Hi All,
I know that I'll be preaching to the converted here, but there have been a few incident's out here recently that have me wondering what people consider the correct etiquette for passing another vehicle on dirt/gravel roads?
What I practice is, if approaching another vehicle that is coming from the opposite direction, then slow down to a reasonable speed say 40 km/h, & move as far left as is safe to do so, if both vehicles do this then there is little chance of a collision or stone damage.
What I find happening is that when the other vehicle sees that I've slowed & moved over, then that is an invitation for them to hog the center of the road & go faster! Thanks for the broken windscreen & stone chips to the paintwork!
Secondly, if I'm approaching another vehicle from behind, & that vehicle is going substantially slower than I am, then I turn my lights on if there not already on, & move to a position where I can be seen in their side mirror, once they see me & move over enough so that I can pass, then I will move over to the right as far as practicable & pass at a slightly faster speed than they are going, once I have passed far enough so that I don't shower them in stones then I return to my previous speed & move back over to the left.
When passing a Road Train from the opposite direction then I pull over & stop! Then wait for the dust to clear.
If approaching one from behind then I practice the same as for a car.
The reason for this little rant is that both my wife & I have been nearly run off the road recently by people on the wrong side of the road coming around corners, had windscreens smashed be rocks when people haven't moved over or slowed down!
Just because your on a dirt/gravel road doesn't mean that the common road rules don't apply, there are other people using the same roads as you!
I could go on & on about the near misses that we've had but I think you get my point, hopefully!
For those that do the right thing, thank you, It is muck appreciated!