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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not really understand the problem with driving in the middle lane?

440 replies

BrokenSunglasses · 16/08/2013 09:15

I've done a lot of motorway driving recently, and it's got me thinking, because I don't really understand when it's ok to be in the middle lane and when it's not.

I've worked out that its ok to stay in the middle lane when there's lots of cars/lorries on the inside lane and I'm going faster, but how long is it ok to stay in the middle lane when there's nothing right next to you on the inside lane?

Sometimes I stay in there longer than I perhaps should, but that's either because I can see that I'd only have to move out again in a minute because there's a slow moving lorry ahead, or because I can see a junction coming up and there will be cars filtering onto the the motorway.

I did that yesterday, and got flashed a lot by a van behind me, but it was raining so the visibility was crap, and I'd have had to slow down and be too close behind the car that was on the inside lane and would have been able to see even less because of the spray. It seems to me to be sensible to leave lots of space inbetween vehicles when it's raining, but this van made me doubt myself. He overtook me in the outside lane eventually, and I thought he should have just done that in the first place because that's what it's there for.

Was I being a lane hog or was he being a twat?

I really don't get it.

OP posts:
PeanutButterMmm · 19/08/2013 08:53

But then surely those 2 or 3 vehicles sure be also pulling in to the inside lane?

If driver 1 is in the middle lane going a reasonable speed and is pulling into the inside lane for a few seconds before catching up with the next car then pulling out again, the cars behind driver 1 should be doing this also.

Or driver 1 could realise they are continuously overtaking the traffic, stay there until there is a gap of say 30 seconds and the cars behind could overtake using lane 3. That is what lane 3 is there for, so they can overtake the person in lane 2 who is overtaking people in lane 1. That was a mouthful!

This way everyone can overtake when they need to and no one is pulling in for 6 seconds.

HorryIsUpduffed · 19/08/2013 08:54

That's my point, pbmum. Perception of time is weird when you're concentrating on eleventy billion things in the car, so what feels like ten seconds to you might feel like ninety to the driver of the car behind.

I wouldn't pull in for six seconds, no, unless I wanted to get a bully off my rear bumper.

HorryIsUpduffed · 19/08/2013 08:57

I don't quite get your longer post though, sorry.

The general rule is that you always drive in the leftmost lane available to you. If you can be in lane one for long enough for several cars to pass you, you should definitely be in lane one then. For speed difference it might actually transpire that one passes you in lane two and another passes you both in lane three. That's what three lanes exist for.

PeanutButterMmm · 19/08/2013 08:59

All I see is when I am doing 70 in the inside lane 1 everyone to my right is breaking the highway code anyway so they can fight between themselves on who is breaking the law the mostGrin

Nerfmother · 19/08/2013 09:08

Yesterday driving on m25 in slow lane (inside) at 70 drew level with learner car and the woman was just staring at me ( weird) I dropped back to let her pull in front so I could go round but she didn't so I dropped back , over took on the outside and she had turned to state malevolently at me again. I was so freaked out! Mum and I considered emailing the driving school to ask if she was okay!

noblegiraffe · 19/08/2013 09:11

I thought learners weren't allowed on motorways?

WMittens · 19/08/2013 09:16

I may have missed this up thread, but, if you are travelling at 70 (or maybe even slightly faster), in the middle lane how does someone feel it is right to tail gate you and push you over?

I don't think you missed it, because I don't think anyone ever fucking said it!

Seriously, do you really think anyone is advocating aggressive driving?

WMittens · 19/08/2013 09:22

All I see is when I am doing 70 in the inside lane 1 everyone to my right is breaking the highway code

Maybe you should be looking ahead to that restricted-to-56mph 44T that you're approaching; you sound like a particularly dangerous driver.

You also sound extremely sanctimonious and convinced of your own superiority, i.e. someone who thinks they don't have anything more to learn; also dangerous attributes in any driver.

alemci · 19/08/2013 09:30

do you think this may make most drivers stick to the left lane and not bother to pull out. also quite tricky to be fair. its not as clear cut as someone driving on a mobile phone which I think is disgraceful and far more dangerous.

do you think drivers may become paranoid as in box junctions and move back into the left lane too quickly in case they are find for lane hogging?

we will have to see.

PseudoBadger · 19/08/2013 09:35

I went one junction on the M1 yesterday and encountered 2 MLHs. One was a middle aged woman clearly petrified of the motorway (hands fixed on the wheel, leaning forwards staring straight ahead), the other was a knob in his phone. Both caused considerable issues with traffic flow.

