Driving styles across UK motorways

[Offandonagain]

I drove from Cumbria to Canterbury today. I live in Cumbria and use the M6 often to visit family in the NW.

I am a happy confident driver and happy to drive until and down the M6 knowing how to read the road and judge other driver’s manoevres.

The M1 and M25 on the other hand!!! I just could ‘t figure out what drivers were supposed to be doing or not!… It’s like there’s completely different rules down there!

M1 lorries constantly overtaking each other and holding up the other lanes.

M25 very regular undertaking and weaving that I had to keep and eye on all 4 lanes at all times, not knowing where cars were going to appear from!… Right up people’s backsides. Going way too fast for the conditions. It was 4pm and pretty busy!

I actually thought my family were going to die today…. The traffic slowed to 40 and I saw a car in my rear view flying towards me, swerved so not to go in to the back of me but miss judged a car in the outside lane, so swerved again behind me and dodged me by under taking… toppling and sliding about. He then gained control and off he went weaving through the traffic in front like nothing had happened. Where as I was in shock and spent the next 20 miles or so shaking!

I’ve got to drive 6 hours through France tomorrow and I’m now dreading it!
Then there’s the bloody return journey through the UK south again! 😫

I like the M1. I don’t find it too bad at all.

The M25 is savage, though. When I was a new driver I used to arrive from journeys on it with chronic neck ache and exhaustion from the sheer stress of the aggressive driving. You get used to it, though.

Have you ever driven on the motorways around Rome? Fucking hell, the tailgating is insane. Cars driving inches away from each other at high speed. My heart nearly gave out,

Have you ever driven on the motorways around Rome? Fucking hell, the tailgating is insane. Cars driving inches away from each other at high speed. My heart nearly gave out,

Yes, a couple of weeks ago. Our minibus driver was shooting along at high speed while filling in an online form on his phone.

I'm not sure whether the rules on mobile phone use are different in Italy but I was seriously relieved when we got to our destination.

We regularly make the trip from Bristol to Glasgow. You can bet your bottom dollar that someone will cut across 4 lanes going into the M4/M5 interchange at Almondsbury because they haven't read the signs for the last couple of miles. Same going into the narrow bit before the M5/M6 interchange.
We tend to find that drivers on the M74 keep below the speed limit.

If you're getting undertaken then you're driving badly.

M25 daily driver here.

I'll always do what I can to go around and cross back to the correct lane. But 4/5 times the twat in the 3rd lane is oblivious to all the shit they're causing in their wake and don't take the hint to move over themselves.

Taxi drivers around the airports seem to be some of the worst offenders.

Those of you singing the praises of driving in France have surely not driven on the Peripherique, specially in the rush hour.

But I must agree with the PPs' comments on the motorways outside Rome. I've no idea where because I didn't dare peep out between my fingers. Our driver was doing 150kph and texting. We were in a Multipla so two of my family were in the front. Not that it was much better behind the driver where I could see what he was doing, what speed he was going and where he was, and wasn't, looking.

Makes the M25 positively relaxing.

French drivers are terrible. They are consistently terrible, so you can to an extent anticipate what idiocy one will do next.

There seem fewer middle lane hoggers. An exception to the general belief you should not 'snitch' on people would go out of the window if you could report middle lane hoggers with dashcam evidence, and know they could end up in court and possibly be banned.

M1 lorries constantly overtaking each other and holding up the other lanes.

The A1 and A19 are particularly bad for that.

I've always hated the M3.

The last year or so because my ds is national level at his sport now I've travelled a lot.

Yes to the M1. I'm not even convinced the lorries look when pulling out. But I think because it's a lot more industrial I'm just not use to so many lorries which also took me by surprise.

I call the A34 a lorry park but the M1 was something else!

However the M1 has great cameras and they work so speed wasn't as much as an issue as the M27 near me and less weaving in and out I thought.

What I'm finding more and more and commented to ds on it is the number of cars now a lot of motorways are 4 lanes in lane 3 doing 60.

So we are travelling lane 2 at 70 past those going 60mph in lane 1.

Then we have to pull out and around a car chugging along on a Sunday drive and back in again. Add in all the other cars having to do this or slow in lane 3 (when they're already speeding as they are passing the 70mph lane).

I can see how pile ups happen.

I've never found that a problem.

I've gone south coast to Birmingham a few times this year.

We drove on the M3 & M4 yesterday for the first time in years. It was amazing, largely I think because of very few lorries. all the cars were in the inside lane driving as they should.

One thing I've noticed more & more is someone speeding driving up the arse of someone in the over taking lane, not giving them anytime to move in.

M25 not too bad for us, yes lots of shit driving but whenever I use it, it's always so congested that you drive at a snail pace.

across most areas of life we are inept.

