To think people should move to the left lane when not overtaking on the motorway?

[AnotherMalbecPlease]

I’ve been doing a lot of motorway driving recently and have noticed that so many drivers to not move over when they can. On a 4 lane stretch of the M25 today, there was a driver doing 50 in the third lane - massive gap in the second lane - it caused chaos - why not just move over?

Because it’s against the law, and it’s against the law because it’s very dangerous. Also very common on the dual carriageway I take to work!

Brilliant 😂

Jeez he's a bit of a plonker

Agree.

I drive from south coast to midlands way a lot as my ds is national level sport.

The cars doing 50mph in lane 3 are a danger.

But many do it because the lorries that swing from 1 to 2 are just as much as a danger imo.

I swear they don't even look. They just expect all the smaller than them cars to brake.

Can you tell I hate the M1?!

Btw the don't choose to drive 50mph in lane 3 but I do prefer it due to the lorries.

I always pull over when I'm not overtaking.

No the ones driving at 60mph in the third lane with two clear lanes to the left of them.

@CluelessHamster

If the lorry then indicates and pulls out suddenly in front of me, I either have to slow down suddenly to 55 or whatever the lorry is doing or pull into the right hand lane at 70 and have an angry BMW driver on my bumper, flashing at me. And, yes, I can ignore him but it's not a situation I particularly want to be in!

But all you're doing is exactly what the lorry driver is doing! If the lorry pulls in front of you, you have to brake firstly - then check the lane to your right. If the BMW driver is driving that fast then you will see them coming. So you slow down until they have passed you and then pull in to the right-hand lane to overtake the lorry.

I think a lot of drivers don't know how to drive on a 4 lane motorway @Doyoumind.When they turned the M1 near Sheffield into 4 lanes a few years ago drivers just stayed in the lane they were in when the slip road at 35A became the inside lane.

I think it's drivers who don't know the road or who are less confident thinking if they are in the slow Lanes, they are suddenly going to end up in the exit lanes and feel trapped there. I use maps on my phone so know how many miles left until this happens but in the slower lanes, there is war of the lorries going on there so I end up on the middle lane or overtaking lane but no way doing below 70mph and go back to the slow lane when the war has ended with the lorries and repeat.

Slow Lane?

I think the inside lane is often referred to as the ‘slow lane’ because that’s generally where the slowest traffic is. Just as the outside Lane is sometimes called the ‘fast lane’.

In a recent episode of Traffic Cops on BBC1, they addressed this issue. It made me feel a little more compassionate - every driver featured being pulled over for middle lane driving clearly had no idea that they weren't supposed to and seemed genuinely surprised.
Motorway driving should be a part of the practical driving test, and a way ought to be found to induct drivers whose licences were issued abroad to the UK highway code. I started to learn to drive in a different country but moved to the UK, continued to have lessons and took my test here. Some differences are quite pronounced, so it doesn't surprise me that drivers with licences issued elsewhere who have not also had driver training in the UK would make this driving error and not know they were in the wrong.

And it's not just the middle lane. I drive on a 4 lane motorway twice a week and 50% of the time find some fool in the THIRD lane driving below the speed limit effectively reducing a 4 lane motorway to 2 lanes
I'll happily overtake them in the far left lane if possible/safe

@Revolvingwhore yeah I meant left lanes as the middle ones are now slow lanes.

It is dangerous. Before making a manoeuvre people look to their right to check for people overtaking; they don't look to their left to check for undertakers, so the potential for a collision is much greater.

I'm curious, what does she think the middle lane is for if she thinks no-one is allowed to drive in it?

Of course YANBU.

Nothing worse than a middle lane hogger.

There's always one dickhead sitting at 60mpg in lane 3 of the m25. Causes chaos and undertaking.

In that situation surely the people in the middle lane are overtaking all the people in the inside lane, so are perfectly justified in being there and aren't "hoggers"?

It gives me the rage that road users don’t exercise proper lane discipline! I despair at driving standards in the UK.

There are also those who leave a big gap between them and the car in front and make it easy for people to undertake and take advantage of the gap, while the rest of us adhere to the Highway Code and wait ‘patiently’ behind. For goodness sake, remove the ambiguity, close the gap and stay alert!

Lane discipline generally is appalling, roundabouts have seemingly been renamed ‘straight-across-abouts’ in my neck of the woods. And can I give a special mention to the ones who, on a two-lane approach to a roundabout, are in lane two on the approach but exit the roundabout into lane one, paying no attention to the existing vehicles in lane one… insanely dangerous!

I’ve been driving for many, many years, still check my mirrors every three seconds, know the car behind me, beside me (if applicable), and I am constantly watching the car which is three or four ahead of me (unless I can’t see past the vehicle in front). I would be in full support of driver retests every so many years.

This.

It annoys me no end. Motorways don't work in the way they were intended to if people don't use them properly.

I've seen quite a few men in their late twenties or early thirties, with beards and glasses, doing the clinging-tightly thing. When you overtake them they blink and look astonished that there was anyone else on the motorway.

I made a point at looking at the driver on the M5 hogging the middle lane with acres of space on the inside lane/huge tailback behind her. She was a girl in her 30’s totally oblivious to everything.

Had to check in case it was someone who had died at the wheel 😳

Exactly!

Then they quote but "I was driving quite fast"!

🤦‍♀️

Isn't that the very definition of a mid lane hogger?

I despair at driving standards in the UK.

Despair? The UK is in the top 10 of safest places to drive according to the World Health Foundation

There are also those who leave a big gap between them and the car in front

What a stopping distance? 96m if you are doing 70.

I think driving standards have dropped massively since lockdown.

Middle lane hoggers are a pain.

The other thing is the number of people who now indicate and pull out without looking, as if indicating means you have both right of way and immortality.