Driving Etiquette - Honest Answers Only!

sim etiquette.jpg
What type of sim racer are you online?

Here’s the scenario…..

You’re racing around in your favorite sim, battling for position at Spa. So far racing has been clean and out of the corner with no name the driver in front nearly clips the wall and momentarily releases the throttle. This provides you with an opportunity to overtake into Pouhon, you have more momentum and manage to get partially alongside. You both go into Pouhon, door to door, the other driver giving you ample space, but in your haste to get to Campus first to get on the throttle too early and rear of your car kicks out.

You slam into your fellow sim racer and they hurtle off track and spin out.

Do you A - Pull over and wait for them to re-join the track and take up your position behind them. Even though you will both lose many places. (This is the golden rule standard in our own Racing Club)

Do you B - Shrug your shoulders, feel bad for a moment but carry on and mutter something to yourself like “it wasn't on purpose, and this has happened to me many times”.

This accident wasn’t deliberate, but it was 100% your fault.

Also notice that I haven’t stated if this is an open lobby, ranked race, or league race. Would your decision on what to do differ depending on what type of race?

Let us know what you would do and what factors might tip you in a different direction, but PLEASE NOTE this is a discussion piece and so keep comments nice and friendly.
About author
Damian Reed
PC geek, gamer, content creator, and passionate sim racer.
I live life a 1/4 mile at a time, it takes me ages to get anywhere!

Comments

Club Staff
Premium
I'll will wait for sure! I took the risk and now I have to be a big boy and face the consequences. I feel sorry that I ruined the win/podium for the other driver and the least I can do, is to join him in this misfortune.
 
Last edited:
B, it's racing in the end. Mistakes happen and I'm generally happy to apologise and explain it with the other party when things cool down after the race.

Finish the race, watch the replay and analyse and have a chat. Bad things happen in real racing, so they will happen in simracing too. Learn from it and move on.
 
I'd say it depends what type of 'for position' situation it is. If they're the only one in the lobby who I'm in close racing with, definitely A. If it's uneven, and we were just temporarily in the same track position for other reasons, I might continue on if someone I'm closer to is further up the track. Also probably depends how strongly, in the moment, I feel like it was my fault.
 
Last edited:
In our sim racing group, things are way fairer than in real racing.

If we accidentally ram someone off the track, the whole field waits until the victim has rejoined the field.

I also finish every race, no matter how bad it goes. It doesn't matter which place I finish the race.
 
If racing in my old Race Department R3E league I would have followed the Golden Rule as it is an expectation of every participant to do so.

I have no problem with that requirement as our league was competitive but friendly, thus it was easy to take the lump of waiting because that driver would do it for me.

In iRacing or other sims I would continue on. Why?

This happens in racing. We would all like to believe we would hold ourselves to a higher standard, yet in racing the car that "wins" in this situation continues on and lets the chips fall where they may depending upon what the stewards decide, be it a stop and go, a drive through, time added at the end or no action at all due to it being considered a "racing incident".

I would also question the actions of the other driver, who as stated by @Goldtop, decided to challenge me on the outside of Pouhon, a corner that has a notoriously narrow line with an exit that forces the driver on the good line to track out to the right. By the opposing driver being willing to take the less optimal line he/she has decided that they would sacrifice the "safety" of a good entry into the corner in hopes of maintaining position, which they already lost when they went off track at No-Name. In trying to maintain a position they already lost, their actions are just as at-fault as those of the driver (you) who has taken the optimal line due to the other car going off track.

Kinda hard to blame the driver for taking a line that is given to them, then defending that line from a person who made a mistake and is frantic to regain or retake that advantage by going around the outside at Pouhon.
 
Premium
A for me too but I only drive in league or racing clubs ( rarely nowadays as I drive enough in the league :D )

I stopped driving on public servers +- 10 years ago and will never do any longer.... things will never change .... as what I read 10 years ago is the same or worse 10 years after.
 
D
  • Deleted member 379375

For me it depends. In an ideal world people would race fair and the correct thing to do would be to give the place back.

In reality if the driver has been driving like a fool i.e. weaving under braking , blocking when you have a run on him/her e.t.c then I'd carry on and maybe say sorry depending on how bad their driving was.

Up against good drivers who understand and respect driving etiquette I'd say sorry and give the place back.
 
In all races so far I have waited, its often been part of the sporting code in leagues and if I don't it would be reviewed for penalties at the end but even in public races I wait. I rarely make this type of mistake, I prefer not to lunge into high speed corners precisely for this reason and also because its not uncommon for people to struggle with high speed ones a bit and that particular complex on Spa is just dangerous to overtake on.
 
B-kind of

I've come to sim racing after a few years in short oval racing in the UK and RC racing, that would be the attitude there. As well as most other real world motorsports that I can think of. For example the BTCC.
However both in real life and the sim if I have made an error that led to contact I will apologise following the race (I mute all voice and text during races normally)
 
Last edited:
If it's my race as a hobby, I'll always wait. I couldn't enjoy the position I get or keep due to not waiting.

The beauty of simracing is that it's not about money for most drivers. So I'll always wait.
If I'm under contract by an eSports team, things might be different but I sure hope that there's a penalty and judgement system in place too then!
 
Last edited:
A - And I owe it to lessons learned racing in the Sunday R3E club hosted by Ross, race hard, respect your opponent and if you screw up do the right thing and give the position back.
 
Everybody makes mistakes, and there's a fine line between a mistake that punts your opponent off the track, or making a successful overtake.

Situational awareness is key. Having the right for a corner is one thing, but being stupid, blind or otherwise lacking in awareness is the biggest mistake. If you close the door on somebody that's even a bit alongside then it's going to end up in the kitty litter for you regardless of whether it was your corner or not.

In most corner punts both drivers are to blame, the one that got punted for not having situational awareness, and the other for not managing their speed and approach to the overtake.

Just because it is your corner according to the rules, doesn't mean to say you'll survive the corner if you adopt the attitude that it is your corner come hell or high water.

If you're pragmatic then you'll last longer in the race.
 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Damian Reed
Article read time
2 min read
Views
8,716
Comments
68
Last update

Shifting method

  • I use whatever the car has in real life*

  • I always use paddleshift

  • I always use sequential

  • I always use H-shifter

  • Something else, please explain


Results are only viewable after voting.
Back
Top