If you don’t use lane 1 on the motorway...

[SpidersWithBellsOn]

... why not?

Every time I use a motorway I see a number of cars not moving into the leftmost lane even when it’s visibly clear for miles. Why do they do it? Is there a higher chance of hitting an animal? Slightly nicer surface? Easier to follow when it’s dark? Is lane 1 only for HGVs, caravans and horseboxes and nobody told me?

Genuine question.

This drives me mad! I drive on the motorway every day to get to and from work. The number of cars that tootle along in the wrong lane. I often have to move over 3 lanes to overtake a lane hog .
Also cars in middle lanes doing exactly the same speed as the car next to it in the left lane.... you're not actively overtaking so get out of the over taking lane!!

Also, cars who slam breaks on for average speed cameras... clearly have no idea how average speed cameras work. Literally daily I see cars doing nearly 80 slam on their breaks to under 70 almost causing accidents behind them.

@Chottie I'm just wondering what motorway you are driving on? it's definitely not the M23, M25, M11 or M20. Lane 1 on these motorways are filled with lorries.

The M74, the M6 north of about Lancaster, the M9 at the right time of day - I drive on all these regularly and there are plenty of long empty stretches where you could get into lane 1 for a good few miles. On the M9 and part of the M74 there are only 2 lanes and some people still won't go in lane 1 in case slow gremlins attack.

Wow, that opened a can of vitriolic worms

Chottie I mainly travel early morning/late night, when the roads are fairly clear. I’m not listing my route, but on it I find the M1 the worst for/most consistent in this behaviour.

If I know that Lane 1 will soon turn into an exit lane (especially on the M20 when heading for Dover, with the exits for the tunnel), then I stay in Lane 2. Much safer, as there can be a press of cars and much confusion about the lanes there.

Equally, when signs indicate that I need to be in Lane 2 or 3, i.e the exits from the M25 to the M3, or the M3 to the M25 where it splits into the direction of Heathrow or Gatwick, I make sure I am in the correct lane early on.

I think motorway driving not being included as part of learner driving (until very recently ) is a bit of a red herring.

It’s the same rules about lane etiquette on motorways as on dual carriageways - i.e. default is you should be in the left lane unless overtaking - and driving on dual carriageways has been part of the driving test (and therefore also driving lessons) for decades.

I occasionally stay in the middle lane possibly a bit longer than I should for the following reason only:

• I have just overtaken someone just before an exit so I know there will likely be a junction with joining traffic within a mile or so. I know I have right of way over joining traffic but I prefer to move to the middle lane in advance anyway (if I can safely do so) , so if I am there already, I usually stay there I have passed the junction, after which I always move back to lane 1.

Other than that I make a point of moving back to lane 1 as soon as there is an appropriate space. I have many driving faults and I am not one of the 'majority of drivers who claim to be a better than average' - (think about that one a bit) but I definitely do not hog the middle lane. I certainly don't stay there for mile after mile after mile like some do

Also, you can be fined and get points for hogging the middle lane - Lane hogging law

If it's on the m23/25/20 it's because if you do you can't ever get out again.

If you do not use the left hand lane at all you should be banned from driving for a period in my opinion. It is a form of driving without due care and attention.

They are effectively turning a three lane motorway into a two lane motorway.
I’ve been driving to work on a Sunday morning when the road is empty, I pulled into the middle lane to let someone on the slip road on and they nearly ran me off the road to get into the middle lane. We were the only two cars on the road

If it's on the m23/25/20 it's because if you do you can't ever get out again

That's just not true. I drive on all three routinely and move in and out of lanes as I need to.

DH was driving this afternoon so I was occasionally glancing up at the middle-laners. Rictus positions, white-knuckle grip on the wheel was the commonest expression.

I think it's a perception amongst the more nervous drivers that the ML is safer. They don't have to pull out to overtake of accommodate joiners from slip roads. They can just sit tight, staring dead ahead and hope everyone else does the manoeuvring for them.

Yesterday at a quiet time there was a car in lane 3 doing 60 but all the other lanes were empty.
When I caught up to the car I was over taking a lorry I had no option but to undertake them as such as I was in the middle lane doing 70.
I kept checking, long straight motorway with very little traffic, and others were doing the same.

The worst example I ever saw was a little smart car doing about 40 in the third lane of the M3 during rush hour a few months back - was causing utter chaos!

Motorways can be so confusing though. I have in the past been happily pootling along in the left hand lane when I realise that the chevrons have changed shape and I am in fact now in the lane that is shortly going to break away and head in a completely different direction.

With respect @MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig the road markings never just randomly change, your comment indicates that you're not reading road signs or what's going on on the road ahead properly, which is quite worrying. There is nothing confusing about motorways compared to other roads. Motorways are wide roads where everyone is travelling in the same direction, with big signs ahead of slip roads and junctions. Your comment genuinely worries me.

Sometimes the left hand lane becomes a different road, have you not noticed that? It changes from single white lines to double lines or chevrons and indicates that the lane is going to tail off in a different direction. It’s different to a slip road. I’ve got the hang of it now though, thanks. I live in Suffolk, we haven’t got a motorway, I don’t use them more than five or six times a year.

All the motorways I’ve been on have had things like slip roads and junctions signposted clearly well in advance.

I find it tends to be the smaller roads in towns etc that have last minute signposts or paint worn away on roads / shrubbery growing in front of signs so it’s less clear which lane you’re meant to be in early enough.

It's people who are not confident changing lanes often. They usually justify it by saying 'ooh, but I'd have to move again soon/I'd have to get out when the left turn lane becomes a lane for going somewhere else/ OMG I never learned to drive'.

If you cannot manage to change lanes properly - and, also, if you are unable to cope with other people changing lanes - you should not be driving. People 'weaving' in and out of the lanes over short period of time aren't doing anything wrong. But you might be, if you struggle to drive safely around them.

Sometimes the left hand lane becomes a different road, have you not noticed that? It changes from single white lines to double lines or chevrons and indicates that the lane is going to tail off in a different direction

Whenever I’ve seen one of these on a motorway, it’s always been signposted well in advance of the road splitting off. Signs indicating which lane turns into which road etc.

Admittedly I’m not familiar with Suffolk, but surely they’ll have signs on motorways there too?

The only place I avoid lane 1 is in the city where it often turns into an exit slip and traffic is very heavy so it can be hard to change lane. Everyone is usually going about 10mph over the limit which is 50 for long stretches so I’m not holding anyone up.

Sometimes the left hand lane becomes a different road, have you not noticed that?

Shit, yes.

You know, too, sometimes you are driving on a B road, and there are these triangle signs, and the whole road becomes another road. It's like you have to give way and all. Clearly wrong, so we should all avoid such difficult philosophical scenarios.

LRD

MsAdorabelle

This is the sort of sign I mean when I’m talking about signs appearing well in advance of the left hand lane turning into another road.

I know what I mean. When the road divides and becomes two roads. It’s not a slip road or a junction, it becomes a whole new road. Dh is now scratching his head. What is the terminology? The lane goes on for ages before it becomes another road. Obviously I can read the road signs, but sometimes I notice the lane markings first, that’s all.

Admittedly I’m not familiar with Suffolk, but surely they’ll have signs on motorways there too?

Amazing how you got the Suffolk bit but totally failed to notice where I said we don’t have a motorway. We have the A14 and the A12 and that’s about it.

Y'know, I'm going out on a limb here, but I feel like they might have signs on A roads too, even in Suffolk.