CENTRE LANE DRIVING - OK OR NOT?
Discussion
What do you think? I was behind a driver for approx 20 miles on the M6 not long back who stayed the whole time in the centre lane apart from the occasional move into the fast lane to overtake, but then back into the centre lane. He eventually pulled into the services at Cawley and so did I and I had to ask him if he knew the highway code regarding motorway driving and how staying in the centre lane was not part of it. His answer was that he was fine to stay in the centre lane as he was not impeding anyone!!!! in his opinion. He strengthed this by adding he was a member of IAM, so he must have known what he was taking about eh, personally I think he was just trying to shut me up.
As much as I hate MLM's as much as the next man, I do sympathise in a way because almost every time I move into the left lane in medium / heavy traffic, some c
t moves to flank my blind spot whether there is traffic ahead or not, also when I indicate my intention to pull out, more ofthen than not a car will actually accellerate to close the gap "because they can"!
Sucks
t moves to flank my blind spot whether there is traffic ahead or not, also when I indicate my intention to pull out, more ofthen than not a car will actually accellerate to close the gap "because they can"! Sucks
Slowly Slowly said:
..... He strengthed this by adding he was a member of IAM, so he must have known what he was taking about eh, personally I think he was just trying to shut me up.
Personally once they mention that they are a member of IAM you may as well give up talking to them. I used to be an associate member but gave it up as they were a bunch of supercilious, arrogant know it all muppets who think they can do no wrong. You need to go to some of their meetings and listen to their self righteousness to truly believe what they are like.
Is it OK?
Not in the circumstances you describe. There was traffic about. Surely there must have been people wishing to pass. Sure - they could do it in Lane 3 but if Lane 1 is empty why should they have to? Highway Code is really clear on this matter - claiming to the contrary is bollox.
There again. At 4:00am on a Summer morning on the M6 north of Preston heading for Scotland with no traffic for at least a mile in front or behind I think one might be forgiven for using whichever lane provides the best view up the road...given it really won't inconvenience anyone.
Bit of common sense to be applied there.
Slowly: People who claim an IAM test gives them carte blanche to break the Highway Code and then claim moral superiority about it are wrong. Sorry you met one.
There again: Real world. Most of us break the Highway Code where it appears more sensible to us do so...look at PHers and speed limits. Numpties and passing on the left...etc etc.
Not in the circumstances you describe. There was traffic about. Surely there must have been people wishing to pass. Sure - they could do it in Lane 3 but if Lane 1 is empty why should they have to? Highway Code is really clear on this matter - claiming to the contrary is bollox.
There again. At 4:00am on a Summer morning on the M6 north of Preston heading for Scotland with no traffic for at least a mile in front or behind I think one might be forgiven for using whichever lane provides the best view up the road...given it really won't inconvenience anyone.
Bit of common sense to be applied there.
Slowly: People who claim an IAM test gives them carte blanche to break the Highway Code and then claim moral superiority about it are wrong. Sorry you met one.
There again: Real world. Most of us break the Highway Code where it appears more sensible to us do so...look at PHers and speed limits. Numpties and passing on the left...etc etc.
Before you all get carried away i remember an incident (yes i know i`m full of them) when criusing in the centre lane would have been the safest thing to do.
Just imagine you are north bound on the M6 aproaching J12 the A5, its about 3am on a winters Sunday morning (yes i am a grabbing bar steward ).
I see a twinkle in the distance for a split second and think "what the hell was that".
My brain trys to figure it out and i come to the conclusion that i have seen the reflection of an unlit car on my side of the motorway caused by a car travelling south, so i hit main beam quick.
Now wait for this, sat in the slow lane is a broken down Ford Escort with no lights on and a man sat in the drivers seat waiting for the RAC or what ever.
I swung to the right without looking sorry did not have time, almost lost it but it was that dangerous i did`nt even stop, the stupid old twit deserved to die.
I phoned the BIB but don`t know whether they got to him in time.
See if you had been a centre lane pillock you would have been totally oblivious to the stationary car because you would probably been half asleep.
Just imagine you are north bound on the M6 aproaching J12 the A5, its about 3am on a winters Sunday morning (yes i am a grabbing bar steward ).
I see a twinkle in the distance for a split second and think "what the hell was that".
My brain trys to figure it out and i come to the conclusion that i have seen the reflection of an unlit car on my side of the motorway caused by a car travelling south, so i hit main beam quick.
Now wait for this, sat in the slow lane is a broken down Ford Escort with no lights on and a man sat in the drivers seat waiting for the RAC or what ever.
I swung to the right without looking sorry did not have time, almost lost it but it was that dangerous i did`nt even stop, the stupid old twit deserved to die.
I phoned the BIB but don`t know whether they got to him in time.
See if you had been a centre lane pillock you would have been totally oblivious to the stationary car because you would probably been half asleep.
they are the same as the Fg drongo drivers i follow off a junction on to a dual carriageway that drive in the right hand lane at 35-40 with nothing else in sight,,,that is except behind them, they have half the world including me trying to get by,and we are in 2 minds wether to overtake on the inside ,,eventually without the slightest notion off whats behind them they change into 4th Fg gear. There are cars scurrying like rats to get by on the inside and out of thier way,,as i go past and stare back in my mirror all i can see is a slow moving vehicle with a stupid person inside hunched over the steering wheel going nowhere fast and a complete hazard to everyone else on the road,boy it makes me so angry.
