Undertaking VS middle lane hogging

[WatcherWatch]

I drive a lot on this motorway so this isn’t new. But I just wonder what other people do in this situation. (I was not driving while taking the photo. My mother was)

On joining the motorway our slip road becomes a lane. We stay in our lane and are doing 70mph along the road. There are no cars in lane 2 directly to out right. Because they are ALL sitting in lane 3 or 4. And they are ALL doing between 50 and 60mph. So we are technically undertaking them. But we’d either have to cross over from lane 1 to 4 just to get past them which is absolutely ridiculous. Today we could have got in to lane 4 if needed but some days that’s just as packed and going just as slowly so overtaking would not actually be possible. So I tend to stay in lane 1 and just maintain my speed. My mother was a bit worried about undertaking and would have preferred to cross all the way over to overtake but decided not to bother as we weren’t going far anyway.

What would everyone do in this situation?

Especially on days when lane 4 is also busy so overtaking would be impossible. On those days you’d need to slow down and squeeze into lane 4 to go slower than you would in lane 1. And you wouldn’t be able to overtake in the end anyway as they all drive at the same speed. While lanes 1 and 2 stay empty.

I wouldn’t undertake as it’s illegal and dangerous. You could move into someone’s blind spot without them realising etc. I’d always go round them the right way, even if I had to just sit in lane four.

If I'm feeling particularly aggrevated I'd move lanes and drive up their arse until they get the message and move over to the left.

If its clear like that pic suggests, I'd continue undertaking rather than going all the way to the right hand lane(s) just to overtake these middle lane hogging muppets.

I would stay in my lane as I'm moving with the flow of traffic.

In that situation I’d carry on doing 70 in lane 1.

I undertake because especially prevalent on the M25 people just drive like knobheads for the reasons you have said. It's like inverse lane priority.

Yeah I’d stay in lane 1 until I could move over to the right hand lanes once the traffic has cleared and I’m ahead of the slower cars.

Sometimes it’s hard to not undertake when a car in the middle or right hand lane is going slower than they should as you are then slowing down in the left hand lane and deliberately slowing the traffic.

Based on that photo I would've carried on in my lane, and yes I am aware undertaking is illegal but that's hardly undertaking.

Maintain your speed in the lane you are in. Keep a wary eye on the cars on your left.

I wouldn’t do it with the cars in the immediate lane to your right. It would put you in their blind spot. I tend to make myself very visible there and then move through slowly, being sure not to hover in the blind spot.

I too would maintain my speed in that lane in this scenario. There are so many middle lane hoggers causing this problem. So irritating. They don't move over because they don't want to deal with merging traffic or moving back out again to overtake a lorry.

I may be wrong, but I don't think you are undertaking, it's just that your lane is moving faster than the lane outside the one you are in.
In my mind, undertaking is where someone deliberately moves inside you, passes the moves out in front of you.

Carry on doing 70mph in the left lane and just be mindful of others moving down the lanes as you approach.

Yes this is my understanding too and that would not be illegal.

Yes, this is my understanding also.

You’re not wrong.

I just carry on in lane 1. I “undertook” 5 cars doing this the other day and I was doing less than 70. To the hoggers - just move over, it’s not that hard!

And also - whilst I am ranting - 40mph on a clear motorway is not an acceptable speed… in any lane!

From this picture, if they were all in lane 3 or 4, I’d continue at 70 and undertake (and I think this is technically keeping up with the flow of traffic).

If someone was in lane 2 and the other lanes were blocked, I’d drive to a point where I was visible in their mirrors and stay there for a minute so they could see me, realise their bad driving and pull in ahead so I could overtake, then if they didn’t, I’d undertake.

I just carry on and drive in the correct lane, no one else uses it. But on the M25 today there was a woman in a Honda sat in the outside lane doing 60mph no one in front of her and no one in the lane to her left she was absolutely oblivious to the traffic jam behind her and people began undertaking her.

Yeah it is but in a lot of western countries it isn’t illegal and there aren’t loads more accidents proportionately.

You also have a blind spot if you overtake.

I would do either OP but you can be pulled over for going too slow (when traffic is clear).

Auto Express quotes:

You can hog the outside lane as well the middle lane, but both can be classed as careless driving under the law and attract a fixed penalty from the police

I think it’s FAR more dangerous to drive slowly or hog the middle lane.

Undertakng is when you move from your lane to one on the left in order to get past someone. If you're driving in your lane and the lane on the right is going slower it's not undertaking.

i saw this exact scenario this morning on m4. I’m sorry to say I undertook in lane 1 twice. Once undertaking something in lane 3 with lane 2 empty. I know lane one sometimes becomes an exit to a junction and I think drivers use that as an excuse not to use it.

Correct.

It is not illegal if you are maintaining your speed in your lane and lane ahead in clear. Highway Code states you should keep in the left hand lane. It’s the middle lane hoggers who are in breach.

I constantly have to undertake on M11/M25 near me or I’d constantly have to be moving over multiple lanes. I take foot off accelerator as I undertake and ensure hard shoulder is clear in case of emergency.

It’s shocking this now very common way of driving (middle lane hogging) is not policed vociferously.

highwaycode.org.uk/lane-discipline/#:~:text=Highway%20Code%20Rule%20264,as%20you%20are%20safely%20past.

Totally this.

years ago I had a bf who was convinced it was undertaking and if the middle lane of the m25 slowed to 50mph and he was I. The inside lane he would slow to 49mph even though his lane was clear. He wouldn’t believe me even though I’d been driving longer than him. 🙈

lane hogging really needs cracking down on. Not just because of the scenario as in the OP, but you can guarantee that someone will zoom up from behind, weaving across all three lanes to push through. So dangerous on many levels.

What if the left lane is for an exit and there is traffic on the outer lanes? Are you supposed to stop completely and not pass?

If traffic is moving quicker in the left lane of course you are allowed to pass them.

If you are changing lanes you are supposed to check your blind spot, whether left or right.