To think it's ok to want to travel at 70mph on the motorway...

If they're not actively overtaking, they should move over, regardless of speed. The right hand lane is for overtaking, not for cruising. Speed doesn't really come into it. They're either actively overtaking or they're not.

Re the pulling out of a junction, just taking the foot of the accelerator will massively reduce stopping distance if need be. You don't have to drive slowly everywhere and don't have to be constantly braking to "prepare" for the idiots, something simple like foot off the accelerator and "covering" the brake, i.e. foot over the brake pedal ready to press it, will knock many feet off the stopping distance if it comes to that, reducing both thinking distance and stopping distance if you're prepared for it. If they stop and don't pull out, then it's foot back on the accelerator and you just carry on as before with virtually no loss of speed and no time added to the journey. Simple things can make a massive difference.

A speedometer indicating 70mph with an actual vehicle speed of 64mph would be within the legal tolerance. It does go some way to explain why some people sit in the outside lane at 65, stubbornly refusing to move left to let following traffic pass.

No because that’s inconsiderate to people behind.

I always told drivers to treat every other driver as an incompetent idiot and prepare for them doing the stupidest thing you could imagine.

Also told them never to assume anything. Don't assume someone indicating left will turn left, never assume someone not indicating won't suddenly turn off. Don't assume the pedestrian will stop at the kerb rather than walking in front of you. Never assume the driver approaching red traffic lights will actually stop. Etc Etc.

Basically to paraphrase an American TV character (can't recall who). "Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best".

When our son was learning to drive a few years ago, the first thing the instructor said to him was assume everyone else on the road is an idiot! My son thought it funny, but he soon realised it's actually a good thing to remember!

@taxguru
All excellent skills to have. The most difficult I find, is attempting to predict what other drivers will do.

There's a junction near where I live and I would say 1 time out of five the driver will pull out. My son was taught at that junction to expect someone to pull out on you. It should really be a 40 mph that stretch but is Max speed and there are always accidents.

I did that when I used to do "observing" for Institute of Advanced Motorists. It was one of many "tricks" we used during observed lessons to keep the driver on their toes and ensuring they were observant. Another good one was asking "what road sign have we just passed?" The first time we did either, the driver hadn't a clue, but after a few times of asking, they were getting it right every time. They're good habits to get into, to actually look at other things rather than being blinkered at staring at the car ahead.

I always told drivers that the IAM was about two main things. One being the mechanical side of how to drive, i.e. the "system" or order to do things, not braking during cornering, etc. The other was all about observation and planning, not just planning for yourself, but also planning (or forecasting) what other drivers may do around you and being prepared for them doing crazy things.

One matter that we highlighted was the problem of cars joining a dual carriageway or motorway. Usually, there's an exit lane about quarter/half a mile before the entry lane, so when you see an exit, you can "assume" there'll be an entry a bit further on, so you need to be planning to move over to the next lane on the right "just in case" some muppet comes storming down the slip road into your lane. Not necessarily actually moving over, but at least thinking about it, looking for a space, maybe accelerating/decelerating to put yourself alongside a space, just in case you have to.

We did a lot of practising on motorways as motorway driving is part of the IAM test.

There are very few drivers bowling past at 80/90, long stretches of the motorway are smart and covered with gantry cameras.
People have to remember if the speedo reads 68-70 actual speed is more likely to be substantially lower.

Yes absolutely you need to plan well in advance. Not a driving instructor but taught my son to drive and would often spot test him as to what was the car behind.

But not in the middle lane when the left lane is clear.

People are at liberty to choose the speed they drive within the legal limit. No-one should drive faster than they feel safe doing. However not everyone feels hesitant behind the wheel and those drivers also have the right to drive at a speed that feels safe to them.

Does this happen often? I travel on the motorway regularly at night and can't remember anyone flashing me. What lane is this happening in?

I find it quite stressful particularly at night when I want to overtake, people up my tail flashing in an instant, flashing their lights continuously for me to get out of their way. I then am so blinded by them flashing their lights that I can’t judge how much room i have between myself and the car I’m overtaking so that i can move back over!

