to ask you about driving on the motorway?

[RoastitBubblyJocks]

Can anyone explain motorway driving etiquette to me? I shall give some scenarios that I wonder about.

Say there are 2 lanes. Inside lane, or lane one, is full of cars or lorries doing 56-60.

Lane two is moving at 70mph ish.

If someone tanks it up behind you at 80, should you take your foot off the accelerator/brake in order to slot into the slower lane and let the fast car past?

If there are 3 lanes, Lane 1 doing 60ish (eg lorries etc), Lane 2 doing, say 70mph, if a car comes up behind at 75-80, who should move? Me, therefore having to brake to get into the slower lane? Or the other car into the outside lane?

Or should they go into Lane 3 to overtake?

If there are two lanes, inside doing 56-60, me in lane 2 doing 70 or just over, someone comes up behind me at 80, should I move in even though they shouldn't be going so fast?

DH says if you are driving correctly on a motorway you shouldn't ever need to brake (unless there is an incident to avoid, obviously).

Can I clarify that I'm not talking about middle-lane-hoggers on an empty motorway. I'm talking about medium traffic than is freely flowing.

Scenario 1: you are overtaking so should stay in lane 2. They have lane 3 to overtake so should use that.

Scenario 2: slightly more tricky. But again you are overtaking and shouldn't either stop overtaking or drive faster than you are comfortable with. 80mph just has to wait until there is room to overtake. (Think about the same scenario on a 1 lane road)

If you're in lane 2 and overtaking cars in lane 1 at a reasonable rate so not doing 5mph faster then continue your manoeuvre. When it's sensible to pull back into lane 1 then do so.
If there's an outside lane then a faster car can pull out to overtake you but on a 2 lane carriageway then you should finish what you were doing. Braking sharply to squeeze into a space is dangerous.

pity the police are not so diligent about ticketing the tailgaters.

limit is 70. That applies to everyone. If you have an AH up your boot, move left as soon as you can do so safely, but not before. You should of course move left as soon as you can anyway, but don't let the git behind you make YOU do something dangerous.

it is terrifying - but rest assured this person will get their comeuppance eventually. Hopefully very hard and into a tree.

If everyone drove in lane one I wonder how it would work

I hate the motorway. I was recently in the car with my friend and some fella thought it was great fun to get right up our arse. We changed lane to overtake then get away from him, but he kept following us every time. He'd then get in front of us and start driving really slowly, then get behind us and be up our arse again.

I'm also comfortable being on the motorway Jolly! I just don't love having a 19 year old guy right up my chufter when I'm doing 75 and the inside lane are lorries doing 20mph less!

Another who uses the M25 regularly and you'd rarely get out of lane 2 as you are always overtaking the slow moving vehicles. It would be foolhardy to slow
Down to return to lane 1 constantly.

I know Special but unfortunately it's more likely they will hit another car with an innocent driver in it and Sod's Law means the bawbag will walk away injury free.

It confuses me when cars fly up the outside lane towards other cars in front of them that are moving slower and then slam their brakes on at the last minute what we're they expecting to happen, that the car would disappear? Why not just ease of the accelerator and sit a safe distance behind?

Is DH right when he says you shouldn't ever really be pressing the brakes on the motorway?

I never brake on the motorway under normal circumstances, there should just be no need to. If someone comes bombing up my arse when I'm overtaking they can wait there until I can safely move over (without braking to get in) and I don't go bombing about with no regard for maintaining a safe distance from the car in front. Also I think a lot of it is down to anticipating the fact that at any given moment one of the drivers around you may do something stupid. I find motorway driving very draining but I have braked 3 times ever and I was most annoyed after each one, it goes against my rules!

blimey where do you all live where you never brake on the motorway?

the m25 is on bit stop and start party.

i think it's all very well to say stay in the left lane unless overtaking but it never happens.

the worse though is people who drive right up your arse at 90mph then flash you to move over. it's hell out there really and mostly due to audi drivers.

I wouldn't brake if someone came up behind me on the motorway. If I could move over I would, otherwise it's up to them to either pass you safely or wait till they can. Ignore tailgaters and don't get stressed by it.

