To hate middle lane hoggers on the motorway?

[ILoveMrDarcy]

Just that really! It's so infuriating when drivers have no clue how to drive on the motorway. I know there are worse things to get stressed about but it does drive me bonkers.

[Sparklingbrook]

Never, ever, ever start a thread about driving on MN.

[CoffeeWithMyOxygen]

This reminds me of a car DH and I saw when we were driving north a while back. She was sat in the middle lane at about 65mph and absolutely nothing was inducing her to move, she seemed oblivious. We were clearly doing a similar route as we kept seeing her and it became a bit of a competition to see how could spot her first, tootling along in the middle merrily chatting away to her companion. We were driving for a good two hours and every time we saw her she was still in that lane. She shouldn’t have been on the motorway!

[LurkingHusband]

Lorries neck and necking do it for me. They can pull the top speed of the RH lane to below their limited speed (56mph) on busy stretches. Should be banned.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of regularly using the A34 Newbury->M3 will have experienced both lanes blocked for miles by 2 HGVs having a "race" ...

[PurpleMinionMummy]

Ya SO nbu.

It just makes the whole motorway slower when everyone ends up moving into the outside lane trying to overtake them, so then that gets unnecessarily clogged up.

Its even more infuriating when the inside lane is actually totally empty as far as the eye can see! MOVE OVER

[Stumbleine]

Russell agrees op...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OcyIPndGvIM

[snash12]

This morning on a four lane motorway there was a car in lane 3, I was in lane 1, not other traffic near us. He was on the fucking phone!

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

Yanbu.

It's so infuriating, I wish there were police patrolling just to pull them over.

[GreyOwls]

I agree with Mumsiemummy1 in that the motorways are just too congested these days to stick to the code. Having said that, I do my best to stick to the rules but I can see why others don't. The left hand lane is full all the time of lorries, caravans, nervous drivers etc. often doing 60 mph or below.

The real problem is lorries overtaking lorries which means that there's effectively only one clear lane on a three lane motorway. Plus, you can't see messages on the gantry signs or what's going on up ahead of you if two HGVs are blocking both the left and middle lane. If you then have a van in the outside lane then your vision in limited to the back end of those vehicles so you have to stay well behind in order to leave enough space to stop safely if you need to, that is if some other idiot doesn't zoom up and slip in front of you, filling the gap, forcing you to slow down even more in order to put sufficient space between the two of you.

[LurkingHusband]

the motorways are just too congested these days to stick to the code.

It's quicker for us to add 15 miles to our journey by motorway, than grind through town.

Last week we spent an hour to go 3 miles in town early evening (6:30)

[LaBelleSausage]

I have a rule of thumb for motorway driving.

If you are not overtaking, and there is not a car in front of you making you think ‘you’re an idiot, move over’ then you are the idiot and^^ you need to move over.

[CakesRUs]

Fast lane hoggers are worse, you can go round middle lane hoggers at least, you can’t overtake fast lane slow drivers.

[BriechonCheese]

This is why I'm terrified to drive on motorways. No one is singing from the same hymn sheet, everyone is just making it up as they go along and doing what they "prefer".

[Mrsdraper1]

I hate people using their phones while driving more.

[TDHManchester]

Just bear in mind that some vehicles are constrained and cant manage 70mph.

Take for example many vans which have speed limiters. Often they can barely make 65. They have to plan well ahead to overtake.

The driver overtakes someone who is in lane one then finds he cant get back in lane one because someone else is now in land one and is creeping up on him. Also van drivers have restricted views so have to take more time.

Having said that, centre lane hoggers, police are now more and more giving them tickets.

[JaneEyre70]

I'm all for overhead cameras that fine people for being in a middle/outer lane when there is no other traffic. It's ignorance, and thinking they are better than the Highway Code. Prats.

[Iwantacampervan]

I have no problem with what speed anyone is travelling at in the overtaking lanes as long as they are actually overtaking a slower vehicle and not just sitting in that lane. I once watched a car pull onto the motorway and immediately went out into the middle lane - there wasn't any traffic on the inside lane for miles!

[LurkingHusband]

Take for example many vans which have speed limiters. Often they can barely make 65. They have to plan well ahead to overtake.

Alternatively, introduce a rule that speed limited vehicles must remain in the LH lane (unless explicitly permitted otherwise) ?

Probably too simple.

