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.

Move to the US, OP. It’s legal here.

happen to pass someone in the middle cause they are slower then I AM BREAKING THE LAW BY DANGEROUS DRIVING

I fixed that for you

It's dangerous and stupid. I don't know how you could even think it's okay. It does sound like you would fit in well in the US.

There wasn't a gap though. The cars were all bunched together in the outside lane, because there was no one in the middle lane. If it's car after car after car, with only a 2 second or less gap between each, and they're all doing 80 or more, it would be madness to try to join that lane knowing I can't comfortably get my car to 80.

In future I'll just have to keep my speed below the guy in the middle lane.

I have nearly hit a couple of cars undertaking.Most if the time it is impatience and someone weaving.If I see someone coming up behind me when I'm overtaking something so I'm in the middle lane I do not expect them to undertake and then pull infront of me causing me to break.
If someone is coming fast behind me when I'm in the middle lane if there is room I will move into the left,I have checked the gap but if the same car then undertakes I cannot see him as I move and they're don't see me signal as they're not longer behind.
It is becoming more common and its certainly not because Im driving slowly or in the middle lane when not overtaking.Some do it even if the right hand lane is empty.
If your stuck behind someone doing 50 it is frustrating but flashing them usually works.

Signal! Anticipate the road in front of you. People will let you pull out in front of them

Freeways are not always easier to drive on than motorways. On a 3 week road trip we witnessed some outstanding Lane changes, with the driver apparently deciding abruptly to swing across three lanes to make their exit: driving for miles with the indicator on (apparently used so rarely they didn’t know how to turn it off): merging not apparently a concept that was widely accepted: the best way to overtake is apparently to tailgate first (understandable but still a dick move when its a one lane highway, unfathomable when it’s a freeway with 5 lanes). Mind you, this was mostly California which i understand is a special case ...

Oh and yabu to undertake. Although my understanding of the Highway Code is that if you end up passing someone in the middle lane on a busy motorway whilst you are already in the left hand lane that’s ok. It’s weaving in and out of lanes, or moving to pass a vehicle on the left that’s the issue?

Sometimes I do find myself sitting in the middle lane when I can see a long line of slow moving traffic to pass in the left hand lane, but my understanding was that’s just reading the road. It has apparently annoyed drivers who have undertaken me in those circumstances, despite me maintaining an appropriate speed for the road. I’ve never really understood why, other than that they were prepared to take unnecessary risks.

People have already explained why it’s dangerous, but having only qualified two years ago I remember the moment I actually experienced the blind spot. On a dual carriageway, moving to take an exit. checked left mirror, car in distance so time to move over, flicked on signal, did the shoulder check, suddenly a car that I could swear was not there a second ago suddenly was. It freaked me out how completely I hadn’t seen it on first check when it must have been fairly close. You can’t assume that people will drive reasonably so it’s not wise to put yourself in a vulnerable position (eg someone’s blind spot) by undertaking.

That's "undertaking". It's illegal, also dangerous.
Your DH is correct and YABU.

YABU OP. Become more assertive, get out into the overtaking lane and the gap will naturally form to accommodate you.

I think the motorway driving here is terrible and we could learn a thing or too from other countries. I find driving in Germany on the autobahns an absolute treat. Drivers use the overtaking lanes for overtaking and signal with plenty of time to come out and return to the right hand lane. Even in Italy where I find drivers far more aggressive they actually still use the lanes for overtaking! And if you can't squeeze out into the overtaking lane in the U.K. then you certainly can't in Italy. Apparently a couple of car lengths is big enough of a gap to pull out into at 130kmph it took me a couple of hours before I was brave enough to try!

If the middle lane is moving slowly the left lane does not need to move slower than it. Just move at the speed of your lane (within the limit).

When I went on a speed awareness course the instructor told us to guess his favourite lane. It was "the left lane because it goes faster". No kidding.

Weaving between lanes to overtake on the inside is ofc illegal and dangerous.

Also I believe a whole lot more education and enforcement should happen around middle and outside lane hogging. It is one of the biggest causes of stress, traffic problems, and hazardous evasive action on our roads.

