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Is staying in the middle lane safer than constantly changing lanes on the motorway?

It seems to me that the continual movement of vehicles from the nearside to and from the overtaking lanes to make progress along a motorway is potentially more dangerous than staying for some distance in the same lane. It is hazardous and wearing for drivers to pop in and out between HGVs. The successful enforcement of any offence of 'lane hogging' will be as difficult as it will be to define the offence, and 'tailgating' has been almost impossible to enforce in the USA which has many more policemen.

Asked on 19 October 2013 by GE, Standlake, Oxon

Answered by Honest John
I disagree with that. Simply staying in the same lane leads to fatigue, drowsiness and inattention. When you are conforming to the UK's low speed limits you need to do things to keep yourself awake and alert. So staying in lane one as much as is reasonably possible makes a lot of sense because you constantly have to calculate the elapsing distance between you and the truck ahead and the elapsing distance between you and cars in lane two slowly overtaking you. And guess what? By constantly looking in your mirrors you might manage to avoid taking out a passing motorcycle. As for enforcement, every police traffic car, whether liveried or in plain clothes, has video recording equipment. I also disagree that overtaking either side is inherently dangerous. The only risk is that dumbed down and inattentive drivers are not expecting you to. If it’s the norm it can be perfectly safe, as illustrated in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=THksLID3DcI
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