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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To overtake on the inside?

172 replies

MerryMarigold · 19/12/2023 22:36

There I am driving down the M11. I overtake a lorry so I'm in the middle lane but there is no one in the left lane so I move back over. I'm driving about 65 but there are so many people hogging the middle lane that they are going slower than the far left lane and so I overtake them on the inside. I felt bad but WIBU?

OP posts:
enchantedsquirrelwood · 21/12/2023 17:18

macaronicheezepleeze · 21/12/2023 16:35

Again, what's your point? If they are doing upwards of 70 you're not going to need to pass them/overtake them.

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Oh but you are not allowed to police their speed although they are apparently allowed to police your lane discipline.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 21/12/2023 17:18

WhichOneGoes · 21/12/2023 10:26

No one is disagreeing that middle lane hoggers are knobs though.

I'm just about to do a 4 hour motorway trip. ☹️

There's a good chance you'll see no genuine middle lane hoggers.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 21/12/2023 17:21

LlynTegid · 21/12/2023 13:06

The law should be changed to allow dash cam evidence or that from a passenger's phone to be used as evidence, and middle lane hoggers get points on their licence. Ban a few and the message will get through.

The normal reticence to report people would not happen I suspect.

As behaviour goes on motorways, this really isn't the hill to die on.

Speeding, last minute lane changes and tail gating are far more dangerous.

Middle lane sitting isn't dangerous. It's annoying. If people drive dangerously because they are annoyed, that's on them.

bridgetreilly · 21/12/2023 17:33

Do not undertake! Other people’s bad lane discipline is no excuse for dangerous driving.

DewHopper · 21/12/2023 17:45

WithIcePlease · 21/12/2023 08:58

On a 4 lane motorway, I'm not going to move to 4th lane to overtake idiots in lane 3 when both lanes 1and 2 are empty so I go past them in the empty lane 1. This happens not infrequently on the smart motorway I use regularly.
The tailbacks these idiots cause are so dangerous

And your driving is dangerous also.

DewHopper · 21/12/2023 17:48

Newtrix · 21/12/2023 12:40

Absolutely love doing that too!! End up doing it almost daily atm

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Truly pathetic.

easylikeasundaymorn · 21/12/2023 18:12

AmethystSparkles · 19/12/2023 23:12

I’m a sensible driver…some would say that I’m too slow but the Highway Code says that 60mph on a motorway is perfectly fine (under 55 is not). I find that if I pull into the middle lane to help people joining the motorway, I can’t get back into the slow lane because idiots people are undertaking.

Not helped by the fact that people joining the motorway think that it’s a great idea to join in a big clump, leaving people little choice but to slow down or move.

I don't get what you mean about people joining the motorway? If you're trying to join and there is a car/cars ahead of you (as there obviously would be at busy times), what else can you do but follow after them? It's not as if there is anywhere else to go OTHER than onto the motorway. Are you suggesting people should pull over and wait on the slip road for a few minutes?

It's not even as if you can slow down to try and create a break because you're supposed to join as at close a speed as the traffic already on the motorway as possible. And even if you managed to create a gap between you and the car in front there's nothing you can do about whether the cars behind you are forming a 'clump' or not..

Newtrix · 21/12/2023 18:59

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BIossomtoes · 21/12/2023 19:08

easylikeasundaymorn · 21/12/2023 18:12

I don't get what you mean about people joining the motorway? If you're trying to join and there is a car/cars ahead of you (as there obviously would be at busy times), what else can you do but follow after them? It's not as if there is anywhere else to go OTHER than onto the motorway. Are you suggesting people should pull over and wait on the slip road for a few minutes?

It's not even as if you can slow down to try and create a break because you're supposed to join as at close a speed as the traffic already on the motorway as possible. And even if you managed to create a gap between you and the car in front there's nothing you can do about whether the cars behind you are forming a 'clump' or not..

Edited
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Many of us move into the middle lane as we approach a junction to create a space for vehicles joining the motorway. Some of us who were taught to drive a long time ago were told by our instructors that it was a considerate thing to do as a good driver.

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:22

What's your point? People speed in any lane. You should use your mirrors and check your blind spot whichever lane you're pulling into

My point was some people can get surprised when they are planning to move into the inside lane but a car is going faster than they anticipated. Is it really that difficult for you to imagine? As I’ve said I’ve seen a few people taken by surprise.

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:24

Again, what's your point? If they are doing upwards of 70 you're not going to need to pass them/overtake them.

