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.

So middle lane guy has no need to check his mirrors and indicate before changing lanes?

Its a lot safer than undertaking... Illegal and dangerous... Please stop doing this!

derxa Doesn't matter, you still pull over to the left lane.

I still find it hard to believe you’ve had to drive behind a middle lane hogger for 20 mins, unable to do anything. And you still haven’t clarified the conditions of the motorway.... are you honestly saying the right hand lane was so full of fast cars, there was no gap for 20 minutes? Was the left hand lane also busy with cars? I’m assuming it must have been, because if there was a clear way ahead in the left lane, you shouldn’t have been behind the middle lane hogger anyway. So.... busy traffic either side, and just you sat behind middle lane hogger in middle lane? Why would ‘undertaking’ even seem any safer than overtaking in this scenario? If you can’t move into the right hand lane due to no gap, why do you assume the left hand lane is clear? And if it is clear, what are you doing in the middle lane in the first place?
It’s this sort of poor driving that worries a lot of us reasonably confident drivers!

mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2011/09/30/how-much-time-does-speeding-save/

Because what if they pull in. They won't be expecting someone on their inside lane to be going faster/past them Surely they should be checking their mirror before changing lanes.

TizzyDongue - that would be the theory , but middle-lane hoggers don't like to look in their mirrors - especially the wing mirrors - so would probably just be drifting into the inside lane.

Ok, I take it back about specifically old people hogging the middle lane, and agree that it's generally oblivious people and those that are nervous.

sorry should've added - it doesn't really save you much time if you're stuck for 20 mins going a bit slower than if you were going at 70. Ideally you'll factor 'delays' like this into your journey and suck it up.

Technically its wrong and dangerous and should be avoided. I've seen it done loads of times though.

However, I do get your point about middle lane hoggers. I do a lot of motorway driving and honestly there are some appalling drivers out there, who frustrate others so much that it makes them make bad decisions...

Pretty much lane 1 is now down to 50mph due to trucks. Lane 2 is full of hoggers and sh1t scared people who drive at 55mph and won't get back into lane 1 when there is a space as it scares them when other vehicles join the motorway at each junction. Then because of this, lane 3 is packed with people doing 80 mph, with about 1 metre of space between each vehicle. So then people try to join lane 3 when there is a tiny gap, hence everyone slams on.

Joys of m'way driving.

Babbity I was in the left hand lane, and pulled out to overtake. Left hand lanes can be fairly quiet in this situation with only lorries and vehicles limited to 60 in it.

Its not illegal to overtake on the left.

It is against the Highway Code but so is driving in the middle lane when the inner lane is empty. The Highway Code says we should keep to the left as far as possible.

If you caused an accident overtaking on the left I guess it would be careless driving or similar but the insurers might have an interesting fight as both drivers would be in the wrong.

That pattern you describe of the overtaking lane being bumper to bumper, the inside lane being nearly empty and middle lane stragglers is really common and annoying.

I'd be interested to see accident stats from countries where you can overtake on both sides because our rules are not universal.

Haven't RTFT but what about when there is a left hand lane for turning off elsewhere? I always feel wrong to be going faster than traffic in the lane next to me even though my lane is clear.

Also I have undertaken in the past, I would say sort of accidentally but I know there is no excuse. If I thought it was right I wouldn't have been watching the other car like a hawk would I?! I do understand what the OP means about it sometimes seeming better than trying to get into the outside lane where people are often exceeding the speed limit, not just going faster than the next lane to the left.

I’m even more confused now! So you’re in the left hand lane, you obviously know you shouldn’t undertake if you move across to right hand lane because there’s a slower moving vehicle to your right!! Your OP made it sound as though you were already in the middle lane as you described ‘indicating to overtake on the left.’

I regularly drive on the M4 and the stretch coming out of Central London is appalling - not so much 'middle land hoggers' because you can (nearly) always at into the third lane to overtake but 'fast lane/third lane hoggers'. They hold up traffic more than any other lane because it's THE overtaking lane.

They should be booked because the only option is to trundle along at 55 (as the last one was doing) - or undertake. For myself, it's safer I think to quickly nip around them which is safe to do because the second lane is quite empty as everybody's waiting to overtake.

I agree we need stricter sanctions for lane discipline in the UK.

This is from the highway code website www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/answers/can-you-overtake-on-the-nearside-of-another-vehicle

In the conditions described by the OP, it is possibly acceptable if the middle and outside lanes are not safe to use to overtake. It depends on the conditions though and should not be done as a matter of course

Can you overtake on the nearside of another vehicle?
9/1/2014 39 COMMENTS

Overtaking on the nearside (left) is legally acceptable if you are driving on a multi-lane carriageway in congested conditions, and the lane to the left is moving at a faster speed than lanes to the right. In these circumstances overtaking on the left is permissible although extra caution is needed for an awareness of other vehicles moving to the faster lane on the left.

