Page 7 | Is everyone allergic to the inside lane??

mapleleaf23 · 2023-04-18T16:02:15+00:00

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??

ArcticSkewer · 20/04/2023 12:01

taxguru · 20/04/2023 11:05

I don't think it does risk a charge of careless driving at all, if you're going steady in lane 1, "undertake" aware of the dawdler in lane 2 and ready to sound your horn if they sway towards your lane whilst you're alongside, able to move over to the hard shoulder or verge if necessary to avoid them swaying into your lane, and then continuing at the same/steady speed after the undertake. If you do all that with "due care and attention", then you're not careless at all, because you are taking "care" with what you're doing! If there was a collision, the middle lane hog would be the "careless" one because they didn't check the left hand lane was clear before they moved into it!

Completely different to someone swerving from lane to lane or undertaking where there's no verge/hard shoulder, etc., which could be construed as careless.

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There are two different examples in the HC. One is for 'weaving' and one is for staying in the left hand lane and undertaking. Both are in the HC as things you shouldn't do - as two separate examples. You can try and justify it however you want, and as I said I sometimes do it too, but it is undertaking and it does risk a charge of careless driving. Presumably police on scene are more likely to pull over the middle lane hogger, so the main danger is from the car pulling into you and you causing/ part causing an accident. It is dangerous.

The exception is for when both lanes are busy with slow moving traffic.

whatdoidonowffs · 20/04/2023 12:07

I drive an HGV I’m legally not allowed in the outside lane, I’m limited to 56 mph so do I undertake the middle lane hogger or do I not undertake and end up with a queue of traffic all going just a bit slower than the hogger?
or do I pull behind them and give them flashing and horns and be accused of being an aggressive driver ?

wendycelea · 20/04/2023 12:15

Just wanted to say I love this thread - so interesting to hear all the different perspectives and experiences people have. It has informed me and I've decided to modify my driving and be a bit more understanding.

Blarn · 20/04/2023 12:16

SmoothSeasDoNotMakeGoodSailors · 18/04/2023 17:16

Someone told me that they are now teaching that the inside lane is for joining or leaving the main road.
Drives me nuts.

It definitely isn't, using the right lane unnecessarily will get minors on your test or a major if you keep doing it or or are hindering other road users. I've been driving a few months and it annoys me, I can't believe its just new drivers doing this. I suspect laziness as its easier than having to pull out to overtake parked cars or buses etc.

funnelfan · 20/04/2023 12:19

I'll raise you a lane hogger who drives through smart motorways at 68mph and still brakes every time they see a speed camera. They seem to spend an awful lot of time looking for the camera at every stanchion, and not noticing the traffic around them and the impact of speeding up and braking every bloody mile. Even worse when its the outside lane due to heavy traffic so you have no chance of overtaking, and if I drop back and giving them a big space knowing they'll be slowing down imminently, it's just taken as an invitation to someone in the middle lane to pull into the gap, which is a bigger problem if they don't realise the driver in front is liable to brake suddenly.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 20/04/2023 12:21

whatdoidonowffs · 20/04/2023 12:07

I drive an HGV I’m legally not allowed in the outside lane, I’m limited to 56 mph so do I undertake the middle lane hogger or do I not undertake and end up with a queue of traffic all going just a bit slower than the hogger?
or do I pull behind them and give them flashing and horns and be accused of being an aggressive driver ?

I suppose you should do whichever is least likely to cause an accident?
The horns and lights probably?
Interested to see what you and other posters think.

TeresaCrowd · 20/04/2023 12:51

whatdoidonowffs · 20/04/2023 12:07

I drive an HGV I’m legally not allowed in the outside lane, I’m limited to 56 mph so do I undertake the middle lane hogger or do I not undertake and end up with a queue of traffic all going just a bit slower than the hogger?
or do I pull behind them and give them flashing and horns and be accused of being an aggressive driver ?

You need a little snowplough on the front that just kind of scoops them over your roof and dumps them somewhere preferably in the verge on the side of the road. There is no good reason barring mechanical difficulties (at which case lane 1/hard shoulder and hazards) why a lorry should ever need to overtake a non limited vehicle on a normally flowing motorway, so I feel your pain! I think a lot of people probably also don't realise that some companies lower the limit as well, so lorry at 56 gets stuck behind lorry of company trying to save fuel doing 52 and they have to overtake.

SinnerBoy · 20/04/2023 12:55

FurAndFeathers · Today 09:35

I didn’t say it was.

Fair enough, it seemed that that was what you meant.

FurAndFeathers · 20/04/2023 14:14

SinnerBoy · 20/04/2023 12:55

FurAndFeathers · Today 09:35

I didn’t say it was.

Fair enough, it seemed that that was what you meant.

Any chance you could nitpick some else’s posts please?
thanks very much

SinnerBoy · 20/04/2023 14:15

I'm not nit picking, just saying it was a misunderstanding!

Easterbunnywashere · 20/04/2023 14:18

I agree that middle lane slow drivers are a huge issue. I think we should adopt the continental system of not changing lanes around junctions. I think a lot of issues and would be solved by this. Traffic joining the motorway needs to give way/merge, rather than the whole inside lane moving into the middle lane. Inside lane drivers would not need to carry out so many manoevers.

