To overtake on motorway left hand lane?

[brasty]

DP says I am. But I hate when you are on a busy motorway, and someone is sitting in the middle lane, and will not move to the left hand lane, even though it is empty. While at the same time the right hand lane is packed with cars, making it hard to pull out into the right hand lane and still leave decent distances. So I have occasionally just overtaken the middle lane hogger in the left hand lane. I know the Highway Code says you should not, but sometimes it seems the safest option.

Or maybe lethal, numpty drivers could realise they are causing an obstruction and move over! It’s not about driving fast everywhere, it’s about people knowing the rules of the road so that traffic can flow efficiently.

Lethaldrizzle
Flower pot - because then all the pps on here who seem really stressed about getting somewhere really fast can just chill out a bit and not get angry on the motorway

I can't see anyone here saying they want to get somewhere really fast. Can you?

I asked you what leaving earlier had to do with dangerous driving. Still haven't got an answer to that.

amicissimma

I'm cruising along a more-or-less empty motorway at 70 in the left hand lane. Nobody in the middle lane but someone in the right hand lane going along at about 60. Are we all supposed to sit in the two left hand lanes at 59 until Right-hand-lane Owner deigns to move over?

No, the Highway Code says to continue to make headway and pass on the inside in your current lane.

Not being in a hurry, I timed the last one - 17 minutes! He only moved over to cross two lanes and leave the motorway. There were very few other people around, but those who were undertook in the middle lane.

It sounds more likely they passed on the inside, they did not undertake.

Flower - Getting cross and impatient on a motorway, which can often result in drivers tailgating, flashing and undertaking - just generally driving dangerously and aggressively - is bad for everyone. So if one left more time for ones journey, this would be less likely to happen. Given that tailgating is one of the main causes of motorway accidents I would think it might be better to chill out a bit whilst driving .

Lethaldrizzle

Getting cross and impatient on a motorway, which can often result in drivers tailgating, flashing and undertaking - just generally driving dangerously and aggressively - is bad for everyone.

True but bar undertaking, that's not what this thread is about. Lane hogging in Lanes 2,3,4, i.e. driving on these lanes when not actively overtaking, is dangerous too. This is the driving behaviour of the driver that the OP came across. That driver should not have been in Lane 2 and were dangerously causing congestion behind them, and forcing drivers to lane change to get round them which is the most dangerous manoevre on the motorway. That driver is putting other people in danger.

So if one left more time for ones journey, this would be less likely to happen.
No, leaving earlier does not suddenly result in all the middle lane road hogs to disappear. If a driver is an imbecilic tailgater, their leaving earlier does not re-wire their brain, they will still tailgate no matter what.

Given that tailgating is one of the main causes of motorway accidents I would think it might be better to chill out a bit whilst driving.
Tailgating is an offence which the police are not doing enough to prosecute against.

Middle lane road hogs should be scooped up off our roads and repeat offenders banned. The mayhem and danger they create is immense. I urge everyone to pass them on the inside paying attention to their actions, to continue your progress of your journey.

YABVU

Annoying is one thing, dangerous is another. you just have to be annoyed OP, it won't kill anyone!

flower.** Ok, I MN going to bite.

You just linked me to something that specifies you DO NOT overtake on the left. It also says you do not move to the left to overtake, so therefore also means if you are in the left lane you fucking move to one of the right lanes to overtake.

I really don’t understand why you keep shouting I am wrong and goading me to respond. But you have given me a good giggle by posting a link that proved my own point

Middle lane road hogs should be scooped up off our roads and repeat offenders banned. The mayhem and danger they create is immense. I urge everyone to pass them on the inside paying attention to their actions, to continue your progress of your journey.

I urge you to stop telling people to pass on the inside. Please. You have shouted enough about it but it doesn’t make you right. The safe and only option in regards to middle lane hoggers is to pass them on the RIGHT. You know, in the lane designed for overtaking.

Migraleve

Oh dear Migraleve. What the hell is wrong with you?

It also says you do not move to the left to overtake, so therefore also means if you are in the left lane you fucking move to one of the right lanes to overtake.

Not moving to the left to overtake/undertake =/= meaning if you are in the left lane you move to one of the right lanes to overtake. Did that get through to you? Being in Lane 1 =/= moving into Lane 1. Is that crystal clear to you? Earth calling Migraleve. Already being in Lane 1 is NOT THE SAME as moving into Lane 1. Understood?

So, as I have written all along, and as the Highway Code states, undertaking by MOVING INTO the inside lane is not allowed. Passing on the inside if you are ALREADY in the inside lane is allowed.

But you have given me a good giggle by posting a link that proved my own point
And you've made me want to weep and laugh hysterically at the same time that you cannot see the rubbish that you have written here. You have not proved your own point, you have done the opposite - you have disproved it.

Try again.

Like I said GOADY FUCKER.