I can guarentee several of these idiots a day/night that i drive....they should be done for driving without no due care and attention because at the end of the day they are not paying a blind bit of notice of whats going on around them or beyond their windscreen, GGGGgrrrrrrrrr!
ZR1cliff said:
There are cars scurrying like rats to get by on the inside and out of thier way,,as i go past and stare back in my mirror all i can see is a slow moving vehicle with a stupid person inside hunched over the steering wheel going nowhere fast and a complete hazard to everyone else on the road,boy it makes me so angry.
I can guarentee several of these idiots a day/night that i drive....they should be done for driving without no due care and attention because at the end of the day they are not paying a blind bit of notice of whats going on around them or beyond their windscreen, GGGGgrrrrrrrrr!
If anyone knows the A413 between Amersham and Great Missenden there is a right hand turning (across the other carriageway about 1/2 a mile after the Amersham roundabout (Heading away from Amersham).
Lost track the idiots i've had to queue behind off the roundabout in the right hand lane who won't move over because they're going to turn right (even though there is nothing in the left hand lane!).
I've given up trying to flash them out the way cos I only get sworn at as I come up the inside of them as they turn off.
W
rs the lot of them!pmanson said:
Lost track the idiots i've had to queue behind off the roundabout in the right hand lane who won't move over because they're going to turn right (even though there is nothing in the left hand lane!).
I've given up trying to flash them out the way cos I only get sworn at as I come up the inside of them as they turn off.
Ah, the 'Milton Keynes syndrome'. Round here, they often move into the right hand lane two roundabouts before the one they intend to turn right at, bless 'em, and will not budge.
pmanson said:
W
Quite.
Speaking of roundabouts in MK, the other day I was exiting one on one of the dual carriageways and a car was stopped in the left hand lane, just after the exit. Bearing in mind that you're never more than about 200 metres from a roundabout in this fair town so you can turn around very easily, the guy appeared to be contemplating going for reverse to get back onto the roundabout... The mind boggles.
sparkythecat said:
It wasn't Phers jimothy or Ribol you were talking to by any chance?
You mean this one:
Ribol said:
The middle lane numptie thing is something which people keep bringing up because it has become fashionable.
If you drive down some parts of the North Circ in the n/s lane you can take your hands off the wheel and the car with sit in the grooves it is so bad. Great for eating your lunch and having a drink whilst driving(joke) but not much good if you need to brake hard because the car goes all over the place.
Some roads are so busy that you end up zig zaging for miles to try and stay in the "correct" lane so I don't bother. If I am going faster than all the cars in the n/s lane I stay in the middle lane and if someone wants to go faster than me they can overtake in the outside lane.
If I actually come across a road with little traffic then I use the n/s lane. Whenever I drive outside the UK I mostly use the correct lane, the reason is the standard of roads are much better and there is less traffic.
There is no such thing as a middle lane numptie, there are however cr@p drivers who drive the same way on all roads without adapting to the road/traffic conditions. There is a time and a place for everything
Stand by ever word, I presume the sheep that are quoting the highway code don't speed then
IMO its one of two things, they either dont know their highway code or they are just bloody minded,either way there is no use of common sense or consideration of other road users,if ime overtaking a car in the left hand lane and ive completed the manouvre then why make something coming down behind me go out into the 3rd lane?
Common sense tells me to pull back in to lane one,ive been in situations myself when a car in front has overtaken a slower moving vehicle in lane 1 and they have cleared the slower moving vehicle,,myself coming down the middle lane going that bit quicker with an even faster car in the 3rd lane just about to ovetake me,ime at a safe distance from the car that has just overtaken the vehicle in lane 1 and waiting for him to slide back into lane one,,i cannot go into lane 3 because of the car overtaking me,i have known the car in front that ime waiting to slide back into lane one stay put causing me to brake and causing everthing else coming down behind to brake with a knock on affect,,do they not realise the danger of thier actions?,totaly bad driving in my mind and if there is a clear lane why dont they just use common sense??
its just a shame there wasnt a way plod could monitor this sort of driving closer as this has got to be more dangerous than speeding.
Common sense tells me to pull back in to lane one,ive been in situations myself when a car in front has overtaken a slower moving vehicle in lane 1 and they have cleared the slower moving vehicle,,myself coming down the middle lane going that bit quicker with an even faster car in the 3rd lane just about to ovetake me,ime at a safe distance from the car that has just overtaken the vehicle in lane 1 and waiting for him to slide back into lane one,,i cannot go into lane 3 because of the car overtaking me,i have known the car in front that ime waiting to slide back into lane one stay put causing me to brake and causing everthing else coming down behind to brake with a knock on affect,,do they not realise the danger of thier actions?,totaly bad driving in my mind and if there is a clear lane why dont they just use common sense??
its just a shame there wasnt a way plod could monitor this sort of driving closer as this has got to be more dangerous than speeding.
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