If you’re a traffic cop please help me understand…

[EvelynSalt]

…why there isn’t a national money-making, safety-drive campaign to fine middle lane drivers on motorways?

It feels like a single cop car patrolling up and down a motorway could dole out £££ in fines and hopefully the middle lane hoggers
would also learn a lesson! They are a total liability and it seems to be getting worse and worse.

I’m sure there is a logical reason why this isn’t happening or isn’t possible, so curious to learn from your experience.

Surely fines can only be given if the driver was doing something illegal. Middle lane hoggers are maybe annoying but I don't think it's illegal. This would also be a massive waste of police resources and impossible to evidence. What would be the criteria and how would the police prove what the driver was doing? With speeding they can provide evidence.

Weird that this bothers you so much. Is there any evidence that this is a big issue? As pp says, it might be a bit annoying but not sure it’s causing accidents or deserves to be a priority.

Middle lane driving is damgerous as it often leads to frustrating other drivers, can suddenly slow down traffic/cause drivers to suddenly switch lanes/undertake..I too would like to see them fined

But the trouble is, whether someone is in the middle lane for legitimate reasons is highly subjective and would therefore be difficult to prove/police with say cameras if you try and say it’s dangerous driving. Stopping people on motorways is dangerous and it would tie up precious police resourcing.

But I feel your pain. Middle lane drivers really shouldn’t be on the roads, as they are clearly incapable of driving safely, in accordance with the rules of the road.

Be better to police the box junctions at traffic lights that motorists insist on blocking because their exit isn't clear.

It is illegal but as demonstrated by your post, I think awareness is very low.

It isn’t weird that it bothers me, it’s illegal and dangerous as it means other drivers have to perform more manoeuvres to overtake from the inside lane, round you in the middle, to the outside, then back again. It’s also shit for truck drivers who get hemmed in by the morons. It’s also a cause of unnecessary traffic build up.

if you think it’s just me being weird, have a quick search on here for “middle lane”. Many many threads posted.

You’re right and I appreciate police forces are underfunded as well. Having driven yesterday past tens of cars in the middle lane with a completely empty inside lane, I just kept thinking how much money the police could bring in if they fined them.

I would imagine that practically it's quite hard to police, pulling someone over on the motorway is quite high risk in itself. Presumably they would instead need to follow them for a while and have it on a wide pan camera that shows that there were suitable places for them to pull back in which is highly subjective anyway.

I suspect in many cases they would just go to court and say that they didn't feel it was safe to move left at any point and unless the motorway was so quiet that this was blatantly bullshit, they would probably get off. So I reckon that even if the police prosecuted more often, they wouldn't secure many more convictions and court etc has it's own costs in terms of time and resources.

I'm not sure what should be done though, as I totally agree middle lane drivers are both a pita and dangerous.

It is a breach of the Highway Code, and annoying, but it is not illegal. As PP has said, it is highly subjective and any prosecution could easily be challenged, causing even more court delays.

I thought they were cracking down on it more now ?

Is it the middle lane hoggers that are dangerous, or the impatient drivers who recklessly avoid them?
It’s irritating, yes, but not in itself dangerous as far as I can see.

Very often, it’s not obvious where culpability begins. Sometimes you effectively join a queue of traffic in the middle lane, having just overtaken a slow vehicle. At that point, if you pull in you will be trapped behind the next lorry ahead. It’s effectively an overtaking queue rather than a middle lane hogging situation. The cars at the front are simply overtaking so they aren’t hogging. How many cars behind them do you think it starts to qualify as hogging?

From the RAC

Yes, it is an offence, although it comes under ‘careless driving’, along with tailgating, accidentally running a red light and even being distracted by eating or drinking.

Laws introduced in 2013 give police officers the power to hand out on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points, meaning failing to keep left on the motorway could hit you in the pocket

You can get fined £100 https://news.sky.com/story/amp/middle-lane-hogging-targeted-by-national-campaign-13089128

I was on the M6 late at night over the weekend, and the amount of people using lane 3 at 60mph on a virtually empty 4 lane road was ridiculous. (And the same on the way there in very busy conditions.) It is dangerous and it can cause accidents. I gave up weaving in and out in the end and just stayed in lane 1, technically breaking the law myself by undertaking at 70mph.

This isn’t always the case. I do a lot of motorway miles. I regularly - very regularly - see people sitting in the third lane of four with nothing in either of the two inside lanes. For miles ahead.

that means I have to cross 6 lanes to go round them legally.

It has got MUCH worse in the last 5 years. No idea why but op you are not alone in wishing something could be done.

Agree. Bits of the M62 are like this too. I have no idea what’s going on in people’s heads that do this. Are they asleep? Do they think they are right? Or are they getting themselves ready for a split in the motorway 10 miles ahead?

Personally I’m far more concerned with those who drive TOO CLOSE! Apart from speed, I’m sure this is the cause of many accidents, and obviously when combined with excess speed.

Agree OP they are a real nuisance, and I've seen plenty where there just is nothing in the inside lane in view, and four cars just sitting in the middle lane for no reason (no split of the motorway coming up or anything). I always overtake and pull into the inside lane in hope they'll notice and maybe think they should pull over too. Sometimes it works but not often.

It’s not an either / or @GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER I’m obviously not a fan of tailgating or speeding either. But I think there’d be less impatience and bunching up of traffic if people practised proper lane discipline!

Agree hogging the middle lane can be ‘easier’ but at the expense of other road users. I’m disappointed to see even on this thread the low awareness that it is a breach of the Highway Code which carries s three point penalty ever bit as serious as speeding.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/middle-lane-hogging/

Middle lane hoggers by definition are anxious, less competent drivers, so being pulled over by police on the motorway is likely to result in a crash.

Surely police could just collect evidence on a webcam and then send fines / offer the opportunity to attend a driving awareness course through the post as happens with lots of speeding fines.

If the driver wishes to dispute it, it could go to court with the footage used as evidence. No need to be pulling people over in the dangerous motorway environment.

The dot matrix signs had 'dont hog the middle lane' and 'keep left unless overtaking' on the M5, M40, M25 and the M11 that I was driving on this weekend. People still ignoring them.

People think the rules don’t apply to them. It’s a pity they can’t add “This means you, driver of AB25 XYZ”, but that would cause a distraction. Warning letters in the post would be good.

OMG! Is there no bad behaviour which can’t be excused by ‘anxiety’ on MN? If they’re genuinely that anxious then they shouldn’t be driving in the first place. Middle lane hoggers are much more likely to be lazy, inconsiderate, selfish and not very bright to not see the danger they’re causing.

It is illegal with a £100 fine and 3 points on your licence. You can also be sent on a motorway awareness course in place of the points. If the Police just sat for half an hour on certain stretches of motor they could catch hundreds. There is something very wrong when I am driving in the near side lane at 70 or just under and I am undertaking all the middle lane hoggers going slower but I am unable to even pull out to overtake because there are no gaps!