paul corrigan

nine times out of ten its usualy a fiat
crap cars and crap drivers

MGJohn

>> , I see no reason not to sit there all day until someone wants to pass <<<

Thing is, YOU DONT ALWAYS SEE ME COMING UP or chose not to .... You, White Van Deliberately Blind-MAN and many many others selfishly think they own the road. When in fact we all do. For many years I've been paying high levels of indirect taxation to pay for horrendously expensive 2-3-4-5 plus lane Motorways which selfish drivers wastefully and effectively negate to single carriageway by their actions ...

There are many many people who can handle a vehicle well - that sadly does NOT make them good drivers. With so many over-stressed drivers selfishly chasing money on our roads and with no real sign of things improving, get used to it - IT WILL GET WORSE ... we're all dooomed .. it could be your turn next ...

MGJohn

"bumcrack" says he drives 1500-2000 miles per week. Let's say he averages 50mph ... that's 40 hours behind the wheel each week ... that's a lot ... tiring or what ? ... ever nodded off? A much more frequent occurrence than was ever believed until traffic monitoring cameras showed otherwise ... DOH! ...

We're all dooomed ...

Ross9

"Thing is, YOU DONT ALWAYS SEE ME COMING UP or chose not to .... You, White Van Deliberately Blind-MAN and many many others selfishly think they own the road."

I dont drive a van.
When I am working and in the 7.5tonner I dont sit in the outside lane, infact I'm very rarely ever in it, and even when I am, I can suure you I always know whats behind me, and whats just come up, a necessetiy as you have to see something coming up behind you, in order to know its there, so that if you have to change lanes and cant see it in the mirror, you know it must be in your blindspot becauyse they're showing no road sense and sittin 2 inches off of your tail, the graphics "If you cant see my mirrors I cant see you" arent just a gimmick you know.

Also, when I'm in the car, and happily motoring along etc, I also will always notice someone coming up behind me, unless you have a car that can just appear out of nowhere on a motorway, which you obviously dont, there is no such car.

If you come across "white van deliberately blind men" as you put it who have held you up, then thats because they have no road sense or awareness, as I said previously, it is this very talent or lack of that plays the most part in being a good or bad driver.

TheScooby

I havn't read all the posts because there are a lot of words there. But i got the general jist of what people are saying. I completely disagree with most things that people have been saying here! I'm not sure if it is just the different policies or the way we here in NZ learn to drive, but the way people drive on the motorway is almost the opposite of the u.k. I have spoken to a few mates and they also agree with what i am saying.

1. Which lane you drive in generally depends on how many exits you plan to go past before you get to your destination, more than one, you get out into to the middle-right lanes.

2. There are some seriously slow and pathetic drivers operating here, and these ar egenerally located in the slow lane, so unless you are leaving the motorway or u want to travel at 80kph you don't use this lane.

3. In theory and this is how most of us here think, you use the left lane to get onto and off the motorway, and if everybody uses the left lane the constant addition of traffic from the onraps will cause very low speeds, it's only logic people!! Once you get onto the motorway you get over to the middle or left lane and drive, it's that simple.

It has been really interesting to see how different people think and behave on motorways in the u.k. That was my two sense. Drive safely now.

By the way, i scored mostly A's and a few B's.

TheScooby

austen_wrx

From my expierences the M40/M42 has the worse standard of motorway driving in the country! The "lane sitting" that goes on in, not only in the rush hour, astounds me every day! I have worked (and driven) in many european countries and think the motorway driving (infact all driving) standards in this country are the worse! People complain about the Italians and French as they swerve around their roads, but the thing is, they seem to be aware of the traffic around them, if they pull out on you, they know they are doing it and expect you to expect them to do it! Could you imagine the accidents that would happen in this country if the motorway slip roads were like the ones in the rest of europe (very tight 270 degree bends with concerete walls).

These people who sit in the middle lane should be made to read the highway code and banned from driving on the motorway. When i encounter a "lane sitter" the torents of abuse, light flashing and hand signals given by myself and other 2 car occupents is fully deserved! If you use the M40/42 on a regular basis you may have witnessed the Blue MY02 on its quest for motorway discipline!

austen_wrx

Another variant of the middle lane cruising deviant, is the driver who leaves that manouver fron the middle or right hand lane to the exit slip to the very last minute, having to use the chevron area as his/her "extra" lane onto the slip road, just so they can overtake that last car and get 5 yards further! Not only is this f*cking dangerous, even if the driver is using its eyes, but the people you seem to do it have no idea that there are other cars around them that usually have brake violently or be sandwiched agaist the armco or artic on their left!

