Thread: Motorway middle lane drivers...

Sorry but got to get this out.

It really does my head in when driving on a motorway and theres nothing on the inside and someone is sat doing 69.999 MPH in the middle lane...

Why are you there? You not over taking. Your not driving fast. Your just getting in the way and making me have to change lane four times just to get past you!!!

STOP IT!!!

Thanks for that, I feel better

We have no motorways up here but whenever Im down south it does annoy me and Im not down south very often!

Tbh that doesn't annoy me. I just move into the fast lane and go past them.
But if they are sitting in the fast lane at 70mph.... woah, that DOES annoy me!!

It does my head in too. Especially when I've been caught by a speed camera van whilst trying to overtake a convoy of these ignorant dangerous drivers, who are the type of people who say "speed kills", when it is the uneducated selfish ba****d behind the wheel doing the 69.999 mph, who then subconsciously decides to slowly speed up whilst you are out in lane three trying to overtake safely to move back into the un-congested, un-used lane one. I blame it on the lack of education for driving on motorways, which then leads to other people saying hell to it, I can't move out to lane three, as there is a constant convoy in lane two, I'll just sit in lane three. All these drivers who sit in lane two should be done for un-due care and consideration. These drivers are dangerous, as they clog up the correct movement of the motorway, and wind people up, which then can lead to aggressive driving. Looking at most motorways, they are acting in the reverse of how they should be (but more congested), in the fact that hey have they are busiest in lane three followed by lane two and then usually fairly quiet in lane one. I've been able to drive quite some distance before in lane one, with hardly any other traffic there, whist people are driving too close to one another in lane three, whilst lane two, there are people ignorantly driving along in their own world, and when they need to overtake, indicate and pull out, with out doing a life-saver, or using any of their mirrors.

Sorry about hijacking this thread, it is a pet hate of mine. [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Nick/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Nick/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png[/IMG]

It quite interesting on a four lane motorway. I used the 4-lane strech of M40 west of the M25 yesterday and it seem all the centre-lane hoggers seem to use the 3rd lane on a the 4-lane stretches. Quite a few times there was a lot of cars nose to tail in the 3rd lane whilst the 1st and 2nd lanes were almost empty. I quite often just stict to lane 1 and only have to pull out into the almost as empty lane 2 to pass a lorry or slow moving car. I suppose part of the problem is that you can pass your driving test without having seen a motorway. But there again I did that because when I passed my test there were no such thing as motorways in the UK.

One of the reasons I like driving in German. Although the autobahns are busy German drivers seem to have much more idea of how to use them properly than drivers in the UK.

I agree, driving in Germany is a lot better. Their driving attitude is a lot better, due to motorway driving being incorporated in the test. I think there should be a separate test for motorway driving that you must do after you pass your basic test. I know there is pass plus, but that is optional, and most people take it purely to lower their insurance costs.I also believe that commentary driving should be done for the test, as this heightens awareness of your surroundings far better than watching videos for your test.

Its illegal to drive on a motorway when you have a provisional lisence. That would be why it isnt part of the test atm lol.

Originally Posted by MintyS3

Its illegal to drive on a motorway when you have a provisional lisence. That would be why it isnt part of the test atm lol.

Yes but it could be allowed as part of driver training providing it was with a qualified instructor and not just Mum or Dad. Other countries manage it. Perhaps as been suggested, a two part test. Once you have past the first part, you do driver training on a motorway with a qualified instructor before you take part two. Far better than passing you test one day, never having driven on a motorway and then being able to drive on a motorway the next, again never having driven on a motorway if you choose to, all on your own.

The test aspect is not the be all and end all of it though. It's down to educating drivers to drive rather than pass the driving test. I manage to drive safely and not in the middle lane and as I said early there were no such things as motorways when I passed my test. Perhaps if a few more people read the Highway Code once in a while after they had passed their test it would be a start.

It is funny no matter how wide the motorway is - the vast majority of people drive one lane in from the 'fast' lane. The 5 lane bits of the M25 can be a joke. There is no point in building wider lanes if people just don't know how to drive on them. I also agree that in most European countries motorway etiquette is far better than in the UK. People pull in after they have overtaken.

The most logical thing would be to adopt a freeway style policy of go any speed in any lane - ok, that may shock some of the of old fuddy duddies but we need to do something.

Two points - THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING AS A 'FAST' LANE sorry but there's a nearside, a centre and an offside lane, you drive on the left , unless overtaking, if you 'hog' the centre lane or offside lane that's driving without reasonable consideration for other road users

The second point regards provisional licence holders on a motorway - no they can't, but then they can't drive unsupervised (in a car) or can they?

I drive down the M1 on a Sunday evening and lanes 2 and 3 are always the busiest. Once you get below Luton where it turns into 4 lanes it's then lanes 3 and 4 that are full. Someone once told me it's not classed as undertaking if you're just going along at your own speed in a lane and the lanes to your right are slower (rather than moving out of a lane to undertake someone you see) you'd be amazed at how much progress I make down the M1 doing 60 in lane 1.

In my frequent trips around the UK I've often wondered why middle lane drivers gravitate towards lane 3 of a 4 lane M/way. Why not lane 2 if you're going to sit there overtaking nothing?
If they decided by say tossing a coin or flipping a thermos flask cup they'd often have to choose lane 2. Odd...

