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

I find this a lot. Drives me crackers.

whatever anyone else says, i agree 80 is much safer than 60, although i keep to 77 nowadays which is above the slow ones.
i think this link is very insightful to the speed limits on UK motorways.

@Zimunya

In the majority of other countries I've driven in, the equivalent of the left lane is for lorries, trucks, very slow moving vehicles, and people leaving / joining the motorway; the middle lane is for those doing a decent clip; and the right lane is the fast lane - mainly used for high speeds and overtaking.

This is what 99% of uk drivers think and do.

This is a bizarre MN phenomenon and not reflective of how the majority drive in UK roads.

I wouldn't worry about it. Although occasionally you do see one in the wild. Where it's best to just wait for them to finish whatever it is they are doing then try to speed up a bit so your not permanently stuck in their vicinity.

I just undertake and make sure to give them a good glare as I go past.

Worst for me is lorry drivers who don't understand a 50 limit. They insist on still cruising along at 60, so they get right up my arse and flash at me. Gives me the rage.

I have several times driven in lane 1, seeing a car in the distance on an empty motorway in lane 3 / furthest right lane. So I've stuck to my speed and undertook in lane 1. And then in my rear view mirror, can still see them trogging along in lane 3 as I disappear into the distance on a still empty motorway. Ridiculous.

The cars in the middle lane don't care what's happening in the inside though, that's the problem.
I would happily let them pull into the lane in front of me. They don't. You can go miles waiting for the person in the middle lane to finish the manoeuvred of overtaking and they don't. There's no accidents because they have no intention of moving. Nothing to do with blind spots - both mirrors have them.

This is intriguing. 11 pages in and posters can't completely agree on passing and overtaking (are they different / the same?) Add to this that in the summer there will be many visitors from other countries, and many EU countries do not make the difference between overtaking and passing, and it's no wonder that everyone is upset. As a British person who did not grow up in the UK, the driving in the left lane rule appears quite dangerous to me. As other posters have said - weaving between other moving vehicles to "overtake" when you can simply "pass" in your own lane seems crazy. In the majority of other countries I've driven in, the equivalent of the left lane is for lorries, trucks, very slow moving vehicles, and people leaving / joining the motorway; the middle lane is for those doing a decent clip; and the right lane is the fast lane - mainly used for high speeds and overtaking. Everyone weaving back in into the left lane between trucks and vehicles doing wildly differing speeds strikes me as dangerous.

I do it here, as it is the law - but I'm not convinced it's the safest way to organise a motorway.

Agree with post. Lane discipline in this country is awful!
So bad I'm surprised the DM hasn't blamed Labour for it yet!

This is why I always move out, and out again to overtake the middle laner. They are clearly so unobservant and/or ignorant, that the chances of them suddenly moving back to the 'correct' lane for their speed but with no idea I am there is worryingly high. Which I guess is why the no undertaking rule in freely moving traffic is part of the highway code.

Every driver, regardless of speed, is unreasonably to just sit in the middle lane (or outer lane, as I've seen some do). All lanes other than the inside lane are for overtaking, and overtaking only. But plenty of people drive like twats, so I'm not surprised.

No, 77 on the speedo is circa 74 in real life which is a tiny bit over the limit but so much safer due to bad drivers who are unaware of watching speed, it is forced upon me.

No it's not

I hear you Op and my husband is one of the middle lane hoggers. It drives me insane.

I openly admit I break the law on occasion by overtaking in the slow lane . There are often massive stretches where on the two outside lanes are used (M40 is bad for this). I'm always interested to see that people then do start using the inside lane as if they've been reminded.

Good and bad lane discipline seems to be catching. The worse the lane discipline is up ahead the more other drivers follow suit.

There are road rules? I just thought it had become a free for all. I get the most fuel economy from my car at around 60mph but I'd never sit hogging the middle lane.

I passed my test 35 years ago next month and the standard of driving is appalling not just on motorways. Just yesterday twice within 5 minutes I was approaching a t junction when a vehicle turned right on my side of the road. The first one was so close on my side of the I recognised the driver, it was my sibblings bil.

Neither have I, to be fair (driving since 1990), but it always worries me!
Why don’t people move over in Australia?

There is virtually always a gap. In Australia absolutely no one moves over and you get quite confident at either speeding up or slowing down to pull into a short space at speed. In some 20 years on the road I’ve never come up short merging onto the motorway.

@Uglyandgrumpy I imagine you'd be more like to get stopped for your speeding

But what if there are no gaps? You’d have to stop. As someone else said, the safe stopping distance gap between vehicles is not there to move into.

Well Honestlynotsure i do appreciate your input, whether you do actually work for the police or not I am not convinced.... do you really? I have taken notes of your advice and will present them if I ever get pulled up for continuing my pace when alongside one of these dimwitted drongo's that should never ever be allowed out on a motorway. I drive around 45k per year and detest dumb drivers.
although i will admit my cruise set speed is 77mph on the speedo which takes me away from the above mentioned drivers who think it good to drive between 63 and 74 on the middle lane - or lane 3 out of 4 which seems to be the new middle lane magnet.
Why oh why is motorway driving not a part of learning to drive? Beggars belief that a 17 year old with 12 weeks of driving around town can jump in a car the day they pass their test and drive 300 miles on a motorway.

It strikes me that a motorway driving simulator would be a great thing to build and offer to the public in places where nervous drivers could go in and practice, with simulations of middle lane hoggers, aggressive overtakers flashing you, rain, darkness, complicated lane changes etc. you could start off with a test in which you drive as you normally would then it could tell you what you did right and wrong and have a virtual instructor talking you through it.

I might take this to Dragons’ Den…

Scary to think so many people think it's ok to undertake unless in the already mentioned case where the traffic is all travelling at the same congested pace and where it is SAFE to do so. It is not typically safe to undertake as the cars you are undertaking will not be expecting you to do so and you will be in their blind spot. People are stupid if they think that it's safe and it worrying that people with police links think it's ok.
Would anyone seriously think it's safe to undertake a lorry?
I'd rather overtake the middle lane hoggers by overtaking them normally. It's hardly a hardship and much better than causing an accident.

It perfectly clear in the Highway Code. I don't understand why people are confused.

Are you travelling in the outside lane at the speed limit? Because, as has been pointed out on this thread many times, that is inappropriate unless all the other lanes are full with people travelling at lower speeds.

Yes I agree! And talking of safety for those who feel they are safe, superior motorway drivers. Do you leave a stopping distance of 24 car lengths when you are doing 70mph? That's what we should all be doing in an ideal world.

the slip lane is to adjust your speed so you can slip into lane 1 - the necessary speed can vary depending on road conditions so it is up to you to figure that out and adjust. So if it's full of lorries going at say 55mp, you get your speed up to about that and slip between them then wait for an opportunity to continue moving out again.

I travel at 70mph on the motorway because that is the speed limit.. just like I wouldn’t travel at 20mph in a 30mph zone.

I get some people don’t like travelling as fast especially in smaller cars, so they absolutely should not go anywhere near the fast lane.