I am a middle lane driver!!!
Discussion
Well I was driving home the other day when the M4 was deluged with rain. The inside lane was so cut up witht he lorry tracks and had so much standing water that my car moved about so much in the inside lane that I had to drive in the middle one. Normally I am keen on lane discipline, but what would the rest of you have done when the carriageway was soaked and the middle lane looked drier (Might have looked dry because everyone else was in this lane?)
T-J-K
Difficult one...
The inside lane with it's tracks in from lorries was covered in water, and looked dangerous to me, so I chose the option of the middle lane as being the safest for me and the other cars around me. Normally I will keep rigidly to lane discipline, but I took the decision that the conditions were too dangerous to travel on the inside because of the state of the carriageway.
No-one overtook me on the inside, but plenty went past on the outside despite the conditions well in excess of the speed limit. I was doing about 70, and being overtaken well in excess of this.
>> Edited by the jiffle king on Friday 7th March 08:41
The inside lane with it's tracks in from lorries was covered in water, and looked dangerous to me, so I chose the option of the middle lane as being the safest for me and the other cars around me. Normally I will keep rigidly to lane discipline, but I took the decision that the conditions were too dangerous to travel on the inside because of the state of the carriageway.
No-one overtook me on the inside, but plenty went past on the outside despite the conditions well in excess of the speed limit. I was doing about 70, and being overtaken well in excess of this.
>> Edited by the jiffle king on Friday 7th March 08:41
Yep with you on this one, I think it has been resurfaced but the stretch of M1 between Donington and Nottingham, lane 1 used to be a no go lane in the rain due to lorry track streams, the car would just hook up into the grooves and drive it's self, getting out of the grooves was a heart in mouth momment, and just crossing the ruts to get to the slip road was a white knucle ride 
It's the same on the M6 here in W Mids and up through to Lancs.
I'd never noticed quite how pronounced the 'gutters' in the inside lane were until I was driving North, early one morning, and the angle of the sun caught them.
Even in the dry, with the feel communicated through the steering on a decent car, you can tell how they unsettle the car as you cross/swap lanes, and how they tramline when you're in the lane.
In the wet, particularly with a light car, on wide tyres (i.e. the sort of motor many of us PHers drive) the risk of aquaplaning must be much grater in the inside lane. So IMHO, you did the right thing here.
>> Edited by DIGGA on Friday 7th March 09:05
I'd never noticed quite how pronounced the 'gutters' in the inside lane were until I was driving North, early one morning, and the angle of the sun caught them.
Even in the dry, with the feel communicated through the steering on a decent car, you can tell how they unsettle the car as you cross/swap lanes, and how they tramline when you're in the lane.
In the wet, particularly with a light car, on wide tyres (i.e. the sort of motor many of us PHers drive) the risk of aquaplaning must be much grater in the inside lane. So IMHO, you did the right thing here.
>> Edited by DIGGA on Friday 7th March 09:05
I have no qualms about driving in lane 2 if lane 1 has, in my opinion, not been maintained to a suitable standard. Twin ruts, several inches deep, like some old country by-way are in insult, considering the staggering contribution made by the motorist to the treasury. A dangerous insult.
The cerbera hates them, and my more normal car's none too keen, either.
The cerbera hates them, and my more normal car's none too keen, either.
clubsport said: I thought there was only one lane to drive in on the right.
The others are used only for joining & leaving the motorway.
That's my technique too. Just go fast enough that you are overtaking everything and pull over into the middle lane if someone wants to go past...
Well not quite actually.
More seriously - the state of the inside lane is often crap because of the beating it gets from HGVs. And yes - with my wide tyres and hard suspension there are sections of inside lane I just avoid...
whatever said: I have no qualms about driving in lane 2 if lane 1 has, in my opinion, not been maintained to a suitable standard. Twin ruts, several inches deep, like some old country by-way are in insult, considering the staggering contribution made by the motorist to the treasury. A dangerous insult.
The cerbera hates them, and my more normal car's none too keen, either.
I have always looked at middle lane drivers with disgust. Since I have owned the TVR I have sympathy for anyone owning a lightweight car. To drive in the inside lane can be a pretty scary experience, especially in the wet. With the ruts in the inside lane you end up playing life size scalextric with your car just following the rut.
raceboy said: I think it has been resurfaced but the stretch of M1 between Donington and Nottingham, lane 1 used to be a no go lane in the rain due to lorry track streams, the car would just hook up into the grooves and drive it's self, getting out of the grooves was a heart in mouth momment, and just crossing the ruts to get to the slip road was a white knucle ride
It's been resurfaced, but it's still appalling. The numpties plane spotting at 80mph don't help
Controversial moment: you all opted for the biggest wheel/tyre option on your cars,because it looked good, thereby knackering the small bump absorbtion, increasing tramlining, aquaplaning and road noise ?