I thought my question was crystal clear 🤷🏻‍♀️. And just because someone is doing 70mph it doesn’t mean they aren’t middle lane hogging…Also where do you live that no one goes above 70 on the motorway?!

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:26

Many of us move into the middle lane as we approach a junction to create a space for vehicles joining the motorway. Some of us who were taught to drive a long time ago were told by our instructors that it was a considerate thing to do as a good driver.

I was taught this but as you say maybe it’s changed as I’m old!

MadameRanevskaya · 21/12/2023 19:27

Totally fine on M11. Lots of this is 2 lane and lots of drivers sit in the outside lane and often move more slowly than inside lane

DyslexicPoster · 21/12/2023 19:32

You shouldn't really. But I have when the motorway is quite.

I have also floored it to get away from such twats. Poodle along at 60 in a middle lane, I overtake and pull into the inside lane doing 70. They then overtake me then slow back to 60 in the middle lane.

If your on M25 I think the rules just don't seem to exist. Frightening but I think there's a lot of people who legally shouldn't be on the road. I'm not an aggressive driver ever ( had someone pull out a metre in front of me on a roundabout today, I just stared util they got over the shock of almost being t boned and let them drive off cutting me up) but I think the agressive assertive drivers are safer than these numpties. They have zero awareness of what going on around them.

BIossomtoes · 21/12/2023 19:33

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:26

Many of us move into the middle lane as we approach a junction to create a space for vehicles joining the motorway. Some of us who were taught to drive a long time ago were told by our instructors that it was a considerate thing to do as a good driver.

I was taught this but as you say maybe it’s changed as I’m old!

I’m old too but I’ll do it for as long as I drive because I appreciate it so much when another driver does it for me. Especially if it’s a short slip road with poor visibility.

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:33

If your on M25 I think the rules just don't seem to exist.

they don’t, every lane for themselves!

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:36

@BIossomtoes agree

Whereismycat · 21/12/2023 19:39

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What are you on about?!

DewHopper · 21/12/2023 19:40

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DewHopper · 21/12/2023 19:41

BIossomtoes · 21/12/2023 19:33

I’m old too but I’ll do it for as long as I drive because I appreciate it so much when another driver does it for me. Especially if it’s a short slip road with poor visibility.

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I was taught the same thing and always do this if it is safe to do so.

Wife2b · 21/12/2023 19:46

I have no issue with middle lane drivers, it’s the ones driving less than 70 that irritate me - especially if they’re in the middle lane.

easylikeasundaymorn · 21/12/2023 20:15

BIossomtoes · 21/12/2023 19:08

Many of us move into the middle lane as we approach a junction to create a space for vehicles joining the motorway. Some of us who were taught to drive a long time ago were told by our instructors that it was a considerate thing to do as a good driver.

Show quote history

I think you've misunderstood...I wasn't querying what people already on the motorway should do, as yes although it isn't specified in highway code if you can see/anticipate there will be a lot of people trying to join it makes sense to move over into the next lane if you can, so they have somewhere to go.

I was querying what @AmethystSparkles expected the people trying to join the motorway to do to avoid 'joining in a big clump' - if there is a flow of traffic on the slip road leading to the motorway you (as an individual driver) can't really do much other than follow directly after the car in front - unlike the people on the motorway who have several lanes to move between and a hard shoulder for emergencies, once you are on the slip road there is nowhere else you can go but forward!

ElevenSeven · 21/12/2023 20:17

I think describing discrete drivers as a ‘big clump’ shows the anxiousness and inexperience of motorway driving, which is a massive factor in most middle lane hoggers, IMO.

macaronicheezepleeze · 21/12/2023 20:18

naughtynine · 21/12/2023 19:22

What's your point? People speed in any lane. You should use your mirrors and check your blind spot whichever lane you're pulling into

My point was some people can get surprised when they are planning to move into the inside lane but a car is going faster than they anticipated. Is it really that difficult for you to imagine? As I’ve said I’ve seen a few people taken by surprise.

They're not checking their blind spots properly if they're surprised.

Passing some idiot dawdling at 60 in the 2nd lane when you're doing 70 to the left of them is fine. If the motorway is clear and you see them doing this far enough ahead then fine, overtake them on the right. But if you're having to drop speed, hang back and indicate through other traffic in the 2nd and 3rd lane just to overtake them and pull all the way back to the 1st lane, you're just creating unnecessary manoeuvres and increasing the likelihood of an accident.

Just pass them for Christ sake. It's not overtaking.

AyrshireTryer · 21/12/2023 20:20

You can get three points on your licence for doing it.

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