Wonder if this applies to lorry drivers who spend 20 minutes overtaking the lorry in front clogging up the motorway.
Have you noticed that their favourite place to overtake another HGV is at the beginning of an incline? Regarding driving in Europe.... I live in Holland and they are one of the most aggressive drivers in Europe. Probably something to do with their arrogance and how dare you take my patch of road mentality. Overall though, I believe that driving standards these days are pretty poor. I used to enjoy driving but can't stand it these days.
Quick quiz no googling.. What is the speed limit on the hard shoulder
Just as guess and probably wrong, but is it 70mph? You need to get up to speed when re-joining the main carraigeway.
Technically correct, but will alter depending on the speed limit of the road (not all hard shoulders are on motorways) and also depending on the vehicle you're driving............
Really can't see the point in this. To actually issue the on-the-spot fine, you have to be seen by the police. Very rarely see an old bill car on the motorway these days.......................
True. Mostly I see unmarked cars. Hampshire police have a couple of Skodas - always amusing to see some boy-racer pulled over by one of those ;-)
Quick quiz no googling.. What is the speed limit on the hard shoulder
Just as guess and probably wrong, but is it 70mph? You need to get up to speed when re-joining the main carraigeway.
Technically correct, but will alter depending on the speed limit of the road (not all hard shoulders are on motorways) and also depending on the vehicle you're driving............
Really can't see the point in this. To actually issue the on-the-spot fine, you have to be seen by the police. Very rarely see an old bill car on the motorway these days.......................
Exactly, and now it's been highlighted it's going make people even more aggressive when they encounter this type of driving. Not joined up thinking.
This is great news as long as it is enforced. Those who hog any lane except lane 1 are a menace. People only undertake if there is an idiot sitting in the wrong lane. If you can be undertaken then you are in the wrong lane and should have moved over. I find there are long stretches of road when you could remain in lane 1 but have to move out to overtake a lane hogger who is totally oblivious to those around them.
I admit that I frequently flash my lights at lane hoggers if I come up behind them and immediately move back to lane 1 in front of them, but unless someone lets them know they will just continue to sit there.
Usually tailgaters do so because of lane hoggers who won't move over when there is plenty of room on the lane to their left.
I regularly drive along the M20 late at night and I'm amazed at number of cars that, on an otherwise empty road, still insist on sitting in the middle lane and not budging under any circumstances. I tend to just undertake them these days but occasionally I will drive right up behind them and then move out to the outside lane at the last moment before cutting across right in front of them to get to the inside lane. 99% of the time they're still sitting there in the middle lane even after that!
I know this news article (taken from the Dereham and Fakenham times) is not about middle lane hoggers but it beggars belief This incident happened a few hundred yards from a fatal accident killed two women in March and a man a couple of weeks ago..
A mother who nearly collided with a lorry after drunkenly driving the wrong way on the approach to a dual carriageway with a child inside the car has avoided going to jail. Katie Lake’s eight-week prison sentence for drink driving and being drunk in charge of a child was suspended for a year even though she was more than twice over the legal limit when she drove her Audi TT sports car onto the opposite side of the road at the A47 junction at Dereham. Magistrates in King’s Lynn were shown “graphic photos” of how the 27-year-old ended up “bumper-to-bumper” with a lorry, whose driver was forced to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision as she headed east towards Norwich on March 13. “The lorry driver had anticipated there were difficulties ahead and brought the vehicle to a standstill,” James MacWhirter said in mitigation. A member of the public immediately removed the nine-month-old child from the car, which was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for a routine check. When Lake, of Lynn Hill, Yaxham Road, Dereham, gave a blood sample to police, she was found to have 200mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg. Presiding magistrate Jennifer Kelly, who banned Lake from driving for 42 months, said it was a “very, very serious” matter which passed the custody threshold. She said the bench had been “very concerned” about the presence of the child in the back of the car and ordered Lake to complete a 12-month drink driving supervision requirement.
........no doubt the introduction of financial penalties/fines will dramatically increase the number of police seen on our roads; just like traffic wardens. Great!
If you are sitting in the middle lane doing 70 miles per hour and someone overtakes on outside lane or the inside lane who is breaking the law? Is it ok to break the speed limit whilst overtaking?
I think with the volume of traffic using our motorways today it is impractical and crazy to consider that everyone should use the inside lane unless overtaking. It was fine when the motorways were first introduced and there was a fraction of today's traffic using them.
I think speeding is by far the biggest problem on our roads. I think they should increase the penalty to 6 points for each speeding offence.
