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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To overtake on motorway left hand lane?

522 replies

brasty · 31/10/2017 22:49

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.

OP posts:
NoWordForFluffy · 01/11/2017 23:24

At its most literal, congestion means 'bunged up' (think about having a bunged up nose; that's nasal congestion!).

So congested roads are those which are full of stationary or slow-moving vehicles.

Kezzamo · 01/11/2017 23:25

Omg some people! 🙄

My advice to you: please take another form of transport you dl has been revoked

Bike
Jamiek80 · 01/11/2017 23:31

twofalls absolute rubbish it is not illegal to undertake frowned upon and inadvisable but not illegal. It is however illegal to drive in anything but lane 1 when not overtaking! If it's illegal to undertake motorways would be at a complete standstill with lane 1 waiting for cars in lane 2 and 3 to move in congestion!

OnlyToday · 02/11/2017 00:40

There is a lot of thread rage on this thread 😡😡

Twoo · 02/11/2017 02:36

Are you serious? Have you read the Highway Code? Are you just being goady OP? I can't take this seriously at all. You are being selfish, stupid and not only putting your self at the risk, but other road uses too. Safety on motorways is paramount. Yes yabvvvvu.

onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad · 02/11/2017 07:21

My understanding was that if you are in the left lane and the traffic in that lane is moving faster than the traffic in the middle lane you can continue past the cars on your right keeping up with the speed of the traffic in your lane.

You are advised (I'm pretty sure it's not illegal though) to not move from the middle lane to the nearside lane to overtake/ undertake a vehicle. I must admit I have done this though - I'm very careful how I do it and only when the vehicle has been sitting for some time in the middle lane and shows no sign of moving to the left idiots
I move across to the nearside lane and wait for a few minutes then pass briskly but keeping within the speed limit - I only do this in the scenario the OP described - when right hand lane is congested.

What bothers me far more is people weaving in and out of lanes, driving too fast or driving too closely together. These are greater issues on our roads today.

Humpsfor20yards · 02/11/2017 07:28

Blimey, this thread is as aggressive as the m25 - which is full of racers undertaking because they think they are above the law.

Then I saw that flowerpot was at the heart of it. Ahh, that explains the madness.

NoWordForFluffy · 02/11/2017 07:59

Flowerpot has previous?! It's not a name I recognise (though I mainly lurk elsewhere on the board!).

TizzyDongue · 02/11/2017 08:07

The argument for why undertaking is dangerous (the hogger swinging into the lane without checking mirrors or signalling) can be a danger of overtaking too. The person in front could swing in front of you. So it's not a danger of undertaking per se is it. It's the danger of sharing the road with incompetent drivers. You need to be prepared for them.

I had a taxi over take me last night when I changed lanes (Not on the motorway mind.) At the start of the right turn lane I checked mirrors (clear) - signalled - check mirrors again (still clear) then started to manvouver. At this point driver behind me speeded up moved right (no signals) drove through the hatched markings on and on my right to get into the right turn lane. I was still using my mirrors though so no collision.

FlowerPot1234 · 02/11/2017 08:13

twofalls

@Jamiek80 that is absolute bollocks. It is illegal to undertake in the UK

Please cite the law which states it is illegal, and therefore an offence, to undertake or pass on the inside in the UK.

RaeCJ82 · 02/11/2017 08:39

It isn’t illegal to undertake. There is, however, a guideline in the HC to say don’t do it apart from this narrow set of circumstances. It’s there to attempt to create a bit of order for safety. But hey, what’s the point of that? Why don’t we all just do what we want, overtake, undertake? As long as we’re ok, hey? Why bother giving way to your right at roundabouts? Why not just plough on through?

Doublechocolatetiffin · 02/11/2017 08:45

I know the Highway Code is advisory and not law, but I’d like to drive in a way that abides by it. I can’t get over the bit that says quite clearly: ‘do not overtake on the left’.

flowerpot I ask again, please can you explain how your interpretation gets around that part?

It then goes on to say ‘or move to the left to overtake’, which to me shows they are addressing two situations. One where you are in the middle lane and move left to overtake or the other where you are already in the left lane and going past a middle lane hog.

I don’t understand why I can ignore the bit that says quite clearly ‘do not overtake on the left’ if I want to adhere to the Highway Code.

FlowerPot1234 · 02/11/2017 08:47

Doublechocolatetiffin

flowerpot I ask again, please can you explain how your interpretation gets around that part?

I have, in several posts. I can't keep on repeating myself.

NerrSnerr · 02/11/2017 08:48

I think there are some posters on this thread having a bit of a laugh.

Doublechocolatetiffin · 02/11/2017 09:09

Flowers I have read your posts, they are very eloquent which is what made me doubt my long held belief of how the Highway Code works. However having read them, they have never provided anything other than your own opinion on the interpretation of the Highway Code. I have asked you several times to provide some backup - reference to the law or a different section of the Highway Code which shows that what you are suggesting is ok. You haven’t.

Lethaldrizzle · 02/11/2017 09:09

Mmm not sure what they are. There are some really angry drivers out there!