[Edited by austen_wrx - 11/11/2002 9:41:21 AM]

PEE1

Apparently bumcrack drives between 78000 and 104000 miles per year. Maybe he meant 1500-2000 miles per month. I would suspect that he is more of a danger because of driving whilst tired!!!

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Austen,

The best bit of the M42 is when it goes to two lanes, just after J9- I once 'undertook' about 40 cars on that section in one go, didnt even break the speed limit either

DazW

austen_wrx

DazW,

I bet that made your **** spin! There is a nice section just after J2 heading torwards J1, bit of an incline, at 5pm the right hand lane is either stationary or there is some serious brake stamping, middle lane is a nice crawl, left hand lane usually 2 lorries and 1 nissan micra. Needless to say, 60mph in the left hand lane, with 3 overtaking manouvers and your home free!!

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Austen,

Even tho I need to get off at J2, I usually leave the 42 at J6 - know a 'few' twisties

DazW

Dave P

Beaten to it. After having done my third drive to Sheffield from Sussex in almost as many weeks I have to say that middle lane sitters are the most frustrating thing of all.

Yesterday we could not believe it... inside lane EMPTY and a Nissan Micra travelling at 65mph in the middle lane.

Also Saturday morning on the way up we witnessed the aftermath of a major accident involving 3 juggernauts. What is it that makes these guys travel just 10 feet apart..... and to that add every other idiot that drives so close to the car in front.

Dave

Ted Maul

Although the higheway code says it, I've always thought that the '2 lanes for overtaking' was written when traffic was a lot less. Nowadays due to the volume of cars the left and middle seem to be the basic lanes with only one overtaking lane.
4 lane motorways are what's needed everywhere.

Also, maybe because when you take your driving test you don't have to go on the motorway we have a load of motorway muppets.

TolTec

Nobody seems to have looked at an alternative viewpoint here

If the motorway is empty (empty being the key word here) why not use the middle lane after all the left lane is often in worse condition (bumps, missing tarmac, ruts, dead lorry tyres, etc). If it is empty you can be overtaken using the right hand lane so what is the problem.

When the motorway is fairly busy and you pull into the inside lane as you catch up the vehicle in front you find that no one will let you out so you end up slowing far below the middle lane speed. Now since you are not driving a performance or even vaguely warm car knocking it down a couple of cogs and booting it into a small gap is just not an option. When you finally do make it back into the middle lane you vow never to use the left again unless you want to exit at a junction.

The first point above is entirely down to the middle lane driver, they may be crap or they may have a different perception of 'empty'. The second point may be down to them or then again the real fault may lie with the drivers that will not let them out from the left lane.

Crap driving middlelaners really **** me off too but just consider that there may be other reasons for their behavior.

That was so touchy feely I am going to the loo to be sick now.

bumcrack

I know you may find it hard to believe but I do drive 1500-2000 miles a week(sometimes more).
I live in Leeds and I travel down to London and surrounding areas most days and also I cover Wales which is a right trek from sunny Leeds.
So yes it's about 8-9 hrs every day on the road,it's hardwork, but I work for myself so I'm making it pay.

MGJohn

"bumcrack" ... if you're daily spending 6-9 hours on the road behind the wheel, how much additional time do you need for your work when you arrive at your destinations? You may not have described your driving times accurately but from what you have written I strongly suspect that you're burning your life candle at both ends ... that is excessive ... be careful ... very careful. Better still, for you me and the rest of us on the roads, reduce the hours you spend behind the wheel chasing money ... not to do so could be very costly .....

BTW ... can I ask how old you are ....when I was younger I thought I could drive forever without ever losing concentration for even one second ....

bumcrack

John,
Most jobs are 10-30 minutes, it's mad I might drive for 200+ miles and only be on site 5 mins and then off to the next.
I think you get used to it really and I like driving.
I'm 30(just) by the way.

T3RBO

D LOL

Mainly ccccccccccccccccc's though

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

5)You've just overtaken a lorry in the middle lane, which lane do go to once you clear on the lorry.

a) stay in the right lane
b) pull into the middle lane same as the lorry
c) pull into the left lane if clear.
d) pull into the left lane if clear, get pulled all over the lane by the ruts, get your teeth rattled to **** by the poor surface, then pull back into the middle lane thinking 'no wonder that lorry was in the middle lane'

Erm, that'll be D then

Justin