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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why other drivers think they can bully you?!

272 replies

guiltynetter · 06/04/2018 22:22

i need a rant!

Driving home down a major motorway a few weeks ago, there are temporary speed cameras and a 50mph speed limit all the way down it. it’s been like this for quite a long time, so it’s not a new thing. A car behind me was driving right up to my bumper and intermittently flashing me, presumably telling me to speed up (even though i was driving at probably just over 50) i ignored but felt really angry and just thought...what a dick head.

Driving down the same motorway tonight (my friend driving this time) exact same situation! a lorry this time, driving along flashing us, when we ignored him he eventually undertook in the slow lane.

I just don’t understand, how you can have the nerve to flash another driver when they’re going the speed limit, and also, to be arrogant enough to think that the other driver is going to think ‘oh no, somebody is flashing me, i better speed up!’

Am i missing something here? Do you not need to stick to the speed limits on motorways with temporary speed limits?!

OP posts:
ExploryRory · 06/04/2018 23:18

I know what you mean. Just yesterday I had a —massive twat— BMW driver up my chuff while I overtook some cyclists. After a good five mins of him being a moron, I braked. Still didn’t deter him so I slowed down more and more until I got to ten miles an hour. Be a twat if you like, but I’ll be laughing at you while you get more wound up Grin

dailyshite · 06/04/2018 23:19

No accidents are not caused by middle lane hoggers, they are caused by people who get frustrated with middle lane hoggers who then do stupid things like tailgate and undertake

If I'm in the left hand lane and am coming up to someone who is hogging the middle lane and want to get around them, rather than sit there, I have to cross two lanes of traffic rather than one. That is far more dangerous than moving into the next lane and then back and that increased risk is 100% the fault of the person sitting in the wrong lane because they don't know how to drive.

I’m not going to speed up just because some twat has an inaccurate speedometer
How do you know it isn't your speedometer that is wrong?

Bottom line is, just go in the lane that is flowing with your speed - don't be an arse and sit in the wrong lane because you think everyone should be driving at the same speed as you. Maybe they should but feeling morally superior does not help reduce accidents.

Amanduh · 06/04/2018 23:19

I agree OP generally, they’re dickheads. Had the same thing today on a (single lane) main road, speed limit 50 and I was doing 55. Flashing his lights and right behind me. Had the same last week going in to a village, quite a busy road, traffic both ways and 30 speed limit, I stuck to it, he was flashing and beeping. Twats

Stillnotready · 06/04/2018 23:27

daily I personally drive a lot in built up areas where they have the road signs that flash your speed, so I’m pretty sure mine is accurate, and because I need to drive for work, am careful at not exceeding the speed limit. I can’t afford to get any points on my licence.
In this case, I took it to be one of those situations when the roadworks say stay in lane.
I’m a left hand lane lover and do more than my fair share of motorway driving, no middle lane hogging here!

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 06/04/2018 23:28

Dailyshite you have to make two overtaking manoeuvres yes, but you wouldn't just cross the two lines of traffic, you would go out to the middle and then out the 3rd lane as two separate moves, which if you are doing it safely is no more dangerous than one overtaking manouvre, if there isn't space to do this you just have slow down which is annoying but not dangerous. It is essentially just two separate overtaking manoeuvres and as your normal style of driving involves plenty of overtaking I don't see how this adds any danger?

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 06/04/2018 23:32

Once your out in the middle lane it's exactly the same manouvre as if the car was in the correct lane

dailyshite · 06/04/2018 23:38

You're doing the manoeuvre twice not once - you don't understand how that's more dangerous? Really?

All because someone thinks their right to sit in the wrong lane is more important than everyone else's right to use the motorway safely and legally.

ToothyMcPuthy · 06/04/2018 23:41

Still if traffic is busy through roadworks, the 'Stay in Lane' signs are there to warn drivers against weaving as there are potentially people working to protect people working on the road.

Overall the Highway Code is very clear in stating that middle and outside lanes are for overtaking only.

If you approached roadworks in the middle lane, slowed down to 50 and then the road ahead is clear, what is the rationale behind staying in the middle lane, rather than moving over into the inside lane if it's safe to do so? It's middle lane hogging and it's a motoring offence.

to wonder why other drivers think they can bully you?!
ToothyMcPuthy · 06/04/2018 23:45

Dish - overtaking is a dangerous manoeuvre in itself. Having to cross two lines of traffic because someone is sitting in the middle lane is therefore doubly dangerous.

If you're not overtaking you should be in the inside lane. It's the law!

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 06/04/2018 23:52

Both bullies and middle-lane hoggers are a nightmare, and as bad as each other.

I had one this afternoon! Speed limit was reduced to 50, the idiot was in the middle doing 45 max. I was in the "slow lane" at the right speed limit, to avoid overtaking him from the left, I would have had to reduce my speed to 40.

These idiots are bloody dangerous.

Ceirrno · 06/04/2018 23:57

@Stillnotready what's to say that YOU'RE not the twat with the inaccurate speedometer?

