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.

I think perhaps flower needs to remember that everyone can read this whole thread. The things that she is saying and accusations she is making are simply not true.

With the exception of calling her a GOADY FUCKER (which without a doubt, she is) I think I have sworn once, possibly twice.

I haven’t bullied anyone. I have made my point several times over. I have questioned others when they have interpreted it differently. What I have not done is any of the things that I have been accused of doing..

flower seems to be under the impression that if she says something it becomes fact. This is not true in the context of both the thread subject or what has been said about myself and others.

I am stunned that anyone could be quite so unaware.

www.driving.co.uk/news/the-wrongs-of-undertaking-does-being-branded-a-careless-driver-fit-the-crime/

Here's an interesting article about it

My OH was a driving instructor for 9 years. He also took and passed the advanced driver test. When I asked him about undertaking he gave the exact response that most of us have, which is don’t do it unless you’re in congestion. He did also say that he’d done it that evening on the way back from work because of a numpty in the right hand lane of a two lane motorway going ridiculously slow.

HamSandWitches
That article you list is not about passing on the inside, nor undertaking alone.

It is about a driver who undertook someone on Lane 3 by moving to Lane 1, then moved out to Lane 3 (that's 4 lane changes and two undertaking manoevres), exceeded the speed limit by doing so, and did it all when he was approaching a slipway junction. That is weaving, speeding and confusing for other drivers who would have been preparing for those coming onto the road, but it is not passing on the inside. All these actions together resulted in him being issued with a CD10, which means driving without due care and attention.

Middle lane hogging is very annoying, why don’t these people drive in the left hand lane if they’re not overtaking, and driving that slowly makes it far worse. But all you can do is drive at the same speed behind that car and wait for the opportunity to overtake, it always comes eventually.

It's really dangerous and you could cause a pile up. Your selfish and a poor driver.

I didn't see the part where he then moved back into lane 3? I read that he was in L3 and then pulled into L1, driving past the road hog in L2, at which point he was pulled over. So 2 lane changes and 1 undertaking is what I read. No weaving. Unless I'm mistaken?

It the reads: Earlier this year police figures suggested that 13,000 drivers a year who committed offences such as lane-hogging, undertaking and tailgating were receiving on-the-spot penalties.

From what I understood from this it was meaning undertaking, not undertaking plus speeding. It just so happened that the man in the article was also speeding.

Dilly, they’re just being pedantic to goad people!

Rae I suspect you're right! sigh

DillyDally15 You are right, the article is ambiguous and unclear. I interpreted that he moved across since he described the driver in front of him in Lane 3 as "the driver blocking my path" and later said he got "past the mobile road block" which I assumed to be the same driver. But yes, he could have meant the middle lane driver too. Likewise, he merely describes "wafting past" which I interpreted as getting past the aforesaid driver, whereas this could also mean staying in Lane 1 as you interpreted it. Either way, either interpretation, he was undertaking.

There is no offence of undertaking (as the article states "However, because there is no specific offence covering these types of manoeuvre", the author contradicts himself by erroneously earlier stating undertaking was an offence as in your post), he was issued with a FPN for the offence of careless driving, for his combination of actions performed at a dangerous point.

RaeCJ82
Dilly, they’re just being pedantic to goad people!

Please stop hounding posters and accusing people of goading all the time. Dilly and I are having a civil discussion about a media article. Leave us alone.

Flower yes I know but it's still an offence if you undertake speed or cause an accident doing it as hwc doesn't recommend doing it for a reason which is all I'm trying to say. I think it's dangerous telling pepole who haven't done an advanced course it's fine to undertake as I'm that not what the hwc says.

Everything I have read on police sites regarding advanced driving says dont do it unless you are an advanced driver ie police on a chase.

• I think it's dangerous telling pepole who haven't done an advanced course it's fine to undertake as thats not what the hwc says and if they are caught they could be prosecuted.

