Lane hogging has become epidemic

iolanthe07

Tarambor wrote: »

That would be the USA where in 2017 the annual road death toll was over 37,000 compared to 1700 in the UK? And it isn't even because the US is a larger country and they travel more distance. The UK has 5 road deaths per billion vehicle miles travelled compared to 11.6 per billion vehicle miles travelled in the USA.

That's because the standard of driving is generally very poor. My son passed the test in California at age 16 and it was a complete joke; he only had to drive a few yards and answer some simple multiple choice questions. There was something like a 96% first test pass rate, iirc. I don't think undertaking has much to do with their road mortality rate - more like poor training, mobile phone use and eating and drinking while driving.

zagfles

Nick_C wrote: »

Correct. If you are in lane 2 doing 70 and the person in front is doing 69, then slow down to 69. If they move over to the left lane, you can slowly overtake them in lane 2 without blocking lane 3.

So it's OK to "slowly overtake" in lane 2?

If, like most of us, you know that the Police don't prosecute for driving at 78, then you will speed up to 78 and overtake in lane 3 before moving back to lane 1 or 2 and returning to your 70 cruising speed.

No I won't. I will drive legally.

It is not your job to enforce the law and prevent other drivers from exceeding the speed limit.

I'm not. I'm driving at the legal limit, I will not slow down or break the law because of some impatient person behind. Why should they delay me or cause me to act illegally?

If you are blocking lane 3 by overtaking a car doing 69 in lane two and are not prepared to follow the Highway Code advice of moving quickly past the vehicle you are overtaking, you are likely to exacerbate bad behaviour by other motorists and increase the likelihood of an accident.

It doesn't usually encourage bad behaviour, like I said, not in the UK anyway. Not that many drivers do tailgate, not if you're doing the speed limit anyway. Most drivers, even those who act illegally or ignore the highway code, respect those who are prepared to obey the law.

Speeding may be illegal, but increasing your speed to 78 to overtake quickly and then return to the correct lane would be the safest thing to do for all concerned.

So why doesn't the highway code allow it then?

Or stay at 69. After all, 70 is a limit, not a target, and you should only do 70 if it is safe to do so!

It is safe.

When I am behind drivers like you, I overtake rapidly and get as far away as possible. I have a clean license and drive safely.


ETA: At 70mph, as a law abiding motorist, you will of course be leaving a gap of 315 feet between yourself and the car in front. You will also ensure you have progressed to 315 feet in front of the car you are overtaking before moving back to the left. Doing this at a 1mph differential (driving at 70 to overtake a car doing 69), you will be blocking the overtaking lane for more than 7 minutes.

That's not "blocking", it's using it to overtake legally! If that takes 7 mins, it takes 7 mins! But in reality it's unlikely as the car in lane 2 will usually get the opportunity to move over in that time.

If you really drive like this, then you are a danger to other road users.

So says someone who suggests breaking the law as well as the highway code.

Do the same maneuver at 78 mph and it will take 48 seconds.

So breaking the law for 48 seconds is OK is it?
I've driven close to half a million miles on motorways, accident and points free. I will not take lectures from those encouraging me to break the law. Hopefully the rise of smart motorways will discourage speeding, it certainly seems to work now even when the signs are off (when I believe the cameras are set to a bit over 70, or at least most drivers seem to think so).

Norman_Castle

zagfles wrote: »

CC doesn't "think", it sets a speed.

The driver sets the speed and should know when to override it. Refusing to slow down or speed up slightly to accommodate others is just poor driving.

zagfles

Norman_Castle wrote: »

The driver sets the speed and should know when to override it. Refusing to slow down or speed up slightly to accommodate others is just poor driving.

I know when to override it. But it's not to break the speed limit, that's certainly poor driving!

Nearly_Old

zagfles wrote: »

Hopefully the rise of smart motorways will discourage speeding, it certainly seems to work now even when the signs are off (when I believe the cameras are set to a bit over 70, or at least most drivers seem to think so).

Posts from fleet managers for NIPs issued on the M25 smart sections when no reduced speed is displayed have, to date been for speeds of 85 and above. Currently motorway cameras as a minmum operate in accordance with the published guidelines so prosecution is from 79 (10%+2). There have been rumours that the M62 smart cameras are set at 80 but I'm not aware of any actual evidence for this.

Mercdriver

Nearly_Old wrote: »

Posts from fleet managers for NIPs issued on the M25 smart sections when no reduced speed is displayed have, to date been for speeds of 85 and above. Currently motorway cameras as a minmum operate in accordance with the published guidelines so prosecution is from 79 (10%+2). There have been rumours that the M62 smart cameras are set at 80 but I'm not aware of any actual evidence for this.

M4/M5 cameras are definitely set for NSL + 10%. There have been cases on pepipoo

zagfles

Nearly_Old wrote: »

Posts from fleet managers for NIPs issued on the M25 smart sections when no reduced speed is displayed have, to date been for speeds of 85 and above. Currently motorway cameras as a minmum operate in accordance with the published guidelines so prosecution is from 79 (10%+2). There have been rumours that the M62 smart cameras are set at 80 but I'm not aware of any actual evidence for this.

Thanks - interesting, but IME it's rare to see anyone speeding more than 2-3mph in smart sections - though they are usually busier sections. Same in roadworks with 50 limit, rare to see anyone going much over 50. Smart motorways and cameras definitely seem to reduce speeding even within the "10%+2" limit.

zagfles

Mercdriver wrote: »

M4/M5 cameras are definitely set for NSL + 10%. There have been cases on pepipoo

Does that include average speed cameras? They can obviously get a far more accurate speed than gatso.

Mercdriver

zagfles wrote: »

Does that include average speed cameras? They can obviously get a far more accurate speed than gatso.

HADECS cameras around Almondsbury and Worcestershire...not gatso - very accurate - you would be very brave to go in front of a court and suggest that Gatso is not accurate.

tho_2

Loving the people saying our motorways are too congested not to lane hog. Aside from when there's a crash, rush hour or the usual places at Heathrow/Dartford, The second lane of 4 lane sections of M25 and M1 are always completely empty, as for reasons I've never figured out, the lazy ones always stick in a line in the third lane. So you get the lorries in lane 1, nothing in lane 2, a queue at 65 mph in lane 3, and poor sods trying to get from lane 1>4>1 when it's clear, and the German saloon brigade in lane 4.