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!

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?

It obviously also doesn't work like that on the increasing amount of roads with speed restrictions to 50 or 60 either due to roadworks or 'smart motorways', where cars are supposed to use all lanes.

If Lanes 1/2 are full of slower moving traffic it is FINE to spend the journey primarily in lanes 2/3. You are consistently overtaking.

What is not fine is just making up your own rules like “I always drive in the middle lane” based on your general experience- you should base it on the road conditions at the time.

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.

If you've ever driven in France for example, you'd know that if everyone does it, then it does work. The problem is that what seems like at least 50% of British drivers either don't give a fuck or say they're "intimidated by lorries" or scared to overtake. So the other 50% can't stick to lane 1 because of these idiots chugging along at 62mph in the middle lane.

That’s fairly specific to the M25 though which is the seventh circle of hell. You barely get above 60 driving northbound on the western side.

M1, M4, M40 etc are nothing like the M25 at all and there’s usually absolutely no reason to be in the middle lane permanently.

Yes I can see that, when I then go onto the M3 or M4 I would drive in lane 1 if it was clear. I have a fairly fuel efficient car though so I'm still more likely to be moving between lane 2 and lane 3 (because I'm happy to drive at or near 70). If the left most lane is completely empty I will of course move into it and drive in it but I have to say, that rarely happens during the day on these motorways when I'm on them (admittedly around rush hours usually).

So yes, I reckon I 'mostly drive in lanes 3 and 4 as suits conditions because I am often overtaking' is about right. But I think it's the people that sit in lane 2/3 doing 62mph that people are actually complaining about here, and I agree. But it's not a simple as 'everyone should be driving in lane 1 as default' I reckon.

But you don’t have to drive at 50 and stay in lane 1! In the scenario you are describing you would want to be constantly overtaking the slow moving lorries so will be in the second lane.

If it is possible for someone to undertake you THEN you are in the wrong lane, if you are overtaking traffic to your left you are in the correct lane.

The very fact that driving in the wrong lane IS actually now an offence that can get you points on your licence shows that is WRONG TO DO SO!

Honestly, it’s not rocket science!

Dont be so bloody rude. Nobody is saying it's complicated and I am never overtaken on the left, unless in queuing traffic, because I drive appropriately for the conditions. You are completely missing my valid point. You yourself have just said that I would be 'constantly in lane 2' - which is exactly what the OP was complaining about! My point is that being constantly in lane 2 or 3 is not always the same as 'middle lane hogging' because of the conditions on modern motorways - which are 100 times busier when these rules were laid down.

The reason it works better in France, ime, is because the motorways are way, way less busy - because they're used for long distances only not short journeys and the layout/toll system favours this.

A couple of you are incredibly dangerous drivers. DO NOT lane hog and DO NOT undertake. It's very easy. If you aren't confident on the motorway then take some lessons before you kill someone. I mean that seriously - I have seen a horrific crash from undertaking and I don't want to repeat the experience.If you're "scared" to drive in the motorway hand in your license. It's only "scary" because of drivers doing fucking stupid things like UNDERTAKING.

If you're intimidated by other vehicles on the road to the point you can't use the road as intended, you shouldn't be driving.

Also, it's not slow lane/middle lane/fast lane - it's the driving lane and two overtaking lanes. If you're not overtaking, you should be moving left (with the usual exceptions - if there's a slip road coming, there's a 'stay in lane' warning, etc).

Middle lane hogging counts as careless driving and is an offence.

You are the problem.

Can I add the bit about an emergency requiring use of the hard shoulder doesn't include your toddler needing a wee?

You yourself have just said that I would be 'constantly in lane 2' - which is exactly what the OP was complaining about!

No @Mennex OP was complaining about people driving in middle lanes when others are empty not when they are overtaking.

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

Why is it so difficult to look in your wing mirror (which you should be doing anyway ) to see if someone is passing you on the inside ?
I drive a lorry and am constantly undertaking vehicles who are hogging the middle lane, I’m not allowed in the outside lane and if I didn’t undertake two whole lanes would be forced to go as slow as the lane hogging vehicle
in my opinion if you’re being undertaken by a truck that’s restricted to 56mph on a motorway you really need to speed up a bit

If Lane 1 is nose to tail trucks at 60mph NO ONE is expecting you to try to squeeze in there if you’re driving at 70mph. This is not hogging the middle Lane.

