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Original poster

Middle lane hoggers - MOVE THE FUCK OVER!!!

141 replies

StrongerThanIThought76 · 03/08/2018 12:25

Just that.

Travelled 15 miles on the M1 this morning and for many of those miles NOT A SINGLE VEHICLE in the inside lane!

I'm not a road hog (I drive a small banger) but for fucks sake pootling along at 65mph in a presumably capable car/van in the middle lane with nothing to your left and MILES of traffic behind you is selfish and plain ignorant at best, dangerous at worst.

Raaaaaarrrrrr!!!!!

OP posts:
TruffleShuffles · 03/08/2018 13:28

It really annoys me too, it causes congestion as it turns 3/4 lane motorways into 2/3 lanes. Our motorways are busy enough as it is and idiots like this just make it worse. It’s also causes people having to change lanes more times unnecessarily which increases the chance of incidents.

I drive a lot on motorways in Europe and they all seem to understand that the second or third lane is purely for overtaking and get back over as soon as their manoeuvre is complete, why people in the uk don’t get this is beyond me.

MissContrary · 03/08/2018 13:29

Rule 267
Do not overtake unless you are sure it is safe and legal to do so. Overtake only on the right. You should

check your mirrors
take time to judge the speeds correctly
make sure that the lane you will be joining is sufficiently clear ahead and behind
take a quick sideways glance into the blind spot area to verify the position of a vehicle that may have disappeared from your view in the mirror
remember that traffic may be coming up behind you very quickly. Check all your mirrors carefully. Look out for motorcyclists. When it is safe to do so, signal in plenty of time, then move out
ensure you do not cut in on the vehicle you have overtaken
be especially careful at night and in poor visibility when it is harder to judge speed and distance.

Rule 268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

user1457017537 · 03/08/2018 13:31

They were going 65mph. There is a speed limit of 70mph. They are not hogging anything. Lorries are meant to only use the inside lane so you end up sandwiched between lorries

MissContrary · 03/08/2018 13:31

I think some european countries are much stricter about lane hogging? Hence why they pull back in as soon as they've finished overtaking

colditz · 03/08/2018 13:32

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/middle-lane-hogging/

Middle lane hogging is not just annoying. It is an OFFENCE and carries 3 points and a £100 fine.

It isn't illegal to pass someone on the left www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/answers/can-you-overtake-on-the-nearside-of-another-vehicle

bluebeck · 03/08/2018 13:34

I am not a middle lane hogger, but some of you really do seem to get very angry about something so minor Smile

If I come across a middle lane hogger I just overtake them. If I am in a really foul mood I might tut.

Then I forget it ever happened.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/08/2018 13:35

There is no specific law against undertaking, but it is deemed that it falls below the standards of a safe driver and as such is treated as careless driving. If the police see you do it they will pretty much always issue a penalty. I think it's a bit nuts really - if a car is clearly staying in the middle lane then where is the risk in undertaking? People should always check that there isn't someone on their inside when changing lanes too. For once the americans seem to have the right idea.

MissContrary · 03/08/2018 13:38

In congested conditions @colditz If the inside lane is empty it's not congested.

colditz · 03/08/2018 13:41

If the middlelane has a hog in it, they've congested it, and the (empty) left lane is in fact naturally moving more quickly.

Don't worry, I always hit my horn as I trundle past, so they know I'm there and wake the fuck up

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/08/2018 13:43

It’s “should not” that’s advisory. “Do not” means what it says.

That's not right sorry. The only things in the highway code that are mandatory (as in there is specific legislation about it) are prefaced MUST NOT or MUST. But if you don't go along with the "Do not", "You should" etc guidance then that is used as evidence that you were driving below the expected standard.

lovelyupnorth · 03/08/2018 13:46

Had this yesterday on the M40, M42 and M6 - even on the fucking toll road....

what also really boils my piss it the ones who also stick in the middle lane when it goes to four lanes - with two empty lanes of traffic..

i've given up overtaking the and just under take now fuckem

KennDodd · 03/08/2018 13:46

You drove 15 miles with nothing in the slow lane? I drive 1,000s of motorway miles ever year, never seen that.

KennDodd · 03/08/2018 13:47

Just overtake in the fast lane, problem solved.

lovelyupnorth · 03/08/2018 13:49

user1457017537

two things they are driving in an overtaking lane and thus breaking the law if not over taking.

secondly the cause a back up along the motorway as the outside over taking lane is full and thus causes lots of fucking congestion.

trucks do 56mph in the uk you can happily come in and out of the driving lane.

stop being such a fucking moron

colditz · 03/08/2018 13:50

You must be travelling solely in the SouthEast KennDodd, because I see in on the M1 all the time.

