Middle Lane Hogging - North/South divide..

jrtfan

The A2 is a nightmare for this. Regularly, I've been driving in the first ("slow") lane and had to cross the carriageway to get into the overtaking lane because somebody has been steadfastly hogging the middle lane and doing about 55-60mph.

Even more infuriating - although not strictly middle-lane hogging - was travelling along the A289 one day (2-lane duel carriageway, national speed limit applies, road is 9-10 miles long and has just 1 exit a few miles before the road comes to an end). In lane 2 was a lady driving at 40mph. I sat in the inside lane, just behind her, for ages whilst a procession of traffic built up behind both cars in both of the lanes. People were tooting their horns but she was oblivious and I was very reluctant to undertake. People like this cause accidents.

Zandoni

EdGasket wrote: »

Nah the police just want to get their stats up and motorists are always the soft, easy target. I've actually had police cars tailgating me in the past to try and make me go over the speed limit; pathetic.

They were probably trying to get you to move over, out of the middle lane.

Joe_Horner

EdGasket wrote: »

Yes indeed, instead of doing something useful like catching [STRIKE]criminals[/STRIKE] tailgaters!

Pretty sure that's what you meant?

wba31

jrtfan wrote: »

The A2 is a nightmare for this. Regularly, I've been driving in the first ("slow") lane and had to cross the carriageway to get into the overtaking lane because somebody has been steadfastly hogging the middle lane and doing about 55-60mph.

Even more infuriating - although not strictly middle-lane hogging - was travelling along the A289 one day (2-lane duel carriageway, national speed limit applies, road is 9-10 miles long and has just 1 exit a few miles before the road comes to an end). In lane 2 was a lady driving at 40mph. I sat in the inside lane, just behind her, for ages whilst a procession of traffic built up behind both cars in both of the lanes. People were tooting their horns but she was oblivious and I was very reluctant to undertake. People like this cause accidents.

Just go up the inside. I read somewhere (it might have been on these forums) that undertaking is only undertaking where you are changing lanes to do it. If you are on lane 1 and simpyly travelling quicker than person in lane 2 and you pass them it's unavoidable. Think about if something happened in their lane causing them to slow, if your lane is clear are you expected to slam the brakes on to not pass them at all? no...

Only thing to be careful of is if they begin to move over as you move past, but changing lane the responsibility should always be the one changing lanes to check its clear...

Joe_Horner

almillar wrote: »

[...]
Define excessively. [...] I get stuck behind people who have loads of space to move in and they don't. They're road hogs. If you can get in and back out without impeding yourself or others, just pull in, it does you no harm.

bazster wrote: »

Well duh, it's not a dichotomy between middle lane hogging on the one hand and changing lanes recklessly on the other, there is a middle way (you see what I did there?).

Part of the problem is that different people's ideas of "safely / without impeding yourself or others" are different and a lot of people get wound up about "lane hogs" as soon as someone exceeds their idea of what's a suitable gap.

Strictly speaking, if you're pulling left and slowing to match that lane's speed you need a minimum gap of 2x "safety distance" - or at least 4 seconds on a good, dry, road.

At 60mph that's about 100m, or the length of a football pitch. Less than that and you're either too close to the last car you passed or too close to the one ahead.

If you don't want to "impede yourself" by slowing from your (say) 70mph to the left lane's (say) 60mph then you need an extra 4 metres for every second you're going to be in that lane catching the car ahead. So, if it's likely to take you 25 seconds to get out again, that becomes a total of 200m (2 football pitches) minimum.

In wet conditions you can double that, making a 1/4 mile gap necessary to pull left "without impeding yourself".

That's not to suggest you can't ever pull in earlier than that, but those are the gaps that the highway code's "minimum following distance" work out to with a little simple maths so anyone getting impatient for less than that is being a knob and selectively quoting the HC

bazster

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Part of the problem is that different people's ideas of "safely / without impeding yourself or others" are different and a lot of people get wound up about "lane hogs" as soon as someone exceeds their idea of what's a suitable gap.

Strictly speaking, if you're pulling left and slowing to match that lane's speed you need a minimum gap of 2x "safety distance" - or at least 4 seconds on a good, dry, road.

At 60mph that's about 100m, or the length of a football pitch. Less than that and you're either too close to the last car you passed or too close to the one ahead.

If you don't want to "impede yourself" by slowing from your (say) 70mph to the left lane's (say) 60mph then you need an extra 4 metres for every second you're going to be in that lane catching the car ahead. So, if it's likely to take you 25 seconds to get out again, that becomes a total of 200m (2 football pitches) minimum.

In wet conditions you can double that, making a 1/4 mile gap necessary to pull left "without impeding yourself".

That's not to suggest you can't ever pull in earlier than that, but those are the gaps that the highway code's "minimum following distance" work out to with a little simple maths so anyone getting impatient for less than that is being a knob and selectively quoting the HC

Can't disagree with any of that. Obviously if moving left will leave an insufficient gap to the vehicle in front of you in that lane (or indeed the vehicle behind you) then you don't do it. It's hardly news that most people don't understand safe gaps, and whilst those "safe distance" chevrons you see on the M1 in some places might seem like a good idea they suffer from the problem that they don't adjust themselves according to the weather!

Joe_Horner

bazster wrote: »

[...] those "safe distance" chevrons you see on the M1 in some places might seem like a good idea they suffer from the problem that they don't adjust themselves according to the weather!

Pretty sure a lot of drivers seem to think they're "maximum gap" markers, or even an invitation to play sardines to break the monotony the most I remember seeing was about 4 1/2 cars between a single pair of marks at 80+ mph in the fast (yes, I know...) lane :eek:

iolanthe07

I understand why people do hog lane 2 (so called 'middle lane'). In lane 1 you come up behind a truck, and then find it impossible to overtake because the selfish drivers in lane 2 won't let you out. So you're stuck at 56 mph, breathing in filthy diesel fumes. I always try to stay in lane 1 where I can, but I don't think it's safe to constantly weave in and out.

bazster

iolanthe07 wrote: »

I understand why people do hog lane 2 (so called 'middle lane'). In lane 1 you come up behind a truck, and then find it impossible to overtake because the selfish drivers in lane 2 won't let you out. So you're stuck at 56 mph, breathing in filthy diesel fumes. I always try to stay in lane 1 where I can, but I don't think it's safe to constantly weave in and out.

You have to give yourself time. Don't leave your manoeuvre until the last moment when if there's no gap to move into you have no choice but to slow to the truck's speed. Quite possibly some of those "selfish" drivers in lane 2 are there because they read the road ahead of them and moved out of lane 1 while they had plenty of time to do so.

Lane discipline is all about reading what's ahead of you (as far ahead of you as you can see). Someone who's constantly weaving in and out isn't doing that.

alderpoint

Car_54 wrote: »

You also have a terminology problem, you're confusing carriageways with lanes.

No I'm not.

A dual carriageway is a road with two carriageways, separated by a physical barrier. Each carriageway is one-way, and can have any number of lanes.

Agreed. That is what I said.

There are examples of dual carriageways with only one lane in each direction.

Again agreed. There are also examples of dual carriageways with three or more lanes. And single carriageways which are two-way and multiple lanes in each direction.

Did you mean to reply to bazster, as I was?