Lane Hoggers?

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If I was stopped by one of the boys (or girls) in blue for passing a slower motorist on the left and without breaking the speed limit, I’d ask why they hadn’t stopped the motorist hogging the outer lane.

I‘ve passed on the left on motorways quite a few times but I always do so as safely as possible, when I think it’s appropriate warning them of my presence with a tap on the horn or quick flash of the lights. On occasion there has even been room to leave an empty lane between us!
Hi knight,
I totally agree as that driver would surely either be driving without reasonable consideration for other road users or driving without due care and attention? Sadly though it usually is the 'undertaker' that cops the flak.

Down here I think the police have asked the public to submit video evidence of dangerous driving, something I totally disagree with but surely video evidence of these lane hoggers should be enough for a prosecution, especially if there is two or three minutes of being blocked. obviously, I am NOT advocating that the driver use a mobile phone.

here in Devon, a dual carriageway is usually a country lane with a grass verge growing in the middle of the road. The only motorway is approximately 25 miles in length going from Exeter way up north to the Somerset border :)
 
I've experienced this donkeys years ago. And still, but its getting worse. If i feel I'm hogging the lane or not keeping up with traffic in a lane I move over. It's a shame the same can't be said for others in there own world.

Even this evening 4 police vehicles approaching on the opposite side of the carriage way had to under take a vehicle that was unaware they were coming behind them. In the 4th lane M25, blue light show was in full flow🥴
 
Are you sure that the situation hadn't become a sort of trap?

You end up with a driver slowed down in the outer lane who feels they can't safely pull into lane 2 because of the vehicles approaching from behind at speed sweeping into the lanes to the left of them to pass.

It's a good point and certainly if it was a lot busier I'd have said he'd ended up in a catch 22 whereby he couldn't get over to the left. Thing is it wasn't that busy, lane 3-4 had various people slow down to let him move across but it very much seemed he felt that was the best place to crawl along with his hazard lights on.
 
If I was stopped by one of the boys (or girls) in blue for passing a slower motorist on the left and without breaking the speed limit, I’d ask why they hadn’t stopped the motorist hogging the outer lane.
Let us know how you got on if you ever do..
 
If you think that this is a problem in the UK, you need to try to drive here in Texas. You couldn't get out of the left lane for love or money. Even if the road is completely empty.
 
Here is a true story for you..prob 20 or so years back now, maybe more..
'My friend' was driving down, let's say the M5 at around 11:30 at night.
Approaching a car in the outside lane that was overtaking another vehicle he sat back and waited for him to pass and move back over. The car stayed in the outside lane, nothing in the middle lane, nothing in front of him. A quick flash of the headlights, nothing so he thought, forget this and move over himself.
So did the other driver, who then decided to slow down.
Back into the outside to overtake him and guess what, he put his foot down.
This went on for several miles - then a cunning plan came into my friends head ;)
Another 5 miles was a motorway intersection, and if you went west, 5 miles later was a speed camera, just as some roadworks started...
Yep, he went west, yep he was still driving like a Pratt.
About 1/2 mile or so from the camera my friend started to overtake again, the pratt accelerated in the middle lane, this time the foot was on the floor..untill the very last second and it was flat on the brakes.
Yep, the whole motorway lit up, the plan from 10 miles back had come together..
He soon slowed up and as my friend passed, you could see him swearing and banging his steering wheel.
It might not of been a live camera back then but if not, it would have given him a few sleepless nights - he must have been doing over 100 in a 50!
A 100% true story....
 
Well I suppose my most used motorway is the M25,and these days I do not use it very much,but for the last 6 months I have seen that the speeds on the M25 are coming down,the whole crazy motorway is becoming calmer,no I am not on drugs,maybe it is all the cameras the red X's not sure,another weird thing is on the Kent side I have used the M25 in the early morning around 5am and people in cars and some vans are doing 60 mph fast enough to go past trucks but I assume the best speed for MPG,and I think drivers have got fed up with the traffic jams later so are making the trip much earlier ,maybe others have seen this on the northern motorways,or is it a M25 thing.
 