PseudoBadger · 19/08/2013 09:35

*knob on his phone.
I couldn't see if he also had his knob in something...

PeanutButterMmm · 19/08/2013 09:44

I was saying that in a jokey kind of way, hard on the internet I know, but it was just funny everyone arguing on who is breaking the law the most!

I am always learning in everything I do, including driving. No one has all the answers.

Nerfmother · 19/08/2013 09:44

Mittens - no idea if that was directed at me.
Not a learner - just one person in the car. Very odd staring person.

HorryIsUpduffed · 19/08/2013 09:47

Again, pbmum, 70 on your speedo might register as 68 on mine (and be 66 to a speed camera) so those overtaking you aren't necessarily speeding Smile

But yes, you're right, the main thing is that it's their problem and the safest thing to do is let them past.

PeanutButterMmm · 19/08/2013 09:57

It was in a jokey way hence the grin. People take everything said so seriously on here sometimes. Of course I know not all speedometers are completely accurate and again I was being jokey with a grin when I said it.

MorrisZapp · 19/08/2013 10:06

I don't drive so the finer points of all this are lost on me. But I am an active passenger! It seems to me that the crux of this is to get safe drivers to make way for unsafe ones. That's probably a good idea, if the unsafe ones are going to come flying up regardless. Nobody wants accidents to happen, particularly at high speed on a busy road.

But what I don't accept is that the slower/ cautious/ middle lane types are in some way responsible for any accidents caused by the faster/ assertive ones by causing them frustration.

If somebody gets frustrated on a road, and this causes them to make a rash, dodgy or illegal move, then that is solely the responsibility of that one driver.

Being stuck on a country road behind a slower driver, with a tailback building up is frustrating to drivers who would like to be going faster. But if they decide to pull out and attempt an overtake when it isn't completely safe to do so, then they alone are responsible for that. Nobody makes somebody else drive badly.

MorrisZapp · 19/08/2013 10:08

Wmittens, my dad was a driving instructor for many years and he always says that on motorways, you have to be aware of what's behind you, beside you, and what's happening on the oncoming side too.

The dangerous driver would be the one staring solidly ahead, with no awareness of what else is going on.

WMittens · 19/08/2013 10:12

The dangerous driver would be the one staring solidly ahead, with no awareness of what else is going on.

If you notice the bit I quoted, it said "All I see..."

I was being flippant.

bemybebe · 19/08/2013 10:16

"If somebody gets frustrated on a road, and this causes them to make a rash, dodgy or illegal move, then that is solely the responsibility of that one driver."

That. Also, I really cannot see fines imposed in any cases unless it is a very clear MLH as in sitting there for miles with no traffic on the left or the courts will be clogged.

I think the main purpose of this move is to bring up the awareness of MLH and reduce it somewhat. Not to start fining people left right and centre.

Ilovemyself · 19/08/2013 10:20

MorrisZapp. So you do not accept that the HA and the police have said that middle lane hoggers are the problem and the cause of dangerous tailgating.

Probably a good job you don't drive then

alemci · 19/08/2013 10:20

I hope so and they don't use it as a money making exercise. you know what it can be like.

I think with driving you do have to keep on learning and be gracious and calm. some people are so aggressive on the road. I laugh sometimes when people overtake and then are stuck ahead - it makes all the difference.

I try to stick to speed limits and i am not a particularly slow driver.

Ilovemyself · 19/08/2013 10:22

Oh. And what you are saying is that people who MLH are fine because they shouldn't worry about the affect thy have on others. That doesn't make any sense. That means do what you want as if others don't like it it's their problem.

PeanutButterMmm · 19/08/2013 10:31

Actually the problem and the cause of dangerous tailgating is the driver doing it, no one else.

I do not agree with middle lane driving but even so, there is never an excuse for tailgating even if you are frustrated.

Ilovemyself · 19/08/2013 10:57

I get it now PBM. You AREsaying the HA and the police are wrong. Fair enough

ShellyBoobs · 19/08/2013 11:55

Also, I really cannot see fines imposed in any cases unless it is a very clear MLH as in sitting there for miles with no traffic on the left or the courts will be clogged.

It's a fixed penalty - 3 points and a fine - unless the road hog contests it in court, in which case they will receive more points and a bigger fine, unless the magistratesl find against the police officer.