Frankly, I'm not sure I WANT middle lane hoggers to pull in. Because if they pull in, eventually they will pull out again, and I don't want people like that changing lanes near me. Let them stay asleep at the wheel in a predictable 64 MPH in the middle lane. They'lll only panic and fucking kill someone if we make them actually engage with the road.

lovelyupnorth · 03/08/2018 13:50

KennDodd

there is no fast lane - there is a driving lane and overtaking lanes if some fucking fool is sat in the first over taking lane and not over taking you then have to travel across three lanes to over take the twat.

please read the highway code

BobbinThreadbare123 · 03/08/2018 13:51

Didn't you know that the left-most lane is made of hot lava and it melts BMWs?!!

Kingkiller · 03/08/2018 13:52

If I come across a middle lane hogger I just overtake them. If I am in a really foul mood I might tut. Then I forget it ever happened.

^This. I'm not a middle lane hogger or an undertaker either, but you can't control other people's behaviour, only your reaction to it. There have been a few very angry driving-related threads lately.

cloudyweewee · 03/08/2018 13:58

I'm guilty of this when heading back to Brum on the M6S, where you have to move over to be in the correct lane at junction 8 otherwise you end up on the M5. I move into the middle lane just after junction 9 so I'm in the correct lane for junction 8. I'd rather do this than leave it too late and try to move into heavy stream of traffic. Normally I stay in the slow lane.

keepingbees · 03/08/2018 14:07

@InMemoryOfSleep I'm not really sure either! I've heard the police say you can if you're not 'undertaking' you're just keeping up with traffic, but I'm not sure.
Where I live they made a dual carriageway into 3 lanes for a fair distance to ease congestion. The inner lane is for those leaving at several junctions. Everyone sits in the middle and outer lane, including lorries trying to overtake each other painfully slowly. I usually need to come off at one of the junctions. But unless you drop to about 40mph you end up undertaking. Either way it feels wrong and doesn't work!

CakeRattleandRoll · 03/08/2018 14:14

I'm in Australia and it is fine to undertake here. Never heard anyone mention it as dangerous. Why is it dangerous? Surely passing someone on the right or passing them on the left are equal in their (lack of) danger??

How odd to have to cross two (or more) lanes of traffic to overtake someone in the middle lane and then cross those two lanes again to get back to the left hand lane. Surely that is more dangerous than undertaking without having to cross any lanes at all? Baffling.

SlartiAardvark · 03/08/2018 14:17

If I come across a middle lane hogger I just overtake them.

If I'm on the bike I'll pull back in front of them, give them the finger & a head shake & then fuck off into the sun...... Grin

If I'm in the car I do the same but also wash my windscreen for 10 seconds.

It's very cathartic.... Wink

Teateaandmoretea · 03/08/2018 14:25

Then the outside lane gets clogged up with everyone trying to overtake them and slows everyone down.

So why don't the people going slower go into the left Lane then if they can't go faster? Why do they queue in the outside lane rather than just accept they can't go faster? Busy motorways don't operate in an optimum way as you end up with a queue in the outside and a load of lorries in the inside that no one who wasnt mad would want to sandwich themselves between.

It seems to me these threads are usually started by people who rarely drive on motorways.

As for staying in Lane causing jams - why then on very busy stretches are people told to stay in Lane? Moving around and braking causes jams not 3 lanes of traffic going at the same speed.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/08/2018 14:49

Tea, I think it's you who doesn't understand. They were still overtaking the middle lane hoggers, but it was taking much longer to do so because all of the overtaking traffic was having to do it in one lane rather than two.

They don't say that the motorway was busy in general, which is when you get advice to stay in lane. Lane hogging (i.e. driving in one of the overtaking lanes when an inside lane is available) reduces the capacity of the motorway. It shouldn't be difficult to understand why.

SlartiAardvark · 03/08/2018 14:59

and a load of lorries in the inside that no one who wasnt mad would want to sandwich themselves between.

See, it's people like this that are the problem.

People aren't complaining about people overtaking lorries.

They're complaining about people sitting in the middle lane when there's plenty of opportunity to move to the inside.

If people aren't confident enough to sit in the inside lane with the lorries they either need to go faster or get off the fecking motorway.