richs2891

No good idea in my book, and agree with what you say in regards to the police generally doing nothing lane discipline wise.

Richard

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Suprised you didn't get done for infringement of civil rights, in videoing the other car without their consent.

SVXNUT

The time will come, the time will come!!!!.

Luan Pra bang

It amuses me every time on that stretch as the complete lack of lane discipline seems to negate any advantage of having four lanes. I did drive up there one day and for the full stretch there were three trucks side by side blocking three of the four lanes. I actually slowed down once in front of them to see how long they would keep it up for. As much as most truck drivers are highly skilled drivers they are dicks when it comes to blocking two lanes of the motorway while they struggle past each other with .1 mph speed difference. The law ahould be changed to give £500 fines to all truck drivers who refuse to slow down when being overtaken. I have in the past slowed down in front of the truck in the slow lane to force him to slow down but it is pretty much guranteed to get you a truck sitting on you back bumper.

mykp

I agree with those who've said that if everyone stuck to the law and pulled over once they had overtaken then we wouldnt need to undertake.

I was down in Monmouth on Wednesday and on the way down went down the M6/M5. The speed in the outside 2 lanes on the M6 from stoke down to birmingham was sub 40mph. Inside lane was still about 55mph, all the lorries are motoring along, I just stuck myself between two lorries and undertook everything for the best part of 40 miles. Arent I the little law breaker?

The Chief

You naughty boy, wait until Chris hears of this lol

corradoboy

When I used to do a lot of mway miles I often noticed that the inside lane was the quickest. The lorries just sit there and get on with it at whatever speed they can, whilst the numpty car drivers constantly switch lanes to try and gain a foot or two

mykp

Wait until he hears which way I came back. Lets say it was a bit more exciting than the motorway and they speak a funny language.

michaelro

Undertaking is risky but ok when necessary in my opinion.

Drivers need to be educated that there isn't a slow lane and using a lane often occupied by lorries isn't the end of the world.

Someone I know () travelled from junction 8 to 10 on the M25 entirely in the inside lane at 70. Lane 2,3 & 4 had a scattering of cars in, none of which moved over after their overtakes....

Middle lane hoggers cause increased congestion, if they moved over we'd have nearly 33% more road space!!

Don't they fine you in New Zealand for not moving back to the inside lane

corradoboy

They're supposed to here too

TopBanana

In the last ten years I've noticed that increasingly people don't bother to use roundabouts correctly. Instead of going to the hassle of spiralling out and using the correct lane, they'll always leave in lane 2, forcing me either to undertake or die of boredom waiting for them to notice me.

Torquemada

I had a much louder horn fitted, specifically for the dopey ***** on roandabouts.
People seem to pay no attention to what's around them whatsoever!
Oh, and someone please tell me, why in the name of Patrick Duffy do people think that only indicating when they are exiting the roundabout is a good thing to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be getting some Boadicea style wheel spikes for the motorways (they'll be better than Clarksons attempt though!)

corradoboy

It's acceptable to leave in the outside lane if either there was a vehicle in the dangerous blind spot as you checked before leaving, or you perhaps didn't check the blind spot. However, you should return to the left lane if you have no intention of overtaking anything, if it is safe to do so.

Buffalo girls annoy me on roundabouts too.

147scoob

all middle lane drivers deserve to be on push bikes!!!!!!

Torquemada

...and then they should make them all continue riding in the middle lane and give us all bits of 2x4 and cans of beans to throw at them

Torquemada

Or they could be put in stocks on the information boards above the M'ways for us to pelt them

TopBanana

Yes, obviously. The problem is that a large number of people can't be bothered to check whether there's anything in their blnid spot and habitually leave in the outside lane.

Leslie

Yes that is quite true of course, its the way I wrote it probably.

The point I was trying to make is that if he is at 70 mph, why would you need to overtake him?

Les

Jerome

In Ontario, Canada, motorway driving is part of the test and they are appalling drivers on the motorways.

The rare occasions I undertake will be after following a car for some time in the fast lane. I suspect it is unlikely that he/she will suddenly begin to move over after all that time when I undertake them. I also am ready for any possible sign that they may move across before whizzing past them.

Leslie

Your point about many people's estimation etc are quite right, and I thought I had covered that with my first post.

