To think 70mph is an acceptable speed in any motorway lane?

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Disclaimer: I have only recently started driving on the motorway regularly

Surely whatever lane you're in, 70mph is an acceptable speed to be doing? I keep finding that when I'm in the fast lane (eg when overtaking cars in the middle lane) at 70mph, I find I have someone driving 2 metres behind me in a way that suggests they enjoy causing a pile up. Once I'm able to get back into the middle lane they will rush past at well over 70mph.

Did I miss the memo where the fast lane became part of the German Autobahn?

The people that sit in the overtaking lanes at 70mph in a passive aggressive 'I'm doing the speed limit' are the most dangerous drivers in the motorway!

Keep left, unless overtaking. There’s no slow/fast lane.

So please don’t sit in the middle or far right lanes. You are not the pace car. If someone want’s to speed, it’s their license.

If the inside lane is clear, use it.

How are they dangerous if they are driving at the maximum speed by law? Because impatient speeders who want to break it choose to get furious?

If you're holding someone up on the motorway, pull over - whatever their speed is.

It is not your job to police other peoples speed . If someone is coming up fast behund you in tne outer lanes pull over. Just pull over.

70 is an acceptable speed. Any speed up to it is acceptable if you are overtaking as long as you dont pull out and cut someone up.

In heavy congestion on the motorway by me you can't go over 50 but you can still overtake. Hence you use it.

People will drive faster, the one by me has cameras and some still speed and tailgate.

For me, 70 belongs in the middle lane.

Do you have your own laws then? Pretty sure that 70 belongs in all lanes

I find 70 on a motorway excruciatingly slow.
Bear in mind those speed limits were brought in when cars were much less responsive and less able to brake with ease.
I'd say 80 is a comfortable speed on a well flowing motorway.

If you are simply overtaking someone in the middle lane and doing 70, then the drivers behind you need to be a bit more patient and understand that not all drivers are confident or comfortable with faster or motorway driving.

If you are using an overtaking lane when you're not overtaking then this will be infuriating for a lot of drivers.

I’ve been driving on motorways for 35 years, I know the difference between logical and legal, of course I drive defensively and don’t challenge or annoy the illegal actions of others. I just dislike the blaming and mocking of the innocents, and unsure by the twats that drive at 90+. In the same way that it’s not ok to bully people on A or B roads who are less aggressive drivers. Motorways are the safest roads for the most part.

The op quite clearly stated that she was using the 3rd lane to overtake - lots of people on this thread just jumping in and patronising her about only using the overtaking lanes for overtaking when she has said that’s what she was doing! It’s very irritating. So are all the speedy speeders - look at how fast I can go, aren’t I the best. Lots of dickheads on this thread.

Also the 70 speed limit was introduced when the roads were not as busy as they are now. I’ve been driving on motorways for almost 40 years & the volume of traffic has increased significantly.

There's no such thing as the fast lane. You should be driving in the left lane unless you are overtaking. After that you should move back to lane 1. If you need to overtake a vehicle in the second lane, then you use lane 3. After that you move back to lane 1 as soon as possible.

middle lane drivers are one of be most annoying thing in the world

I might eventually move over for a tailgating twat if I am doing 70 and it is safe and clear to move.
I assume that karma will get said twat in the end.
70 is the law. I sometimes go about 10 percent over this (again if it's safe and clear).
Never be the fastest on the motorway. I thought everyone knew this.

I can't imagine why you would need to be in the 'fast lane' over taking at 70. Middle lane yes, but not fast lane. I don't drive below 80 in the fast lane.

Speed is irrelevant.
If you are in the outside lane or middle lane then you should be overtaking, if you are not over taking them you should be in the inside lane.
If people are undertaking you, you are not overtaking, get in the inside lane.

To be fair though the people who set the speed limits know all about modern cars, have commissioned all the research and still
Decided not to up the limit so you can only assume they know better than us

As others have said, there isn't a fast lane. There are 3 lanes and you drive has far left as you can. Right lane is for overtaking only.

Everyone saying 'but 70mph is thr legal limit in all lanes', sure it is. But legal and what other road users so are often different things. Let's not be daft and pretend that slowing the 'fast' lane down is making the world a safer place. It's not. It just makes the sort of plonkers who drive at 85/90 irritable and more likely to cause an accident.

By all means overtake at 70 in the outside lane, but then move across to the middle and back out as required. I would imagine that what prompts aggressjve tailgating is pulling out at 70mph to go past one car but there's another in the distance that might be doing 65mph so rather than pull in and do a second overtake, driver sits in the outside lane at 70 waiting to slowly catch thr car at 65mph a bit in front.

-Once I'm able to get back into the middle lane

This is where you’re wrong. You drive in the left unless you are overtaking.

It’s weird, I see far fewer people speeding hugely on motorways nearer to London than further out

That's probably due to the lower traffic density. I drive on roads like the M60 and M1 which often rival the M25 for busyness, but also much quieter motorways and dual carriageways where the average speed is noticeably higher.

OP, what does your speedo say? If it says 70, you're probably only doing 66. Experienced drivers know this and will drive faster without actually speeding. They also know that the ACPO guidelines mean that they are very unlikely to be charged with speeding outside smart motorways under 78-80 mph, unless poor condition, tailgating etc too.

I think OP has got the message about calling it the fast lane. FWIW my old driving instructor called it the fast lane, as did my dad and many others.

OP you did nothing wrong, you used the last to overtake and then moved back in. It's the people that drive up your arse who are in the wrong, regardless of speed

"I tend to go 80-90 on average on motorway like most drivers on motorway any way, which is also legal there is no prosecution for that."

Which country are you in? Germany? I do a lot of motorway driving, and in my experience, most people don't drive at those speeds. A significant minority do, but it isn't most drivers.

My commute takes me down the M1 near Sheffield and this has been turned into "smart motorway". They have removed the hard shoulder and made it into 4 lanes each side, which IMO, was very necessary. The speed limit during rush hour is 60mph, which is a lot faster than the speed I was driving during my commute before the changes.

70 is quite low for a motorway limit, most European countries have limits of 75 or 80.

But that is irrelevant as 70 is the limit in Britain. You are allowed to go a little bit faster if you need to to overtake.

The right two lanes are only for overtaking, they aren't just for general driving at 3 different speeds. Only Italy IIRC has motorways designed like this.

Among European countries the UK is one of the worst for undertaking and people not seeming to understand what "only use the right two lanes to overtake" actually means.

Isn't that true of most roads though, stick to the speed limit and there'll always be some dickhead trying to charge past you!!

Just to throw something in the mix - most accidents happen on the motorway when changing lanes. So constantly moving between lanes isn't ideal either.
If people didn't sit in the middle lane for no reason and others didn't drive at silly speed all would be well and there would be far fewer accidents.
70 is the max you are supposed to drive at so you could technically sit in the outside lane doing that for your entire journey as you'd either be going at the same speed or overtaking other cars. The volume of cars would be spread over the lanes which is also safer.
I never get annoyed if a car is sat in a lane doing 70 , as me overtaking is illegal at that speed. That's my choice. People seem to think it's an unwritten rule that the outside lane has its own set of rules.

Also Motorways are the safest roads in the country because everyone is doing the same speeds. Raising the speed limits won’t change that.

It Just a shame so many Brit’s can’t drive and don’t understand the rules of the road.