Why do you suggest that drivers should move to the middle lane to let speeders pass on the motorway?

Despite being an avid fan of your column I was amazed to read your cavalier dismissal of the points made by NH of Salisbury (Sunday Telegraph, 31st October) regarding the 70mph motorway speed limit. You seem to be advocating a German-like unrestricted approach to speeding on our motorways but, irrespective of the merits or otherwise of this, our limit is 70mph and to suggest that that middle-lane drivers like NH who are driving at the maximum should "drive in the considerate manner" and move over to let speeders pass, is ludicrous, there being little which is considerate about speeding or law-breaking.

And as for NH's suggestion that to continually move in and out of the inner and centre lanes is dangerous, I couldn't agree more. There can be nothing more conducive to accidents than constantly weaving in and out of traffic on a busy motorway and like NH, I have to confess to frequently being guilty of remaining in the middle lane until such time as the inner lane is sufficiently free as to make it worthwhile.

Asked on 2 November 2010 by JS, Lindal in Furness, Cumbria

Answered by Honest John

That’s where you are completely wrong. NH might think he's driving at 70mph. But most car speedometers over-read by 5 - 8 per cent, so he was probably driving at 65mph, in which case he was impeding the free flow of traffic and driving without due car and consideration for other road users. This sort of behaviour can result in Mexican wave effects where cars in the traffic five miles behind are forced to a complete standstill. My police traffic officer readers prosecute idiots like him for offences like that.

Tags: lane discipline motorways speeding

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