Overtaking in the blackwall tunnel.

[QUOTE=punyXpress;2290547]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

i dont get it, Is it:
It is 2 tunnels (northbound and southbound), each tunnel has 2 lanes of same directionality traffic seperated by single solid white line.
Used to be even more fun before they built the second one. Lunch time mission was to do a couple of return trips seeing how many backfires I could do. Mind you it leaked like a sieve & there was nothing to get rid of oil deposits.
Happy daze - I was a hooligan then!

my route to work takes on a few tunnels, the longest is only 100yrds or so though so its nothing to get too excited about. Although on the largest I do get disopointed if im held up by traffic, I love the sound even through my ear phones and over the music you can just hear the rumble - best part of the journey hands down.

Watching the youtube vid, it looked like the northbound tunnel has one solid white line, and the southbound has double whites.

I use the Birkenhead tunnel regularly and you're not supposed to overtake and the tunnel police enforce the limit strictly but sometimes people crawl along at 15 - and it's a lot longer than Blackwall - so it has to be done. Traffic in both directions too. £1.40 each way in the car, free if I'm on the bike

RH as a complete aside, do the police ticket people for driving without due care etc if they drive so slow that everyone gets frustrated?

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Ed

RH as a complete aside, do the police ticket people for driving without due care etc if they drive so slow that everyone gets frustrated?

I've never had the bottle to actually try and prosecute someone for simply driving to slowly, however if someone is clearly holding up traffic then they would definitely get pulled over to find out why. If somebody is driving particularly badly there is usually a reason, like they're either blind drunk or more likely these days they just don't have a licence. It's like people who sit in the middle lane at 70mph (or less). They just look at you in complete disbelief when you try and suggest they ought to use the "lorry" lane occasionally! Ignorance is bliss so it seems.

Well I done it for 5+ years, without any accidents.

This must mean im a tool.

What a pleb end. Sure its tight, but if a car is not next to another car, and you can safely get through the gap, go for it.

Only difference to city riding is that each lane has a wall instead of pavement.

Its the only time I crossed static white lines, but quite frankly I was more concerned about getting through, and out the other side as promptly and safely as possible to save my lungs from taking in more black smoke than they needed too.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Ed

RH as a complete aside, do the police ticket people for driving without due care etc if they drive so slow that everyone gets frustrated?

The Clyde tunnel has a minimum speed limit. But it's only 8mph - only time I've seen minimum speed limits in use.

Originally Posted by Daimo

Its the only time I crossed static white lines,

They have moving white lines?

Ive been driving through the blackwall tunnel for years also. The white lines are there for a reason and seeming as the tunnel is very narrow (northbound) I cannot believe it when you get the idiots overtaking at speed. Whats the point? You not only put your life at danger, but also the lives of others.

When you enter the tunnel, you will be out the other side in approx 3 minutes.... just slow the f*ck down for those 3 minutes!

The reason for the rant was a **** on a bike that morning was so desperate to get past a car that the car attempted to move over to allow the idiot to pass. The car was bullied in to doing so, the car then hit the curb very hard. Bike went past without a care in the world.

If the car hadn't been controlled as well as the poor guy did, he could have taken the bike out, and the guy end up under my wheels with myself to live with the fact I can killed someone.

Having used the Blackwall regularly in the past, I assume the OP's problem is with bikes doing mad 'moving' filtering. Some bikers in the tunnel make me feel like punching them as they put so many other peoples' lives at risk. They are usually orange KTMs for some reason..........

I have to agree with OP here (not that I wish harm to anyone). The northbound tunnel is so narrow and twisted there is barely room for 2 cars side by side. It is impossible to filter without crossing the while line and the 30mph speed limit.

There have been many occasions when I had to make room for bikers filtering at high speed not to mention the fright they give you when they appear from nowhere.

That being said, it's London and traffic is ridiculous. Many people improvise and bend the rules, forgetting maybe to take a break when common sense would normally dictate.

Originally Posted by maxinc

That being said, it's London and traffic is ridiculous. Many people improvise and bend the rules, forgetting maybe to take a break when common sense would normally dictate.

+1. Too many riders round here take way too many pointless risks. The amount of riders I see that are rinsing it through a residential at silly speeds with pedestrians darting in the most random places and big obstructing buses and devious pot holes

That said it's a jungle down here, which can be fun in itself. A rider pulled up next to me at some red lights the other day. We started chatting and he was peeved at the red! I was like why? He said I've been trying to get from central up to the M1 without putting my foot down, but these lights had just screwed him. Wasn't too far out to be fair.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by mustnt grumble

I assume the OP's problem is with bikes doing mad 'moving' filtering. .....

I could maybe see his point if that were the case, but the OP said Overtaking.