Has anyone ever seen a traffic police car except parked on roundabouts on a Sunday with grossly overweight occupants clearly reading the newspaper and claiming overtime?
Far more likely to see very expensive Highways Agency 4x4' vehicles pointlessly cruising around our motorways counting traffic cones and reporting back to Quango HQ,
Yet more pointless posturing from inept and corrupt politicians trying to raise more cash to pay their pensions.
If the government had any balls they would allow the fitting of all new cars with heat seeking rocket propelled grenades on a trial basis, so that offending middle lane drivers can be blown to smithereens. This would create much needed employment in the defence and automobile sector, reduce road rage, clear congestion and provide much needed amusement on long boring drives.
Has anyone ever seen a traffic police car except parked on roundabouts on a Sunday with grossly overweight occupants clearly reading the newspaper and claiming overtime?
Far more likely to see very expensive Highways Agency 4x4' vehicles pointlessly cruising around our motorways counting traffic cones and reporting back to Quango HQ,
Yet more pointless posturing from inept and corrupt politicians trying to raise more cash to pay their pensions.
If the government had any balls they would allow the fitting of all new cars with heat seeking rocket propelled grenades on a trial basis, so that offending middle lane drivers can be blown to smithereens. This would create much needed employment in the defence and automobile sector, reduce road rage, clear congestion and provide much needed amusement on long boring drives.
Come the revolution etc etc..
Or reintroduce those things we had on the dashboard in the 70's, you know, where you could zap every bastard who got in your way with a variety of noises.
Even if people are rarely fined, this has brought the matter out into the open and hopefully the middle lane dozers will realise that sitting in their private lane isn't actually correct!
And the idea is also to free up police officers' time. If they don't have to go to court then they can spend more time on the motorway catching people.
All joking aside, I am a little uneasy about potential abuse of these new powers Whilst I'm all in favour of getting people out of the middle lane, are the Police simply going to use this as a cash cow? Who gets the money from the fines?
Even if people are rarely fined, this has brought the matter out into the open and hopefully the middle lane dozers will realise that sitting in their private lane isn't actually correct!
Still think (on balance) that seeing a missile approaching in their rear view mirror (not that they ever bloody use it!) and their imminent death via violent explosion would focus their attention on the issue more effectively and encourage other drivers to re-consider their inappropriate driving behaviour.
Since they have introduced the lane widening measures on the M25 at Junction 5 the amount of accidents round the M25 seems to have gone through the roof , and made everyones life a misery, adds a minimum of 30 - 40 mins to a journey , & thats before there being an accident, well done D.O.T.
If you are sitting in the middle lane doing 70 miles per hour and someone overtakes on outside lane or the inside lane who is breaking the law? Is it ok to break the speed limit whilst overtaking?
I think with the volume of traffic using our motorways today it is impractical and crazy to consider that everyone should use the inside lane unless overtaking. It was fine when the motorways were first introduced and there was a fraction of today's traffic using them.
I think speeding is by far the biggest problem on our roads. I think they should increase the penalty to 6 points for each speeding offence.
If there is a large volume of traffic then you could well be overtaking in the middle constantly and then it would be impractical to move over, but the new fines are aimed at those who lane hog when they COULD move over. I also regularly drive on the M20 and M2 and on many occasions I could drive along long sections in lane 1 and undertake people who could quite easily move over.
Driving speed should depend on the prevailing conditions. On an empty motorway driving at 80 mph is perfectly possible to do safely. If the road is very crowded it would not be safe. I believe that a good driver adjusts their speed to the conditions at the time. There are many occasions when driving above the speed limit is perfectly safe and when driving at the speed limit may not be safe and a lower speed should be used.
Driving speed should depend on the prevailing conditions. On an empty motorway driving at 80 mph is perfectly possible to do safely. If the road is very crowded it would not be safe. I believe that a good driver adjusts their speed to the conditions at the time. There are many occasions when driving above the speed limit is perfectly safe and when driving at the speed limit may not be safe and a lower speed should be used.
