To have called DH out for hogging the middle lane

[Buildaaargh]

DH habitually sits in the middle lane when motorway driving and I find it deeply annoying. He says he doesn’t like being on the inside lane as it limits his options but I find it really inconsiderate. This weekend we did a long drive and I pointed out a couple of times when he was doing it.

He said he doesn’t criticise my driving (not entirely accurate) and I shouldn’t criticise his. I get that it’s annoying to have someone pick up on how you’re doing something, but I find it deeply selfish.

YABU - none of your business how he chooses to drive
YANBU - totally fair enough to say something

He’s not breaking the law as it isnt illegal. It’s against the Highway Code which isnt the same thing. Its only illegal if by doing so the police could demonstrate he was committing an offence eg dangerous driving or driving without due care or attention.

have you driven in America where they allow passing on both sides- it is way more dangerous.

The re evaluation is getting drivers to comply with the law to keep left and only use overtaking lanes to overtake.

I totally agree. Its selfish and dangerous. I drive on the M1 multiple times a week and the amount of middle lane dawdlers just sat there blissfully unaware is astounding, especially when the inside lane is empty. And of course as soon as you move across to overtake, they decide to speed up! There are increasing amounts of signs now but it's still rife unfortunately.

At the end of the day, the lane hoggers are just lazy or can’t be bothered to look and plan ahead, so get themselves in difficulty by not moving over to overtake in good time, hence getting stuck behind slower vehicles. Entirely avoidable if you look and plan ahead and not lazily sit on someone else’s tail.

Advanced motorists are trained to look ahead as far as you can see, and gauge relative speeds of vehicles in front, and behind, so as to pull out to overtake in good time so you don’t get trapped and don’t have to make dangerous last minute lane changes.

I agree with you but I do think it’s being missed that all the people driving over 70 are also committing an offence. If he is driving at the speed limit (which he may or may not be you don’t say) then everyone over taking him is breaking the law too. I lost someone close to me due to a speeding driver and not due to a middle lane driver.

Is he nervous on motorways? He should just say that, there’s no shame in it.

There's an entirely practical alternative. Stay in the left hand lane unless you are actually overtaking.

Ok, but Let’s assume the op is not in a high speed chase. All ‘normal’ road users can’t take a defensive position at the same time can they? Is the logical conclusion of your point that we all drive in the middle lane all the time? i can imagine that for certain road users, some of the time that might make sense but surely it can’t apply to everyone?

If he is going the same speed as the inside lane, then he is being selfish and driving illegally. If he is going faster and continuously and consistently overtaking the inside lane traffic, then that is acceptable.

You may have a group of cars going at under 70 mph, but you will rarely have every car in the left hand lane driving that slowly unless the traffic is very heavy. So you just drive past the group and then move over to the left. How hard can that be?

Sometimes when it's really quiet, I like to play a game with the middle lane hogger. I'll come up on their left then cross over to the third lane and overtake, go back into the first lane and then slow down until they overtake me, then rinse and repeat and see how many laps I can do until they move over.

Only when the road is dead though!

I was on the m1 recently and a (tiny) car was tootling along in lane 3 (of 4) while lanes 1 and 2 were relatively empty. Then a much larger vehicle started aggressively tailgating, presumably trying to force the car to move left. it was so dangerous. I think in the end the larger car behind eventually undertook and the small car continued it's way in lane 3

I agree.

I am occasionally inconvenienced by a middle lane driver, but VERY OFTEN am cut up by people returning to the inner lanes too quickly.

The Highway Code also states that your lane change should not cause another driver to have to speed up or slow down, but most people keep way too small a braking distance, and happily drop 20y in front of me at 70mph.

Tailgating and cutting up other drivers because you were "forced to" is pathetic.

I disagree - like I said upthread I think this is motorway specific (and an element of that is perhaps the inherent volume of traffic each motorway attracts). It's very rare I've been on the M25 even at the quieter times and the left lane has been going above the 50s. It was really striking to change motorways and find the norm seems to be a much more consistent (higher) speed across all lanes.

I agree with others saying that this is very motorway-dependent and condition-dependent.

I have seen a lot of dangerous behaviour and near-misses on motorways but have never been able to attribute it to ‘middle lane hogging’. It is more often idiots weaving rapidly from lane to lane across the full width of the motorway, merging from a slip road without looking or those that try to change lane without checking their blind spot. Each of those situations was the responsibility of the person choosing to make those manoeuvres, not someone else driving in that lane.

If someone is driving a bit slowly in your lane, surely you just overtake them and go on your way?

Having driven a lot on the M25 there are often one or two filter lanes going off to the left and in some sections there are 5 or 6 lanes in total. What is the ‘middle’ lane then?