Why don't people understand the highway code.
I truly hate so called 'lane hoggers' but is there ANYONE that complies with all the safety requirements of the Highway Code?

The actual words regarding our speed LIMIT is a perfectly example, if someone travels a 25mph in a built up area and holds up other road users, can we all deny we get frustrated at being 'delayed'? Bottom line is these speeds are absolute limits and NOT speeds we have to attain and strictly stick to.

Who here fit wider wheels\tyres in the belief they have better overall grip? Grip that really is only useful when driving at speeds that are in direct conflict with the Highway Code. Just remember, we must all drive at a speed we can stop within the distance that we can see to be safe. In other words, no blatting around a corner at a speed we cannot stop at if there is a broken-down vehicle, a person crossing the road, or perish the thought, animals on the pesky highway. All of them just waiting around that bend we enjoy taking at speed. Yup, guilty as charged, so I guess we might hold back on some of those stones we are throwing.

Oh and nothing against wider wheels\tyres, whatever floats our boat :)
 
The actual words regarding our speed LIMIT is a perfectly example, if someone travels a 25mph in a built up area and holds up other road users, can we all deny we get frustrated at being 'delayed'? Bottom line is these speeds are absolute limits and NOT speeds we have to attain and strictly stick to.
I've often said, "these are limits, not targets"
 
I am not sure where you are coming from and PLEASE accept I am not condoning those 'middle lane' hoggers but undertaking is not something we should really do unless:

Rule 267 in The Highway Code states:

only overtake on the right’

This is a matter of safety – undertaking on the left hand side is dangerous as it’s harder for drivers to spot approaching cars. However, this is advisory and not a legal requirement, as there are situations when undertaking is accepted, as explained in rule 268.

Rule 268 states:

In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right.’ ‘In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right.’.

However you MUST not use the hard shoulder to overtake as per rule 269 of the highway code. Doing so will likely result in a FPN and a £100 fine.

Rule 268 is exactly what I was referring to.
You can pass slower traffic in a lane to your right if your lane is “proceeding” (without breaking speed limit) and you are merely proceeding along with it.
 
If the 1st lane is looking busy , i tend to move into 3rd lane -as inevitably some twunt in 1st lane will get too close to car in front and cut me up in 2nd lane.
 
If you think that this is a problem in the UK, you need to try to drive here in Texas. You couldn't get out of the left lane for love or money. Even if the road is completely empty.
Not quite the same thing though, you're allowed to use any lane to pass them, technically over here, you require them to pull over to let you pass, which they refuse to do. Even when all the other lanes are empty.
 
Not quite the same thing though, you're allowed to use any lane to pass them, technically over here, you require them to pull over to let you pass, which they refuse to do. Even when all the other lanes are empty.

In Texas? It's illegal to use the left lane unless you're passing. For that matter, you'll see this sign every couple of miles on the highway. Not that it matters much for certain people who believe that their opinion trumps reality.

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In Texas? It's illegal to use the left lane unless you're passing. For that matter, you'll see this sign every couple of miles on the highway. Not that it matters much for certain people who believe that their opinion trumps reality.

View attachment 105095
If you have 3 lanes though, you can still use these to legally pass?
 
If you have 3 lanes though, you can still use these to legally pass?

Not all highways have 3 lanes or more and that's really besides the point. If all 3 lanes are occupied by people doing roughly the same speed, it's going to cause a huge backup. This is what you often see on US roads. A cluster of traffic that opens up once you get past the idiot hogging the left lane.
 
Not all highways have 3 lanes or more and that's really besides the point. If all 3 lanes are occupied by people doing roughly the same speed, it's going to cause a huge backup. This is what you often see on US roads. A cluster of traffic that opens up once you get past the idiot hogging the left lane.
It's not really beside the point though. You can still legally pass a car in any other lane, if there are two or more and they are free. In the UK if an idiot like this hogs the fast lane, you are not allowed to pass them until they move over for you, even when every other lane is free of traffic. Try that for a few miles and see how different it feels.
 

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