Does this happen to anybody else? You're doing 70 in the 'driving lane' and approach a lorry doing 60. So you indicate to go into the middle/overtaking lane, but a car comes up outside/alongside you and stops you from moving out. Surely if you're driving along in the middle lane, and you see an inside lane vehicle indicating, you could consider at least letting them out, or going into the outside lane (if safe obviously) and everybody can continue smoothly. This kind of problem happens a lot when you're approaching a joining slip road, when I see one coming up I am always looking to move to the middle lane in anticipation of somebody joining the motorway. Many times other drivers force you to stay on the inside lane. So called middle lane hoggers are sometimes driving with anticipation and to be safe. If I am getting tailgated I put the hazard lights on, they back off a bit, then overtake at speed gawping at me, I stare straight ahead of course whilst grinning and giving the finger, doesn't everybody? ;-)
Does anyone think that because the driving test does not include the practice of driving on a motorway, people then assume that how they drive on a motorway is perfectly acceptable. The mentality of driving in the middle lane is perfectly acceptable for them as they do not have to endanger others by changing lanes which would involve a series of tiresome manoeuvres such as checking mirrors and indicating. Is hogging the middle lane due to laziness, feeling safe or just ignorance of the laws?
If you are sitting in the middle lane doing 70 miles per hour and someone overtakes on outside lane or the inside lane who is breaking the law? Is it ok to break the speed limit whilst overtaking?
I think with the volume of traffic using our motorways today it is impractical and crazy to consider that everyone should use the inside lane unless overtaking. It was fine when the motorways were first introduced and there was a fraction of today's traffic using them.
I think speeding is by far the biggest problem on our roads. I think they should increase the penalty to 6 points for each speeding offence.
If there is a large volume of traffic then you could well be overtaking in the middle constantly and then it would be impractical to move over, but the new fines are aimed at those who lane hog when they COULD move over. I also regularly drive on the M20 and M2 and on many occasions I could drive along long sections in lane 1 and undertake people who could quite easily move over.
Driving speed should depend on the prevailing conditions. On an empty motorway driving at 80 mph is perfectly possible to do safely. If the road is very crowded it would not be safe. I believe that a good driver adjusts their speed to the conditions at the time. There are many occasions when driving above the speed limit is perfectly safe and when driving at the speed limit may not be safe and a lower speed should be used.
In a utopian world that is fine. But in the real world many many people are able to obtain a driving licence who have very low intelligence and will never fully understand what is happening and the risks they are taking when they are sitting inside two tons of metal travelling at high speed and how those risks change depending on the traffic and weather conditions.
no vehicles on the road unless they can do 60 on any incline, and should do when traffic permitting. All large vehicles in inside lane and no overtaking.
be interesting to see if they are enforced, there are laws against mobile phone use, but the number of people that drive round a roundabout with a phone stuck between shoulder and ear does not appear to have reduced.
Wonder if this applies to lorry drivers who spend 20 minutes overtaking the lorry in front clogging up the motorway.
This winds me up more than anything else!
As for middle lane hoggers - I don't think somebody doing 70 in the middle lane would be pulled up as the expectation is that drivers do 65 in that lane. When there is a fair amount of traffic and many lorries doing 60, if the middle lane driver changed to the inner lane whenever they could, they would be quickly stuck behind a slow moving lorry as cars speed past in the middle lane not allowing them back in.
I think it would be far better if the government introduced minimum spreeds for each lane and fine people who fall below them. Also, all lorries should be prevented from overtaking full stop!
I'm sorry but we've heard all this before and nothing is done. There are not enough police to do anything about this. The use of mobile phone whilst driving is extremely dangerous but so many idiots still do it. Young, old, men, women, chavs, middle classes, WVM and executive saloon drivers.
If you are sitting in the middle lane doing 70 miles per hour and someone overtakes on outside lane or the inside lane who is breaking the law? Is it ok to break the speed limit whilst overtaking?
I think with the volume of traffic using our motorways today it is impractical and crazy to consider that everyone should use the inside lane unless overtaking. It was fine when the motorways were first introduced and there was a fraction of today's traffic using them.
I think speeding is by far the biggest problem on our roads. I think they should increase the penalty to 6 points for each speeding offence.
This. Absolutely this. I'm sorry, but the 'middle lane hogging' thing is largely a myth from a bygone age when you could drive for a minute without encountering another car on a motorway. Personally, I sit in the middle lane at about 75 simply because it's impossible to drive in the left hand lane without continually overtaking people - which leads to you 'sitting' in the middle lane anyway. Yes, there are muppets who drive in the middle lane at 60 - they're fist-clenchingly annoying and should be birched. BUT - the vast majority of the time I'm sitting in the middle lane I'm driving quite happily along without having to drop my speed because of a car in front - meaning that most people are driving at a reasonable rate. Most people that moan about this are selfish c***s in flash Audis/Beemers/Mercs tooling along at 90 mph.