Lethaldrizzle · 02/11/2017 09:09

*that they are!

FlowerPot1234 · 02/11/2017 09:34

Doublechocolatetiffin I have answered fully every question put to me, and have explained at length every possible aspect of this and backed this up with advice from police, police driving instructors, advanced driving instructors and observers and my own advanced training. I have cited the law, I have clearly explained the difference between the law and advisory paragraphs in the HC and what it means for a paragraph to be advisory. I have been asked for meaning behind paragraphs which is impossible to do without the very interpretation which you criticise me for, yet you do not criticise others for their interpretation of the HC, or indeed their total fabrications I notice.

Driving brings out some very adamant behaviour in people who are determined to believe how they have been driving for years is the right way. Humiliation, embarrassment, ego prevents some people from simply admitting they have been wrong, or from facing up to the reality that their actions may be dangerous. The HC is not a book which states everything you are allowed to do and everything which is illegal. Your starting point seems to believe that it is, and you keep on asking me to provide things which do not exist. As I said similarly before, the HC does not "suggest it's ok" to use your words to sing Barry Manilow songs pretending you are Tom Jones. But actually, it's ok to do that. According to your logic anything which is not in the HC is not permitted. You are wrong in your premise.

I have explained every single part. I cannot keep repeating myself. If you do not want to believe me, or accept the advice given by police and advanced driving instructors, you don't have to. But both interpret the HC too, we all do (even you), precisely because it does not cover every eventuality and is not all-encompassing and is not designed to explain safe driving or actions taken to avoid dangerous conditions or other drivers who are driving illegally. The HC is not as comprehensive as it should be, and it has long been disputed for its accuracy and up-to-dateness and is not as clear as it should be either. Which is why motoring organisations and the police - and you and I - have to have an element of interpretation. I am sorry you don't like that, but I cannot change that, I didn't write it.

What is important is that people do not make statements that are wholly untrue or fabricated and pretend they are the HC. To move away from all the angst here for example, on another thread, someone has said that the HC says you may drive on the hard shoulder as a continuation of the slipway when joining a motorway. They have stated this - and it is not true. Nowhere in the HC does it say that. On this thread, similar things have been written, and likewise there are some very angry posters who jump on anyone who tries to be calm and clear, angry that other expert advice and interpretations differ from their own view and interpretation not only of words, but of what advisory notes mean in the HC.

I have been very calm and polite and been hounded by a couple of aggressive posters here who have sworn and tried to bully me into silence. Driving does that to some people and I'd really not like to be on the roads when they are around.

If you would like further evidence or whatever to back up what I have said, please google - the internet is full of discussion among advanced drivers about this topic. The majority believe as I have written and as I was trained as as I agree, some don't. What is most telling is that it was a police driving instructor who trained me (not just a police driver) and also that there has not been one prosecution at all for passing on the inside (with the obvious caution as you correctly point out, which is no more or less than any manoevre near an oblivious middle lane road hog). I have done so in full visibility of police cars by the way, even with them behind me, with no action taken against me, and with the police car doing the same thing and following my line, both of us driving correctly.

ThePants999 · 02/11/2017 09:52

I'm so glad to have missed the last day on here. I was going to reply to FlowerPot's comments on my last post; now I can see that works be extremely unwise!

DillyDally15 · 02/11/2017 10:03

I have been very calm and polite and been hounded by a couple of aggressive posters here who have sworn and tried to bully me into silence

Stop playing the victim. You've been equally as unpleasant and passive aggressive. I've seen other threads you've posted in and I can say with confidence that you are no victim of bullying. I saw the post from the lady wanting advice on becoming a nurse. Your response was bullying and posters on the thread told you so. You're a very unpleasant person.

FlowerPot1234 · 02/11/2017 10:26

DillyDally15 Like I said before to you DillyDally, I stopped engaging with you as soon as you became rude and aggressive. You will not be able to point to any post from me in reply to you which does the same. Kindly stop bullying and attacking posters whose statements you do not want to agree with.

DillyDally15 · 02/11/2017 10:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lethaldrizzle · 02/11/2017 10:39

I'm not taking sides here and I have completely lost the train of this argument but dilly dally - calling someone a very unpleasant person and crazy is just not nice!

HamSandWitches · 02/11/2017 10:40

Dilly hasn't been rude just questioned what you are saying as have others. I think this is pretty clear so maybe it's just depends how you interpret it.

Q891: Can I undertake (overtake vehicles on the left) other vehicles on the motorway/dual carriageway?
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 to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

If you undertake other than in the circumstances described above on a motorway/dual carriage way, you could commit an offence.

This last part to me seems pretty clear and this is what is posted on the police website so I'm struggling to understand why the police would train people to undertake as part of an advanced driving test. I haven't done one so I don't know

DillyDally15 · 02/11/2017 10:41

Lethal I think you need to read the thread then. There's only so many accusations about bullying and aggressiveness that people can take. It makes her unpleasant because she's throwing around those statements with no evidence. My final sentence was me finally snapping, which is what she wants. As a pp said she goads people.