Was I U to do this?

[FloofyBird]

I was on the dual carriageway pootling up the inside lane at 70. I pulled out to overtake a lorry, then pulled back in again once I'd safely passed. The carriageway seemed busy, but once I was in the outside lane and could see past the lorry it wasn't actually that busy, it was just that the outside lane was snarled up with lots of cars whilst the inside lane was virtually empty. Once I pulled back in I proceeded to drive at 70 in the inside lane and 'undertook' a good half dozen/8 cars just sat in the outside lane for no real reason. The next vehicle to overtake was quite a way ahead and by the time I caught up with them I had plenty of room to pull out and overtake as the outside lane hoggers were miles behind me (not literally but a fair way behind).

I mean it's probably unfair to call them all lane hoggers, it was probably just the person at the front in the outside lane for no reason, driving slowly and then everyone gets stuck behind them.

My friend says I was reckless and it was undertaking, I say it's not if the outside lane is moving slower than the inside lane as I didn't pull out into the outside lane as soon as I'd passed/undertook them and stayed on the inside lane until there was a vehicle in the inside lane I wanted to overtake. But maybe I'm fooling myself because I've just got fed up of lane hoggers causing unnecessary tailbacks and didn't have the patience for it today?!

No, that’s the point. It’s not OK at all.

It is undertaking, and it is not allowed except in cases where both/all lanes are queuing.
Yes, the outside lane drivers are frustrating, but not breaking the law.

She says it at the start of the OP. She was on a dual carriageway.

A dual carriage way only has two lanes not the three you described. There is also no such thing as a slow lane, middle lane and fast lane

Do you drive much on motorways? They are full of idiot drivers who go too slowly in lane 2. Who knows why, all kinds of different reasons I'm sure

Nope. A dual carriageway has a central reservation. It can have any number of lanes on either side of that.

No it wasn’t ok. Undertaking is extremely dangerous. The fact more people on this thread don’t understand that, is crazy. But it does explain a lot.

Agree entirely

The pp who quoted Yorkshire police is perfectly right. It’s not undertaking if the left lane is going faster than the right. The person actually in the wrong is the one in the right lane who’s driving too slowly for the road speed and should have moved back into the left lane. It’s only undertaking if OP deliberately moved into the left lane to get ahead of the slower moving vehicles then immediately pulled back out into the right lane after passing.

Just going to add, l live right near a very busy dual carriageway and drive it regularly. The number of people pootling along in the outside lane at 45-50 mph while the inside lane is doing the correct speed of 60-70 is ridiculous.
Unless there are specific conditions, ie the road is wet/icy, visibility is poor, or there are traffic issues ahead, you should ALWAYS drive to the speed limit. Driving too slowly is dangerous to other road users and can actually lead to prosecution in some cases. If you’re not comfortable driving at the speed limit you shouldn’t be driving frankly.

Yeah, I wouldn't call 70, pootling 😂

I commute on a road like this. What you often get is a lorry trying to overtake another lorry, so a queue In the outside lane. Often, you can't get into the outside lane safely for ages, so end up passing those cars. By the time you are behind the lorry, the other lorry has finally passed and the queue is moving and you can overtake. Is that really considered undertaking?

My point was it doesn’t have the three lanes the poster described… slow lane middle lane and fast lane

No such thing as slow lane. The speed limit is the same in all lanes. Calling the left hand lane the slow lane is the reason many people middle lane hog: because they erroneously believe the left lane is for ‘slow’ driving, whatever that means, rather than for normal driving up to the speed limit.

Indeed! I did a speed awareness course a few months ago and if I am remembering correctly, a dual carriageway is a road that has a solid central reservation that divideds the traffic.

The carriageway is the whole road, so if it has a solid central reservation then there are two (dual) separate carriageways. No solid central reservation, just a white line, then that's a single carriageway.

There can be a varying number of lanes on each carriageway, including only one.

Who knew 😁

A dual carriageway can have any number of lanes. 1, 2, 3 or 4.

I know, my point was that they are not described as the three the poster called them

It can.

Slow lane middle lane and fast lane are not a thing. You have lane 1,2 or 3 etc

Clearly undertaking, wrong, illegal and dangerous. Even if it is annoying having to sit in the outside lane to wait for someone to realise they're in the wrong lane. And to be honest if they're that unaware of their speed surely more of a risk to undertake them as they wouldn't expect a car to be speeding up their left hand side

Yes - people aren't expecting someone to be speeding up the left hand side and you have less visibility and a larger blind spot. If someone pulls in they're much more likely to hit you

Definitely something I would do, and do do.

You didnt do anything wrong!

And to clarify, I would drive in the faster lane, even if it’s the near side one. But I wouldn’t use it just to undertake people, weaving in and out of traffic. I’d be extra vigilant too.

You weren’t undertaking! You were keeping up with the speed in your lane which is right and proper!