Road ragey driver yesterday

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Picture the scene. Sunday afternoon, M5 southbound near Bristol. Left lane pretty full of traffic, me in my little Toyota Aygo struggling a bit in the high winds. Satnav tells me in two miles I need to keep right to get to Cribbs Causeway. Check middle lane, it’s empty. So is fast lane. I move over, figuring two miles of empty lane, not a problem to anyone and I’m less of a threat to my own and others’ safety in an empty lane than a fairly full one in this high wind.

Woman in a white car (Subaru, I think) pulls in right behind me, tailgating hard. Maybe half a metre between my car and hers? Flashing lights like crazy, gesticulating very angrily at me to move over. It’s not safe for me to move left as too much traffic and I don’t want to mess up the manoeuvre in such high wind. Besides, it’s now about 1.5 miles till I’ll have to be in this lane anyway. Fast lane is empty, she could simply overtake me. Which she does, after a minute or two of trying extremely aggressively to intimidate me and make me move over.

She then zigs back in front of me, zags into left lane, right in front (and I mean right in front) of a lorry who has to move over to prevent himself crashing into her.

Why do people drive like this? I fully accept I was lane-hogging, however I was no danger to other traffic and no obstruction to her overtaking as the fast lane was empty. In high winds, me driving in an empty lane in my little car is much less dangerous to me and others. I couldn’t have moved over safely due to volume of traffic in the left lane, and I would have needed to move back over fairly swiftly anyway. It’s the look of crazed anger in her eyes that shook me the most. Like she was some self-appointed lane cop or something. Genuinely did make me wonder if she was on something.

Anyway, probably will be told I was the rude one for not moving over but like I say, I couldn’t have. She nearly caused a pile up in the left lane herself! Just wondering what others thought of the situation?

If she overtook you then pulled back into the left hand lane causing another vehicle to have to pull out to avoid her then it would have been dangerous for you to do the same.

She was a knob.

Yeh you probably moved over a little bit early. But that is a complete overreaction from her that was pretty dangerous by the sounds of it.

Doing a fairly lengthy commute every day, I must confess that lane-hogging is my No.1 pet-hate on the roads. The middle and outside lanes are overtaking lanes and, if you're not overtaking, they you shouldn't be in them (there certainly is no such thing as a 'fast lane').

That said, there is also no excuse for tailgating and driving dangerously and putting others at risk.

2 miles! A tad early. Was you overtaking the lorry though? Must admit I hate middle lane hoggers but she sounds dangerous.

She over reacted but how fast were you going in the middle lane? Not sure why you were safer in the middle lane due to high winds? Shrug it of and let her get stressed about small things.

2 miles before you need to because it's windy? Were you over taking the lorry or was it having to undertake you ?
Did you pull out in front of her.

She should have just gone around you but you shouldn't have been there in the first place

If you were moving faster than the left lane then you had every right to be in the middle lane. But if it was really windy why not just slow down a bit in the left lane to leave a bigger gap ahead of you?

She sounds like a dick though.

She was driving like a twat. No doubt about it.

But you were in the wrong lane. If you weren’t actively overtaking you shouldn’t have moved into the middle lane.

However busy the inside lane is you stay in it unless you’re planning to overtake. And 1.5 to 2 miles is AGES to allow for moving into the other lanes.

She’s the one at fault - tailgating and flashing . Yes middle lane hoggers can be annoying but why not move out into the outside lane then back in . On a busy motorway too many cars in the inside lane close together with cars pulling out into the middle and back again increases the risk of a crash . On the rare occasion someone tailgates me i ‘ flash my brake lights ‘ . Been driving over 30 years , have an advanced driving qualification . Roads much busier now than when I sat my test and standard of driving at times is downright dangerous . Pity there’s never a cop around . At times I dream of having one of James Bonds cars wher the sides come up to reveal missiles - and that’s as far as my road rage goes .

If she found space in the inside lane why didn't you?!

She didn't find a space icelolly as the lorry had to move out from behind her so clearly she squeezed into an unsafe gap.

I think you were a bit too eager to get into the next lane but her attitude is fucking mental. She is more likely to cause an accident by being stressed and agitated, by stressing you out and for erratic driving.

I have never seen a motorway where the left lane is so busy you can’t join it but the middle lane and fast lane are empty. That is not how motorways work surely? When you moved over did you at least speed up so you were overtaking?

She wouldn't have pulled right behind you. It sounds like you underestimated her position and instead of waiting for her to get through, you pulled into the right lane for no reason going slowly.

You were in the wrong and this dangerous driving. You don't pull in a faster lane to exit in 2 miles unless you are prepared to speed up. If your car is such that you can't control it at any speed, you are not safe to drive on the motorway.

Yes, her behaviour was ride, but people who do what you did are very annoying oblivious to the position they put others under.

It sounds as though she was completely out of order but, at any given moment, about one third of the UKs motorway network cannot be used due to lane-hogging. The knock-on effect is traffic jams. (As well as frustration and dangerous under & overtaking).

While the OP may have moved over too early, I know the junction she means and the left lane turns off the motorway - you need to be in the middle/third lanes to get to Cribbs, the motorway splits at that point.

Did she stay in the left hand lane and take the turnoff then?

Where are the middle and fast lanes on a motorway? My understanding is the lanes are overtaking lanes, you don't intentionally move into them when you have a manoeuvre two miles ahead. Also keep right on a motorway would also probably mean just not take an exit on the left, still being in the near side lane would be the correct driving position (unless you were overtaking).

I think you need to read your highway or have some motorway driving lessons.

What speed were you going?

If you were so determined you had to be in the right lane 2 miles early, did you consider maybe she 'needed' to be in the left lane?

2 miles ridiculously early to pull over. Folk doing that give me the rage. If you can’t cope with the driving conditions, stay off the road.

I wouldn’t have tailgated you, but I’d have been swearing at you.

Woman was a dick.

but like other PP - I think 2 miles is waaaay to early to change lane.

I would also suggest that if you are being buffeted in high winds you would be better slowing down and keeping in the left-hand lane as long as poss. I'm not clear from your OP - but did you overtake the lorry that had to slow down for dick-woman? That in itself sounds risky to me in high winds.

She was totally in the wrong. You don't tailgate, you don't intimidate other drivers, and you don't make lorries take evasive action.

But... high winds would make you SAFER in the left lane. If the wind is strong enough to make you swerve, you want to be in the lane with traffic, not in the middle lane where a sudden gust could make you swerve into the left lane.

There is no such thing as fast lane / slow lane. the speed limit is the same in all motorway lanes.

www.itv.com/news/2015-06-21/van-driver-becomes-first-convicted-for-lane-hogging/

As previous PP said, inside lane so busy but no one in two other lanes....

Lane hogging is a driving offence.

I can see where you are coming from but in the opposing drivers pov you were land hogging. That of course gives no right from opposing driver to behave like an arse and drive dangerously. I always think how someone behaves when they are driving is a indicator of what their personality is like.

What others have said. Two dangerous drivers here unfortunately.