Middle Lane Hoggers - I hate them!

anotherbaldrick

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Well you've got to start sometime !

Although the M40/42 around Brum in the rush hour is not the optimum.

Iceweasel

duggan1 wrote: »

In Northern Ireland I can't go over 45 mph for a year after passing.

I thought that the 'R' plates had been replaced with 'N' plates?

What happened to that change that we heard about in 2012 that was supposed to be taking place?

Is it still on the cards or has it been scrapped?

Would the 45mph limit still apply if you cross the sea to Sasana?

duggan1

Iceweasel wrote: »

I thought that the 'R' plates had been replaced with 'N' plates?

What happened to that change that we heard about in 2012 that was supposed to be taking place?

Is it still on the cards or has it been scrapped?

Would the 45mph limit still apply if you cross the sea to Sasana?

Not yet, legislation hasn't gone to the assembly yet. It does remove the 45 mph restriction.


Not sure about crossing over to be honest.

nobbysn*ts

duggan1 wrote: »

In Northern Ireland I can't go over 45 mph for a year after passing.

Ha, that would be so funny if you were in front of some of the posters on here. They'd be biting the wheel and trying to shout the speed limit as a minimum at you.

almillar

Yup, the 45 limit here in NI is kindof useful on some roads, but inherently dangerous at many other times, which is why it will eventually go. Imagine duggan1's first journey onto a motorway, on his way into work in the morning rush hour - he'll be trying to merge onto the motorway with 2 lanes of dense traffing doing 60-70mph. The highway code tells him to match the speed of the traffic and find a gap. His R Plate tells him he never will...

duggan1

almillar wrote: »

Yup, the 45 limit here in NI is kindof useful on some roads, but inherently dangerous at many other times, which is why it will eventually go. Imagine duggan1's first journey onto a motorway, on his way into work in the morning rush hour - he'll be trying to merge onto the motorway with 2 lanes of dense traffing doing 60-70mph. The highway code tells him to match the speed of the traffic and find a gap. His R Plate tells him he never will...

Which is why the current system is utterly bizarre and why it is being changed. I'd even be in favour of a secondary exam on motorway driving which then allows you to remove the R plates etc.

SunReader

Tilt wrote: »

Fixed that for you.

Middle lane hoggers = incompetent motorway drivers. It's as simple as that really.

Highway code says keep to the left when clear ahead, often lane one is clogged solid with hgvs so unless I'm in 60 mph eco mode, doing most of a journey in the middle lane during peak hours seems usual rather than incompetent or illegal. It's not that simple at all.

Retrogamer

It's quite simple really. If you're overtaking vehicles / slower moving traffic then the middle lane is fine.

This thread is for the thousands of people in the UK (conservative estimate) who drive in the middle lane when they're not passing any traffic to their left.

Joe_Horner

Retrogamer wrote: »

It's quite simple really. If you're overtaking vehicles / slower moving traffic then the middle lane is fine.

This thread is for the thousands of people in the UK (conservative estimate) who drive in the middle lane when they're not passing any traffic to their left.

The problem is, it isn't quite that simple in practice because of the question of where does "overtaking" end and "lane hogging" begin.

The tens of thousands (even more conservative estimate) of people who get upset by this mostly seem to think that one or two car lengths is a reasonable following distance at motorway speed so, as far as they're concerned, you've finished your overtake as soon as there's a 30 yard gap in the l/h lane, ignoring the fact that (a) it's not a safe gap regardless of their misguided ideas and (b) you'd have to slow down to take it, which they shouuldn't be expecting you to do.

In fact, you'll often see them accelerating into your boot in anticipation as you draw level with gaps like that.

Buellguy

Retrogamer wrote: »

It's quite simple really. If you're overtaking vehicles / slower moving traffic then the middle lane is fine.

This thread is for the thousands of people in the UK (conservative estimate) who drive in the middle lane when they're not passing any traffic to their left.

Bit like yesterday. Me, on the bike in lane 1 (of a 4 lane motorway, M6) sat at a nice steady 70mph, clear in front of me for approx. 1/2 mile (minimum), lane 2 empty (for prob 3/4 mile, well at least as far as I could see until the very slight bend, in other words no visible cars in it!!!), lane 3, 3 cars, all going slower than I was (prob about 60mph tops) all sat one behind the other. lane 4, one car who had pulled out from lane 1 to go all the way out to lane 4 to then overtake and move back to lane 1.
Now, I'm sorry, but there was NO excuse for those 3 cars to sit in lane 3 apart from laziness/ignorance/stupidity.
The looks I got from them to have the temerity to actually undertake (I do use the term VERY loosely as I didn't change lanes to undertake them, just sat in the same lane I had been in for the last 4 miles) were quite shocking, almost as if I was the one in the wrong (at least that was the impression I got from the hand signals!!).
Funniest bit though, I was coming off at the next junction (by which time I had still not overtaken anyone) followed by 2 of the cars who had sat in lane 3 and had to move across 2 empty lanes to come off at the same junction!!!!!!!!