STOP HOGGING THE MIDDLE LANE!

[Flowers217]

Seriously what is wrong with some drivers?!?

I was driving on the m4 this morning. It was pretty quiet and the section I was driving on now has 4 lanes.

Oh, but wait - 2 of them are empty because everybody just loves to drive in the third lane.

Yes it probably annoys me more than it does but my god it is so frustrating!!! and dangerous too!

What amazing earth changing thing is it that you will do with the three and half minutes you have saved haranguing people out of the middle lane?

Are people taking this to be about faster drivers wanting to bully slower drivers into the left-hand lane so they can travel unimpeded in middle Lane? It is not that at all.

The issue is when drivers aren’t using the available space in lane 1, it causes unnecessary congestion and forces drivers correctly using Lane 1 to either undertake or cross two lanes to overtake.

It's quite amusing but alarming how many people on this thread think there are slow and fast lanes on the motorway. All lanes have a speed limit of 70mph

advocate that drivers who middle lane hog should be prosecuted, on the sole evidence of another driver's dash cam if needs be

that’s surely what operation snap if for?

Then you indicate and someone will make space for you. It's called good driving - spotting things ahead and making decisions.

At the moment, all you're doing is forcing all the cars going faster than your 65mph into one lane; I have to overtake you in the outside lane because I'm doing 68. Three cars behind me are doing 70-75 but they all have to slow down and sit behind me while I overtake you. Someone in the inside lane, going faster than you, moves over to the middle lane, but can't pull out to overtake because me and the three other cars are there. So this car behind you has to slow down too, to your 65mph. Three other cars doing 70mph come up in the middle lane and also have to slow down to 65mph. Suddenly, you've caused 8 cars to reduce their speed which has a knock-on effect for the traffic behind them. All because you didn't want to sit in an empty lane for a minute. Does that make it any clearer to you?

No rage from me, just disbelief that you a) admit to being a poor driver and b) can't see that you're a poor driver.

Here's my plan. Anybody who cannot find a job to keep their kids fed, warm, clothed for school, gets a) a CBT bike licence b) a Husquvarna c) pukka bike gear d) a jousting pole.

Anybody in the wrong lane gets tapped, in a ladylike manner, on the rear end of their motor and persuaded into the correct lane.-that is the inside lane if not overtaking... or simply the next off ramp. Ignored the gentle tap? The jousting pole takes out Yr side window. (the pole is titanium, with a nuclear option).

Don't drive... If you can't.

MNjousters sponsors advanced driving courses for all, pls pls apply now for the sake and safety of your sprogs.

. Seriously, I have regularly driven 5000+ miles a month for work. There are people here who think fish n chips 5 mins away is a stretch. Others who have lengthy debates about 20miles with a newborn.

There are Ladies Driving Challenges etc, simulators and amazing steam fairs, vehicle Rallies, and many more events where you can clamber into trucks and drive.advanced driving courses, top ups, etc.

Go Try them, and then.... Maybe... pls reassess your own driving, especially when you have driven a far bigger vehicle. And watched a cyclist almost vanish under your wheels because nobody showed the kids how axles work.

I can't be the only female truck driver on MN. Pls pls learn to drive and pass it on, especially to your daughters.

It’s Stansted. There is no second A.

There is also no slow lane or fast lane and the middle lane isn’t anyone’s private road. Funnily enough the motorway network runs faster for everyone when people use the correct lanes. Avoiding tail backs also saves fuel so has financial and environmental benefits.

Middle lane hoggers are twats. Surpassed only by the under-takers who are idiotic cunts. I saw a horrific accident as a result of this 20 odd years ago; I've never forgotten it and it fries my brain to think that people actually think it's a sensible option.

Why would someone not being a good driver (e.g. middle lane hoggers) make anyone else turn into a shit driver themselves. Unbelievable.

Scared to move into lane 3 FFS? She has no business whatsoever being behind the wheel of a car.

Yes....especially given that the people defending sitting in the middle lane are pretty much all talking about doing so when lane 1 is 'full' of lorries. If lane 1 is empty enough to permit undertaking then clearly they're hogging and should move over. If they're actually overtaking a line of lorries but slower than the other car wants to go then that one needs to overtake.

If someone is hogging lane 3, cars can pass them in lane 1 without undertaking as there's a clear lane between them.

Unless there are slow lorries in lane 1 and some one is travellling in lane 3

So you pull out to overtake the lorries but by pulling out, you are risking a collision with the person in lane 3.

Or is someone is in lane 2 but not getting past, so you pull out but you can't get into lane 3 because there is someone coming up in lane 3 so you have to slow down and wait until you can overtake the person in lane 2

It is not efficient to clog lanes up and it increases congestion as road capacity is not being used effectively.

In the OP, lanes 1 and 2 were empty due to lane 3 hoggers. Perfectly fine to pass them in lane 1 in that scenario.

The UK idea that changing lanes is dangerous and you have to get out of the way for people joining (because merging is so scary and dangerous) is very odd coming from Germany, do you think it's because people don't do lessons on the motorways? I know they can now but it was never allowed before a couple of years ago so anyone who passed previously wouldn't have done that with an instructor.