What I see often is:

Lane 1: almost empty save a few trucks
Lane 2: people coasting along a 65+ never going back into Lane 1, despite ample space to do so.
Lane 3: stuffed full of people trying to overtake everyone in Lane 2.

As a driver trying to drive properly in this shambles you should be in Lane …until you get stuck by a middle Lane hogger- you have plenty of space to continue in Lane 1 but that would mean undertaking, so you end up trying to squeeze into Lane 3 to overtake.

Lane 3 then gets so congested it slows down so traffic moves slower than Lane 1 and it all ends up a topsy turvy mess - which would easily be solved if EVERYONE COASTING DOWN THE MIDDLE LANE MOVED TO THE LEFT. But of course they don’t.

A lorry undertaking someone....

What could go wrong with that scenario?

One of the biggest dangers on fast roads is angry bad-tempered people who cuss and swear and give the finger and generally behave in an out of control manner.

These people would not behave like this if they were walking down a street and someone was going slower than they were. The anonymity of a vehicle causes people to behave badly and to stop thinking in a kind human way.

People need to cool it a bit - if you cannot go as fast as you might wish, then so be it. Going fast is not the be all and end all. Good manners and patience are appropriate here. Bad temper is dangerous.

Someone who does not go as fast as you is not an idiot; they are someone who does not go as fast as you. If you do not like it then overtake.

As for the lorry driver above who undertakes - let's hope that someone has a dashcam, reports him/her and gets him/her off the road.

If you look in your mirrors before manoeuvring then nothing
im comfortable doing it otherwise as I said you have two lanes of traffic going as slow as the lane hogger
I consider it the lesser of two evils

There's no issue if lanes 1 and 2 are taken up with lorries like the M25. It's possibly the one road where I don't like driving.

It's when you have people who sit in the middle lane even when lane 1 is empty for a distance where it would be reasonable to move left. A pp actually said they sit in the middle lane when there's another lorry TWO MILES ahead! And then don't understand that they're actually driving poorly. All they're doing is forcing all other road users to a) all move into the outside lane to overtake, b) slow down to their speed because the outside lane is busy, or c) perform two lane changes to overtake. It causes the road to slow which in turn causes more dense traffic which is more dangerous. By moving into an empty lane to their left, they help with the flow of traffic.

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?

I frequently drive on the M25 during rush hour. I drive at 70 (satnav 70, not speedometer 70) and overtake a lot, but spend a decent amount of time in the inside lane.

Driving properly really does work.

The lesser of two evils?

Driving on roads depends wholly on everyone obeying the rules. You consider it OK to break the rules because you have chosen you wish to drive faster. Hmmm...

"The thing absolutely guaranteed to enrage me is lorries in the middle lane for MILES, always parallel to another lorry."

God yes. Apart from people who don't indicate to leave a roundabout this is the one behaviour guaranteed to give me road rage, especially on a stretch with only 2 lanes (M4 is a bugger for this). When I'm about to overtake a lorry but then it pulls out to overtake another lorry... usually just at the start of an incline. Then the two lorries are parallel to each other for miles before the driver realises he hasn't got the momentum to overtake and drops back again. By which time there's a massive tailback of traffic waiting to pass.

This pees me off way more than car drivers using the middle lane when they could be on the left. Probably because it seems to cause me a lot more delays.

That’s not what anyone is saying. It’s being suggested that people should use the motorway in the way that it’s intended to be used. If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be on the motorway.

It’s not the lorry at fault in this scenario. If someone is undertaking you, you’re in the wrong lane

I don't think it's who is at fault that's the issue

It's the consequences. We all have a responsibility to others when driving.

We absolutely do, that isn’t limited to undertaking though. People who drive in the middle lane are causing an obstruction and causing people to take unnecessary risks. It’s dangerous.

To then complain about people who have to drive in ways which are less safe because of their behaviour is ridiculously entitled and possibly verging on idiocy.

We’re talking about a situation here where a lorry can’t drive at the legal speed or get their goods to where they need to be because someone wants to sit in the middle lane and couldn’t give a shit about anyone else. They can’t go in the outside lane because it’s illegal. What are they supposed to do?

To then complain about people who have to drive in ways which are less safe because of their behaviour is ridiculously entitled and possibly verging on idiocy

You think that someone complaining about a lorry undertaking someone because that person is lane hogging is entitled and idiiotic?

Here's a clue - the lorry driver and the lane hogger are both to blame.

But the person undertaking in a lorry is being dangerous. I think it would count as death by careless driving if someone was killed which can lead to long jail sentences.

Maybe you could just wait a bit