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.

I think a lot more people can't read and have poor eyesight than we realise. Also, more people out there who never passed a test I believe.

I agree with you! I don't approve of MLH at all. I'm just saying police may be wary of pulling those useless drivers over in case they panic and crash.

This was sort of my line of thinking, but I’m not informed enough to know if it’s possible. If speeding fines can be enforced by camera footage, why not lane hogging footage? And by lane hogging I mean, like a PP, huge swathes of empty inside lane, alongside a middle lane full of cars and vans. And yes of course during commuter hours, the inevitable middle laners being undertaken by lorries.

Interesting to read from a PP that there is a national campaign…if anyone remembers the information adverts of the 80s and 90s, wish they would come back!

I beg to differ - I think the middle lane hoggers are the ones who don't want to be with the 'saddos' in what they perceive as the 'slow' lane - they want to be with the big boys in the middle and fast lanes.

They really don't - they're mostly timid people who are scared of changing lanes. And they look straight ahead 100% of the time.

I suppose you'd need the camera to follow them for a decent period of time whereas for speeding/parking you only need to capture them at that moment.

It feels like it should be possible, but would maybe need a bit of infrastructure investment.

Had to laugh, as today I passed a large electronic ‘don’t hog the middle lane’ sign, whilst moving to lane 3 to overtake an oblivious 61mph middle lane hogger.

The didn’t notice the large sign, nor the empty lane one, nor the stream of traffic having to move across and back again to overtake them, nor the few drivers who flashed them….you have to wonder on if they should be driving at all.

I asked DP, who is a traffic cop, about this.

The offence is driving without due care and attention (which also includes things like not giving way at a roundabout, or driving in a way that causes other road users to have to abruptly change speed or direction- essentially road behaviour that falls below the standard of a safe and competent driver).

This doesn't include the fatal four- speeding, no seatbelt, drink/drug driving, and using a mobile phone while driving (although this last can also fall under the driving without due care and attention umbrella)

The do do motorway offences, but the brutal fact is that there are too few police officers to cover everything. Still, he has caught quite a few in his time- he says very often it's people who get into the middle lane much too early for an upcoming junction and then don't move back into lane one.

It’s a very fair point @EvelynSalt .

Er, camera evidence of someone not pulling into the left lane when possible seems pretty obvious and simple. And it’s not a ‘waste of police resources’ when it would be a money maker, they wouldn’t even have to stop the car, just catch the culprits on camera and send a letter. Road hogging is pure arrogant laziness.

There's a bit of motorway not far from me I was actually on it today its 4 lanes but they split into a 2 by 2 arrangement as one continues south and one goes West.

It's really not possible to keep left and go West so I often find myself hogging the middle lane.

Doesn't matter that I'm going the speed limit there is usually always some dafty undertaking me. Or someone behind me getting ragin I'm not doing 80 in a 70 so overtake.

I'd be utterly livid to get points and a fine in that situation.

If you're overtaking - i.e. going faster than something in the lane to your left - then you're not hogging, no matter how long you spend in that lane.

I am with you, middle lane drivers are frustrating. I regularly drive on m62 and they never move over. There is a section we’re 3 lanes goes into 2. Middle lane drivers at 55 miles an hour with left lane free.

however more annoying is in the morning there is a person who drives at 45 miles an hour on the 70 mile stretch. Should not be on the motorway with the trail of traffic behind her. That’s more dangerous’

If they split then presumably there are lane markings to show which lane you should be in? So as long as you've moved into that lane at the appropriate time rather than 5 miles early, it's not lane hogging, you're in the correct lane. Other people may still be driving like idiots, but if you're in the right lane then no problem.

True, though plenty of people seem to think that that applies if the vehicle they are going faster than is about half a mile away and they're gaining on it at the rate of a tectonic plate. Lane discipline is very poor in general these days.

The overwhelming majority of middle-lane drivers (hoggers as you call them) are people driving at 65-70 on a 3-lane motorway. They are travelling faster than all the lorries and ditherers in the 'slow' lane, and are leaving the 'fast' lane clear for everyone who wants to break the law. They are also keeping out of the left hand lane as it often turns into a feeder for the next junction, and following the junction, a feeder lane for joining traffic.

