Middle Lane Hogging - North/South divide..

bazster

EdGasket wrote: »

No this was done repeatedly on the Langstone Road towards Hayling Island,, a single carraigeway. They didn't get me but they got some people with their tactics. They would drive right up behind at night and sit on your tail hoping you would increase above the 40mph limit, then they nab you.
When they couldn't get me for speeding, they pulled me over anyway to check the car and all documents. This happened on more than one occasion.

Even if your interpretation of the incident is correct (i) such behaviour is not universal and, I would suggest, not even common and (ii) it doesn't mean that everything any police office ever does is dodgy.

I have only been pulled over three times by the police in 36 years' of driving. On two occasions I was speeding like a lunatic so they were right to bust me, on the third occasion they pulled me over for a blown rear light bulb.

It actually was blown, but since this was about midnight Saturday in a town centre I imagine they really just wanted to see if I'd been on the sauce. I hadn't touched a drop, so they sent me on my way without a breath test and just with my promise to replace the light bulb in the morning. I didn't have a problem with that, I certainly don't want drink drivers around my town on Saturday nights so they can stop as many cars as they like and have a quick sniff as far as I'm concerned.

So if the police are all out there preying on motorists for their own underhand purposes, have I just been lucky? Frankly we could use a few more cops out there pulling people for the appalling behaviour you see on the roads every day, like using 'phones while driving and, yes, being members of the Centre Lane Owners' Club.

bazster

theatretony wrote: »

the other sign that confuses people are the ones where you are joining from a slip road and your lane becomes part of the motorway (making a 2 lane to 3 lane), and the amount of drivers who move from that lane to the second lane as they think it is just the slip road and not the 'now' first lane of the motorway - hope that makes sense....

Yes that makes sense. Like the M1 in the neighbourhood of Hemel Hempstead where it goes to four lanes. But the signs and the road markings are clear enough, it's the drivers who are dozy.

londonTiger

It's so frustrating driving on the inside lane and constantly having to go to the middle lane to overtake and there are middle land hoggers all the freaking time doing the same speed as inside lane.

Driving on the inside line you invariable come across someone doing 40 or 50 mph and you have to overtake.

Other times you lots of traffic merging in from the motorway and you have to move to the middle lane to give the joining traffic some safe merge space, and the idiot in the middle lane is blocking you. Even though you've indicated and they have space to move to the outside lane - they refused to budge.

silverwhistle

I think the phenomenon is everywhere. Just back to the south coast after a break in Yorkshire. Heading North on the M1 after Sheffield somewhere I was passing the lorries in lane 2 when I noticed I was closing rapidly with a car in lane 2. Assuming he'd pull over after passing the lorry I didn't immediately move to L3 until I realised the lorry in L1 was moving faster and undertaking him! Flashing or horn or hand waving is not a good idea at the best of times , but there he was with a big truck on his inside and me passing in L3! Completely, obliviously staring ahead..

Retrogamer

I had a new one the other day. Two bits of motorway join together at one part to form a 4 lane section of motorway. There's a slip road to leave it approx 500-700 meters after the sections join.

As i join the 4 lane section, i'm in lane 3 straight away due to the part of the motorway i'm joining from. There's a transit pretty close behind me doing the same as me indicating to move to the left. I moved to the left as there's no traffic (apart from the van behind me, in the same lane) and went to the far left lane. All this time the transit is really close to me. It's a 50mph limit and i'm doing 50mph and it's probably less than a car length away.

As we approach the slip road to leave the motorway the guy in the transit "gestures" at me and flashes the lights.

As far as i can work out, he got angry that i used the lanes properly and stuck to the speed limit. I assume he wanted to move to the left pass me on the left whilst speeding to take this slip road. He's probably so used to people cruising in lanes 2 &3 in this section he think's when someone takes lane 1 and not taking the slip road, they've done something wrong.

Boggles the mind.

tripled

For anyone wondering if they are a MLM, apply this simple test. If people often pass you on the left (other than when in a queue of traffic), or liven up a monotonous journey by playing circles around you, you are a hog

For the record, it's rare that I get passed on the left and no-one has ever played circles with me.

esmerobbo

What about the MLOC driver who also insists on having their rear fog lights on when not called for, so we can see them whilst partaking in their lane hogging!
Even worse is if you are driving an HGV and you cant get past them.

davybull

I rode down from J36 M6 (Kendal) to J26 M6 (Wigan) on Sunday evening on my bike.

I've never seen so many lane hoggers and !!!!! drivers.

For a couple of junctions I hooked up with a Blood biker and was good to see someone looking well ahead and predicting what other drivers were going to do. Think he was the only one though apart from me!!

Dave.

jrtfan

esmerobbo wrote: »

What about the MLOC driver who also insists on having their rear fog lights on when not called for, so we can see them whilst partaking in their lane hogging!
Even worse is if you are driving an HGV and you cant get past them.

How true!

Equally, at night when they have one headlight out of alignment so the beam is angled to the left but is too high, dazzling people in lane 1 with whom the middle-lane hogger is keeping pace.

dktreesea

jase1 wrote: »

BIB a perfect description of why middle-lane driving is evil. Those "selfish drivers in lane 2" are most likely MLMs, driving at the same speed or 1mph faster than the lorry beside them.

So essentially what you're understanding is "can't beat 'em, join 'em"

I was in the first lane, behind a truck going around 65mph or so. I pulled out and overtook him, at 70mph. Well, the number of people screaming up behind me, flashing me during the time it took me to overtake! Around 7 cars, all doing, I would guess, near to 80mph. One must have been doing a fair bit more, because he streaked away from all of them who were streaking away from me.