There are almost always variable speed limit signs in operation, accompanied by signs that say ‘Stay in Lane’, so actively discouraging lane changing.

Even a standard three-lane motorway is an ever-changing scene - yes, after overtaking you might be in the middle lane for a minute or two without something on your left, but then you rapidly come up to a slow-moving HGV or a junction is coming up, so it is better to stay where you are for now and then reassess.

I still don’t think that I have ever seen a situation where I have seen someone driving in the middle lane and thought: ‘That’s so dangerous!’

In Scotland at least those signs show general messages when there is no specific emergency to report - don't drink and drive, wear your seatbelt, check your tyre pressures, stay left.

There are a LOT of shit drivers out there who get an attack of the vapours when faced with the very idea of overtaking. So they use hyperbole about weaving in and out of lorries to justify their middle lane hogging rather than face the idea they're just a bit shit. Not every motorway is full at all times, the M74 south from Glasgow to Carlisle is not always busy and you see those numpties all the time, even when lane 1 is totally clear. So approaching them from behind in lane 1, you have to go 1 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 1 to get past them, and even then they don't see what the issue is. Idiots.

Problem with putting motorway driving into the test is that not everyone lives near a motorway. Having to do motorway driving would mean people in the Western Isles, Highlands, west Wales or Cornwall would have to travel hours to sit a driving test and as anyone who's tried to book one knows, getting a slot for a practical test is almost impossible as it is.

Get the relevant bit of the highway code and show it to him. Then leave it. Sadly, you're not going to change him by repeating your concerns.

I have!

This is from Google’s AI search (there’s also an image of a sign but I can’t be bothered to copy that, if you google it you’ll see it);

Yes, highway agencies sometimes use signs to discourage drivers from "middle lane hogging," which is when drivers stay in the middle lane of a multi-lane road when the lane to their left is clear. These signs often say phrases like "Keep left unless overtaking" or "Don't hog the middle lane".

More Details:

• What is middle lane hogging?
• It's when a driver stays in the middle lane of a multi-lane road, even when the lane to their left is clear for them to move into.
• Why is it a problem?
• Middle lane hogging can cause congestion and make it more difficult for other drivers to overtake safely. It can also lead to frustration and potentially unsafe driving maneuvers.
• Legal implications:
• In many places, middle lane hogging is considered a form of careless driving and can result in fines and penalty points on a driver's license.
• Signs and enforcement:
• While signs are used to remind drivers to keep left, enforcement often relies on police officers issuing on-the-spot fines and penalty points.
• Exceptions:
• There are some situations where staying in the middle lane is acceptable, such as when overtaking multiple vehicles or when there is an obstruction in the left lane.

From RAC:

'Middle lane hogging comes under "careless driving", along with tailgating, accidentally running a red light and even being distracted by eating and drinking.

Laws introduced in 2013 give police officers the power to hand out on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points, meaning failing to keep left on the motorway could hit you in the pocket.'

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/middle-lane-hogging/

^ OP, I'd recommend sharing this page with your husband too.

It's not hard at all. Some people are just not very good drivers.

Thanks for confirming what I said.

Theres wide latitude as to what constitutes “middle lane hogging”, as opposed to say speeding which is black and white. As demonstrated by the responses on this thread there’s multiple interpretations. The police version would also be subjective and likely open to challenge.

I think the M25 is a really bad example to use as it's the busiest motorway, has constant variable speed limits (which cause people to brake unnecessarily some of the time), and unless you drive on at stupid o'clock (3/4am is nice and so was during lockdown) you'll almost always get caught in traffic. I (and several people i know who use it) always say if you don't get on it before 7am add at least 30 minutes to your journey. You always know which bits will be snarled up too. I always feel like I'm winning in life if I get to 70mph on the M25 or home without being stuck in traffic.

The M4 is really bad for middle lane hoggers, even when it's quiet there's always someone pootling along at 60 in the middle lane.

No, which I would advocate for removing the no undertaking rule. Change it to pass on either side and you would naturally get a more even distribution of traffic in all lanes. Also one would hope the “middle lane hoggers” would more likely naturally move over to the inside lane in this scenario as they probably wouldn’t comfortable with cars passing on both sides

Hmmm, I’m no expert but this sounds like it could be chaos 😂. I’m also not clear on why having people traveling at different speeds all around you ( as opposed to broadly slower on your left as faster on your right) would be better? When you move left you need to check there is nothing on your inside obviously, but almost always you will be travelling faster than them so you can easily slot in in front of them. Which seems sensible.

This isn’t how they drive on motorways in Europe. Do they drive like this in other countries?