Middle Lane Hogging - North/South divide..

dktreesea

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?

Roundabouts! Because they don't realise that lanes on a roundabout are like a pinwheel, i.e. the right lane when you come onto the roundabout to turn right becomes the left lane all on its own, without you having to move, by the time you have turned right and are ready to come off the roundabout.


Seriously, that is the reason. Watch motorists turning right on a roundabout who keep pulling to the right lane only to find out they are in the wrong lane when they want to come off.

bazster

jase1 wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things I'd far rather the guy in front of me was trundling in the middle lane than driving whilst holding a phone...

Is it too much to expect him to be doing neither?

Whilst (as mentioned above) the chances of being pulled using a 'phone are slim, the consequences of having a serious accident whilst doing so are potentially horrendous: not merely the physical consequences but the fact that PC Plod will check your 'phone records.

bazster

dktreesea wrote: »

I prefer to stay out of the way of trucks and people coming onto and off the motorway.

Unless the motorway is rammed this can be achieved by moving to the middle lane to avoid them and moving back inside afterwards. Your approach is sheer laziness.

Tilt

dktreesea wrote: »

Yes, because they are not impeding anyone coming onto or off the road (hence not in the left lane) and they are not stopping anyone, on a three lane road, overtaking them on the right. I try to drive like that, in a middle lane, on the M25. I prefer to stay out of the way of trucks and people coming onto and off the motorway.


If it's just a two lane carriageway, then I agree with you. There's no need to drive in the outermost lane. But on a three lane carriageway, i can see why people would be in the middle lane.

For clarity, the middle and outside lanes (or lanes 2 & 3) are overtaking lanes. And it is now an offence to un-necessarily "hog" the middle lane when the normal driving lane (1) is clear.

Obviously when approaching a junction with an on slip, then you 'read the road' and check for potential merging traffic on the slip and move to lane 2 accordingly. After your 'overtake' is complete, you should move back into lane 1.

Simple really.

Retrogamer

dktreesea wrote: »

Yes, because they are not impeding anyone coming onto or off the road (hence not in the left lane) and they are not stopping anyone, on a three lane road, overtaking them on the right. I try to drive like that, in a middle lane, on the M25. I prefer to stay out of the way of trucks and people coming onto and off the motorway.


If it's just a two lane carriageway, then I agree with you. There's no need to drive in the outermost lane. But on a three lane carriageway, i can see why people would be in the middle lane.

The problem you have with this type of lazy driving is you have reduced the amount of overtaking lanes from 2, to 1.
If someone is in the inside lane and wishes to overtake you properly then they have to go to lane 2, then to lane 3, then back to lane 2, then back to lane 1.
It's a very selfish way to drive. I.e it suits you so you don't care how it affects others around you.

The other problem i often see with this approach is people cruising at say 50mph in the middle lane. This prevents heavy goods vehicles from being able to overtake as they can't use the outside lane.
If you have a queue of people mindlessly driving at 50mph in the middle lane and someone in the 3rd lane overtaking them all at 55mph then it can become frustrating for everyone who wants to get somewhere fast.

bod1467

Retrogamer wrote: »

then it can become frustrating for everyone who wants to get somewhere fast (in accordance with posted speed limits and the prevailing conditions).

I've added in the text I'm sure you meant to include.

dktreesea

bazster wrote: »

Unless the motorway is rammed this can be achieved by moving to the middle lane to avoid them and moving back inside afterwards. Your approach is sheer laziness.

It isn't so much that. I drive on motorways that are pretty much chocka, even in the middle of the day. With trucks not only in the leftmost lane, but also the middle lane. The way trucks are driven, especially when you look up and there's no one driving (left hand drive continental ones) can be quite intimidating. Especially when they don't respect the speed limit. I don't want to be forced to have to drive at 73 mph just because I have a truck bearing down on me coming down the hill too fast.

dktreesea

Retrogamer wrote: »

The problem you have with this type of lazy driving is you have reduced the amount of overtaking lanes from 2, to 1.
If someone is in the inside lane and wishes to overtake you properly then they have to go to lane 2, then to lane 3, then back to lane 2, then back to lane 1.
It's a very selfish way to drive. I.e it suits you so you don't care how it affects others around you.

The other problem i often see with this approach is people cruising at say 50mph in the middle lane. This prevents heavy goods vehicles from being able to overtake as they can't use the outside lane.
If you have a queue of people mindlessly driving at 50mph in the middle lane and someone in the 3rd lane overtaking them all at 55mph then it can become frustrating for everyone who wants to get somewhere fast.

What motorways do you drive on? I was on an A road recently. The A19. A good quality dual carriageway but an A road nevertheless. I was driving pretty much on the speed limit, and yes, wonder of wonders, in the left lane. Every single car coming up behind me, and two trucks, overtook me. And hardly any of them pulled back in. The speed they all pulled away from me they must have been travelling at least 80mph.

jase1

dktreesea wrote: »

What motorways do you drive on? I was on an A road recently. The A19. A good quality dual carriageway but an A road nevertheless. I was driving pretty much on the speed limit, and yes, wonder of wonders, in the left lane. Every single car coming up behind me, and two trucks, overtook me. And hardly any of them pulled back in. The speed they all pulled away from me they must have been travelling at least 80mph.

Hmmm. The A19 you say? I drive, erm, enthusiastically and even I tend to take care on that road, far too many junctions (on the left and right), many of them blind to be pushing it too hard on that road.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

dktreesea wrote: »

It isn't so much that. I drive on motorways that are pretty much chocka, even in the middle of the day. With trucks not only in the leftmost lane, but also the middle lane. The way trucks are driven, especially when you look up and there's no one driving (left hand drive continental ones) can be quite intimidating. Especially when they don't respect the speed limit. I don't want to be forced to have to drive at 73 mph just because I have a truck bearing down on me coming down the hill too fast.

The truck problem is a classic. For a start, a fair number do not "make progress" happy to block a lane for literally miles (my record was 10 miles on the M42 two lane, following a snail race).

Then if you have truck passing truck you get a long tail of cars sitting in the middle lane who apparently have no intention of risking life and limb in the 3rd lane but on the other hand are not interested in sitting in the 1st lane. You can have a tail of 15 cars to pass, none of whom even consider pulling out, so then you have an even longer tail in the 3rd lane.

If the middle lane, not interested in going anywhere bods tidied up their space and kept left as they are not going anywhere slower, the tail would be out of the way, and the overtaking queue could be shortened too as they are only passing one lorry, not one lorry and 20 cars so there is only a short length of "single lane".

There is nothing wrong with deciding not to pass, but why sit in the middle lane when the inside lane is equally a good place to wait?