I always set my cruise control for what I know to be 50 in those limits, I end up overtaking almost everybody- and yet I've never once had a speeding ticket on those sections... So I'd guess that it's all the people whose 50 is 2-5 less than mine are the ones in the wrong. You want to stick to that in case mine is wrong? That's fine, but it doesn't give you the right to deliberately hold up other people that are just trying to make progress.

I've occasionally flashed at people who are sat in a "faster" lane despite not overtaking people, in the vain hope that they're not deliberately being an idiot but just need waking up out of some sort of trance and reminding where they are! I'm not bullying, but they clearly have not got a decent grasp of their surroundings.

If the OP was only in the second lane because the first was a peel off, then they were in the right place. However, I often go past people on the inside in those scenarios, because once it's a designated peel off, it's not undertaking.

Walkingdeadfangirl · 07/04/2018 00:02

Op has not said this was roadworks. Just a temp speed limit and she was trying to stop other drivers from breaking it by occupying the middle lane.

Stillnotready · 07/04/2018 00:09

@ceirrno I guess all those digital speed displays I pass umpteen times a day are all wrong.

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 07/04/2018 00:09

daily but the whole road system relies on overtaking, if it's that dangerous that you can't afford to make two overtaking manoeuvres then you should really not overtake at all, I might end up overtaking 100 cars on a motorway, so my risk is still 50x that of one middle lane joggers overtake? The risk for each manouvre is the same so I'm not sure it is doubly dangerous, that might be my statistics though. It's just as dangerous as for example overtaking one car pulling in again, overtaking another pulling in again, which you would do without thinking so I don't think you can really say that's it's such a dangerous move for you to do.

Stillnotready · 07/04/2018 00:14

I feel such a numpty, I thought the op was driving through keep in lane roadworks with a max speed limit. Blush

maggiemuff · 07/04/2018 00:17

It's not a slow lane and a fast lane. It is an overtaking lane. So basically unless you are overtaking you should not be in the outside LAne. You should overtake then pull back into the left hand lane.

WhichHatNextPikachu · 07/04/2018 00:20

I regularly use the M1 between Nottingham and Sheffield quite late at night. The number of people who drive in the 3rd lane of the 4-lane stretch on an empty motorway is astonishing. It seems to almost be the default position, and it suggests to me that these people occupy the "lane next to the outside one" on whatever motorway they are driving on, in whatever traffic conditions. They may very well be within the speed limit, but that doesn't make it safe for other road users. It's not.

AJPTaylor · 07/04/2018 00:30

I get you op.
People flash cos they think they are king of the road.
It doesnt matter whether speed cameras are on or not. Its 50 through roadworks because of the risks to the workers and users caused by narrow lanes.
Those risks dont stop when the cameras arent on.

caroldecker · 07/04/2018 00:57

Unless you are using a GPS speedo, they all under-read by about 5%. Speedos, by law, must be within 10%, but no car manufacturer wants to be liable for speeding offences by drivers, so they are 5% slow, plus or minus 2%.
Anyone with a properly calibrated speedo will be faster than you and still legal.
Move over because you are a) lane hogging and b) wrong.

Ollivander84 · 07/04/2018 01:19

What drives me mad is when you go to overtake say someone doing 60mph. Pull out to overtake, they suddenly speed up to say 75mph. Pull back in behind them and they drop back to 60mph HmmAngry

AllNamesTakenhell · 07/04/2018 03:43

Yabu. When its 70mph you still get those who want to take their chances and speed. You cant just hog the overtaking lanes to stop them, you keep left.

I hate flashers but lane hoggers are annoying too.

Feliciaxxx · 07/04/2018 04:01

A fair few of the middle lane hoggers are on their mobiles when you get level with them. I guess they think they're less likely to run into something if they sit in the middle. Gives me the rage!

Clevs · 07/04/2018 04:03

@silverbirches

"In any case, if the speed limit is 50 and you are travelling at the maximum allowable speed of 50, then it doesn't matter what lane you are in."

Yes it does. If you have a 4 lane motorway and 10,000 cars are all doing 50mph in all 4 lanes, the tailback would not go back as far as it would if the same 10,000 cars were only using 3 out of the 4 lanes. So by using good lane discipline on the motorway you can effectively reduce the tailbacks behind you.

Clevs · 07/04/2018 04:03

@silverbirches

"In any case, if the speed limit is 50 and you are travelling at the maximum allowable speed of 50, then it doesn't matter what lane you are in."

Yes it does. If you have a 4 lane motorway and 10,000 cars are all doing 50mph in all 4 lanes, the tailback would not go back as far as it would if the same 10,000 cars were only using 3 out of the 4 lanes. So by using good lane discipline on the motorway you can effectively reduce the tailbacks behind you.

Stillgameforalaugh · 07/04/2018 06:20

I don't get why you would be pleased about aggravating people. You're less likely to feel smug when they end up causing an accident as a direct result of your behaviour.