Just my 2p worth. Back onto the hard shoulder now...

I hate it, I have to do m-way driving nearly everyday and its so frustrating when other drivers just sit there, in the middle or outer lane!!!

Also, whats with just indicating and pulling out, expecting me to give you way, in turn making me brake!!!!!

Why cant you brake and let me pass yuo or drive at a considefable speed to not have to brake and then pull out accordingly!!!

Bloody incosiderate fools!!!!

Is that enough !!!!!!!!!! marks???

Even though I'm not one, I didn't realise that middle lane hoggers were hated by people. I see cars in the middle lane when the left lane is free all the time but I'm totally unfazed by them, and just move into the right hand lane and go past.
But reading this I bet I'm highly irritated by them from now on!

Cheers guys!!!

They are a bloody annoyance!!!

No worries aythreee, welcome to our party

I think there should be a push, just as there is for drink-drivers around Christmas by the police, to have a national week of educating these people. Once there is some coverage of it on the news and word of mouth, people will soon remember a bit of what they should have read in the highway code (or maybe even look it up, it's covered in Multi-lane carriageways 133-143), and possibly then change their driving attitude. This, I'm sure would lead to less accidents, and less congestion due to less snarl ups. I think that unfortunately, whilst the police do a fine job, they have been cut in numbers, thanks to GATSO and the like, which are purely revenue collectors, and not road safety cameras, otherwise they would also be picking up the slow, but dangerous divers too.

Sorry, this thread has seemed to have hit a nerve.

The RAC released a report a few years back saying that middle lane hoggers cause about a third of motorway congestion. Not long after that I was driving down the M1 from Leicester and all the motorway boards said "Keep left unless overtaking", it was remarkable how all of the sudden the outside lane was completely clear (for me!) but then at about Milton Keynes the signs stopped and almost immediately it reverted back to the usual

I agree that motorway driving should be part of the driving test like in Germany. I remember when a girl I knew over there had to drive for a couple of hours non stop on the autobahn on her training. They do night time driving over there too.

when I passed my test, my instructor offered (as part of the deal of booking a certian number of lessons with him i think) a free 2 hour motorway lesson, which was quite useful, I agree it should be mandatory and part of the test.

I dont bother overtaking middle lane morons, I find it leaves a more lasting impression on them to undertake them! Which I know is naughty, and perhaps rising to the occasion, but it makes me feel like i'm making my point known.

I hog the middle lane all the time. Due to massive amount of wear in the first lane my cars tramline and I find it unnearving, this is why I do it. As long as im doing 70 ish I dont see why anyone should care.

Theres an extra lane for overtaking me and if you want to go any faster than them you are probably a clear margin over the limit.

4 lanes LOL? Up here in Scoland its nice to see 3 lanes, often you dont have luxury of a 3rd lane to overtake.

That is the one thing that i hate when i am the mototrway (which i spend half my working life on) but if they are doing 69.999 mph then i just undertake them doing 70.1 mph which is not breaking the law

Middle lane hogger's do annoy me but what annoy's me most is when someone is doing 70 in the middle lane and some one else is next to them also doing 70 WITH 5 MILES OF CLEAR ROAD AHEAD and no ammount of flashing or anything will make then move , now that is red mist id honestly cob a grenade at the car if i had one ...

This tit was doing it for about 3 minutes on the motorway and i could see him looking in the rear view and loving it some kind of loser powertrip so i dropped a cog threw it over on to the hard shoulder and screamed round the lot , to my total hard on i had i looked at the guy and he seemed really pissed off i threw him a swivel them got in front off him and slowed my car to 50 FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES he was effing and signalling along with a que , This was a good day almost as good as christmas

It is quite good to get in front of a middle lane driver and then just slow down naturally, without the brake lights showing, so they have to eventually move out of their precious middle lane and when they 'try' to overtake, you suddenly feel the urge to speed up again!!!

The joys of owning a car with good pick up!!

Originally Posted by nilz18t

It is quite good to get in front of a middle lane driver and then just slow down naturally, without the brake lights showing, so they have to eventually move out of their precious middle lane and when they 'try' to overtake, you suddenly feel the urge to speed up again!!!

The joys of owning a car with good pick up!!

haha, brilliant! I wonder how slow you'd have to be going though before they realised, or dared to move from their lane? Next time I drive on a motorway...i'm doing it and i'll report back with my findings! I could even try draw a graph?

Originally Posted by nilz18t

It is quite good to get in front of a middle lane driver and then just slow down naturally, without the brake lights showing, so they have to eventually move out of their precious middle lane and when they 'try' to overtake, you suddenly feel the urge to speed up again!!!

The joys of owning a car with good pick up!!

I notice quite often there are drivers in the middle lane who seem to zone out and follow the car in front no matter what speed it's doing. They've slowed down to 40 or 50 but just sit there happily. They're the same people who all of the sudden speed up when you've moved into the inside lane because there a gap they have to fill, even though you overtook them not long back.

The graph sounds like a good idea, obviously not when you're driving...lol!!!

Staz, i know what you mean, I have on occasion, thought what are they playing at, even if i drop a good 20-30mph, but they just slow down as well, then i soon get bored and drive off...