Discussion
My Mum's friend says that, no wait OK I was on the M4 behind middlelane numpty and fast lane and inside both clear. I go into the inside lane as i should and proceed. My mum's friend then gets angry and says I am undertaking. I tell him I have NO intention of moving back into the middle lane, but go faster than the middlelane man, I stay in my lane. Was I undertaking or just clearing the road
He also says to go faster than ANY car in the outer lanes is undertaking, I assume he is right.
He also says to go faster than ANY car in the outer lanes is undertaking, I assume he is right.
[pedanticmode]
Your both wrong, undertaking is carried out by funeral undertakers
What you were doing is 'overtaking on the inside' and is technically illegal.
[/pedanticmode]
If you are on a crowded motorway, in lane 1 and your lane is going faster than lanes 2 and 3 then OK (beware people cutting in though). If you were on a relatively clear motorway then you should use lane 3 to overtake 'middle-lane numpty', and then move back to lane 1.
Your both wrong, undertaking is carried out by funeral undertakers
What you were doing is 'overtaking on the inside' and is technically illegal. [/pedanticmode]
If you are on a crowded motorway, in lane 1 and your lane is going faster than lanes 2 and 3 then OK (beware people cutting in though). If you were on a relatively clear motorway then you should use lane 3 to overtake 'middle-lane numpty', and then move back to lane 1.
kevinday said:
If you are on a crowded motorway, in lane 1 and your lane is going faster than lanes 2 and 3 then OK (beware people cutting in though). If you were on a relatively clear motorway then you should use lane 3 to overtake 'middle-lane numpty', and then move back to lane 1.
Making sure of course that you take a small sliver of paint off numpties front o's corner in the process, even better if there are several like minded motorists who do this too, all in quick succession. Then continue in lane 1 with your n's indicator flashing until you are out of sight. Not that I would ever be so childish, I just stay in lane 1 and wave as I pass.
I'm not sure its illegal and its something that has puzzled me for a while - the Highway Code says 'do not' overtake on the left, wheras normally when something is illegal it says 'MUST NOT' and then gives a reference to the law that makes it illegal. For example it says you MUST NOT overtake on the hard shoulder 
I tend not to do it - preferring to overtake in case middle lane numpty chooses the particular moment that I'm passing them to move back into the inside lane. I also find catching them up in the inside lane, crossing 2 lanes to overtake them and then crossing the 2 lanes back again tends to make them pull back to the inside too... Wonder if they really are so lost in their own little world they don't realise the inside lane is empty until someone demonstrates it right in front of them
I tend not to do it - preferring to overtake in case middle lane numpty chooses the particular moment that I'm passing them to move back into the inside lane. I also find catching them up in the inside lane, crossing 2 lanes to overtake them and then crossing the 2 lanes back again tends to make them pull back to the inside too... Wonder if they really are so lost in their own little world they don't realise the inside lane is empty until someone demonstrates it right in front of them
Overtaking on the nearside is NOT illegal.
moving to the nearside, passing and then returning to your offside is the official definition of undertaking as defined earlier this year in court.
Whilst a nearside overtake is not illegal, extreme caution must be exercised as the MLN could move over without checking or after checking whilst your in his blindspot. The Bib can prosecute you for Driving without Due Care if in their opinion you were reckless in you overtake.
edited to clarify legal definition.
>> Edited by 5ltr-chim on Monday 6th September 22:11
d-man said:
I also find catching them up in the inside lane, crossing 2 lanes to overtake them and then crossing the 2 lanes back again tends to make them pull back to the inside too
If thats the way they do it 'up north' then they are more observant than in the midlands or the south. They never move over in my experience. The really weird ones are those who block lane 2 of a dual carriageway, but will move to lane 1 to allows folks to pass, but then move back to lane 2 again once you've passed, and then repeat the cycle with the mext motorist who comes up on them. Will someone please explain that one to me?
>> Edited by Balmoral Green on Monday 6th September 22:18
Balmoral Green said:
The really weird ones are those who block lane 2 of a dual carriageway, but will move to lane 1 to allows folks to pass, but then move back to lane 2 again once you've passed, and then repeat the cycle with the mext motorist who comes up on them. Will someone please explain that one to me?
Er - numpies of the first water. There's no explaining them.
I had this happen to me on the M4 going west near Swindon. Totally clear road - nobody around but me and the numpty occupying lane *THREE* at 55mph in his 20-year-old volvo estate, who only moved over to lane 2 to let me pass after a lot of flashing; gesticulated rudely at me as I passed and then pulled straight back out into lane 3 two feet behind me and flashed at me for the next 20 seconds as I pulled away in lane 1. He remained in lane 3 until I lost sight of him. Sheesh!
I find this happens a lot on the 4-lane sections of the M25. Anyone else been in lane 1 and cruised past someone hogging lane 3?
gh0st said:
middle lane hoggers.....absolute numpties... 
Street
Do you have the stuffed heads of the morons of which you speaketh hanging on your wall as trophys?
If only...I've roasted many of the such numpties..(when I've got a few minutes)....
The stuff that comes out of their mouths..."I was just listening to Radio 2"..
You will get a reception in lane 1, I told him... Street
Balmoral Green said:
The really weird ones are those who block lane 2 of a dual carriageway, but will move to lane 1 to allows folks to pass, but then move back to lane 2 again once you've passed, and then repeat the cycle with the mext motorist who comes up on them. Will someone please explain that one to me?
Preparing to turn right at the roundabout at the end, of course....
Don't see the problem with undertaking. Spent a couple of weeks driving in California where it is legal and the roads flowed quite happily at speeds well in excess of the posted limit ... no cameras at all ... it was great. Mind you ... drivers there seem to be far better mannered than they are in this country .. perhaps thats why it works. There are far too many arseholes on British roads for yundertaking to be safe ...
The Wiz said:
Don't see the problem with undertaking. Spent a couple of weeks driving in California where it is legal and the roads flowed quite happily at speeds well in excess of the posted limit ... no cameras at all ... it was great. Mind you ... drivers there seem to be far better mannered than they are in this country .. perhaps thats why it works. There are far too many arseholes on British roads for yundertaking to be safe ...
Yes, like the tw@t who was behind me on the M6 recently! A five car queue ahead in the right-hand lane, we're all passing a truck in the middle lane and we're all doing a steady 75mph (
), but safely spaced out, when this gonk comes screaming up behind me, he must have been doing 110mph. Not content to wait, he pulls into the middle lane and passes all but the front two cars in the queue and just before ploughing into the back of the truck, forces his way back into the right lane, braking hard as he does it and causing the driver of the car he has squeezed ahead of to also brake hard - the subsequent 'snooker ball effect' has us all braking. What a TW@T! And did he gain anything by this manouver? No not really - just about 3 or 4 seconds in time which was all lost again immediately! Because he was still stuck in the same queue, just three cars further up, then later, when the traffic dispersed again, the two cars behind him moved over, which they would have done anyway once they passed the truck and he would have passed them then, and I overtook him half a mile down the road!
I was in two minds whether to give him a tap and fire him into a field!
But of course I don't do that sort of thing on public roads! 
M6 Toll road is the "best" place to find d'heads like this. OK, so the road is virtually empty, but that's no excuse. Up and down there earlier this year, I lost count of the number of people in the wrong place for miles at a time. I followed one guy who was all over the place between all lanes, no indicating, and I could see why - he hadn't got a spare hand because he was holding his mobile phone to his ear at 95mph. Might as well have had a sign up 'nick me, nick me'.
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