Question of the week: Why aren't the police cracking down on middle-lane hoggers?
Fri, 02 May 2025
Dear Honest John,
"It is one of my pet hates where people unnecessarily sit in the middle lane, or even lane three or four on motorways. Effectively they are reducing a road that is three or four lanes down to two. How much per mile, per lane, does it cost to build a motorway? Because this is what these people are costing us.
Is the law pertaining to this aspect of driving still being enforced? I see very little of it."
- R
Dear R,
According to the Highways Agency, as of 2011 the average cost of a mile of motorway is £30m, so per lane this figure could be anywhere between £5m and £15m depending on the number of lanes, smart motorway features and so on, so the cost in terms of unused sections of roads and time lost when travelling is significant.
Rule 264 of the Highway Code states 'Keep in the left lane unless overtaking...If you are overtaking, you should return to the left lane when it is safe to do so.' It is an offence to lane hog which can be punished under careless driving, and the police were given the power to issue fixed penalties for this offence in 2013 with a £100 fine and three penalty points.
However, detection requires a motorway patrol vehicle to witness the offence first hand, and as any motorway user will know they are unfortunately a rare sight.
In the first three years after the new power was introduced, a Freedom of Information request by Confused.com revealed that of the 45 constabularies that responded only 135 drivers were charged with the offence, although it is worth pointing out that they are typically classified as careless driving with no further detail available.
Do motorway speed cameras operate when no limit is shown?
