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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask middle-lane sitters why they do it?

289 replies

Gentleness · 15/02/2013 12:15

I'm not starting this thread to criticise or belittle at all, so please don't flame me. The audi thread just got me thinking about my constant mental battle to assume the best of other drivers. I have to, as I'm naturally a harsh critic and I don't like it in myself. But while I can think someone speeding is trying to get to their sick child, or someone dithering has had a bad scare, I struggle to understand the drivers who sit in the middle line on motorways. So, tell me why so I can train my brain to be kind!

OP posts:
blonderedhead · 15/02/2013 20:51

The thing I don't understand is, how do you know these people are 'middle lane hoggers' - presumably you are driving past them so only see them for a minute? How do you know they're not just there while overtaking some lorries themselves?

LessMissAbs · 15/02/2013 20:53

I personally suspect its the lack of visible lorries within 4 miles either way that usually gives it away, blondredhead

LeucanTheMopsis · 15/02/2013 21:01

Well I slow down to go uphill because there's a hole in my turbo pipe. Goes like a rocket downhill though Hmm.

Undertaking is horrifically dangerous - more people than you'd hope don't bother to indicate when they're moving right into a lane, but even fewer people than that bother to look or indicate when they're pulling back in to the left. Death on a stick, undertaking is.

LeucanTheMopsis · 15/02/2013 21:06

Oh, and a cultural thing... you know when you're overtaking on a normal road, you keep your indicator going for as long as you're overtaking, then indicate the other way to show you're pulling back in?

Well, all over the south of France people do this on motorways as well; a little ticky reminder in your car that YOU SHOULD FINISH OVERTAKING NOW.

ahem.

SinisterBuggyMonth · 15/02/2013 21:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrideOfChanur · 15/02/2013 21:13

I will let people onto the motorway from a slip road,if I can,and into my lane,and to pull out of a junction - but I'm not keen on the not uncommon situation where you can't move out to the middle lane,your lane is moving briskly along,and some twit is steaming up much too fast on your nearside.Do you
a) Keep going and wait for them to plough into you
b) Brake and wait for the car behind to plough into you
c) Move out and wait for the lorry on your off side to plough into you

Joiners do have some responsibility to try to merge properly and not just accelerate and hope everyone else gets out of the way.

Sparklingbrook · 15/02/2013 21:22

I do agree Pride sometimes there's nowhere for anyone to go.

ivykaty44 · 15/02/2013 21:36

CCP

If you have one driver in the inside lane, you judge there speed and alter yours accordingly - the problem is then when they don't change lanes and blood slow down to let you in - I had clocked there speed and so altered mine to slip in behind - now they have changed there speed I don't know whether they are going to change there speed again or what they are going to do? But also due to them slowing down my speed needs to be altered - it becomes dangerous

If you have a driver on the inside lane and nothing on the outside lanes - he doesn't need to move if he wants to stubbornly - as you put it - stay on the inside lane they are in, you and several cars coming down the slip road can adjust your speed to come in in front and behind

zwischenzug · 15/02/2013 21:42

I am a middle lane driver.

Actually the generally accepted term is "Middle lane moron".

I think a lot of it is people who don't know how to drive on motorways, seeing as you aren't allowed on them until you've passed your test, and then you're set lose on them without any tuition (and most people are too lazy to read up on how to drive on them).

Then you have the dopey types several of whom have posted here things like "I am doing 70mph, why would I be getting in anyones way". Actually I think you'll find if your speedo says 70mph, you are more likely doing 63-65mph, because speedos always over-read. So you are getting in the way, and quite frankly, if you take it upon yourself to police the speed everyone else is going at, the biggest twat on the road is you.

zwischenzug · 15/02/2013 21:43

btw i say that as somebody who mostly drives at 60mph in the left lane so middle lane morons don't affect me that much. Although the ones who overtake me at 60.01mph whilst I'm coming up behind a lorry doing 50 are knobs.

MerryMarigold · 15/02/2013 21:55

Ha ha zwisch. Are you actually joking? This whole thread is about policing people's driving! That is what the thread is about so why are you on it, if you don't do it and have nothing to add.

ohdobuckup · 15/02/2013 21:55

And another thing...SLOW OVERTAKERS!!! the number of times I see people changing lanes to overtake and then barely crawl pass the other vehicle, as if wanting to wave and have a chat with the other driver... just get on with it, put some speed and distance on and then get back in the leftest lane ..grrrr

But.. joining fast roads from slip roads is a nightmare, all very well saying match your speed to other cars and find a space, it often just doesn't work that way...often everyone is bombing along and wont or cannot move and then you are running out of slip road and getting a bit desperate!!

I try and move over to let slip drivers in or even slow down, everyone needs some space

CarlingBlackMabel · 15/02/2013 22:01

"It is down right dangerous for other drivers to have to go from the inside lane to outside lane unneccesarily, when in fact they should only have to go into the next lane." Hardly.

