To think this driving manoeuvre was both safe and legal?

[AmazonAmazine]

Arguing with my dad who was the passenger!

3 lane motorway. I was in the left lane, cruising around 70 as no one in front. Came up to a car in the centre lane doing around 50mph. The right lane was running fast, I’d guess over 70.

I assessed the safest thing to do was carry on being very vigilant and slow a little bit and steadily pass the slow car in my lane at around 60. The alternative was get behind it then attempt to accelerate into the fast flowing right lane, accelerating in between higher powered cars from a much lower speed. I’d been forced to slow a bit on approach already, there was no obvious gap in the right lane which everyone as crowding into on approach from the centre lane. The middle car clearly wasn’t shifting, the left lane ahead of me was very clear. The road wasn’t otherwise particularly busy, the right lane was just busy because of this car.

I was very aware, ultimately had a hard shoulder for emergency and I was watching the car well for any sign of switching lane.

iabu- you should have crossed back and forth over two lanes, as it’s always the passing lane
Ianbu- this was the safest way of dealing with the hazard.

I do a subtle undertake I slow down to their speed and pull up to equilibrio their speed so they can see me. Then I slowly start to accelerate . Sometimes it makes them notice and start to accelerate. I think it's less wrong to undertake at 53 miles per hour than 70 plausible deniability

Highway Code: Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

So you did the right thing. I do this as I often join the motorway and it goes into the lane directly. Then I have cars on the right going slower, but my turn off is very near. So to pull out, merge, overtake, pull back in means I would miss my exit!

Provided you are aware you are in a significant blind spot, speed up and do it quickly, don't slow down and linger in their blind spot.

Rule 268 Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

This seems pretty clear cut to me, if you read the whole rule and not just the first sentence - if you'd overtaken, you'd have been weaving in and out of traffic, so the advice is to not do it.

Honestly, I don't even drive and some of the drivers on here are exactly the reason why I don't. Don't understand laws versus guidelines, don't read rules in full, and don't use common sense. Scary.

It's 268 I quoted above. You were in the right.

It’s not undertaking. It’s just maintaining your speed in your own lane. Undertaking would be if you were in the middle lane behind the slow car then moved into the left lane to pass it.

They were in a BMW estate that said police all over it, so no doubt.
While traffic officers don't have any such powers they do regularly report poor or dangerous driving to the police too hopefully deal with.

Illegal to intentionally change lane to undertake.

Not illegal for the inside lane to be moving faster than the middle lane.

I'm surprised at the number of people who think it was dangerous for op to continue in her lane and would have been less dangerous to switch lanes to overtake.

If nothing else, this demonstrates why middle lane hogging is so dangerous. People don't really have time to debate with themselves or other passengers on the exactitudes of the highway code when faced with this situation and some will decided to take a more risky approach to passing than others. Either way you are making other drivers chose between undertaking, which is risky or moving across two lanes in relatively short time which is also risky (especially if it is done in a single manoeuvre).

Stop middle lane hogging - if there is space to your left, use it!

However, I do feel that traffic conditions are an important consideration of how the relevant highway code rules are interpreted. In no way do I think that the situation described by OP could be reasonably seen as "congested traffic". Weaving is repeatedly moving in and out of lanes in short order. It is not doing a single lane change to overtake one vehicle, moving over to the right to overtake a single vehicle is not weaving.

In that case @Laughingravy it's really disappointing they didn't at least go behind them and move them across to the left (although ideally they should have given them a fine!)

Yes @ProfYaffle but the manoeuvre of undertaking is moving lanes to pass a car on the left. Just as overtaking is moving lanes to pass a car on the right.

OP did not move lanes to undertake. She simply maintained her speed in her own lane.

Haven’t read the full thread. Into middle lane, flash them to “advise” they pull into the left lane, if they don’t into 3rd lane, foot down and straight back to left lane to show them the error of their ways.

I want one of those police scrolling notice things for the back of my car to deal with these (and other) fuckers.

You've not met some of these mumsnetters then. Drive too closely behind them or have the audacity to flash them, and they proudly admit they'll slow down even further

Undertaking is fine when traffic is queuing, or consistent and busy. This doesn't apply in these circumstances because you've said there was a clear road in front of you. You should have used some of that clear road earlier to build up speed and merge with faster lanes. You can't drive along merrily in the left lane, catch up with cars in the middle lane and think "Pants, I'm stuck, I now need to under/overtake". You always need to be watching the road ahead to plan for things like this when you're on a motorway. You can't just be looking at what's happening immediately around your own car.

Your Dad was right.

Yes I have seen the type, I wouldn't drive close, but I would flash briefly to let them know I am there and maybe wake them up to getting into the correct lane. They always move eventually and I wouldn't take risks at 60-70mph for the sake of saving a few minutes.

Slowing down because someone just wants by you on an open motorway is behaviour you would expect from cavemen with ego problems not, apparently, intelligent women.

Of course it’s the situation to worry about as the driver of the middle lane car behaved unreasonably. However I think you are completely allowed when you are in the left lane to pass at a higher speed the car moving on your right in the middle/ right lane. You are just staying in your lane and continue moving. There a lot of situations on a multi-way road when different lane moves with different speed so you just continue in your lane within speed limit.
I do understand why you’ve slowed down however it’s meant that you were passing this car longer. Also you slowed down from 70 to 60 with clear road ahead something the traffic behind you wasn’t expecting. That could be the problem.

I’m more than surprised I’m quite alarmed tbh .

The lack of comprehension and applying personal opinion to clear guidance is more shocking Tbh.

The highway code says undertaking is allowed when roads are congested and lanes are moving at similar speed (and not or). The op says "The road wasn’t otherwise particularly busy", therefore no congestion and undertaking was not justified. There is no specific undertaking offence but it could constitute driving without due care and attention or careless driving as it is a risky manouvre as the other driver will not expect it.

Show me anywhere it says it is recommended to undertake on an otherwise quiet motorway because you cant be arsed changing lanes.

It is illegal if it is hazardous, the OP has stated several times that there was nobody ahead of her in her lane, if she had been paying due care and attention she would have read the road ahead and overtaken correctly in the right hand lane. 🤷‍♀️

Still not hazardous. Still no problem. Carry on OP!

Passing on the left in the way you describe is only applicable when the road is congested and all lanes are full of cars. Obviously you have to be able to pass cars on the left in that scenario otherwise the inside lane would just sit there waiting for everyone else to move before them.

That was not the case when the OP undertook the car as she described it. The inside lane was empty and there was no one in front of her.

She should have moved out of the inside lane and overtaken the car in the correct way, in the overtaking lane to the right of the annoying driver in the middle lane.

*That should be: obviously you have to be able to pass cars on the right in that scenario

People who cannot understand very clear instructions and make up their own rules at 60-70mph cost lives and really should not be on the road.

I think @AmazonAmazine and a lot of the other commenting on this thread need to watch this if you think the OP was in the right.

The fact that you're even considering entering the hard shoulder at speed is worrying.

It's not an option.

The fact that you don’t anticipate possible hazards is more of a worry.

Its exactly why the hard shoulder is there.