Can I share my best story? Me at 70mph on the inside (L hand lane). Car B going probably very slightly over 70mph on the next lane in, gradually coming up behind me to overtake. All good,
Along comes 3rd car (Car C) behind Car B. IIIRC, he couldn't overtake safely, so instead, he drove across the white lines between Car B and me, at over 70mph (probably around 80), making 3 lanes out of the 2, to overtake the 2 of us (or strictly speaking, overtake me and undertake Car B simultaneously) !!! I was absolutely gobsmacked. He then pulled off the motorway at the next exit, so gained all of about 20 seconds.
He was a middle aged man.

Yeah. Whatever. But I can't bring myself to get too upset over this. If the 'going rate' is 60mph, drive at 60mph. You won't really get there any later, and you'll save a bit of fuel. Driving isn't a competitive sport. Go with the flow.

It seems learner drivers do not have lessons on motorways in the UK whereas this is part of the course in France.

Nope not unreasonable to expect that. My view is if people can’t drive the speed limit, unless restricted like lorries and towing vehicles, they shouldn’t be on the motorway. There is far too much congestion on the roads without the need for slow drivers making it even worse

I'm totally with you on this OP! It's caused by many things, lack of knowledge and/or confidence, bad planning ahead, arrogance, entitlement to name a few! I was a driving instructor for 32 years until I retired in March. I had a big take up on motorway lessons as we have 2 junctions that serve our city. One of the biggest things I emphasised was planning well ahead and being as aware of traffic behind as the traffic in front. Good planning and awareness can save your life on a motorway. Too many people tootle along at speed with their minds engaged in neutral!

Another annoying thing is on dual carriageways where people refuse to pull out onto the outside lane to let people in who are joining on the (usually too short) slip road.

Grrr happened to me today and nearly ran out of road as no one had left a bloody gap either.

I never said all.

This

Have a closer read of the Highway Code

If the traffic in your lane is moving faster than that of the lane to your right, there is no problem if your vehicle moves past a vehicle in the lane to the right.

Of course, on a three lane highway, hanging back behind the vehicle in the lane to the right, while your lane ahead is clear so you can wait until someone comes up in the overtaking lane so you can go past the vehicle in the middle lane on both sides at the same time is completely dangerous and foolhardy.

Any car not in the inside lane should be able to identify which vehicle they are overtaking. If it's not obvious then they can be given a ticket with three points.

They don't all. Like the bit of the A34 where I wrote off my first car. That was definitely beside a metal barrier (which I climbed over to wait for the police.)

OK, so I sought the advice of a retired traffic police officer I know (an actual police officer, not the highways agency traffic officers!).

He firstly just confirmed that undertaking is an offence (just as it is an offence to hog the lanes).

On further pressing, he has confirmed that he will happily pass people in an inside lane if he's driving, if it's a lane he's already using and people in the outside lane are going slower and not overtaking anything themselves. He said he just makes sure he's got enough space to overtake anything in lane 1 later, without having to cut in front of the person in the outside lanes. If he has a vehicle to overtake in lane 1, then he will go all the way around the hogger too.

The key point for both him and me is that you have to be fully aware of the other driver and be prepared for them to react or suddenly change lanes as, quite frankly, if they're not paying attention to the fact that they're lane hogging, they are very unlikely to be keeping an eye on their mirrors too.

Ultimately, take what you believe is the least risky manoeuvre. As I said in my previous post, chances are that least risky move is going to involve you making as few changes to your own course of direction as possible, so moving across 2 (or 3!) lanes of active traffic to then return back across another 2 (or 3) lanes of active traffic in the other direction, is more risky than just carefully continuing on in the lane you're in.

Yes exactly. SMART MOTORWAYS are death traps and thankfully many drivers now make their own judgement and avoid the inside lane where there is no hard shoulder.

Indeed, it's Paretto's 80:20 rule in action again. 20% of the drivers cause 80% of the problems. The other 80% of drivers get it mostly right so are pretty much "invisible" in terms of not attracting attention as they're just getting on with it, causing no harm/trouble to anyone.