Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is everyone allergic to the inside lane??

197 replies

mapleleaf23 · 18/04/2023 17:02

Honestly I’m noticing it so much more and it actually infuriates me. Whenever I’m driving on A roads or motorways with 3 lanes, everyone just cruises in the middle lane even though they’re going super slow.
No one uses the inside lanes properly or use the overtaking lanes to actually overtake. Even 2 lane roads, the amount of people I have to undertake because they’re going 10mph below the limit and still in the right lane…

It actually infuriates me. Do they not teach this on tests anymore??

OP posts:
Emeraldsrock · 18/04/2023 20:24

I would never stay in the inside lane after seeing footage of cars completely crushed by lorries not slowing down for sudden traffic. Sorry not sorry.

Runnerduck34 · 18/04/2023 20:30

I know what you mean , slow lane is often empty for longish streches.
Trouble is you cant overtake in slow lane and it can sometimes be hard to pull into the middle lane when theres a continous line of traffic. I do overtake a slow middle lane car by going from slow lane to middle lane to fast lane and back again.

Neededanewuserhandle · 18/04/2023 21:09

Lamaitresse · 18/04/2023 20:04

I live in an EU country where it is illegal to hog the middle or fast lane - you’re allowed to go into those lanes only if you are overtaking.
I have to completely agree with you OP. Whenever we come back to the UK it drives me CRAZY seeing these people just sitting in the middle, and even fast lane (!) with nobody else on the inside lane(s).
Think I spend most of my time driving on UK motorways cursing tbh!
Personally I think the UK should adopt the same rule we have here because it works brilliantly. Yes we get the odd idiot sitting in the middle lane, but mostly it’s great. I just don’t understand what these lane-hoggers think they’re doing, or what they’re trying to achieve? Unless it’s purely to p*ss off other motorists 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's illegal here - we just have almost zero enforcement and as shown on this thread everyone thinks they know better than to actually follow the rules/law.

MathiasBroucek · 18/04/2023 21:17

It’s worse on the four lane motorways. People just sit in lane 4….

Tinybrother · 18/04/2023 21:22

My theory is laziness/anxiety about cars joining on tje slip roads, and not wanting to move over for them, so they sit in the middle lane to avoid having to think about it. It is very annoying.

fhe stretch of the M25 I drive on almost daily usually has variable speed limit and stay in lane signs, so it’s the people trying to speed up in short bursts that stop the traffic blowing continuously rather than those doing as instructed and continuing at eg 50mph in a middle lane

Barbecuebeans · 18/04/2023 21:29

ArcticSkewer · 18/04/2023 17:28

I find in a 4 lane motorway it is even worse. Noone wants to use lane 1, the old hard shoulder. Noone uses lane 2. Everyone is in lanes 3+4. I undertake in lane 1 (so there is a 'safe' lane between me and the cars in lane 3 doing 60). Pure madness.

Yes! This!

How can anyone think it's sensible to be going 65 miles an hour in lane 3. There is literally no excuse for it, when the cars in lane 2 are often going faster. It causes more congestion as people have to wait to pass them/change lanes to go round them. Whereas if people in lane 1 went at e..g 60-65, 2 at 65-70, 3 at 70-75 and 4 at 75 plus (because realistically the fastest people on the motorway go at at least 75 mph then they'd need to be far less changing lanes, which is the most dangerous manoeuvre on the motorway.

M340 · 18/04/2023 22:01

LucifersLight · 18/04/2023 17:40

It can be a pain driving on the inside lane when so many people are joining though as you’re forever switching lanes which I feel is more dangerous.

It can also get annoying driving at 70 in the outside lane with muppets that think they are on an autobahn coming up behind you constantly.

They should put 10x more speed cameras on motorways to try to stop the eedyits.

Undertaking is idiocy, and anyone going 65 in a 70 zone is not “pootling”.

Sorry but you're part of the problem.

Bloody move over!

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 18/04/2023 22:04

lipstickwoman · 18/04/2023 17:27

Lorries in the middle lane completely do my head in. Often to be seen parallel to another lorry.

