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Original poster

Why can SO many people not drive properly on the motorway?

296 replies

londongirl993 · 12/08/2021 19:22

I don’t know why this annoys me SO much, but the amount of middle lane / third lane hoggers on motorways is actually getting ridiculous. There needs to be some sort of surveillance / fines for poor (and v.dangerous) motorway driving because it is getting so much worse!

There is literally no point having 4 lane motorways because nobody drives in the slow lane, or even the second lane. No point having 3 lane motorways either really because they are basically just 2 lanes of traffic.

It’s not only hugely frustrating for those who actually follow the Highway Code (like me), but also disrupts the traffic flow so much. And it’s so dangerous!! I honestly believe that if everybody / 90% of drivers actually drove on motorways like you were supposed to, traffic would flow so much better.

Okay, rant over. Anyone else agree with me? Can anyone give me an insight as to why people just don’t drive properly on the motorway?

OP posts:
ExpressDelivery · 12/08/2021 20:15

If you do an advanced driving course, they teach you to alter your diriving according to the quality of driving a round you. So, if someone's tailgating you slow down - they're not allowing proper stopping distance, so you need to allow double.

If you find yourself constantly frustrated by the driving of others, I'm going to suggest you need to consider whether you drive too aggressively. It must be exhausting and stressful to be annoyed through every journey.

GreenTeaPingPong · 12/08/2021 20:17

Keep left if the road ahead is clear. On a busy motorways like the M25, it's never clear.
If everyone obeyed the rule 'keep left unless overtaking', then only lanes 1 and 2 would ever be used and lanes 3 and 4 would be empty!

By the way, I'm not a middle lane hogger, I do pull in if there's a gap and the traffic is not going slowly.

gurglebelly · 12/08/2021 20:19

@BonnesVacances

And people who overtake you on the inside and pull out into your stopping distance space. I've noticed this practice is increasing too.
But people generally only do this to middle lane hoggers or people driving unnecessarily slowly in the middle lane.....

Interested in this thread?

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Driving & parking
TabbyStar · 12/08/2021 20:20

Anything above the Watford Gap and Zig-zagging within reason can resume

Is the M1 really that bad all the way to Northamptonshire? I tend to only drive more northern bits of it.

Maharajah20 · 12/08/2021 20:20

@BareVanilla

Surely you’re only a middle lane hogger if you are not doing 70. To overtake you go into the right lane.
Why would you sit in the middle lane?? Pull over to the inside lane if you are not overtaking.

Drivers like you give people the rage.

Kotatsu · 12/08/2021 20:20

I've spent most of the last 20 years living other places. Personally I think middle lane hogging has got worse, and that speeds have greatly declined. When I'd just learned to drive, it was common to have people doing 90+ on the motorway, now, the vast majority aren't even breaking 75.

People need to apply some common sense. Keep left, don't bounce in and out, but if the lane is empty for the next little while, bloody move over.

I do the all the way to the outside around the middle lane sitter, all the way back to the inside lane personally, whilst perfectly signalling and maintaining crisp lane discipline in the hopes of them getting the hint.

rottd · 12/08/2021 20:22

Drove on the M1 the other day & the slow lane were chock full of lorries, I was in the 2nd lane pretty much by myself whereas the 3rd & 4th lane were full.

Things I noticed, lots of people undertake, someone was doing 60 in the 3rd lane, indicating seems to be optional & I was beeped by lorry in one of the slow lanes despite doing 75 mph 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mrsmorton · 12/08/2021 20:23

@BareVanilla I'm deadly serious, you cause delays and accidents and hold up trade because you can't understand how to use the motorway? Why are you so entitled?

Zhampagne · 12/08/2021 20:25

YANBU. It is particularly painful on the M6 toll when there is NO FUCKER AT ALL in the inside lane but people still insist on sticking to the middle lane at all costs.

rottd · 12/08/2021 20:26

Having said that I can't stand people who drive in central london & cause massive delays because they can't read signs!

jaundicedoutlook · 12/08/2021 20:27

We’ve been in Scotland this week on holiday (by mistake!) and I’ve been surprised, not having been here for 10+ years, how much better motorway driving is than in the SE. Perhaps it is the lower volumes of traffic (though it didn’t look that way around Perth earlier today!) but generally people stay put in the left lane unless overtaking. Far fewer nobheads that just like to cruise at 65 in the middle lane.

On the way up on the M6 it was just haunching with bellends that clearly thought changing lanes was a death defying stunt only to be attempted as a last resort.

