Middle lane hoggers - MOVE THE FUCK OVER!!!

[StrongerThanIThought76]

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!!!!!

In your case, as explaines in your op, I have some sympathy but too many pull in too soon and essentially use motorways like an xbox game.

Its a motorway, you are travelling at speed, pull out and pull in leaving a sensible distance between vehicles.

And losing patience is your fault. This might be a new driver who is on the motorway for the first time and getting their bearings. Chill as an impatient attitude is just as dangerous.

@BarbarianMum

maybe read the highway code as if you're not overtaking in the middle lane you are breaking the law.

you can do 70 in all three lanes you know

It is also courtesy to pull out into the middle lane when passing a slip lane as traffic might be joining the motorway.

Or use your mirrors and only move over if you need to! You will be able to see if you need to move rather than doing it just for the sake of.

For such a simple thing, there are lot of people here who don't seem to get it. If you don't understand, there's very high chance that you're the problem.

I don't do lots of motorway driving but this does annoy me. We have an Aygo so don't have as much oomph to overtake as a lot of cars so I go into the right lane to overtake a string of them all at 70/75 but end up with someone going about 80/90 shooting up behind me when I should be able to overtake in the middle and speedy can get past in the outside without trying to get in my boot!
And yes the ones who accelerate in the middle lane as you try to pass them.

Nonumbongo you have the same tolerance level as me when driving

@Sirzy

Or hand back your licence if you can’t understand the rules of the road

Which rule of the road am I not understanding?

I once saw a small van middle lane hogging, the van had an almost-flat tyre and the driver was on the phone

I don't know how any of you ever get anywhere, from the sounds of it. Where I am (this is not true everywhere in the US), there are 3 rules that prevent the issues mentioned:

1. We can pass in the outside lane (undertake). That is only dangerous if the other drivers aren't generally expecting it to happen and/or aren't paying attention. There is generally a speed hierarchy and slower cars are expected to keep to the outside lane, but if they don't, there's nothing preventing you from passing in whichever lane is free.

1. It's illegal to impede the inside lane (unless you are in stop-and-go traffic). Even if the person who wants to pass you is speeding, it is illegal to impede them.

1. There is one speed limit. Trucks/semis/lorries get to go just as fast as everyone else.

I think the different speed limit for lorries is your biggest problem, TBH.

I was driving on a 2 lane interstate (motorway) in California. At the time, lorries were limited to 55 and other vehicles were limited to 70 (mph). The lorries were all going 55 in the outside lane, and the cars were all going 90 in the other. I'm ok with speeding, but 20mph over is more than I am comfortable with. So I had to do 55 with the slow traffic and pass them when the other lane was clear for a while. It was very frustrating and, IMO dangerous.

Gosh, reading this thread is scary, so many with no idea what to do on a motorway!

It was lunchtime today on the most northern stretch of the M1. A couple of lorries trundling along, and a remarkably singular caravan. So the road wasn't what I would call busy at all. Just inundated with Muppets who think it's ok to sit in the middle lane with nothing in the inside lane.

Which pushes all the traffic into the outside lane(s) causing congestion.

If you cannot manage lane discipline (and calculating/anticipating other drivers' manoeuvres at junctions etc) sufficiently confidently to NOT cause a queue behind you at 65mph then you should NOT be driving on the motorway.

I am not a road hog - as I said I drive a small banger which barely goes above 70 - but I drive enough miles on motorways to understand them!

I repeat -

MIDDLE LANE HOGGERS - MOVE THE FUCK OVER!!!

@Kezziee200 being a new driver is no excuse which is why they have a thing called motorway lessons after you pass if you aren't lucky like me to have done some of your pre-test driving on muli-lane dual carriageways.

You can't do 70 in a string of lorries a car's length apart when they're doing 50 lovely. Which bit of the highway code tells you its ok to speed?

Well, people in the real world don’t rigidly stick to 70mph all the time.

@barbarianmum

Clearly if there’s a line of lorries a car lengths appart then you’re overtaking.

Sorry but if there is a string of lorries doing 50 then you overtake them which means you are using the over taking lane correctly.

Once you pass them (and there will not be an infinite number of them) then you pull back in to the driving lane. You may see a lorry over in the distance but until you have caught up with it you stay in the driving lane. You do not sit in the over taking lane for the next 5-10 mins whilst you catch up with it.

If you are incapable of judging these distances and speeds, then you are not fit to drive on a motorway.

As for the OP, with empty inside lanes, yes I see it loads on the motors I use. These road hoggers are the ones who are by law in the wrong, and there is suppose to be effort to crack down on them with penalties.

SO IF YOU ARE MIDDLE LANE DRIVER, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL BE PULLED OVER. YOU HAVE NO MORAL HIGH GROUND.

Fine, so I'm overtaking not hogging then. Which means the arseholes who come up behind me and start flashing their lights can get to fuck. Or overtake.

I now hardly ever drive as I live in London. When I did, I agree with the OP that they are unacceptable at the very least. I'd like such people who refuse to use an empty left hand lane to be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention, which would require a law change that sadly will not happen.

I used to do a lot of my driving on the autobahn in Germany. It was heaven, even with less lanes than we have on our motorways it moved and was very safe doing 100mph+.

What everybody understood was to move over, it was an unwritten rule where it was understood if a faster more powerful car was approaching to wait and not pull out or if you are overtaking move back in as quick as is safe to do so. No middle lane tossers in sight thinking it's easier to stay there rather than pull in and out of those scary lorries.

There is no need to do a distance in the middle lane, overtake the lorry and move in. If you are going to be in-between lorries they are not going to squash you. If you want to pass the one in front, pull out speed up a little then pull back in.

It's not difficult, there is a few on here that should not be driving on motorways, "sandwiched between lorries" - give your head a wobble

If you've been flashed there's two options - either they're a twat, or you're in the wrong lane. So, if you've been flashed twice or thrice....

The inside lane is often described as the "slow lane" - how slow is acceptable? I followed a car today who was driving at 40mph in the inside lane, causing a long tailback mainly of lorries who wanted to go quicker than that, but couldn't get up enough oomph to get past on the hills. I think 40mph is too slow, but there isn't a lower speed limit, only upper.

People find the lorries scary? They're just slow 😖 When I learnt to drive I didn't know about middle lane hogging and thought I was meant to be there! Was difficult to get out of the habit.