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Doesn't bother me which side I'm passed on. Call me paranoid, but I check it's clear when I change lanes to the left as well as the right.
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Why not adopt the French system. Scream up to the person in front who is lane hogging only slowing at the last possible moment when your car is 1 inch...........sorry 2.54 centimetres away from the victim, then start flashing your lights and beeping your horn.................then lean out of the drivers window and bang your fist on the roof swearing. (in French of course) Surprisingly enough it works in France.
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Doesn't work in this country. I have tried numerous times but people don't seem to realise that they are doing anything wrong!
They usually notice SWMBO hanging out the window gesticulating wildly for them to move over, while I try and drag her back thru' the window.
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Drive up on inside lane. Wait a second or two to make sure they're not about to blindly wander back in. Lean on horn and nail it.
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Come up in empty lane 1, swing right out to the right past lane hoggers to whatever lane is free, usually lane 3 or 4 then, once past lane hoggers, move all the way back to lane 1.
That's what you have to do to stay within the law...pathetic.
Fine the lane hoggers or allow passing on any side. Simple.
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I was going to go for the leading by example James. But then l couldn't recall if we were talking middel or outside lane. Mine's more fun and isn't illegal, unless you are breaking the speed limit...
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then lean out of the drivers window and bang your fist on the roof swearing. (in French of course) Surprisingly enough it works in France.
Doesn't work in this country. I have tried numerous times but
people don't seem to realise that they are doing anything wrong!
CM
They probably don't understand French!! :-)
Seriously, though, it must count as about the most frustrating thing on the roads today and there are plenty of things to choose from. Even in the rush-hour on the M25 lane 1 is often deserted, daft thing is I quite often find it quicker to just sit in lane 1 with the HGV's and trundle along, mostly less stress from not lane hopping and only marginally slower. Quite often have done the same journey home as a colleague who is a real toe-down lane hopper, 40 plus mile trip and he often beats me home by 5 minutes or so, wow!!
Cockle
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Bring back the public information films on TV, this sort of thing is crying out for it!!!
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Isn't it obvious? Lane one is a buffer lane between the slip road and the default (middle) lane. You simply cross over it to get to the default lane.
Unless you have a BMW of course and you then simply cross both the buffer lane and the default lane in order to get as fast as possible to the BMW lane.
It's all in the BMW handbook.
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There were a number of threads on this some months ago. The attitude of many middle lane hogs was summed up in a post by a lady.
Essentially she was concerned at the difficulty in getting back into the centre lane to overtake a slower vehicle. She gave an example where she had got into the middle lane to get past a slower vehicle. When she got alongside it she saw another in the inside lane a few hundred yards ahead. Her justification for remaining in the middle lane was that "it only took 2 or 3 minutes to get by it". She didn't seem to grasp that she had 'blocked' the middle lane for 2 or 3 miles.
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I personally favor the Philippine method. Adopt any lane whether it is free or not and zig zag in and out, no need to signal but do use plenty of horn. If you can afford one of those cheap Chinese fake police sirens so much the better. White markings on the road which indicate 3 lanes actually means 5 streams of traffic can be comfortably accommodated normally, six in rush hours and seven if you count the breakdown lane (shoulder). When all of these have been filled up, check the lanes coming the other way. If any of these are empty start your own contra flow. In seconds enough vehicles will follow you to constitute far too many for a porker to do anything about. In any case put your hazards on and if you are stopped say you don't feel well and must get to the hospital. It is acceptable to start as many contraflow lanes as permitted by the width of the oncoming carriage way provided you leave ONE for oncoming traffic. That can be the hard shoulder. I have seen a nominal 3-lane highway accommodate EIGHT streams of traffic using this method, which must surely be an excellent use of scare resources by any standards :-)
The British are such a reserved race, this is why they have these agonising crises about conduct in public.
Footnote (May get wiped but can't resist): for all those EU-lovers out there who haven't yet gotr the message, check the gem of an editorial in today's DT about herbal medicines.
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Driving over there sounds like fun - we'd have a problem getting over the central reservation though - although maybe that's why all those people in London need a 4x4.
IIRC (I'll check later if I remember) the highway code says you 'SHOULD' not 'undertake' rather than you 'MUST' not - ie there is no specific offence of undertaking - of course if the plod are watching then they may pull you up for dangerous driving or driving without due care, but I doubt it would stand up in court. And you could always ask why they didn't stop the person who was doing 55 in the middle lane on an otherwise deserted motorway (probably with their fog lights on!).
I have done the inside to outside and back manoeuver lots of times - works on about the half the cases. The real hard cases don't even register you going past. Scary.
Richard
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The rule is: "Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake."
I would be very surprised if people who are so oblivious as to sit in lane 2+ pay great heed to anything up their inside so if I do end up passing on the inside I take great care and always make sure the hard shoulder is empty.
p.s. >>editorial in today's DT about herbal medicines.<< You can't please all the people all the time, I definitely don't support the EU but think it's a great idea that anyone selling a treatment should have to substantiate their claims, so many quacks now making money by creating fear and making promises.
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Isn't it obvious? Lane one is a buffer lane between the slip road and the default (middle) lane. You simply cross over it to get to the default lane. Unless you have a BMW of course and you then simply cross both the buffer lane and the default lane in order to get as fast as possible to the BMW lane. It's all in the BMW handbook.
I know you are probably talking with tongue in cheek but the bit about BMW drivers just makes you look chippy.
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Don't take it too seriously.
Rgds
Chippy
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Ok - but you should quantify your statements. 3 series - you may have a point, 5 series usually can drive better, 7 series waft along without paying much attention to the prolateriat...