Having grown up outside the U.K. I would say that the average standard of British driving has deteriorated massively during the time I have been here.

MurielSpriggs · 12/08/2021 20:28

@Zhampagne

YANBU. It is particularly painful on the M6 toll when there is NO FUCKER AT ALL in the inside lane but people still insist on sticking to the middle lane at all costs.
... all the while cursing at those dangerous "zig-zaggers"! The choose-a-lane-and-stick-to-it school of motoring.
Twentypast · 12/08/2021 20:28

Yep. M3 mid morning today. Junction 1 to 2. Not a single car in sight until I saw a little old lady in a Nissan micra doing 50mph in the middle lane. I did think about undertaking her but ny driving instructor in the 1980s drummed it into me that undertaking is the single most dangerous manoeuvre you can make. So I had to move across all 3 lanes, overtake her and move all the way back again. I thought maybe her seeing me overtake then move all the way to the left might spur her into realising she was driving incorrectly but no, she continued to pootle along.

And yes I learned to drive in the 1980s and still know how to drive on a motorway.

rottd · 12/08/2021 20:30

I can't think of a time I've ever been on a motorway with an empty lane 1, is it that common?

TSSDNCOP · 12/08/2021 20:36

@Mrsmorton I think @BareVanilla is on a little wind up. Surely no one could write that drivel believing it to be actually true.

MurielSpriggs · 12/08/2021 20:38

@rottd

I can't think of a time I've ever been on a motorway with an empty lane 1, is it that common?
Possibly at 4am. But lane 1 doesn't need to be empty before you switch into it because you're not overtaking anyone, any more than you need to wait for the any other lane to be empty to use it.
Mysterian · 12/08/2021 20:41

@jaundicedoutlook "We’ve been in Scotland this week on holiday (by mistake!) and I’ve..."

I'm sorry and I know this is slightly derailing but I can't let it go. Could you please explain "By mistake"?

TSSDNCOP · 12/08/2021 20:43

@rottd it's actually quite usual on lots of stretches of even the terrifying circle of hell and mayhem according to certain MNers M25 after about 8pm to have so few in Lane 1 you can travel without needing to overtake.

I'm in the camp that likes to overtake and pull in as needed, not just because it's the rule, but because I'm completely engaged in driving and what's around me in a way lane hoggers don't seem to be.

MurielSpriggs · 12/08/2021 20:54

[quote Mysterian]**@jaundicedoutlook* "We’ve been in Scotland this week on holiday (by mistake!) and I’ve..."*

I'm sorry and I know this is slightly derailing but I can't let it go. Could you please explain "By mistake"?[/quote]
Withnail and I reference I think.

You had to be there Grin

Unihorn · 12/08/2021 20:54

The amount of people referring to lanes as fast and slow lanes whilst claiming to be good drivers says it all really!

Kotatsu I'm not sure if you're implying that fewer people driving at 90 is a negative??

BigPyjamas · 12/08/2021 21:01

@BareVanilla

No, just because you're doing 70 doesn't mean you sit in the middle lane. Unless you are actively overtaking you move back left.

Having recently done a long motorway trip I can guarantee that you can go 70 in the left hand lane. I often do 75 in the left hand lane. If you don't feel that changing lane is safe, perhaps you need some refresher lessons.

Keep left, unless overtaking, and then move back left. Unless overhead signs tell you to keep in lane.

rottd · 12/08/2021 21:04

Possibly at 4am. But lane 1 doesn't need to be empty before you switch into it because you're not overtaking anyone, any more than you need to wait for the any other lane to be empty to use it.

Admittedly I do prefer to do 70/75 & lane 1 is always slower than this. Maybe because I use moterways at peak times.

rottd · 12/08/2021 21:06

@TSSDNCOP whenever i'm on the M25 it's feckkng snail pace due to congestion 😖

turkeyboots · 12/08/2021 21:06

Keeping left on the M4 from London to Bristol wasn't possible most of the time. It was nose to tail lorries sitting at 70. And they weren't keen on letting people in between them.
The other lanes never dropped below 90 with people weaving in and out like maniacs. I was amazed there weren't more huge pile ups.

IchHabeSiebenFlowers · 12/08/2021 21:08

Keep left if the road ahead is clear. On a busy motorways like the M25, it's never clear.

That's not true - I drove to South Mimms last week - Lane 1 was totally clear for ages (didn't seem to be as many lorries on the road as usual), the Lane 2 sitters pushed all the traffic into Lanes 3 & 4. It was incredible.