It is also permissible to overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right. Overtaking on the left in these circumstances although permissible is subject to road markings and signs that may suggest otherwise.

I still find it hard to believe you’ve had to drive behind a middle lane hogger for 20 mins, unable to do anything

It depends on the car. Slotting out into fast traffic with small gaps is relatively easy with a bigger engine, good acceleration. One of my DCs runs an ancient Nissan, which travels happily at 60-65 but lacks the acceleration to move easily into a very fast overtaking lane. It could be safer to go on the inside if trying to go past a 50mph car in the middle lane.

The problem is poor lane discipline from drivers who lock into the middle lane at 50-60mph.

@derxa yes 70 is the speed limit but that doesn't give you the god dam right to sit in the middle lane at 70 on cruise control when the left lane is empty! FFS you are probably as shit a driver as that taxi driver.

I know the Highway Code says you should not

So you know it's wrong but 'fuck it - it makes your life easier'. Yes you are being unreasonable.

It's dangerous because the car in the middle lane won't be expecting a faster car on their left when they decide to pull over. If you're in their blind spot when they manoeuvre...

the highway code slso says you shouldn't hog the middle lane...

There are an awful lot of completely incorrect posts on this thread. What is so frustrating is that if only middle lane road hogs were prosecuted and if only drivers did MORE passing on the inside, we could free up the congestion on our motorways.

It is not illegal to undertake.

It is not illegal or against the Highway Code to pass a slower moving vehicle on the inside.

It is against the Highway Code to undertake a vehicle.

Here is the difference: if you are driving along Lane 1, and there is a middle lane road hog in Lane 2, you are PERMITTED to continue your path alone Lane 1 and pass them on the inside. i.e. The Highway Code does not demand that you do 4-6 lane changes to get round the idiot, which is something I see often. Stay in your lane and pass them on the inside.

If you are driving on lane 2, 3 or 4 and you come up against a lane hogger who is not overtaking any other vehicle (and therefore is not driving correctly), and you move to the next lane down to undertake them, and move back out to the next lane up again, that is undertaking and that is not permitted.

The difference is to do with where your car position is. I would urge everyone to pass non-undertaking, slower moving vehicles on the inside more, if it is safe to do so and carefully (given that if they're such an idiot to be in that lane in the first place when they are not overtaking they might be such an idiot to suddenly change lanes without checking their mirrors). Continuing your path and passing on the inside means it is safer for you to continue your driving line, you don't put yourself in increased danger by changing lanes, you continue using the free lane as is correct, and you make good use of the motorway reducing congestion.

Passing on the inside =/= undertaking.

@reetgood oh I know that, but I was wondering why so many say you can't undertake at all (which would include those in the left lane already)

The whole argument about it being dangerous because of someone switching to the left lane to the left wouldn't 'expect' (which means not checking their mirrors it seems) someone to be going faster than them it surely wouldn't matter if that person had moved from behind and was planning on moving in front of them or not. Why is it more dangerous to move into the left lane (presuming you're not close behind the hogger when you move left) and increase your speed slightly? How's that different to a person driving in the left lane at a speed faster than the middle lane hogger's 50. Surely you aren't posing anymore of a danger to a driver - who might move into your lane without looking - again assumming you've just behind the hogger.

Obviously different if the undertaker accelerates quickly around on the left and was close this is dangerous driving.

One thing I liked was someone had taken a picture of the M25 at the M4 junction. There are six lanes at that point. The inside two lanes join the M4 west with a big overhead gantry sign saying Reading. Some wag had tweeted "but what if I don't want to go to Reading" during a Twitter discussion about middle lane sitting.

I actually find 3 lane motorways are not too bad. But people really don't know how to drive on the M25 where there are up to 6 lanes per side.

Don't do it. I know it's annoying but .......the oblivious driver sitting in the middle name probably isn't a very good driver and the likelihood of them pulling back into the inside lane without looking may be higher than it should be. And then ......BANG

Esssa It's fine to proceed faster than the car on your right if you're in the 'filter' lane to turn off. It does feel wrong though!

I agree it's dangerous to undertake- if they're hogging the middle lane then they're probably a generally poor driver and may pull over unexpectedly anyway. I'd be more likely to flash my lights at them if the left-hand lane was clear and they weren't moving over (only if they were going well below the speed limit & rest of traffic though)

Question though- a motorway I use a lot has a lot of filter lanes, which are not signposted until a mile-ish beforehand but people will literally get into the "correct" lane 10 miles before they need to. This means there are a lot of middle lane hogs.

If I am in the left-hand lane driving at say 65mph and the road in front is clear, am I OK to pass someone driving at 50mph in the middle lane? This seems safer to me than slowing down to get behind them, overtaking in the right hand lane and then moving back over two lanes. But I have had people in the middle lane flash their lights at me as I pass them on the left. I saw that there's a copper somewhere on the thread- thoughts!?