Comments
Regarding driving in Europe.... I live in Holland and they are one of the most aggressive drivers in Europe. Probably something to do with their arrogance and how dare you take my patch of road mentality.
Overall though, I believe that driving standards these days are pretty poor. I used to enjoy driving but can't stand it these days.
I admit that I frequently flash my lights at lane hoggers if I come up behind them and immediately move back to lane 1 in front of them, but unless someone lets them know they will just continue to sit there.
Usually tailgaters do so because of lane hoggers who won't move over when there is plenty of room on the lane to their left.
A mother who nearly collided with a lorry after drunkenly driving the wrong way on the approach to a dual carriageway with a child inside the car has avoided going to jail. Katie Lake’s eight-week prison sentence for drink driving and being drunk in charge of a child was suspended for a year even though she was more than twice over the legal limit when she drove her Audi TT sports car onto the opposite side of the road at the A47 junction at Dereham.
Magistrates in King’s Lynn were shown “graphic photos” of how the 27-year-old ended up “bumper-to-bumper” with a lorry, whose driver was forced to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision as she headed east towards Norwich on March 13.
“The lorry driver had anticipated there were difficulties ahead and brought the vehicle to a standstill,” James MacWhirter said in mitigation.
A member of the public immediately removed the nine-month-old child from the car, which was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for a routine check.
When Lake, of Lynn Hill, Yaxham Road, Dereham, gave a blood sample to police, she was found to have 200mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
Presiding magistrate Jennifer Kelly, who banned Lake from driving for 42 months, said it was a “very, very serious” matter which passed the custody threshold.
She said the bench had been “very concerned” about the presence of the child in the back of the car and ordered Lake to complete a 12-month drink driving supervision requirement.
I think with the volume of traffic using our motorways today it is impractical and crazy to consider that everyone should use the inside lane unless overtaking. It was fine when the motorways were first introduced and there was a fraction of today's traffic using them.
I think speeding is by far the biggest problem on our roads. I think they should increase the penalty to 6 points for each speeding offence.
Has anyone ever seen a traffic police car except parked on roundabouts on a Sunday with grossly overweight occupants clearly reading the newspaper and claiming overtime?
Far more likely to see very expensive Highways Agency 4x4' vehicles pointlessly cruising around our motorways counting traffic cones and reporting back to Quango HQ,
Yet more pointless posturing from inept and corrupt politicians trying to raise more cash to pay their pensions.
If the government had any balls they would allow the fitting of all new cars with heat seeking rocket propelled grenades on a trial basis, so that offending middle lane drivers can be blown to smithereens. This would create much needed employment in the defence and automobile sector, reduce road rage, clear congestion and provide much needed amusement on long boring drives.
Come the revolution etc etc..
will reduce the need for two overtaking lanes.
Driving speed should depend on the prevailing conditions. On an empty motorway driving at 80 mph is perfectly possible to do safely. If the road is very crowded it would not be safe. I believe that a good driver adjusts their speed to the conditions at the time. There are many occasions when driving above the speed limit is perfectly safe and when driving at the speed limit may not be safe and a lower speed should be used.
You're doing 70 in the 'driving lane' and approach a lorry doing 60. So you indicate to go into the middle/overtaking lane, but a car comes up outside/alongside you and stops you from moving out. Surely if you're driving along in the middle lane, and you see an inside lane vehicle indicating, you could consider at least letting them out, or going into the outside lane (if safe obviously) and everybody can continue smoothly.
This kind of problem happens a lot when you're approaching a joining slip road, when I see one coming up I am always looking to move to the middle lane in anticipation of somebody joining the motorway. Many times other drivers force you to stay on the inside lane.
So called middle lane hoggers are sometimes driving with anticipation and to be safe.
If I am getting tailgated I put the hazard lights on, they back off a bit, then overtake at speed gawping at me, I stare straight ahead of course whilst grinning and giving the finger, doesn't everybody? ;-)
It kills
most deadly and dangerous thing u can do!
As for middle lane hoggers - I don't think somebody doing 70 in the middle lane would be pulled up as the expectation is that drivers do 65 in that lane. When there is a fair amount of traffic and many lorries doing 60, if the middle lane driver changed to the inner lane whenever they could, they would be quickly stuck behind a slow moving lorry as cars speed past in the middle lane not allowing them back in.
I think it would be far better if the government introduced minimum spreeds for each lane and fine people who fall below them. Also, all lorries should be prevented from overtaking full stop!