logic behind why would anyone come in the opposite direction in India. The short answer to that is even god couldn't figure that out. From tractors to large trucks, anything can come from the opposite direction at high speed and you will have to move out of the lane, they won't. The blue arrow represents the extreme left corner where cycles and small bikes usually come from the opposite direction. So, you will have to account for these possibilities while overtaking and not crash into them.

Another possibility is unexpected potholes that can unsettle the bike, and these potholes aren't visible due to the curve and the truck blocking the view of what's ahead.

• Overtaking around curves: For new riders, overtaking around corners is not recommended. A solid control of the bike, a good understanding of the motorcycle behaviour at different lean angles, clear visibility around the curve, braking effects and familiarity of the road condition of a certain section and curvature are required to overtake safely. Here are some do's and don'ts for overtaking around curves:
  

  • Never approach a curving road at high speeds unless you are totally familiar with the place and you have superior motoring control over your bike.
    

  • If there is no median divider between your side and the opposite lane then be careful of any oncoming vehicle that could result in a headon collision.
    

  • Always maintain your lane while overtaking around curves as the smallest mistake can result in a contact with another vehicle and you will find yourself sliding across the road.
    

  • Before you lean into a road curve ahead, make sure there are no loose gravels, potholes, water and oil spills so your bike tires do not lose traction and slip.
    

Figure 3

If I am leaning around a curve and spot loose gravel or wetness on the road, and there is little time to react, then I bring the bike back up straight quickly and wait till I have crossed that patch safely. After that I will slightly brake to bring the bike back to its lane and then lean it again to navigate the curve. Of course, this is to be done only if it is safe to do so. You do not want to run over to the next lane and hit another nearby vehicle. Your speed and lean angle around corners matter a lot. As shown in the below figure 4, the blue arrow represents high speed that is beyond what the lean angle, road grip and road curvature can support, and you can end up oversteering and hitting the median (divider metal guard rails).

Figure 4

The yellow arrow represents going not so fast but then leaning too late into the curve and haphazardly turning the bike to save yourself from hitting the median. You also risk crossing into the left lane due to bad turn angle in front of the orange car.

The red arrow represents the best angle and lane to overtake around a curve at high speed. Since the orange car is also driving on the left end of the road, I could keep my bike close to the centre divider (white broken-lines) as I would have some buffer space to my right side. If I make a wrong lean calculation or the car to my left suddenly comes to the right then at least I will have some extra room to steer the bike to my right and course-correct.

Also, it is not uncommon to find stones, bottles, loose gravel or some obstacles on the extreme right end of the road even around curves. So, it is best to avoid either corners and be close to the middle while overtaking.

In the below figure 5, I am overtaking a car in a tight corner with a steep turn. If you notice, I am keeping the bike close to the car near the median. I keep my periphery vision fixated on the movement of the car while looking ahead. I turn in parallel to the car but I try to keep in the middle of the road as much as possible. Even the slightest movement of the car to the right, I would immediately bring the bike back up from the lean and slowdown.

Figure 5

I would prefer to follow the middle lane as the red arrow shows assuming that the car in parallel also turns and keeps enough space between us. If I don't lean properly enough according to the curvature of the road and I am too fast then at least I have some buffer space to correct myself.

For inexperienced riders, I don't recommend doing this. Best option is to not overtake at all around corners. If you still do then keep it at manageable speeds and lean as less as possible. Only when your bike is straight enough and you see a straight and clear road ahead, accelerate and overtake.

• Overtake from all sides: Legally, we are required to overtake only from the right side. Well, again, theory is something but practice is something else. I overtake from any lane that is safer for me. Sometimes it can be from the right, sometimes it can be from the left or middle. I go wherever I find a gap where I won't be knocked down by another vehicle. But this is a big no-no on narrow mountain roads where you must wait for your chance to overtake from the right side. For a third person observing from behind, my riding will seem zig-zag. It is not done out of playfulness or rash riding, it is done for a purpose, knowing the traffic patterns in India. Being realistic on Indian roads has served me very well and consistently. But, I don't advise this for novice riders.

The lesson to learn here: Overtake with extreme caution in India, the higher your speed, the more alert you should be. Always except the car or bike in front of you to suddenly turn. So, always alert them of your presence before overtaking. Do not be in their blindspot. Avoid overtaking large wheels (trucks and buses) in close proximity. Observe and learn the different driving habits of people and it will help you in overtaking without incidents.