Middle Lane Hogging - North/South divide..

dannyrst

jase1 wrote: »

I have always felt this to be the case (the general point of principle being that the driver moving lanes has the responsibility to do so with due care).

However you frequently read MLMs on the internet (and occasionally stating face-to-face) that if they were passed on the left they'd deliberately shunt the other driver off the road, and that this would be to other driver's fault.

Dangerous nonsense, of course, but it seems to be a prevailing view among MLMs.

Of course. The thing that post doesn't mention is that you have to think is it safer to go to lane 3 and back to lane 1 because the car infront may take offence to being undertaken, attempt to ram you off the road, follow you etc.

The law is on your side when they hit you, but do you really want to have a crash?

theatretony

If you are in lane 1 and have to undertake a car in lane 2 - you are actually keeping up with the traffic in your lane - it just so happens that the traffic in your lane is 1/4 mile ahead!!

Retrogamer

If you pass a car on the left though and pull in front of it again shortly after with the police around they usually take a dim view to it.

EssexExile

jase1 wrote: »

Just as an aside, why is it that there are so many drivers who, having driven in the middle lane on the motorway, will then happily go right on a roundabout in the left-hand lane?

Just what thought processes lead to that being consistent or acceptable?

I think it's the lack of any thought process that is the problem.

dannyrst

Retrogamer wrote: »

If you pass a car on the left though and pull in front of it again shortly after with the police around they usually take a dim view to it.

Yes, if you weave between lanes to undertake and overtake etc, you are driving carelessly.

Joe_Horner

almillar wrote: »

If you're driving at 60 and I come up behind you at 70, you can pull in for 15 secs and back out, and I'll be past.

Not if you're following the Highway code yourself, you won't.

Obviously, as you come up behind, you won't be closing to less than a 2 second gap until I'm out of the way because that would be driving too close.

2 seconds at the 70mph you're doing is 62 metres, and 2 seconds at the 60mph I'm doing is 53 metres. So you'll be starting your overtake 62 metres behind me and will have to travel further than me by that distance, plus the length of my car (say 4 metres) plus the length of your car (another 4 metres), plus another 53 metres (my 2 second gap) before I can pull out again without having too little gap in front of me. That makes a total overtake distance of 133 metres relative to my car

Your speed relative to me is 10mph (your 70 minus my 60), which is about 4 metres per second. So it will take you 133/4 = 33.25 seconds to move far enough past me for me to pull out again if we're obeying the HC.

That's non-negotiable maths based on what the HC says about safe gaps. To reduce that 33 seconds you either have to come up too close before I move over, or speed (significantly*) as you pass, or expect me to pull out before there's a safe gap in front. Which you have no right to expect of me.

If, on the other hand, you're suggesting that we ignore the "safe gap" part of the HC then you lose any right to rely on it when complaining about people in the middle lane.



* in order to reduce the 33 seconds to 15 by speeding you'd have to attain an average speed relative to me of 19mph. Assuming linear acceleration from the start of the overtake to the end, that would mean a final speed 38mph more than mine.

Since I'm doing 60, you'd have to accelerate to 98mph to make 15 seconds just enough for the overtake you're suggesting. Again, the maths don't lie.

bartelbe

There is no difference, but all the outrage about middle lane hoggers is a joke. You are all middle lane hoggers.

Drove up from down South, plenty of traffic, and loads of jams. You would think on busy sections people would join me in the left lane.

Nope, everyone is in the middle, or far right lane. Just me, the old ladies and the odd lorry in the left lane. On more than one occasion the fast lane was the slowest, with the most traffic, the middle lane had the second greatest amount, and the left lane was the most empty. The opposite of what it should be.

Having read about proscecutions for undertaking, all I could do was sit fuming in the left lane, while everyone pointless raced each other to a stand still in the other lanes, with miles of clear tarmac in front of me that all the other trafic refused to move into.

That is what !!!!es me off about this argument, non of you obey the rules. You just want everyone else to move over so the middle and lanes further over can be your exclusive motorway for you to cruise though at 100mph.

You are all middle lane hoggers.

iolanthe07

Undertaking works perfectly well and legally in the USA where I lived for five years in the 1990's. I don't see why it shouldn't work here too. Most Americans seem to set their cruise control and stay in the same lane, regardless of what is happening in the other lanes.

Zandoni

bartelbe wrote: »

There is no difference, but all the outrage about middle lane hoggers is a joke. You are all middle lane hoggers.

Drove up from down South, plenty of traffic, and loads of jams. You would think on busy sections people would join me in the left lane.

Nope, everyone is in the middle, or far right lane. Just me, the old ladies and the odd lorry in the left lane. On more than one occasion the fast lane was the slowest, with the most traffic, the middle lane had the second greatest amount, and the left lane was the most empty. The opposite of what it should be.

Having read about proscecutions for undertaking, all I could do was sit fuming in the left lane, while everyone pointless raced each other to a stand still in the other lanes, with miles of clear tarmac in front of me that all the other trafic refused to move into.

That is what !!!!es me off about this argument, non of you obey the rules. You just want everyone else to move over so the middle and lanes further over can be your exclusive motorway for you to cruise though at 100mph.

You are all middle lane hoggers.

Wow, you the only one who doesn't do it, AmazeBalls

matttye

There's a big difference depending on the motorway you're on. E.g. When the M25 is busy it can be quite a while until it's safe to move back over again once you've overtaken someone.

On quieter roads like sections of the A1(M) it's a lot easier to maintain proper lane discipline.