>> Edited by jondokic on Friday 7th March 10:12
Jiffle, I was probably going down the same stretch in the opposite direction doing the same thing. The M4 near Reading is appalling for truck grooves, you can either weave gently from rut to rut, aquaplane down one run and home you don't have to do anything in a hurry or stay in the middle lane and feel like a numpty.
BTW, driving home down the M4 last night, between J12 and 13 I come upon a huge mobile traffic jam. When I finally got closer to the fornt of the jam, there was a
police dog van, pootling along at 69mph IN THE MIDDLE LANE!, nothing on the inside, but a HUGE queue of traffic waiting to pass at 70 in the outside lane, driver seemingly oblivious to the obstruction he was causing.
Edited to say: Jon, no std. S2000 wheel/tyre combination - anything else mucks up the handling. Also happens in the other half's MX-5 (again, std. wheels).
>> Edited by Mark Benson on Friday 7th March 10:15
BTW, driving home down the M4 last night, between J12 and 13 I come upon a huge mobile traffic jam. When I finally got closer to the fornt of the jam, there was a
police dog van, pootling along at 69mph IN THE MIDDLE LANE!, nothing on the inside, but a HUGE queue of traffic waiting to pass at 70 in the outside lane, driver seemingly oblivious to the obstruction he was causing. Edited to say: Jon, no std. S2000 wheel/tyre combination - anything else mucks up the handling. Also happens in the other half's MX-5 (again, std. wheels).
>> Edited by Mark Benson on Friday 7th March 10:15
Most of the M1 between Leicester and Derby is undrivable on the inside lane due to the gutters in the road. I just don't venture in them in the TVR even if the road's empty, which annoys me as a driver because I'm pretty sharp on lane discipline. whilst the better stretches are OK in the Rover, if it were tanking down with rain however I would certainly avoid them at all costs.
IMO it's better to make sure that you reach your destination than always practice what you preach...
DC
IMO it's better to make sure that you reach your destination than always practice what you preach...
DC
There is another rough stretch of the M4 westbound as you approach J6 Windsor & Slough. Inside lane has loads of bumps which irritate the Griff and huge strips carved out of it. I suppose they are lorry tracks.
Which brings me on. LORRIES. Listen to radio 5 in the morning and the traffic reports generally go, 'Lorry overturned at J15. Lorry on fire J23. Lorry sprawled across the carriageway at J2. Lorry shed its load at J999. Bloody lorries just being a general nuisance Junctions 1-infinity, etc etc etc'.
If the government would only sort out the railways they could get all the transport requirements back where they belong. I suspect the death rate amongst hitchhikers would drop to near zero too.......
Right, sorry. Done now
Which brings me on. LORRIES. Listen to radio 5 in the morning and the traffic reports generally go, 'Lorry overturned at J15. Lorry on fire J23. Lorry sprawled across the carriageway at J2. Lorry shed its load at J999. Bloody lorries just being a general nuisance Junctions 1-infinity, etc etc etc'.
If the government would only sort out the railways they could get all the transport requirements back where they belong. I suspect the death rate amongst hitchhikers would drop to near zero too.......
Right, sorry. Done now
Dai Capp said: Most of the M1 between Leicester and Derby is undrivable on the inside lane due to the gutters in the road. I just don't venture in them in the TVR even if the road's empty, which annoys me as a driver because I'm pretty sharp on lane discipline. whilst the better stretches are OK in the Rover, if it were tanking down with rain however I would certainly avoid them at all costs.
IMO it's better to make sure that you reach your destination than always practice what you preach...
DC
Regularly make the trip between Sheffield and Leicester and there are a few sections that are appalling. Depending on the speed/volume of traffic and quite where I am, I have done the same thing. If the left lane is slow then fine I'm in the middle or outside making progress. Have once been in the position of the outside two lanes crawling but the inside lane wet and empty, (heavy rain and at night). There was so much spray around the middle lane that I took the view that I'd stick on the inside and go slightly faster than the middle lane crawl, (couldn't see a thing in the middle lane, but was ok at this speed on the inside, I was maybe doing 35-40). The car was a little more skittish and I was between junctions otherwise I'd have left and taken an A road. I actually had someone pull out stick right on my tail and flash me; wanted me to pull to the right and let him past. He soon undertook on the hard shoulder and shot off at a hell of a rate of knotts.
donatien said: There is another rough stretch of the M4 westbound as you approach J6 Windsor & Slough. Inside lane has loads of bumps which irritate the Griff and huge strips carved out of it. I suppose they are lorry tracks.
They are addressing this from the end of April for 5 months, but I am sure it is lorries which cause this. My Chim in the wet feels the same at J6
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