It's because most of us are limited to 56 but some can do 60.

In the same situation you'd not sit behind a slower vehicle if you had nine hours driving ahead of you and the prospect of sleeping in the truck if you don't reach your destination before your daily driving hours expire.

Danidandan · 18/04/2023 22:09

Emeraldsrock · 18/04/2023 20:24

I would never stay in the inside lane after seeing footage of cars completely crushed by lorries not slowing down for sudden traffic. Sorry not sorry.

Maybe you should work on your driving anxiety before you get back on the road.

Lockheart · 18/04/2023 22:10

Barbecuebeans · 18/04/2023 21:29

Yes! This!

How can anyone think it's sensible to be going 65 miles an hour in lane 3. There is literally no excuse for it, when the cars in lane 2 are often going faster. It causes more congestion as people have to wait to pass them/change lanes to go round them. Whereas if people in lane 1 went at e..g 60-65, 2 at 65-70, 3 at 70-75 and 4 at 75 plus (because realistically the fastest people on the motorway go at at least 75 mph then they'd need to be far less changing lanes, which is the most dangerous manoeuvre on the motorway.

Show quote history

Lane 1 is for driving, lanes 2+ for overtaking. There is no minimum speed requirement for using them, nor should there be. Someone doing 60mph can be overtaking someone travelling at 50mph in lane 1. Similarly if there are two vehicles travelling slowly in lanes 1 and 2 (I'm thinking of lorries here primarily) then another driver could well overtake them in lane 3 while only travelling 60-65mph, and that would be legitimate use of the lanes.

With the caveat that speed should be sensible and appropriate for the road conditions, the principal point of travelling outside of lane 1 is whether or not you are overtaking traffic on your left / inside. Not how fast you are travelling.

FrumptyMumpty · 18/04/2023 22:30

It does annoy me but I also get really annoyed when I’m in the inside lane and then as I approach the slow moving traffic, someone cruises up alongside me not quite overtaking and I have to break hard.

eurochick · 18/04/2023 22:56

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 18/04/2023 17:42

the M25 has to be the worst for this. I dread driving round it.

Road design compounds this on the M25. Lane 1 regularly becomes the off ramp so you have keep switching in to avoid being spun off on to an A road you don't want to be on.

greentealeaves · 19/04/2023 06:04

I'd happily see unnecessary middle lane drivers fined. Shame the police can't set this up. They'd make a fortune! It's dangerous in a lot of circumstances too.

Emeraldsrock · 19/04/2023 07:00

It’s not driving anxiety. Just recognize it as a real risk. I don’t drive particularly slow so it’s not really a problem anyway.

Timeforchangeithink · 19/04/2023 07:13

Not me, I'm happiest there toodling along after a lorry or even better a caravan!

taxguru · 19/04/2023 07:31

Mapletreelane · 18/04/2023 17:23

YANBU

Poor lane discipline is the cause of so much congestion. The money spent on "Smart" motorways would have been so much more effective being used on education and campaigns for safe motorway driving.

And yes agree with another poster, people think they are slow and fast lanes, rather than keep left and use them for overtaking

Fully agree with that. That money would have been better spent on education and enforcement to stop the congestion caused by bad driving.

IglesiasPiggl · 19/04/2023 07:32

BatsHaveButtcheeks · 18/04/2023 20:21

I'm always on the M25 and I don't get the argument of people staying in middle lanes because of left lane filtering off. Its not every junction and there's plenty of miles between them to move over within reasonable time. It's just pure laziness.

Which section are you driving on? On the Surrey section around J14-10 it's every junction, they are close together and you often can't move out of the left hand lane easily. I don't know about the Herts /Essex section but the Surrey part is definitely not as you describe.

taxguru · 19/04/2023 07:32

wendycelea · 18/04/2023 17:23

Much prefer German motorways where you can choose whatever speed you feel is safe and the general speed in all lanes is much faster.