Some people fly up behind you because they a) misjudged your speed and had to brake sharply which is their problem or b) are trying to intimidate you out of the way.

Golden rules are observe and plan ahead - what is the traffic doing in front of you? Is it bunching up? Slowing down? Make progress, use the slip road to match your speed to the traffic, don't needlessly or deliberately hold others up and don't drift off into a dream world in the middle lane. :) Oh yeah, and frickin' indicate BEFORE you change lanes, not at the same time as doing it.

roastit & osmi Cars flying up behind you seems to happen a lot on French motorways, but from what I've seen, their lane discipline is much better and no-one seems to get offended if someone else wants to overtake.

I wonder if it's a bit of the British queuing mentality - people see driving as essentially a big queue and if someone wants to get past, they're 'jumping the queue' (however irrational that is).

So, you should be in lane 1. If a car is going slower you move to lane 2 until you pass all cars going slower in lane 1 and there is space to move back. Same for lane 3/4/5.

Slip roads then make everything even more confusing!

In my nm protean driving experience you only get conditions for this during midweek, afternoon driving and it is throughly enjoyable (saddo alert!). More often than not it's too busy or someone is lane hogging or undertaking which just spoils it.

I agree with the op, etiquette is confusing:

1. What constitutes 'overtaking' varies for different people

1. The speed limit is 70 so surely you can't hold anyone up in the middle lane at this speed

1. Tailgaters need to be shot imo but it's fine if they have a different definition of number 1, or wish to extert their right to break the law and speed

Op it's common sense really and get a 10 year old Volvo if you want respect... ;)

The really irritating thing is when you are keeping the correct distance from the vehicle in front and other drivers overtake then pull in front of you leaving you driving too close.

osmi Yeah, agree it's much harder to judge when the motorway is busy. I definitely wouldn't be slowing down to squeeze into a gap though. If I'm already overtaking, they can wait to pass me or wait till I have a big enough gap not to have to brake to get into.

tobysmum If the inside lane is empty, i.e. you're not overtaking, there's no reason to be in the middle lane.

yeah zombie it isn't that simple though is it? Is the inside lane often empty?

theres theory (lanes 2+ for overtaking only)

and practice (lane 1 for lorries and tiny cars doing 50, lane 2 for70mph ish, lane 3 for speeding)

and congestion (theyre all going at 5mph take your pick of lane but weaving in and out doesnt make you get anywhere faster)

imo also the best place for knobhead speeding -audi- drivers is behind not in front of me. they will cause a pile up and be at the front and drive off, no doubt. i dont fancy getting caught up in their 3 car pile up.

i pull over to slower lane if safe to do so and not a massive pain in the arse for me to get back out again, so it depends how congested the roads are

imo also the best place for knobhead speeding -audi- drivers is behind not in front of me. they will cause a pile up and be at the front and drive off, no doubt. i dont fancy getting caught up in their 3 car pile up

I'm just repeating what I was told on a speed awareness course. If you have a safe stopping distance you won't get caught in a 3 car pile up. As they don't have a safe stopping distance, if you need to brake they are very likely to go into the back of you

tobysmum Dunno, depends on the motorway and time of day I guess. Obviously, if there's nose-to-tail HGVs in the inside lane doing 55 it's fine to be passing them at 70 in the middle lane without trying to move over for all of four seconds before having to move out again! Best thing is to try and look ahead and judge what's going on ahead of you so you can plan your next move but totally accept it's not always that easy when it's busy.

My old dad has just come up with a blardy brilliant idea:

If someone shoots up behind you and is tailgating, then turn your fog lights on briefly so person behind thinks you're braking. Then as you don't actually slow down you won't get rear-ended, but the Audi arsehole behind you gets a fright and backs off.

Genius, no?!

drive in the first lane, unless you are going faster than the vehicles in that lane, then stay in the middle lane but pull in to the first lane when you can.
I also use my fog lights for speeding BMW drivers - Audi drivers don't seem to be a problem round here, or maybe they are more bothered by my old Volvo than BMW drivers.