To ask WHY do so many people hog the middle lane of the motorway?

[Ginuwine]

I realise with a global pandemic etc this is small fry, but I couldn't believe my journey to and from Dorset this weekend. I drive an awful lot for work, but Saturday was an outlier in how many mouthbreathers were on the roads.

Sitting just below 70 mph in the middle lane, junction after junction. Never ever moving back over despite a huge clear inside lane.

Why does this bother me?

Well, when a car is racing up the slip road, the Highway Code says I don't have to give way. They have to match traffic speed and then merge when safe.

However sometimes it would be nice to change lanes to allow them to. Except I can't...because the busiest lane in this three lane motorway is the middle one. Full of people dawdling - not speeding up, not going past, just sitting there in their own world, oblivious.

Worse, I then move across into lane 3, go round, then come back into lane 1.. by which time they've sped up to my position. If I want to go around the lorry in front of me - nope! Rolling roadblock in the way - have to move to Lane 3 just to do it again. And so on..

The funniest are the ones who merge from the motorway and cut up everyone just to get into their favoured lane IMMEDIATELY. Then sit there without question, blocking legitimate overtakes, for eight or nine junctions.

Why?? Why do people do this?

I have three theories:

• People think the left lane is for "lorries" and want a superior position on the road. The "fast lane" (ugh) is for the Porsches and Range Rovers. So middle it is.

• People won't tell you their real reason is laziness. They just say "it doesn't matter anyway - I'm doing the speed limit - people can just go round me. Anyway, tailgating is worse go and shout at them"

• like reversing, some people hate the driving discipline of changing lanes. They want to limit it as much as possible and believe the act of changing lanes causes accidents.

So tell me please - why do so many people hog the middle lane when the Highway Code and all driving instruction tells us to keep left? The congestion caused by middle lane hogging is so frustrating.

No excuse for this. It absolutely boils my piss. I flash, undertake, tailgate and growl on a daily basis. Unless you’ve actually had a lobotomy that prevents you from understanding how motorways work, it’s pure laziness.

Passive driving (like sitting at 70 in the middle lane) is dangerous - more so than actively paying attention to what is around you and exercising lane discipline. Most modern cars have visual and audible warnings if you pull out into the path of another car - my dashboard and wing mirrors light up like Belisha beacons if I pull out too close. It’s really not fucking rocket science

You sound like a great driver

No idea, but nothing to do with post-COVID. There have been middle lane drivers for as long as there have been 3-lane motorways.

Middle lane hogging and tail gating fall into being 'careless driving' which is an offense...

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.gov.uk/government/news/new-penalties-to-tackle-tailgating-and-middle-lane-hogging&ved=2ahUKEwijqb6h3ZfxAhUS2BQKHbJFCkcQFjANegQIGRAC&usg=AOvVaw2iQYHsJyR65aGiqka0Durj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.gov.uk/government/news/new-penalties-to-tackle-tailgating-and-middle-lane-hogging&ved=2ahUKEwijqb6h3ZfxAhUS2BQKHbJFCkcQFjANegQIGRAC&usg=AOvVaw2iQYHsJyR65aGiqka0Durj

I'm always a bit confused about people saying this. I am never in one place long enough to observe it, staying in the left hand lane unless I need to overtake. Maybe once or twice I've had someone going at a slow speed in the middle lane and had to work a way round them, but I've never found it to be a problem.

Maybe some motorways see this more than others? I'm usually on the M1 or M25.

My DM used to only ever use the left hand lane at roundabouts, no matter which exit she was taking, as she thought it was safer.

I flash, undertake, tailgate and growl on a daily basis.

People get fines and points here for tailgating - i hope you lose your licence, you're a menace. Do you drive an Audi by any chance?

I thought about this the other day when driving on the motorway and became stuck in the middle lane. The cars in the inside lane were barely reaching 60mph, the cars in the outside late were doing 80+ mph
But you're not stuck in the middle lane if you're driving quicker than the traffic to your left, and there's no space to pull in.
If all the traffic in lane 1 is doing 50/60 & you're going quicker then using lane 2 is entirely appropriate.

If we're talking about dangerous drivers try dual carriageways aka A11 and a34..

Keeping to the left hand lane is fine.

Then you have a big truck trying to join you on the left slip road while some numpty is driving past you on the right. Neither intending to give way.

I’m aghast at the number of people attempting to justify sitting in the middle lane. That suggests they have actually thought about what they’re doing.

There’s just too much traffic on our motorways to accommodate people that don’t abide by the Highway Code.

Noticed while driving in Australia some 20 years back that they had periodic signs saying keep left unless over taking. Could that be out on a few of the electric signs to start a culture change..?

Unfortunately it's due 5o the fact that motorway driving is not included in the driving test. Obviously it would be difficult in some areas of the country but would surely improve so people's perception of lane drill.
Having moved to Ireland i have found middle lane hogging particularly bad. Its infuriating since i spent 2 years sitting in rush hour traffic while the motorway was widened from 2 to 3 lanes and now the 3 lane road if finished progress is hindered by some oblivious idiot dawdling down the middle lane effectively turning the highway back into a dual carriageway. Often thre is not a soul driving in the inside lane for miles.

But you're not stuck in the middle lane if you're driving quicker than the traffic to your left, and there's no space to pull in. If all the traffic in lane 1 is doing 50/60 & you're going quicker then using lane 2 is entirely appropriate.

So are middle lane hoggers people who never go in lane 1 even if it's empty or there is space but still drive really slow?

@RaspberryCoulis

Because a lot of people are shit drivers who appear to have won their driving licence in a raffle.