[TheGoldenBowl]

ShotsFired

But if there is a massive, almost stationary line of traffic trying to get through where the two lanes taper to one (either due to roadworks or just design), it's incredibly rude to sail past all the patiently waiting cars and try to butt in at the very last moment; I loathe drivers who do that. There's only room for one line of traffic- therefore you have to get into that line of traffic. The later you do this, the more of an entitled, queue-jumping arse you are. And very often, once you get through the bottleneck, it's perfectly clear, and you realise that most of the hold-up was just the scrum as people tried to push their way in. Bastards.

[LurkingHusband]

I'm all for overhead cameras that fine people for being in a middle/outer lane when there is no other traffic. It's ignorance, and thinking they are better than the Highway Code. Prats.

As long as said cameras also pick up the view of the road, in the case of debris or damage ?

[PiffleandWiffle]

It's the people who see a car half a mile away & pull out that do my head in. I only pull out when I'll start to pass them in 10 seconds or so, any longer than that & you piss people off.

I have been known to pass on the inside though.....

[LurkingHusband]

It's the people who see a car half a mile away & pull out that do my head in. I only pull out when I'll start to pass them in 10 seconds or so, any longer than that & you piss people off.

The problem with that, is the assumption that when you do get just behind the car in front, there's room for you to pull into the next lane to pass. Then you can end up stuck for miles before there's space to pass.

Meanwhile, cars coming up behind you see two slower moving cars, and pull out into the next lane ... thus perpetuating the close packed line of traffic.

[Jayne35]

DH regularly drives in the early hours of the morning and sees this constantly, on empty motorways. He has also seen some of them pulled over by the police for it.

[ShotsFired]

@TheGoldenBowl ShotsFired But if there is a massive, almost stationary line of traffic trying to get through where the two lanes taper to one (either due to roadworks or just design), it's incredibly rude to sail past all the patiently waiting cars and try to butt in at the very last moment; I loathe drivers who do that.

It's not rude, you are MEANT to use both open lanes till the merge point, then zipper in seamlessly, one by one, in turn (Rule 134 of HC).

Like this:
///// \\\ (merge point)
Car 1||
||Car 2
Car 3||
||Car 4


Not like this:
Car 1 |||||
Car 2 |||||
Car 3 |||||
|||||Car 4

Everyone goes through nice and calmly in turn, no “butting in” or “scrum” as you see it. When people do this properly, queues are quantifiably shorter because the road space is properly utilised (see all the wasted space |||||| in the second quite excellent if I do say so myself diagram) and it flows more freely. By creating an artificial and unnecessary queue in lane 1 (and then deliberately blocking people trying to use lane 2 quite correctly), you are the one causing the delay and tailbacks – they would be literally halved if everyone used all the road space available.

There are loads of videos on YouTube showing how the zipper merge quantifiably works to ease congestion. If drivers were meant to get into a single lane at some random point 3 miles before, that is where they would put the merge point/road closure.

Honestly, it’s far better for everyone to use all the road and then calmly merge in turn to get past the obstacle, like the HC recommends. Also better for stress levels.

[ShotsFired]

I do a lot of motorway driving at low traffic periods. So I spend most of my time in lane 1, pulling out to overtake, then moving back.

So I’m fairly relaxed about most driving but the thing that really pisses me off is when a car has been in lane 1 behind, say an HGV, and I have moved out to overtake them both. Said massive HGV seems to have entirely escaped their attention for miles, until they suddenly realise they are mere inches from it, right as I am about to pass. And instead of easing off the accelerator for a few seconds while I smoothly overtake them both, they swerve out into my path and make me change another lane. 9/10 times there is nothing behind me either, so they could have pulled out into lovely empty road, not a ton of fast moving ShotsFired. Fuckers.

(I will also quite happily pass someone on the inside (note: not undertaking as I haven’t changed lanes to do so), given I have been coming up behind them for ages and not once have they deviated from a steady-at-65, nailed to the middle lane come hell or high water, position.)

[LurkingHusband]

but the thing that really pisses me off is when a car has been in lane 1 behind, say an HGV, and I have moved out to overtake them both. Said massive HGV seems to have entirely escaped their attention for miles, until they suddenly realise they are mere inches from it, right as I am about to pass. And instead of easing off the accelerator for a few seconds while I smoothly overtake them both, they swerve out into my path and make me change another lane. 9/10 times there is nothing behind me either, so they could have pulled out into lovely empty road, not a ton of fast moving ShotsFired. Fuckers.

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