Try living in Australia. The motorways of south east Queensland are the worst I've driven on and that includes in SE Asia. It's common to see people join the motorway and immediately move to the 2nd or even the 3rd lane (of 4 on some stretches) with no need whatsoever. There's a pervading belief that the left lane shouldn't be used. There are even signs saying "Keep left unless overtaking" that are ignored. People regularly drive 10km/hr below the speed limit in the middle lanes. I've driven to Brisbane at the speed limit on the far left lane without having to move, passing multiple cars in the lanes outside driving dangerously slower than the speed limit. The alternative, of moving across 3-4 lanes to pass someone on the right is more dangerous. Undertaking is a lot more expected here though, i.e. legal.

Lane hoggers cause all sorts of problems, should be clamped down on more.

“Why is it not safe?” If you are asking this then you are clearly unfit to drive. It’s unsafe because the rule is that you overtake not undertake so people do not expect to be undertaken and may pull across into your lane while you’re doing it. Yes they should check but the crash would be your fault

reetgood, California, especially around the LA area, is infamous for bad drivers. Freeways are very safe and drivers are very courteous in most of the US, but as I mentioned California, around LA, is bad as are some east coast cities.

I have traveled through California several times, but it was always down US Route 395 on the eastern side of the state. All the people I know who have driven on the LA freeways told me pretty much what you did.

Urgh, dwadling on the outside, overtaking on the inside. Goes on all the time here in NZ and no doubt contributes to the high road fatality rate.

Passing a car at speed in its blind spot - whatever could go wrong?

OP

this is a film that shows how many cyclists can fit in the blind spot of a lorry. OK you are not a cyclist but a car can easily been in the blind spot and the lorry driver doesn't expect you to be on the inside.

A car has a smaller blind spot but again will not expect someone to be driving like a cunt and overtaking on the inside.

To be honest, I think that you would really benefit from an advanced driving course. If you don’t understand that undertaking is dangerous and illegal, plus if you can go 45 mins behind a middle lane hogger without having the confidence to move into the outside lane once in that time

I agree that it sounds like you need more driving lessons OP. You clearly aren’t confident with overtaking.

I overtake in the ‘slow’ lane once it has become a lane for a different motorway, so take the m3 into London at the m25 interchange, from 2 miles back you are sorted into lanes depending on where you want to go, this means that slow lorries are moved into the 3rd of 4 lanes. Of course you undertake here otherwise the whole motorway would grind to a halt if the people in the 1st two lanes couldn’t undertake when there is an almost stationery flow of traffic in the 3rd lane but clear in the 1 and 2.

So does everyone else who uses the motorway!

I agree with the OP that, in practice, squeezing between fast moving cars in the overtaking lane is more dangerous than using the empty left lane next to a road-hog who is sitting in the middle lane.

Of course it is against the highway code, but practically speaking, I don't agree that it is more dangerous.

put simply.
its dangerous in this country because it isnt done. when people move over to the left they expect no traffic there.
a quick flash of the headlights is more helpful.

Island Stay in the left lane unless you are overtaking. After you have passed the car you want to overtake, return to the left lane.

trinity0097

That's entirely different, and you are doing the right thing.

You should not do it. Those who refuse to move over into the left hand lane when empty are people who in my opinion are not fit to use the motorway. Though the police would not act I think.

Yabu. It's potentially lethal.

And you can't flash people ahead to move over either.

This reminds me why I did an advanced drivers course. Gives me a chance of avoiding the crazy drivers.

I find MN a bit of an alternate universe sometimes and I have to be honest and say that this thread is likely to attract people who wouldn't undertake - but that they are not reflective of real life.

For example on here hardly anyone breaks the speed limit or undertakes - if you have a thread about speeding, it's fairly unanimous agreement that they don't do it and condemnation of anyone who does. IRL I find it's a different story. I tend to drive at about 32 on my speedo in a 30 area, assuming the road and traffic allows it. Without fail I'm either overtaken, tailgated, or have cars coming up behind me which are going much, much faster. Driving at that speed I am in a tiny minority of people. Is it realistic that they are all MNers?!

Likewise I also live near a smart motorway and I drive on it on a regular basis. I see undertaking happen routinely - and if anything the number of people who take the trouble to go out, past and back in again as you are supposed to, are the tiny minority. The middle lane vehicles refuse to move to the inside lane when it's clear even if they are flashed. I'm not condoning it, but it happens all the time.