Sorry speed typing

Having got throughly confused by the strong opinions on this thread, I thought I'd do as flowers suggested and google it. This led me to the ask the police website, a useful page where you can ask police offers these sorts of questions.

This is what I asked:

I am driving at 70mph on a clear motorway in the left hand lane and I come across a driver going slower than me in the middle lane. How should I overtake this driver? Is it correct to move to the right two lanes, overtake and then pull back into the left lane. Or should I continue on in the left lane, which will mean I pass the driver on the left?

And this is the response:

Thank you for your email.

Rule 268 of the Highway Code states:

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.

It is an offence to 'undertake' i.e. overtake a vehicle on the left. If you were to overtake a vehicle on the left in the circumstances you describe in your email, you could be prosecuted for careless driving.

Whilst drivers who hog the middle lane are annoying, you should overtake in the outside lane when it's safe to do so and then return to the left hand lane.

We hope this information is of use.

Regards,
PNLD
(CS)

I hope this helps to clear things up for people who have been as confused as me by this thread.

This has been linked to and quoted several times double. I have no idea why anyone finds it difficult to understand, it seems quite simple to most. Unfortunately the anal pedants among us are so determined to be correct they are literally jumping on everything and anything. And hell mend anyone who tries to explain it in their own words

Double that's what I posted earlier from the ask the police website so I'm the police are not saying it ok to undertake

Bloody phone,imo the police are not saying it's OK to undertake

You're bring unreasonable and a nob tbh. Overtake them in fast lane or just slow the fuck down. You could cause a serious accident.

Sorry to be clear - it’s not the question that was linked earlier, which was slightly different and didn’t really address Flower’s point that undertaking is ok as long as you don’t move lanes to do so. This is a question I actually asked today and their response to me. It’s is not on the website as yet.

The problem is defining congestion. Congestion can occur at higher speeds because smart motorway signage frequently states "congestion" as a cause for imposing speed restrictions of 40, 50 or 60 mph to manage disparities of different lane speeds and inadequate distances between vehicles and manage safer distances between vehicles, reduce passing and prevent "shock wave" jams.

Most of the time I will pass between lane 1 to 3 and back to 1 always passing to the right. The problem occurs when the lanes are too congested to overtake to the right safely, particularly when lane 3 is close to bumper to bumper with faster moving traffic often above 70mph. In these conditions, lane 2 is banking up behind our dawdling middle lane hogger too because their progress is being impeded. In an effort to maintain your speed and not pass the hogger, or to drop your speed and hold back behind them, that requires a lot of distracting observations in your mirrors to spot that opportunity to pass. In that circumstance overtaking to the right is more complex and risky than maintaining your speed on the off chance that the middle lane hogger suddenly remembers the keep left unless overtaking rule, while you're in their blind spot.

If people pulled their head out of their ass and looked in the mirror and showed some consideration for other road users then people wouldn't have to undertake! Grinds my gears! I have to do over 120 miles per day and sick to death of ignorant bell ends glued to either the fast lane or middle lane!!!!

KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING

Sorry to be clear - it’s not the question that was linked earlier,

No not the question. That quote has been mentioned several times over though. Just not as a quote from the site you mentioned

I'm thinking of taking an advanced driving course with the same instructor who gave me my motorway lessons. He was emphatic about the dangers of undertaking.

• entering blind spot
• possibility of middle lane car moving into outside / left lane.
• possibility of car ahead of slow car moving into left lane and not expecting you to be approaching at that speed.
• possibility of car in inside lane moving into the middle lane at the same time as you.

I would be very surprised if he gave completely different information on the advanced driving course.

He said that part of the importance of everyone only overtaking on the outside lane in this country is that there is an assumption about the speed of vehicles approaching on either side in neighbouring lanes. If you expect the cars to be slower on your left this informs your behaviour (even though you are checking your mirrors with sufficient care).

DillyDally15 You are right, the article is ambiguous and unclear.

I actually don't think it was ambiguous or unclear in any way.

Well done double! The last two paragraphs clear up the debate nicely I think.