Ozgirl75 · 20/04/2023 14:32

My personal love is when the lane from the junction just becomes part of the road it’s merging onto. It just feels like such a safer way to do things. The other day I was joining the A3 and the merge lane was so short and a woman daydreaming in her mini didn’t pull over so I basically had to go from stopped to 70 as fast as I could to join the road. Luckily I have a fairly powerful car but if I was in my old Peugeot 106 it would have been awful!

taxguru · 20/04/2023 14:35

Easterbunnywashere · 20/04/2023 14:18

I agree that middle lane slow drivers are a huge issue. I think we should adopt the continental system of not changing lanes around junctions. I think a lot of issues and would be solved by this. Traffic joining the motorway needs to give way/merge, rather than the whole inside lane moving into the middle lane. Inside lane drivers would not need to carry out so many manoevers.

Drivers on the motorway don't actually need to move in to a right hand lane unless there is a stream/queue of cars on the slip road joining it. They could just decelerate slightly to create bigger gaps for the joining cars to filter into. Obviously, if there is a slip road full of cars, then it would make sense to move over so they could all move into lane 1 together.

It drives me mad to see a car move from lane 1 to lane 2 just because they've seen a solitary car joining from a slip road. Just why?

What we really don't want is for cars on the slip road to be unable to move into lane 1 and ending up stopping on the slip road, which would just cause accidents. That's when people in lane 1 need to move over to lane 2.

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 20/04/2023 14:43

Ozgirl75 · 20/04/2023 14:32

My personal love is when the lane from the junction just becomes part of the road it’s merging onto. It just feels like such a safer way to do things. The other day I was joining the A3 and the merge lane was so short and a woman daydreaming in her mini didn’t pull over so I basically had to go from stopped to 70 as fast as I could to join the road. Luckily I have a fairly powerful car but if I was in my old Peugeot 106 it would have been awful!

Tbf, it's the responsibility of the joining traffic to merge. Nobody is obliged to let move over.

That said, most reasonable people do move over if there's space. I don't always in my wagon if my exit is in the next mile as often people won't let you back over.

Ozgirl75 · 20/04/2023 14:47

I know they don’t have to - which is why I love a lane that becomes part of the road, then there is no pressure to move over as some people seem to be in a world of their own when they’re driving.

Ozgirl75 · 20/04/2023 14:47

That particular junction was an odd one as it was very short so basically like turning from a side road onto a motorway.

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 20/04/2023 14:49

taxguru · 20/04/2023 14:35

Drivers on the motorway don't actually need to move in to a right hand lane unless there is a stream/queue of cars on the slip road joining it. They could just decelerate slightly to create bigger gaps for the joining cars to filter into. Obviously, if there is a slip road full of cars, then it would make sense to move over so they could all move into lane 1 together.

It drives me mad to see a car move from lane 1 to lane 2 just because they've seen a solitary car joining from a slip road. Just why?

What we really don't want is for cars on the slip road to be unable to move into lane 1 and ending up stopping on the slip road, which would just cause accidents. That's when people in lane 1 need to move over to lane 2.

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My pet hate is idiots who don't adjust their speed to either pull in front or behind you in the situation where you can't move over - especially as cars can accelerate and brake much quicker than my truck. Often they just keep driving parallel whilst running out sliproad

They then often panic and cut in front really close or I have to slow down to let them on and then watch them whizz off into the distance whilst my truck takes a mile to get back up to speed. 😡

SinnerBoy · 20/04/2023 14:56

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · Today 14:49

My pet hate is idiots who don't adjust their speed to either pull in front or behind you in the situation where you can't move over - especially as cars can accelerate and brake much quicker than my truck.

Or the idiots who leave it late for the slip road, pull in front of a wagon and hit the brakes... In the 90s, I saw that on the A1 and the car was a bit bent. I was following on my motorbike, hardly any traffic was about and there was no need for it.

I stopped to give the wagon driver my details; the Merc pilot in a shiny suit was hopping mad and insisting that the wagon driver had run into him. Well, he had, but couldn't avoid it.

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:04

'Drives me mad', 'pet hate', 'infuriates me', just a long list of angry rants, maybe take the train

FurAndFeathers · 20/04/2023 15:08

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:04

'Drives me mad', 'pet hate', 'infuriates me', just a long list of angry rants, maybe take the train

Why? do you not believe people should express irritation at stupidity or incompetence?
do you believe there aren’t incompetent or stupid folk on the train?

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 20/04/2023 15:09

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:04

'Drives me mad', 'pet hate', 'infuriates me', just a long list of angry rants, maybe take the train

Almost as bad as getting angry at other people getting angry. 😂

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:16

Stepaway, I'm not angry, just bemused

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:17

Furandfeathers, I don't think I'm superior to everyone else on the train

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 20/04/2023 15:19

Knew that comment would be from a non driver...

Hate being stuck on a crowded train. Especially when it's hot and somebody let's a bad fart go.

FurAndFeathers · 20/04/2023 15:20

Devoutspoken · 20/04/2023 15:17

Furandfeathers, I don't think I'm superior to everyone else on the train

So? No one said you were.

no idea what your point is or why you’re on the thread tbh!