Left lane hogger caught.

[Rashman]

To me, this is a pretty grey area.

first, this is what the rozzers posted:

“Kent Police tweeted with the photo: 'This driver was stopped having driven for a colossal 3.050 miles in Lane 2 of the M20 without any other vehicles about. The driver refused to accept that this was Careless Driving. TOR issued.'”

I think “Colossal” is over exaggerating for a start.
They also confirm that there were no other vehicles about.

Now,
I fully understand the reasoning behind addressing the issue with middle, or third, lane hoggers.

These idiots are completely oblivious to what’s going on around them or the cars that they are holding up.
It drives me nuts when I come across one of these morons.

however, I personally don’t see anything wrong with sitting in the middle lane when there’s no one around.
Exactly what is the harm in that?
1st lane is usually beaten to sh1t and I’d rather drive on a better surface.
If I see something approaching behind me in the distance, I simply move over, as I should.

As far as I can tell, the driver in question was driving in the middle lane when there was no on around.

was the police car unmarked?

If so, it would appear to be a car behind travelling in the 1st lane and not travelling faster than the driver in question.

so what’s the harm?

if the cop car was marked, it would make sense to pull over, just to “conform” to road law.

sometimes I think these laws are not exercised in the appropriate manner.

Stop and slap the idiots that are blatantly holding people up, not the people that are doing no harm.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

What's a police car?

When driving along a three-lane motorway, rule 264 of the Highway Code states:

“You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slow-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past.”

It’s that old pedantic chestnut again of should being a rule and must being law.

A few hundred years ago I was at the Police Driving Academy at Hendon when we discussed a recent incident of two supercars racing along the M4 flyover and passing a motorist driving down the centre lane who was so shocked he lost control and crashed. As well as challenging why the injured motorist hadn’t observed the high speed cars approaching him, I suggested he was wrong for driving in the centre lane. The police instructor said that was the safest place to be when no other traffic was around because it allowed more room to recover control in the event of a tyre blowout. Have the police changed their minds or is this a simple case of trying to make a point?

 

[alabbasi]

Its our rules ! Many of us in this country would find it strange that you can be fined for crossing a perfectly normal road if safe to do so just because a sign says so like in the US

That's another one that's rarely enforced but if you saw how people drive here, you'll appreciate that it's probably safer to do. While pedestrians have right of way. it's important to keep in the back of your mind that a driving test in most states takes about 5 minutes and it shows. Zebra crossings? Forget it.

I'm not suggesting that people are better drivers here. They're not. I'm just saying that if it's an empty road, then what's the big deal? As another poster indicated, the code states 'should' instead of 'must' so it doesn't even seem like he broke any law.

 

[Chrishazle]

Just a little correction to something posted earlier - heading for Folkestone from London on the M20 there are restrictions across Maidstone (just before the M26 junction to just after J7) but the Operation Brock crap has been pulled, so after Maidstone it's all 3 lane normal motorway until Ashford, there's another short restriction from roughly J10 to a mile past J10A, but that's it. Going the other way is a PITA, as it's 2 narrow lanes, 50mph limit and multiple working average speed cameras for 14 miles from just before J9 to after J8, then you have a short time of normal 3 lane before you hit the Maidstone 50mph and average speed cameras, which extends to just after the M26 junction.

I know this road rather too well! Especially on the Folkestone bound J8 to J9, centre lane hogging is very frequent, as are cars doing well over 70 in lane 3 (late for a ferry??). However, locals know that plod has unmarked cars that regularly patrol that section, so drive properly and keep close to the 70 limit. I welcome plod giving these lane hogging morons a salutary lesson, just wish they'd do it more often so the message gets out. It's certainly worked on the London bound J9-8, the local paper published that in the 5 weeks after the average speed cameras went active, over 800 NIPs for speeding had been issued (although there was uproar that Kent Police were only ticketing UK reg cars and not pursuing foreign registered vehicles) and now it's rare to see someone doing more than about 55 indicated. It can be quite scary - narrow lanes, in lane 1 doing 50-55 indicated and you get 38-40 ton of foreign HGV up your chuff with quite possibly another one outside you!!

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I'd bet on the police puling him over for not moving, planned on patronising him and received a non compliant response.
Charging him remains the only way to keep face.

 

[Teego]

I'd bet on the police puling him over for not moving, planned on patronising him and received a non compliant response.
Charging him remains the only way to keep face.

Probably. I would expect a "quiet word, Sir" in normal circumstances. Only fight the battles you can win.
I liked the old autobahn rule: no matter how fast you are going KEEP RIGHT because there is always, always someone faster than you. Sadly this is no longer the case so people tailgate at 120mph.
All this reminds me of when Aston Martin tested their cars on the M1 near their Newport Pagnell works in the days before speed limits - pre-1965 I think.
Journalist: "How can you look in your mirrors at 170mph?"
Test driver: "I don't. Anyone travelling faster than me can look after himself."

 

[neilrr]

You surely answered your own question.

however, I personally don’t see anything wrong with sitting in the middle lane when there’s no one around.
Exactly what is the harm in that?

These idiots are completely oblivious to what’s going on around them or the cars that they are holding up.

