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

[guiltynetter]

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?!

Inside lane is nonsense in that situation.
I regularly do a stretch like that.
The inside lane eventually veers off to join another motorway, meaning lane 2 becomes the inside lane. It's chaos at the point where people are moving from the outside lane to the inside, and the inside to the middle, in order to be positioned correctly for their destination.
The traffic is heavy. To keep braking distance, you have to spread out over all the lanes.
Some of the lanes are particularly narrow.

Aggressive driving makes a tricky drive worse for everyone.

I don't see people flashing their lights as bullying - it's just saying "please move over". Usually it's justified, as lane hoggers are the absolute WORST, but in this case it sounds like it wasn't in which case I would ignore it.

YABU get in the right lane! “Slow lane”

What fucks me off is that I try and drive “properly” but so many people don’t seem to understand the rules of the bloody road that I rather have to repeatedly undertake or spend my drive travelling back and forth across all 3 lanes.

I've been stuck in between two lorries on the slow lane with one lorry behind me flashing and getting ever so close it was terrifying. Why do they do it? Does it makes them feel like big tough men.

If someone has to undertake you you're driving in the wrong lane! It is not a slow lane it is the lane you should be in when you're not overtaking. Go in the correct lane next time.

Because he has greater momentum than you if you stop suddenly he can't.
No need to bash him on account of his gender.

By your logic you can sit in any lane at 70mph as that’s the speed limit for motorways. You know unless you’re overtaking, keep left. It’s not difficult to comprehend.

All those saying you should be in the near side lane.

The m60 in Manchester is like this at the moment with 50mph and average speed cameras. Signs tell you to use any lane and stick to that lane. No overtaking and then moving back to the left. If this was the case op was in the right.

batman it was the m60 :)

Why was he getting so close to me then why not allow me a gap so that I have space to move into the middle lane. I just don't think a woman would have behaved in that way.

guilty then yadnbu

It tells you to stay in your lane! And that bit is busy all the time now it needs people to use all 4 lanes steadily.

Another post to say that you were being unreasonable and I love it when I see lane hoggers pulled over.

Sounds like YOU were in the wrong lane if people were passing you on the left. Trucks are limited to a maximum of 56mph, many are 52/53mph and so will quite rightly want to sit on the limiter through a 50mph roadwork section. They can’t use the outside lane either so when you get some fuckwit doing 48mph in the middle lane when the inside is empty I can understand their frustration. I usually set cruise to an indicated 54mph through roadworks which gives me a genuine 50/51mph and it’s surprising how much quicker you travel than other traffic, until some utter fucknugget is sat in lane 3 at 47mph then I generally sail past on the left.

If there are signs up staying in lane then thats different and you should have pointed that out op. The majority of motorways are not stay in lane ones.

Yes on that motorway he was a twat. On noemal motorway rules, a midfle lane hogger would be.

There is a section of the population that think speed limits don’t apply to them. There is a stretch of road at 30mph that I drive every morning. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have tailgated, flashed me or overtaken at 50-60mph. For whatever reason this particular area of 30 is just widely ignored. I’ve never driven anywhere where the 30 was so routinely ignored and I’ve lived in multiple counties. Where it becomes even more dangerous is this stretch of road is by a school on a blind bend. It makes it hard to judge crossing or pulling out as you can’t predict if cars will do 30 or 50. I’m amazed a child hasn’t been killed yet and when it happens it will be because some selfish twat thinks they are above the law.

I hate lane hoggers. But op wasn’t one in this situation.

Can't comment on the motorway stuff because I haven't passed my test yet so haven't had any driving experience on anything bigger than a dual carriageway but YANBU about drivers trying to bully you. It's horrendous with L plates on. I'm test-ready (just delaying because of money ) and drive the same speeds as DH.

There's a world of difference between other drivers when he is driving, and when I'm driving. The L plates are like a red rag to a bull. One stretch on my drive to work has a 50mph limit up a hill with two lanes that goes suddenly into a 30mph through a village. When DH is driving, he does 50 up the hill, the person behind him stays in their lane, they slow down to 30 through the village. Several times now I've been doing 50 up the hill, a car has pulled out and shot past me at easily 60mph and barely slowed down to get through the village.

I get tailgated when I'm doing the speed limit, people do ridiculous speeds to try and overtake me. None of which happens when my husband is driving, but he and other passengers have confirmed my driving is no different to someone who's passed their test.

If you were stuck behind a learner driver who was just starting out and stalling etc then fair enough, but if they're driving fine and driving at the speed limit what is it about an L plate that gives people the uncontrollable urge to be a twat?

Personally, I am tired of drivers who because they are always driving to the speed limit have the arrogance to believe that they are the good drivers and others are bully.

There are good drivers who always stick to the limit and they are VERY bad drivers who do so, just as there are with those who occasionally drive over the limit.

My SIL is always having a go at 'bullies' on the road and not once will reflect to the fact that she is a very bad driver. I'm petrified to be in her car. Her awareness is appalling, she's the type to break when there is nothing in front of her at all (and then don't understand why people being her start to get agitated after 1/2 hour of it). She will drive 40 in a 60 limit, but then will often go over 40 in a 40 one! She often forgets to indicate (and then again, gets angry when people tell her off), will hog the middle lane on the motorway, she really is the stereotype of the bad driver, but because she doesn't drive fast, she thinks she's an amazing driver and constantly boast about it and how everyone else are bullies. Her faults have been pointed many times but she won't hear it!

Is it where the m56 comes off? Anyway if you’d gone into the left lane and ended up on the m56 when you didn’t want to be then you were in the right place but also the cars undertaking were ok to do so as they were heading on to the m56 (or whichever road). Depends on the road markings and how imminent the turning was. WIth the flashing it makes me think it wasn’t very soon so you should have moved to the left.

Swing There’s loads of appalling drivers out there who think they’re great drivers because they never exceed the speed limit. Unfortunately the “speed kills” peddled by the government has led to this mentality. (Did you notice they quietly dropped this a few years ago?) The inconvenient truth of course is that bad driving kills many more people than exceeding an arbitrary number and until it becomes much harder to get and keep a driving licence things won’t improve. I see terrible driving every day within the speed limit but unfortunately there are so few traffic police about these days that there’s no enforcement and you can’t automate it like you can with speed cameras.

The OP was in the second lane of 4, and the left lane was going to merge off into another motorway fairly soon.

I agree that middle lane hoggers are annoying and even illegal, however do ALL of you really ALWAYS drive in the 1st lane out of 4, unless you are overtaking??
Even if the lane is going to peel off onto another motorway soon?

Surely someone doing the speed limit in this situation is ok to drive in the second lane.

Always going to get dick head drivers who think they can break every law going. Best to let them get on with it. Maybe they'll wrap their car round a tree and learn their lesson the hard way. I always tend to go the max limit when the circumstances allow. So when dry and good visibility. You still get people who want to drive faster.

Even if it’s a reduced limit you should still stick to the left lane.

If I want to overtake and risk getting flashed by a camera that’s my decision not yours. I would’ve been furious if I was stuck behind you.

No accidents are not caused by middle lane hoggers

I don't think I'd go this far tbh. I know that they cause some accidents, but not all of them.