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

Because it's Mumsnet, and the idea is that anything a man does within a 100 mile radius of any woman is always, always nothing he'd dream of doing if another man was around. Fact. They do that, men. All of them. They see a woman and behave in a totally different way. Fact.

Ah yes, good point 😂

I daily drive on a dual carriageway that starts at the end of a three lane motorway. Almost everyone gathers in the middle lane at the end of the motorway and finds themselves in the right-hand lane of the dual carriageway. These days I continue in the left-hand lane and pass (undertake - I don't change speed) up to 30 cars before I reach a slower moving vehicle and then push out into the right-hand lane. All those 30 cars have a clear lane to their left, but because the traffic in the 'fast' lane is down to 50mph, they wont do it. They don't understand that each and every one of them is adding to the congestion problem. Using two lanes clears the traffic quicker than using just one!

Did you drive? Surely you know the answer!

This Man thinks he is correct, his macho pride (even if I accept the premise that this is motivating his behaviour) is not affected by being correct (in his view) in front of another man. presumably he’d be ‘proud’ of his correctness 😂

Anyway, the premise of your comment is absurd. Not all men behave the same and you know nothing about this one aside from which lane of the motorway he likes to drive in and the fact he doesn’t like being told how to drive, which in my experience is true of most people, male or female.

We travelled approx 1 hr each way on the M25 including the Dartford crossing at approx 3pm (clockwise) and 8.15pm (anti clockwise)
Felt like we were definitely winning at life when we managed to cross the bridge/link from the A2 at regular speed (as opposed to crawling along a metre at a time!) Still had to queue for the tunnel but it was definitely better than usual! And only a very short stretch with 50mph speed limit. A very rare occurence! 😄

Come off it. You are being pedantic. Someone constantly driving in the middle lane because they feel it is more convenient for them, regardless of what else is going on in the road (as in OP's description of her husband), is careless driving under this definition.

We are talking about OP's description of what her husband is doing, not all of the other random 'what if' and 'what about' scenarios that posters on this thread are bringing up. This is the way that OP's husband drives all the time.

There are multiple safety issues with doing this as your standard mode of driving and if you were picked up on it you could get points on your license, because driving without due care and attention is an offense.

There aren't multiple interpretations - there are people who understand the highway code and law, and people of little intelligence who probably shouldn't be behind the wheel.

I couple of months ago I was driving at night on a very quiet motorway. I was travelling with three other cars behind me, all just moving together at same speed.
Middle lane hogger sat there for at least a mile - this motorway has some really long straights - and stayed there as we all approached.
I simply stayed on cruise control and went underneath the middle lane hogger. One car followed me, a third car moved all the way to the outside lane.
Fourth car oddly pulled into middle lane for a while and sat behind hogger.
Last think I saw was car four turning on blue lights and pulling hogger over...

That is a recipe for carnage- the standard of driving in the USA is far worse on the freeways than in the UK and they don’t have a the passing rule I believe.

i am happy to sit in the slow lane most journeys as I leave plenty of time and pull out if i come across a very slow car. I then pull back in and let faster cars go past. Nice and safe and easy. I don’t want to stuck with aggressive drivers coming up behind me trying to get past any which way they can.

Aye, did they really.

Middle lane driving is the root of all evil, and you should leave him as quickly as possible, using the inside lane…!

It is right up there with people who join the motorway / dual carriageway imagining they have some sort of right of way forcing people to brake or swerve to avoid them. They usually go on to have a minor road rage incident involving flashing and gesticulating. Disproportionately done by drivers of Hyundais and Kias.

I was getting a lift home with a friend who is a middle lane hogger. The police overtook us and then flashed a big sign in their rear window that said 'move over' with an arrow pointing left. So they do patrol sometimes. My friend said it has happened to her a couple of times. I said why continue to drive in the middle lane then? She says it's just easier.

I guess shit drivers just don't change, they think they're right.

I had a similar experience years ago, also with a colleague. I was so embarrassed to be in a car with such a bad driver, and kept mouthing "sorry" to everyone who glowered at us as they passed.

The alternative being driving properly? Keeping left unless overtaking. It’s really not hard. If there are people driving in the left hand lane going slower than you, it’s fine, stay in the lane you’re in. Once the lane to your left becomes clear move over.

what other alternatives are you looking for?

What are you talking about? When is the left hand lane ever clear?

Do you live in the Australian outback?

From my own experience of motorway driving there is usually opportunity to move over, obviously if the left hand lane isn’t clear and I was making progress I’d stay in the middle. I drive on the motorway most days during rush hour and haven’t experienced a situation where the left lane is so busy that I can’t move over once I am done overtaking.

if the left lane has a steady stream of cars/ Lorries going 58/60mph and I’m going 70mph in the middle lane that’s fine, you’re overtaking so not hogging the middle lane. It’s just when there isn’t anything to your left you move over.

Do you really not understand this?

But if you live in the UK, you are constantly overtaking.

That's a bit of a generalisation.🙄
I was on the m25 yesterday, it wasn't particularly busy. There was plenty of opportunity to overtake slower moving traffic and then move back to the left lane
I was neither weaving around between lanes or constantly overtaking.

At the weekend, five hour motorway journey.
…..it was all about the outside laners ffs. I’ve always found middle laners so annoying and dangerous but never encountered outside laners that will not move over. It was so so dangerous. I could not believe it happened several times 😮

I have a practical alternative. Dashcam or passenger phone evidence acceptable as the sole requirement to secure a conviction, then a lengthy driving ban (say two years), no exceptions at all. Then take your theory test before you are allowed back on the road.

The only unfairness would be if it was not alongside a number of other changes so that crimes committed whilst behind the wheel were taken seriously. Note I don't call them motoring offences, they are crimes.

They should also be banned upon conviction.

Yes. Happened to dh.

polite word and sent on his way.

i do a lot of motorway driving.

increasingly the left hand lane is clear while everyone sits in the middle and right hand lanes.

Stop saying "hogged"! Find a different word! My visual equivalent of misophonia is going through the roof

Then move to the left, and chill out 😎