I'd bet 9 out of 10 middle lane hoggers are asleep at the wheel & DO NOT pull over when faster traffic approaches from behind.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Lets hope this driver never goes near an Autobhan.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Lets hope this driver never goes near an Autobhan.

I think he already has. I keep hearing about how wonderful the drivers are in Germany, so during my European tour I wanted to check at what indicated speed the 155mph limiter kicked in. After of few attempts I had to give up at a best of 150mph because of German registered cars either hogging the outside lane at 120ish or crawling out in front of me at around 100, only indicating after pulling out. Mine and my wife’s lives became more important than a meaningless experiment.

 

[Mr. B]

I think he already has. I keep hearing about how wonderful the drivers are in Germany, so during my European tour I wanted to check at what indicated speed the 155mph limiter kicked in. After of few attempts I had to give up at a best of 150mph because of German registered cars either hogging the outside lane at 120ish or crawling out in front of me at around 100, only indicating after pulling out. Mine and my wife’s lives became more important than a meaningless experiment.

I find constantly driving at the speeds indicate above is physically tiresome due to the amount of concentration required. Plus doing it on a daily basis can and does become boring. I can’t believe I just said that.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

I find constantly driving at the speeds indicate above is physically tiresome due to the amount of concentration required. Plus doing it on a daily basis can and does become boring. I can’t believe I just said that.

Me too, which was one of the reasons I didn’t bother any more - that, the safety aspect and the rapid movement of the needle on the petrol gauge!

 

[Mr. B]

Me too, which was one of the reasons I didn’t bother any more - that, the safety aspect and the rapid movement of the needle on the petrol gauge!

 

[Scott_F]

Probably. I would expect a "quiet word, Sir" in normal circumstances. Only fight the battles you can win."

That only happens when the cameras are running on Bodycam Rapid Motorway Cops With Interceptors:

"Evening Sir. How are you ? You OK ? Just wondering if I can have a quick word with you if that's alright. Nothing to worry about or anything like that. Just come and sit in my car for a minute if you don't mind."

The off-camera reality is typically rather different and here, having nicked someone for a relatively trivial offence, they're straight onto Tw@tter telling the world what a great job they've done.

 

[Mr. B]

That only happens when the cameras are running on Bodycam Rapid Motorway Cops With Interceptors:

"Evening Sir. How are you ? You OK ? Just wondering if I can have a quick word with you if that's alright. Nothing to worry about or anything like that. Just come and sit in my car for a minute if you don't mind."

The off-camera reality is typically rather different and here, having nicked someone for a relatively trivial offence, they're straight onto Tw@tter telling the world what a great job they've done.

It’s that trivial it carries a fine and 3 penalty points
Plus I don’t think it’s trivial, middle lane hogging is a pain in the rear and it just demonstrates the standard of driving by the offender.

 

[alabbasi]

middle lane hogging is a pain in the rear and it just demonstrates the standard of driving by the offender.

If he was the only one on the road, for whom?

 

[Mr. B]

If he was the only one on the road, for whom?

There was a car behind him for 3 miles. It’s the rule of the roads and if more people abided by them it would be a safer place. Why do you stop at red lights at 3am in the morning when there is no traffic on the road and you can see it’s clearly safe to proceed ?

 

[Scott_F]

It’s that trivial it carries a fine and 3 penalty points
Plus I don’t think it’s trivial, middle lane hogging is a pain in the rear and it just demonstrates the standard of driving by the offender.

You can get 3 points and a fine for driving at 35mph in a 30 zone.

This case involves a minor motoring offence not a criminal one and in the wider scheme of policing and the criminal justice system it's a very trivial matter indeed.

 

[Teego]

I think he already has. I keep hearing about how wonderful the drivers are in Germany, so during my European tour I wanted to check at what indicated speed the 155mph limiter kicked in. After of few attempts I had to give up at a best of 150mph because of German registered cars either hogging the outside lane at 120ish or crawling out in front of me at around 100, only indicating after pulling out. Mine and my wife’s lives became more important than a meaningless experiment.

Back in August we took a German road trip and in preparation I had the CLS55 mapped and derestricted by Mallory Performance. Last year we couldn't get above 140mph because of the traffic. This year we went out early Sunday morning when roads were quiet. Got to 170mph and still accelerating nicely when I had to hit the 8-pots as we were closing on traffic. Still don't know what the car will do. 183mph in 4th on the dyno. Asked Phil why he didn't shift to 5th. Your tyres are only rated to 186, he said.

 

[zipdip]

A few years ago I made a regular run down to Pembroke Dock,this involved leaving my home around 1 am and saw me on the M4 in the early hours,from Swindon down to nearly Bristol I used to drive in the middle lane,there was no traffic about ,the reason was that streetch has woodland for much of the distance and the deer sometimes crossed the motorway,I reasoned that in the middle lane I could avoid them going left or right,also all day the inside lane has trucks who sometimes shred a tyre,and wanted to avoid a puncture or even two in the dead of winter.

 

[alabbasi]

Why do you stop at red lights at 3am in the morning when there is no traffic on the road and you can see it’s clearly safe to proceed ?

Not the best example really as you really can't see if it's safe to proceed without looking on both sides and does require you to look. If the car behind him was pacing him then both were hogging the middle lane right? If it was creeping up on him or flashed its light to move over, then it's a different story.