I prefer USA where you have speed limits but can use all lanes for overtaking so can pass the middle lane hogs either side.

taxguru · 19/04/2023 07:36

RampantIvy · 18/04/2023 17:42

It happens all the time on the A1M.
My other moan is when a lorry tries to overtake another lorry and the one on the inside lane tries to race the overtaker, so they are both travelling at the same speed and then block the road if it is a dual carriageway.

Ah! The joys of speed limiters/tachographs. A good idea in theory but dangerous in practice as the drivers can't get an extra few MPH temporarily to overtake more quickly and clear the lane for others.

taxguru · 19/04/2023 07:41

HecticHedgehog · 18/04/2023 18:19

Learner drivers can't go on motorways so most probably don't have experience (although I don't think that's any excuse)

It infuriates me too and whilst it's probably wrong if someone is toddling along in lane 3 and I'm in lane 1 going faster, I just undertake. Wouldn't risk it if they were in the lane next to me though. Then I pull over two lanes, overtake and pull back in two lanes sigh

That's not "undertaking" though. You're allowed to overtake on the left if you're lane is going faster than lanes on the right, as per Highway Code. Illegal "Undertaking" is when you move into the left hand lane, undertake and then move back into the right hand lane. That's why lorry drivers just continue on the left - they're already in that lane so are allowed to overtake slower traffic in right hand lanes.

winnieanddaisy · 19/04/2023 08:14

@Lamaitresse when we were on holiday in France we found it very easy to drive mostly in the inside lane of the motorway as the roads were empty . We went from Calais to the Loire Valley and saw very few cars . Most of the motorways were only two lanes anyway . Our journey was in the last week in july so peak holiday season. If they had the amount of traffic that we have in Britain I suspect their system would become chaos too .
I don’t know what it’s like in other European countries though.

Minfilia · 19/04/2023 08:35

FrumptyMumpty · 18/04/2023 22:30

It does annoy me but I also get really annoyed when I’m in the inside lane and then as I approach the slow moving traffic, someone cruises up alongside me not quite overtaking and I have to break hard.

You don’t have to brake hard in that scenario 🤦‍♀️

In fact if there’s anyone behind you then you’d be driving dangerously to do so!

gogohmm · 19/04/2023 08:54

My bugbear too. Tesla drivers are the worst here, 55mph in middle lane! Electric cars are pretty popular in this area (lefty environmentalists!) the stretch it goes from 4-3 lanes is the worst as some of the slow traffic has made it into lane 3. Accidents occur multiple times a week at this point and according to a police friend, slow moving traffic in inappropriate lanes are a contributing factor often

Quisquam · 19/04/2023 09:08

They were saying on a smart motorway report this week that people are avoiding the slow lane for fear of hitting a stationary vehicle . Can't say I blame them.

I drive regularly on the M1 and M6. On smart sections, I don’t want to drive on the inside lane, after one time there was a stationery vehicle and it didn’t look stationery to me, at my speed until I was quite close to it - then I had to pull out quickly into the middle lane, to avoid crashing into it. Had there been heavy traffic in the middle lane, I would have been in trouble! Likewise I find the thought of breaking down in a live lane terrifying, given there is no hard shoulder to pull onto.

Ozgirl75 · 19/04/2023 09:13

I’ve just moved here and have been doing quite a bit of motorway driving, and my husband is regularly travelling from the south to Birmingham. I also find middle lane drivers annoying - but I kind of get why. I was on the M1 last weekend and after reading all the things about how dangerous smart motorways are there was no way I was travelling on basically the hard shoulder.
Also, even on normal motorways, the left lane is busy with lorries and with overtaking them, and pulling over when people are joining, it feels easier to just travel along in the middle lane as it feels like you’re basically overtaking the whole time anyway.
Plus I like to be able to see the road in front of me and if I’m behind a lorry I can’t do that.
So if there’s a quiet section then yes, I’m in the left lane, and often going quicker than those bunched up in the middle lane, but when there are lorries, I find I’m in the middle lane by default a lot of the time.