Someone driving at 70 should not be in anyone's way, because nobody should be driving faster than them anyhow.

I'd much rather the police concentrated on speeding drivers rather than those driving within the limit.

Understanding the Legal Framework: What Is Middle Lane Hogging?
Under the UK's Highway Code and associated road traffic law, specifically The Highway Code Rules 264-266, drivers must keep left unless overtaking.

• Rule 264: “You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear.”
• Middle lane hogging is classified legally under the general umbrella of "careless driving" (Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988) — rather than being a standalone offence.

In 2013, a government policy change allowed fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for certain careless driving behaviours, including lane hogging:

• £100 fine and 3 points on the licence, applied at the roadside by police officers without a court appearance unless contested.

Thus, while there is a legal basis for action, enforcement rests upon discretionary, officer-led action under the "careless driving" category.

What qualifies someone as a middle lane hogger? Someone driving at 65? What if they are passing strings of lorries and slow moving vehicles in the inside lane, are they still a hogger? What about the impatient person behind them who wants to drive at 70 in the same lane and is gesticulating at them to move over or driving too close behind, to make them get out of their way so that they can use the lane, are they not middle lane hoggers?
Seems like a lot of people getting irate about it are just people who want to drive faster than the speed limit and hog the lane for themselves

If you're driving faster than the traffic to your left, you're overtaking not hogging. If you're not catching up with the cars on your left and there's in fact a gap there, you're hogging not overtaking.

It's not actually difficult to understand.

The impatient person in your scenario can still overtake in lane 3, they're being a bit of a dick. I don't see that scenario happening often though.

What qualifies is someone who is that lane when they aren't overtaking.

If you frequently find impatient drivers behind you, the problem is most likely your driving.

The overwhelming majority of middle-lane drivers (hoggers as you call them) are people driving at 65-70 on a 3-lane motorway. They are travelling faster than all the lorries and ditherers in the 'slow' lane, and are leaving the 'fast' lane clear for everyone who wants to break the law. They are also keeping out of the left hand lane as it often turns into a feeder for the next junction, and following the junction, a feeder lane for joining traffic.

No, this is fine. Middle lane hoggers drive in the middle lane when the 'slow' lane is clear.

Bravo. At last, someone who agrees with me.

Yes. And in my 40+ years'-worth of experience I see middle lane hogging far less often than I see speeding drivers.

I drive on motorways on a fairly regular basis between 7 & 9am on Sunday mornings when I am going to hobby events. The roads are relatively quiet at that time of day and it is easy to drive at 70 all the way, which I do. On those journeys, I might come across a handful of lane-hoggers, but they are no trouble and are easy to overtake, whilst staying within the speed limit myself. But on those journeys I will be overtaken by hundreds of speeding drivers. They are the ones who need prosecuting, not the slowcoaches.

Operational Definition: How Identify Middle Lane Hogging
From a traffic policing perspective, an act of middle lane hogging must meet several operational criteria:

• Prolonged Occupation:
• Remaining in the middle lane for an extended distance (typically over 30 seconds to several minutes) when the left lane is obviously free.
• Impediment to Other Drivers:
• Causing faster vehicles to either:
• Undertake (pass on the left, illegal unless exceptional circumstances apply)
• Change lanes unnecessarily
• No Legitimate Overtaking Activity:
• The driver is not in the process of overtaking a slower vehicle in the inside lane.
• Clear Left Lane Availability:
• The inside (leftmost) lane must be free for a safe return without obvious obstacles.

In short, a "hogger" is someone unnecessarily camping in the middle lane when they could — and should — return to the left. Example:

• A driver remains in the middle lane for several miles despite no vehicles occupying the left lane, forcing approaching traffic to undertake or swerve right.

There’s already established infrastructure in place to catch speeding drivers, who are of course a huge danger. I posted this thread to ask specifically about middle lane drivers.