Migraleve
I urge you to stop telling people to pass on the inside

Why do you not want people to know and abide by the rules of the road? Why do you keep lying about the rules of motorway driving?

UrghbI hate middle lane hogs with a passion. I tend to overtake on the right and drive across in front to the left lane lane. Some get the hint others don't.

Just a word of caution though, my work colleague got side swiped undertaking and wrote of her mid life crisis (her words) expensive sports car, insurance wouldn't pay out and she got sued by the other driver. I think she is still paying now several years later!

Rule 268 of the Highway Code - Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

Keywords here are congested conditions and similar speeds

I've lived in a couple of places where undertaking is perfectly legal on interstates and dual carriageways. It's a bit hair-raising at first, but then you get used to it, and it does solve the problem of middle lane hogs.

BUT everyone knows that it can happen and are therefore alert to the possibility that someone can be - legitimately - coming up the inside. This isn't the case in the UK, hence the risk

One way of undertaking more safely if you really don't want to use the very outside lane is to leave one lane inbetween you and "undertake" there. This works if someone is either hogging the third lane or there are more than 3 lanes. And it means that if they do suddenly decide to change lanes there is a lane between you.

So for example if it's a 4 lane motorway and middle lane sitter is in 3rd lane, you undertake in 1st lane and leave 2nd lane clear.

But really you should pass on the right.

it's obviously different where all lanes are busy and moving at similar speeds, then it's quite usual to move past someone in lane 2 if you are in lane 1. In fact I was once told (about 20 years ago!) that the 1st lane moved faster than any of the others on the M25. Not sure if that's true but it does seem to work at times. As PP said similar speeds and congested conditions.

flowerpot I am genuinely keen to know what the rules are for passing cars on the left. I often get infuriated by middle lane hogs and have been known to pass them on the left (albeit I usually only do this when there are 2 clear lanes of traffic between us i.e. when they are in the 3rd lane and I’m in the first). However I am struggling to see from my (admittedly brief) read of the Highway Code where it says that you can continue on in the left lane to pass traffic like you have described. I’d like this to be true, but want to read it for myself. Can you help?

Doublechoc, the only time you should be passing on the left is when you are in a traffic jam/heavy traffic and all lanes are slow moving. If the lane on the right of you is going slower than your lane then you’ll naturally be passing these cars even though you are to the left of them.

Ginorchoc that sounds bloody dangerous. When did you decide you had to teach other road users lessons! ? Are you really such a faultless driver yourself!

Lethal eh?

@flower

I..... I think I love you.

RaeCJ that was my understanding of the Highway Code (I know I have on occasion choosen to ignore it). But that isn’t how Flowerpot interprets it, which is why I am interested.

I’d also be keen to have clarification on passing on the left when in a feeder lane to leave the motorway. It is ok from when it’s sign posted or just when the dotted lines become short and close together? Or is it never ok?

Migraleve never before have I laughed at a poster's username and the sheer aptness of it. I don't understand your reasoning AT ALL.

Flowerpot I wasn't aware of proceeding in the current lane and passing traffic so that was very helpful, thank you.

Doublechocolatetiffin The HC contains rules and advisory notes, it also does not refer to everything and is not the law. Nevertheless, as many motoring specialists have noted, nowhere in the HC does it say that passing on the inside is illegal nor is there any rule against it, and is therefore permissable. As Honest John says, "it makes far more sense and is far safer than attempting to pass a slower moving vehicle on the offside. You would have to be unhinged to drive from lane one to lane five to pass a slow moving idiot in lane four. The sooner passing either side is officially adopted the better."

Undertaking is as I explained before - coming up behind a vehicle, moving to the inside and back out in front of the road hog. This is not legally permissable and is against the rules of the HC.

Driving along an inside lane, and coming across a road hog or queue of slower moving vehicles in any outer lane, and passing them on the inside is permitted - there is no rule or law against it. It is also basic common sense, as per Honest John's comment. It is also as I was trained to drive as an advanced driver and by the police.

Some people point to the "congested" part of section 268, which is one of those parts of the HC which is ambiguous and unhelpful. Most motorways we go on are congested, and every lane we see has a "queue" of traffic nearly all the time. "Queuing traffic" does not refer to any speed, nor does the definition of congestion. A motorway of cars with drivers progressing at 50, 60mph+ on the right hand lanes, all one behind the other, is queueing. If the inside lane is clear for some distance, you are not breaking the HC or the law by passing these slower moving vehicles on the inside, since as the HC says, you should keep up with traffic in your lane and it's downright dangerous and stupid to brake, move out past the road hog, then brake again and move out to the next lane past them, and all the way back again.

It's what many people do to "prove a point" to road hogs, but let me just say - don't waste your time, effort and petrol by doing this, and don't put yourself in danger by all these lane changes, just pass the idiot on the inside and maintain your driving speed. If you can catch the middle lane road hog on your dashcam and notify the police of their illegal driving - middle lane road hogging is an offence - do it!