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Haha. My next door neighbours said something about Peugeot drivers too. (Yes I'm a Peugeot driver.)
Anyway.. can lane hoggers actually be done? Lets say someone holds the outside lane up doing 70mph because they want to enforce the (unreasonable) speed limit. Are they liable for anything?
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They should, of course, be publicly roasted on a spit but the rozzers are more likely to pull someone for tailgating or undertaking them.
It's a shame because the simple act of moving over when you have overtaken a slower vehicle would make a huge difference to the congestion and bottlenecking.
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Lane 2/3 hogs should be skinned alive.
However, to those who advocate screaming up behind, breaking at the last minute, then gesticulating, what happens if lane hog gets a blow out or their engine siezes? Don't you slam into the back of a rapidly decelerating and swerving vehicle? Death usually impairs the enjoyment of a journey.
(I hate people who do this to me when I am overtaking someone. Not lane hogging note. Mind you, this has not happened since I replaced my old Micra with a brand new Ford Ka. I guess it must earn more respect (less contempt).
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can lane hoggers actually be done? Lets say someone holdsthe outside lane up doing 70mph because they want to enforce the (unreasonable) speed limit. Are they liable for anything?
Yes they can as I have seen it happen. But I think that it is a case of the police having more "important" things to do. IMHO I think that the importance of blocking main arterial routes is understated and these guys (along with truckers overtaking uphill - another can of worms discussed at length on this board) should be cracked down on. I cannot see that public information films are going to work unless backed up by a flashing blue light.
Personally I think that bus lane drivers who are trying to get on with their lives as quikly as possible (and who are fined, is it, £40?) are lesser offenders than these hogs. Definitly worth a £60 fine.
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"Personally I think that bus lane drivers who are trying to get on with their lives as quikly as possible (and who are fined, is it, £40?) are lesser offenders than these hogs."
Yes it's £40, from recent personal experience.
Bus lane fines no longer have any pretence at being linked to obstructing buses, but are levied for use of pieces of carriageway, paid for out of taxes, that have been handed over to bus companies for their exclusive use for two, three, six, twelve or twenty four hours a day.
IMHO, if buses want their own piece of road then they should pay for it, either by building their own roads or by paying access charges the way train operating companies do to Railtrack (or Byersrail or whatever it's called now).
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BrianW,
The objection I have to people using the bus lane is that it is simply a way for them to 'jump the queue'. They dash up the bus lane and force their way into the queue of those waiting their turn.
It is much the same for many who undertake on the motorway. A number of cars will be in the outside lane waiting their turn to overtake a vehicle in the middle lane. A car will drop into the middle lane, undertake several cars and force his way back into the outside lane.
Marcus
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"A car will drop into the middle lane, undertake several cars and force his way back into the outside lane."
I've seen the results of this close-up on the M1.
Trouble is, the car he forced his way back in front of didn't see him coming, braked and spun (span?).
Result: chaos.
I was about the fourth car back and stopped before hitting the stationary car in front.
Looked in my rear view mirror to find the car behind had also spun and was scraping backwards down the barrier on the central reservation. It stopped about two feet from my back bumper.
About four cars damaged to some extent (not mine, PDL) and the undertaker disappeared into the distance.
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Bit worrying if the dozy idiot holding up the outside lane spun his car by braking hard.
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Bit worrying if the dozy idiot holding up the outside lane spun his car by braking hard.
Dave,
The guy at the head of the queue is often not a 'dozy idiot'.
A common scenario is inside lane traffic going at 65-70mph, a car in the centre lane at 75-80mph and a string of cars in the outside lane travelling at 85+mph. This string of cars might stretch over a hundred yards or so.
The villain of the piece is the anti-social peasant who cannot wait his turn to overtake and drops into the centre lane, undertakes the string of cars and cuts back into the outside lane.
Marcus
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I agree, I was referring to people who sit in the outside going either no faster than or slower than the middle lane, sometimes to enforce the speed limit. I've been cut in front of myself for leaving a good braking distance when still overtaking the middle lane and keeping up with the traffic in front of me, in the outside.
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<< inside lane traffic going at 65-70mph, a car in the centre lane at 75-80mph and a string of cars in the outside lane travelling at 85+mph. This string of cars might stretch over a hundred yards or so. >>
Isn't this the ludicous part of it. It must be easy using bridge cameras to study the density of traffic in each lane (thats what TrafficMaster does after all). The further "out" a lane is, the more dense it would be.
What people really need to do is check their mirror, and judge the relative speed of traffic behind them. Then decide whether they can move into the "slower" lane, allow the faster traffic to pass, and pull out again before the next obstacle without adjusting their speed.
But there are two issues here. Not enough mirror checking, and complete lack of judgement skills.
And of course on top of that is the attitude.
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You'd think that some kind of "Get past - get back over" public information motto would be easy for the rozzers th back up wouldn't you? Not so easy for cameras though.
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Why do you NEVER see a BMW or Mercedes in lane 1?
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Oi, don’t encourage people to use lane 1! Using the M4 on Tuesday morning I had a lovely time in the Land Rover. Cruising at 65 or so I had the lane to myself. When the other two lanes became congested I was able to pass them all. No I didn’t move across two lanes to fight my way between the nutters only to come back across the two lanes again. How can anybody justify travelling in excess of the NSL at less than a cars length away from the car in front – incredible.
BTW I had a Lexus who decided that he had to overtake me before coming into lane one and off at the Reading junction after braking hard. How he missed the front of the Landy I just don’t know. I accelerated hard too! I had an Almera do the same thing when I was towing a caravan. How do they expect me to stop. Why do they expect me to stop!
P.S. Is there any point in reporting this sort of behaviour to the Police? Or should I just put it down to “experience”.
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