When I did driving lessons in Germany there were a number of required hours I had to drive on the autobahn and so I learned the techniques. There seem to be a lot of misconceptions by UK drivers and this causes the middle lane driving to seem sensible, which means that so many do it and don't realise it's wrong.

Even when my dad drove to meet us in Germany he was under the impression that different lanes are for different speeds. Like someone said they couldn't see the point of a fourth lane - well, if you use lanes correctly then it makes sense. Drive in the first lane if clear. If it's not clear and you're driving slower than the traffic, stay in it. If you want to drive faster or the same speed, move into the second lane. If you pass the queue of traffic in the first lane and it's clear for a while ahead, go back into it. If there is traffic in the second lane, same process of decision making. Etc for however many lanes there are.

Don't move into another lane to let people join, this is not necessary. At a push you might slow down to create a space of someone is merging in front of you. But it's the responsibility of the merger to match the speed of the road, find a space and move into it. It's confusing and dangerous if you don't stay at a consistent speed so that they can judge correctly.

Not that I'm defending lane hoggers, but just saying passing on the left is not always undertaking or dangerous if there's a lane between.

Don't move into another lane to let people join, this is not necessary.

Of course this does to some extent depend on the other aspect of good safe driving which is far too often ignored - leaving the correct space between vehicles.

Surprising number of people on this thread who are referring to 'fast' and 'slow' lanes. I was taught that this is incorrect, dangerous and restrictive terminology over 25 years ago.

There is one thing worse than middle loan drivers.

I've overtaken a middle lane driver in the outside lane and then driven back into the inside lane, without fuss or show, kept to the same speed consistently, to then find the middle lane driver has overtaken me and pulled in front and slowed back down to the speed they were driving when I originally overtook....

Im sure its due to me driving a smaller car, as it never happens if Im driving the company car which is a large model

Oh I don't know @ivykaty44 I think some people just have a weird inferiority complex about being overtaken. I drive a big and powerful car, and I sometimes get people behave as you've described. The other weird one is they start speeding up as you're trying to pull past them. Always men, always in slightly underpowered German hatchbacks!

On the M25 lane 1 and 2 is usually completely full of lorries or lorries weaving in and out and overtaking other lorries. It's dangerous and scary in those lanes most of the time. That's why people drive in lane 3 and overtake in lane 4. The 'always drive in left most lane if it's free unless overtaking' rule simply does not work anymore on modern busy motorways. The only time I ever drive in lane 1 is if I am about to exit the motorway and it is ALWAYS the most dangerous and frustrating part of my journey.

I don't really understand the problem or frustration, even if lane 1 and 2 are free. If the person in lane 3 is doing the correct speed, follow behind them leaving a suitable gap. If they're not, overtake in lane 4 then pull back in. What's the issue? Far, far worse are the people doing 60 in lane 4 or 30 in lane 1.

Is it because the lane 3 people are doing 60? They normally move into lane 2 I find.

Really the actual problem is people being scared to drive at 70 on the motorway isn't it?

And ok the limit on all lanes is 70, but aren't most lorries speed restricted to 50 or 60? They hog lane 1 and 2 and make it very hard to use those lanes, even to get off. That's the actual issue isn't it? I think most normal drivers hog lane 3 to keep out of the way of the lorries and scared people who present far more.dnager to them than the odd person coming up behind them at 90 who just overtake on the right.

This is certainly how it operates on the M25.

Really the actual problem is people being scared to drive at 70 on the motorway isn't it?

Increasing numbers of people are choosing to drive somewhat below the speed limit, to minimise fuel usage. Also accelerating and braking more gently... the latter requires being a good driver, obviously, anticipating the need to slow down.

Yes, like the lorries. Would it actually work better nowadays if the lanes did have different speed limits, or suggested speeds?

I mean the only time you see someone doing 80/90 in lane 1 or 2, if they are miarculaously free, is someone being a massive twat and weaving in and out of all the lanes.

Perhaps if people stop calling the lanes by the WRONG names they might become better drivers! If HGVs scare you then maybe take a motorway driving course.

All lanes bar the inside lane are overtaking lanes!

Motorway driving should surely be part of the driving test too? Most new drivers are let loose onto the motorway without having a clue what the actual rules and accepted procedures are. My son is learning to drive at the moment and I'm planning to make him do a motorway lesson onces he's learned because I don't want to tell him what he should be doing as, like everyone, I'm just doing what seems right, but apparently isn't eg I do move over to let people on. Because they look petrified and are driving way too slow normally.

People saying it should work as above (as it is supposed to) - drive in lane 1, all other lanes are overtaking lanes - can you not see that that just isn't workable anymore on busy motorways like the M25 during the day? At night when it's less busy, sure, but I honestly could not drive like that during the day. Because I don't want to drive at 50 like everyone in lane 1 so I would be constantly going in for a few seconds then out again - which is neither fule efficient or particularly safe.

Are all the people complaint about middle lane drivers on motorways that aren't crammed to capacity in different parts of the country to me?