Don't understand what you mean about lanes 2 and 3. If the bloke is in the outside lane or the middle lane doing 70, then you cannot legally or sensibly find justification for overtaking him as the law stands, and certainly not on his left side anyway. You can either follow him at 70 of course or sit on an inside lane until you need to overtake somone else who is doing less than 70 when you could feed in behind him to overtake the slower traffic. The inner lane is correct as you say, but it is rare that you can remain in that lane for long at 70. That is why the middle lane gets so much use naturally.

I have made the point often enough that I think the motorway speed limit should be increased to 85 mph or so to stretch out the traffic a bit more which would help to avoid bunching. Being still 70 at the moment of course, we are bound by the present laws!

Les

scoobeenut

If undertaking is considered too dangerous, why is it allowed on the freeways in America.It must be better to educate people to be more observant and aware of their surroundings and road position at all times whether it be on motorways or roundabouts.

You also have to ask yourself why driving standards have deteriorated? The UK driving test is is tougher than it has ever been yet drivers are unable to cope with motorways, roundabouts or dual carriageways.

Miniman

iTrader: (2)

Out of curiosity does anyone know if there are any statistics on accidents that have happened because someone "illegally" undertook?

I do sometimes undertake, but I will weigh up the situation and most of the time, I can see the car for a couple of miles beforehand and in my judgement they are a middle lane/outside lane hogger. I am always worried about undertaking and if they suddenly decide to move over, but nowhere has my judgement been proven wrong yet. They clearly are not going to move over for anything, so in effect I am safe.

I regularly travel on the 4 lane M25 and if you did not have people undertaking it would be very dangerous at the mile or so before the junctions with people staying way out in lane 3 or 4 until the last minute to cut back in for the junction. However what actually happens appears safer, people getting off at the next junction will continue at the same pace and move early into lane 1 or 2, while the people in lanes 2 and 3 stay on the motorway, usually at a slower pace. It's an unwritten law, for sure, but certainly has not (yet) proven to be dangerous. But maybe I'm wrong.

scoobeenut

You are being observant when you pass on the inside so no problem why can't everybody be observant?

Leslie

It is against the law in this country but not in the States. That is why it is dangerous to do so here.

Les

Leslie

It is not just the driver doing the overtaking on the left, it also involves the other driver too. You cannot read his mind even if you have followed him for a while. He still would not be expecting to be overtaken on the left and that is exactly why it is unsafe. However much you argue about it, you can never legally justify it in the circumstances where the law does not permit it.

Les

speedking

Agree with all of the above middle lane stuff x 10 if you're towing a trailer

A couple of weeks ago on the M42 in lane 2 approaching a 4x4 doing about 65, lane 1 empty as far as the eye can see. I give him one flash which he ignores. As I pass in lane 3 he deliberately swerves towards me. WTF is that all about? If he thinks I'm wrong, is capital punishment of my family an appropriate punishment?

It's the same response as you overtake someone quite legally and safely and they flash their headlights at you. I would love to know whats going through their heads

Miniman

iTrader: (2)

Something being illegal is not the same as being unsafe.

Some of the roads in France are 130KPH (82MPH), yet are 70 MPH in the UK, does that automatically make the travelling at 75MPH unsafe in the UK? The roads are the same, same quality and maintenance, same type of driver, same type of cars, same weather conditions (Southern UK, Northern France). In fact around Calais a very high % are British reg'd cars. Yet we're told 70 is the absolute limit.

You coud argue (and I bet you do) that some drivers in the UK are not ready for cars travelling at 130KPH and therefore it's unsafe. But the governments argument would be that high speeds are unsafe therefore it's staying at 70MPH.

hodgy0_2

one of the problems we have is, compared to Europe (and the US) we have far more exits and entries on our Mways, it is quite possible to drive in France for 40 mins and never have an exit or entry

I think this causes the numbties to stay in the middle lane, thus avoiding having to think about merging traffic

scoobeenut

We all know that these middle lane numpties are not going to move, like miniman said they just sit there for mile after mile and they create a hazard. At the end of the day I have to make a judgement how to best avoid that hazard, do I manoeuvre to lane 2 then lane 3 then all the way back again or do I carefully pass on the inside?

We all have to assume that these people are oblivious to what is happening behind them anyway, so to pass them on either side will require care.

mykp

Talk about hitting the nail on the head, the keyword in that sentence is definately "oblivious"

a proper case of "I'm all right jack, so f**k anyone behind"