Driving in europe is a breeze.

why do we bother with 4 lanes on the M6 when for most of it drivers only seem to use two?

live in Cumbira going north is a breeze south is fucking awful drove to Nottingham on Monday.

I think the driving is much better than it used to be pre speed cameras.

I remember a phase of cars shooting straight onto middle or even fast lane when joining the motorway - hardly see it now. Orcars doing 100 up the fast lane.

One thing I've noticed more & more is someone speeding driving up the arse of someone in the over taking lane, not giving them anytime to move in.

I hate this, it's very dangerous. Unless you're totally inept, you can see in your rear mirror when you need to move over. Giving them one second to pull over because you're up their back end makes accidents far more likely.

I'd rather be undertaken than that. I confess I'm somewhat of the view that if you can't beat them, join them as far as occasional undertaking goes on the M25. If I can undertake the middle lane hogger in the slow lane, where I have the hard shoulder as a back up (if it's clear), I can't always be bothered to pull out two lanes to overtake them.

I know it's wrong but it's become common practice on the M25 when there's heavy traffic,

M25 I’m fine with. Usually going too slow plus speed cameras mean it’s relatively controlled, other than when everyone gets all excited when it all opens out around Heathrow. As it’s often one speed though you have to assume every lane is used for over/undertaking.

M4 fine, unimaginative driving. Undertaking happens but DH is a middle lane hogger so that’s understandable (me: “what’s wrong with the inside lane?” Him: “that little spec in the far distance is a lorry I’ll have to overtake in 7 minutes time”)

M40 and M42 on the other hand… the speed!

I also sometimes undertake by two lanes to make a point. Hello Mr Lane 3 Hogger, look I can undertake you in Lane 1 as both of the inside lanes are totally empty and yet you still insist on sitting there.

It's a rare occurrence to manage that on the M25 though.

Doesn't much of the M25 have variable speed limits though so it operates like the US highways? Tbh I never know what areas are variable speed limit, so I tend to still overtake on the right anyway. But I think the stretches that have the speed limit signs above each lane are the ones where each lane works independently of the others and you can overtake or undertake.

I see not just middle lane hoggers but fast lane hoggers, I think many people hate moving.

100% agree.
Not sure about the M1 but I just figure out a different route rather than use the M25. I'm happy enough driving on the M40, M4, M5 and M3 pretty regularly.

DH was raised near the M6 and used it regularly until he moved south age around 25, he always comments on the difference in driving. I hate driving the M25 for awful driving, the zigzag style you mentioned scares me. The M3 is a nicer calmer motorway for sure and infinitely better as you leave London, you feel as though the spring tightens the closer you are to London.

This is accurate. I assume the OP took the anti-clockwise route from the M1 to Kent: the section of road from J16 (M40) to J12 (M3) past the Heathrow junctions can seem a bit hairy if you aren’t used to it. It’s a regular route of mine and I find it fine but that’s because I know the rhythms of it, know when it’s going to slow for no apparent reason or where people panic because realise that they are entirely in the wrong lane for their exit. Past J11 ( when you can get past, that truly is the site of sheer weight of traffic clogs) it is pretty much plain sailing.

It’s a heavy traffic area, with a concentration of off and on, because it has 3 major motorway intersections plus Heathrow plus local traffic crossing the Thames and avoiding local pinch points.

M1 and M25 have got particularly bad for lane hogging with people totally oblivious to the fact that they should pull back over to the left if they are not overtaking anything. I admit I have undertaken these kind of people because I have not actually changed my speed or lane to do this / been unable to pull out around them without heavy braking (I'm doing 65-70, they're doing 50-55).
The French motorways were different in that people only stayed out if they were overtaking and then pulled back in, even to pull out 1 min later again. However as we got further south this time, attitudes changed and people were not pulling back over. The worst I saw was a young chap in an old BMW come flying past our lane, onto the hard shoulder to undertake and then back into the busy traffic. I've seen this on the m1 but never France before

To be fair it's not safe to drive on the left (or middle often!) on the m1 due to all the lorries pulling in and out with no notice. And the far left lane on m25 is mainly a departure lane, so anyone who knows that motorway won't be using that . I find the M25 ok as most people are far more aware due to all the undertaking and lane switching that goes on!

Happy travels in France, OP! I know that's not the point of this thread and it'll be too late now, but next time if you buy in advance one of those little transponder tags that go on the inside of your windscreen, the toll roads in France will be even easier. We usually have one and it charges your linked credit card at the tolls, so you don't have to worry about paying from a RH drive car, or running out of change (cash). Bon voyage!

The M40 is mostly fine except for two blackspots: where it connects with the M25 which panics drivers who have left it too late to get into the right lane.
The worst is Junction 9 for Bicester. Don't know what it is about this spot, but there are always accidents here.