I drove back up the M74 and saw a lot of this. It just means you have to cross from lane 1 to lane 3 to pass them legally, then back from lane 3 into the unoccupied lane 1 to continue. While the oblivious numpty bumbles along in lane 2.

The M74 (and the M8) is a nightmare for this and I think it's because there are so many junctions. The left lane turns into another road what seems like every 100 yards until you're out of Glasgow.

I only drove in and around Glasgow on the motorway for a long time and assumed it was supposed to be like Wacky Races. Then I drove down to Dumfries and as soon as I left the city limits, the motorway turned into this lovely, calm three lane carriageway with no signs telling you at the last minute you're in the lane for a different road

So are middle lane hoggers people who never go in lane 1 even if it's empty or there is space but still drive really slow?
They're people who sit in the middle lane almost indefinitely regardless of the situation or what the Highway Code says.

Instead of driving in the left lane, and using lanes 2 and 3 to overtake slower vehicles, middle lane hoggers toddle along in the middle for the most dubious of reasons including, but not limited to:
I'm not going slowly so why should I be in the slow lane?
I'm driving at 65/70 so if other people don't like that then they need to be patient
There's lorries in the left hand lane and i don't want to pull back left when I might have to overtake later. It's better I stay in the middle lane and leave lane 1 empty for large stretches
It's not safe to be weaving in and out of lanes all the time (aka it's apparently unsafe to do an overtake in line with the Highway Code)
but there's junctions and people might want to get onto the motorway so it's best I plod along in the middle and leave 1/3 of the motorway empty for miles
I don't like overtaking / insert another reason that translates as not having the required competency to drive on a motorway, but choosing to drive on a motorway
insert comment about speeding Audi drivers here

There's probably more I've missed.

Worst thing about that list is that it's all drawn from this thread of (at time of writing) 265 post

Maybe Ive not actually witnessed middle lane hogging that much then but too be fair the moterways I tend to use are very busy.

**

You get third lane hoggers as well. I undertake if there's space. I know that's "wrong" but so is lane hogging.

Driving is something which ought to take a certain amount of your attention; three-hundred-and-sixty-degrees' worth of it. Plus a certain amount of foresight -- is that person going to pull out in front of me without signalling? are there cars coming in on the sliproad so that I need to accelerate to get in front of them or brake to make room for them to pull in front of me? am I about to be overtaken, so that it is not safe to pull out myself? Is that lorry going to pull out to get past the slower lorry before the hill starts? all that sort of stuff. I think it is called "reading the road".

Pootling along obliviously at a steady 67mph in lane 2 not looking anywhere but directly in front of you car means you are an accident looking for a spot marked X to happen on. And I will be keeping an eye on you to make sure I don't happen to be there when you find it.

@MsJuniper

I'm always a bit confused about people saying this. I am never in one place long enough to observe it, staying in the left hand lane unless I need to overtake. Maybe once or twice I've had someone going at a slow speed in the middle lane and had to work a way round them, but I've never found it to be a problem.

Maybe some motorways see this more than others? I'm usually on the M1 or M25.

Me too. It's never been an issue. Busy M3

I actually really enjoy motorway driving and look on it as a challenge to drive properly, which is why I agree with everyone who finds middle lane drivers a real pain in the arse. The skill is to concentrate, checking your mirrors frequently, and judging your speed when joining, leaving, and overtaking, so that you don't end up tailgating someone, or cutting in too early, etc. If you don't have these skills, then you really shouldn't be on the motorway in my opinion.

I think there’s also a bit of a “if you can’t beat them, join them” scenario going on. When the middle lane is constantly full, it makes it very difficult for those in the inside lane to move out when overtaking. She it just encourages others to do the same.

Really bloody annoying!

Argh that really annoys me

@MsJuniper

I'm always a bit confused about people saying this. I am never in one place long enough to observe it, staying in the left hand lane unless I need to overtake. Maybe once or twice I've had someone going at a slow speed in the middle lane and had to work a way round them, but I've never found it to be a problem.

Maybe some motorways see this more than others? I'm usually on the M1 or M25.

Thanks for sharing. I know it's all opinions and both of ours are valid. But I don't think there's anything confusing here. Judging by the number of posts where others have seen similar, it's not just my perception from one weekend.

I'm unlucky enough that I drive a lot for my work - usually takes me on the two roads you mentioned, but I also live on the A3, M3. M4, and M40. I see it on all those roads.

The M25 late at night is actually hilarious for the random lane hogging, nearly always minicabs or "premium" cars. Merging at a junction, "swinging out" to lane 3 of 4, then sitting at 60-65mph.

Not a problem at that time of night, easy to get round. But these are the same folk who also drive in the day.. and that's when it can cause actual issues in making safe progress at the speed limit.

@Anothernameanothertime

Noticed while driving in Australia some 20 years back that they had periodic signs saying keep left unless over taking. Could that be out on a few of the electric signs to start a culture change..?

Those signs are as ignored in Australia as they are in the uk.

The worst is being stuck behind someone going 50km/h on a single track road, only for them to speed up when you get to the 2km of passing road

My partner does this; I no longer go in the car with him as it’s too stressful for me and raises my blood pressure .

He also drives too slow. If not hogging the middle lane, he will sit on the inside lane at 60, between all the lorries, looking surprised at cars approaching on the slip road as I look at him aghast at his obliviousness.

In the past when I used to explode and point out that he should use the (empty) inside lane, or move out before the car screaming up on the slip road is right outside my passenger window, he would be genuinely surprised, and move over. Then do exactly the same thing a few minutes later. In my view there must be something lacking functionally. He is actually genuinely unaware he’s doing it.