"I take great pleasure in speeding past the one in the middle lane whilst in the left hand lane (whilst keeping within the speed limit of course) " Now that IS downright dangerous, Juneybean . Really fucking dangerous. Much worse than sitting in the middle lane, and you could get done for it.

zwischenzug · 15/02/2013 22:02

It's the police's job to police peoples driving, if people want to drive at 100mph then on their head be it if they get caught or crash into a tree.

Why try and slow them down yourself? My guess is some people see people overtaking as getting one over on them, when actually the overtaker doesn't give a fuck s/he just wants to get where they're going.

I don't personally care what people do as long as they aren't being wilfully obstructive, but thats exactly what MLMs are.

MerryMarigold · 15/02/2013 22:05

Middle lane sitters are mostly not trying to slow anyone down (speaking for myself). But you do feel justified to be there if you are going 70mph - people still have a full lane to break the speed limit in. Do they really need 2 lanes to break the law in?

MerryMarigold · 15/02/2013 22:06

(Also zwisch it is very naive to say on their own heads be it. Sadly it mostly involves a lot of other people's heads as well).

jjuice · 15/02/2013 22:06

because they are wazzoks.

astounded at some peoples reasons for breaking the law.

CarlingBlackMabel · 15/02/2013 22:06

I think much middle laning is down to listening to the Beautiful South on the stereo, or nattering to the kids to keep them from fighting in the back. When I pass middle laners, they have a sort of oblivious look about them.

But I don't get narked or antsy. Life's too short. And shorter if you let your mood affect your driving.

zwischenzug · 15/02/2013 22:13

Again I'd suggest that your 70mph is probably 65mph because your speedo will almost always overread. I guess a frequent scenario might be you have somebody doing 75 and somebody doing 80+ and if they only have one lane to overtake people doing 65 in lane 2, it leads to frustration and road rage.

Whether they're breaking the law or not I don't think is the issue, holding people up does make people disproportionately angry, and angry drivers are more likely to do something stupid and crash. Much more likely to crash than say, somebody doing 100mph in a clear lane. Why not just let them get on their way, it isn't going to do you any harm.

I drive on the motorway everyday and much of it is a 4-lane stretch, it amuses me somewhat that as I'm cruising in lane 1 in acres of space, lane 3 and 4 and often packed and going slower than I am, because MLMs refuse to move into lane 2. Makes my drive easy as I can overtake lorries freely because nobody is in lane 2, but it is a daft situation.

howdoyouknowjenny · 15/02/2013 22:15

So

Road all clear ahead, MLM sticks to middle lane doing 60. I come up in the slow lane doing 65 see the MLM and prepare to overtake. 2nd car coming up behind me doing 70 prepares in advance to do the same thing. So we have 2 cars preparing to move at different speeds across 2 lanes into the only 1 available overtaking lane and back again.

Can you MLM not see how much safer it would be for all the road users if the MLM was in the near side lane to begin with???

CarlingBlackMabel · 15/02/2013 22:17

your 70mph is probably 65mph because your speedo will almost always overread.

Are you sure of this? It seems a very expensive presumption, if not dangerous.

howdoyouknowjenny · 15/02/2013 22:17

Zwisch, I liked your MLM and will use it from now on.

jjuice · 15/02/2013 22:19

don't get me started on the people who speed up as you overtake them. I drive a pickup and this happens a lot. it's like they are are in cloud cuckoo land then suddenly see me overtaking at 70 and think shit I am being overtaken by a slow vehicle bollocks I have 200 horse power and speed up. And this helps everyone because...

zwischenzug · 15/02/2013 22:22

Carling, yes this is quite standard across most cars, I've measured it myself with GPS when my speedo was at 60 over a 20 mile stretch and in reality I was doing about 55. AFAIK it's because manufacturers err on the side of caution, if a speedo was to overread (and cause people to get lots of speeding tickets as a result) they'd be in the shit. BTW I'm not suggesting everybody assumes they can go faster than their speedo says :-)

Jenny, good stuff, spread the word! Although I can't take credit for the term itself! Also you explained the example I was trying to make better than I did, thanks.

SquinkiesRule · 15/02/2013 22:25

How can you get stuck between two other vehicles. It is you who controls how far you travel from the vehicle in front of you. If you need more space take it.
Busy motorway, all lanes suddenly fill and another big lorry merges onto the road behind you, no way to get into the middle lane at this point and bloody scary in a little car between two 18 wheelers. So If there are a lot of them about and they are jockeying for position I move out into faster lanes to stay away from them and pass them asap. You haven't been on the interstate highways in the US have you, multiple lanes 6 or 8 in some spots, that can go from 70 down to a dead stop at rush hour (should be called rush 4 hours)