3 lanes on a motorway!
Discussion
........no its not the start of a bad joke! Although it is a joke of sorts...
correct me if im wrong, the two outer lanes are for overtaking. So why if people aren't overtaking do they sit in the middle lane??
personally i have no problem with being in the left hand lane...
do these people feel safer there or something??
now if i am in the left hand lane and there is nothing in front of me to overtake, but there is someone in the lane to my right and i pull past, have i done anything wrong???
correct me if im wrong, the two outer lanes are for overtaking. So why if people aren't overtaking do they sit in the middle lane??
personally i have no problem with being in the left hand lane...
do these people feel safer there or something??
now if i am in the left hand lane and there is nothing in front of me to overtake, but there is someone in the lane to my right and i pull past, have i done anything wrong???
Yes. Even though the person sitting in the middle or ouside lane is a moron. If you undertake and there's any sort of incident, you will be fully blamed. Also, if it's witnessed by the BiB, you'll be in troube (see highway code!). Personally, i find the 'slalom' that middle-lane-morons set up for me makes motorway riding more interesting.
doc3 said:
Yes. Even though the person sitting in the middle or ouside lane is a moron. If you undertake and there's any sort of incident, you will be fully blamed. Also, if it's witnessed by the BiB, you'll be in troube (see highway code!).
Overtaking on the left is not illegal
Providing you do not block another drivers path
The highway code only advises that you pass on the right
The highway code says:
116: On a two-lane dual carriageway you should stay in the left-hand lane. Use the right-hand lane for overtaking or turning right. If you use it for overtaking move back to the left-hand lane when it is safe to do so.
117: On a three-lane dual carriageway, you may use the middle lane or the right-hand lane to overtake but return to the middle and then the left-hand lane when it is safe.
I must admit I can't find anything legal about this but I'm sure I remember a debate about whether it should be made legal to undertake and it was thrown out because of the danger of accidents.
Some of the feedback on here just provides more proof that coppers are able to apply a degree of judgement and common sense
I haven't lived in UK for some years, but as far as I know, undertaking is illegal/contrary to the highway code. So if you move across to the left to undertake you could be fined. I think that if you are already in your lane and merely stay there, but end up going past someone it is not so clear and I guess would depend on other circumstances like, how much faster than the other vehicle you were going, road conditions, etc.
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him. Funny what people's views can be on lane discipline . . . ! You've probably opened up a can of worms with this one, fella!!
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him. Funny what people's views can be on lane discipline . . . ! You've probably opened up a can of worms with this one, fella!!
HWC_Section_242 said:
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
You'd probably get away with this if you'd been in Lane 1 for aaages before the undertake, but it does explicitly frown on the nippy little undertakes and back again.
Why not reduce bloodpressure, and try and break the current 12 lap record for an MLM?
remal said:
doc3 said:
Yes. Even though the person sitting in the middle or ouside lane is a moron. If you undertake and there's any sort of incident, you will be fully blamed. Also, if it's witnessed by the BiB, you'll be in troube (see highway code!).
Overtaking on the left is not illegal
Providing you do not block another drivers path
The highway code only advises that you pass on the right
The highway code says:
116: On a two-lane dual carriageway you should stay in the left-hand lane. Use the right-hand lane for overtaking or turning right. If you use it for overtaking move back to the left-hand lane when it is safe to do so.
117: On a three-lane dual carriageway, you may use the middle lane or the right-hand lane to overtake but return to the middle and then the left-hand lane when it is safe.
I must admit I can't find anything legal about this but I'm sure I remember a debate about whether it should be made legal to undertake and it was thrown out because of the danger of accidents.
Some of the feedback on here just provides more proof that coppers are able to apply a degree of judgement and common sense
Not exactly correct Matt. You can overtake in the middle lane BUT ONLY if you are overtaking people in the inside lane. YOU CANNOT overtake people in the outside lane UNLESS you are in a queue of traffic that keeps speeding up/slowing down. You can ONLY overtake on the inside lane in exactly the same circumstances OR if you are coming off the slip road and the traffic to your right is stationary or going very very slow.
Hope that helps
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 21st May 13:42
gethyn said:
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him.
how the hell is it safer???
essex.newb!! said:
gethyn said:
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him.
how the hell is it safer???
I reckon just diving over to lane 3 without thinking or consideration of what else is on the motorway is the hallmark of a t
ttish driver. 
There is a point of view that being over in lane 3 for a left hand bend on the motorway is safer, because it affords you further vision through the bend. I'd also say that when approaching a junction, lane 3 would give you more space and time to react to traffic merging onto the motorway.
Both of those points have to be balanced with what's in your rear view mirrors though, and your actions assessed and prioritised in view of all the hazards you can see or anticipate at that point in time.
As for people asleep in the middle lane, it drives me nuts as well, but I don't pass them on the left for my own safety. If they're dumb enough to be just sitting there in the first place, they're probably dumb enough to pull left at the exact moment you'd be 'undertaking' them
essex.newb!! said:
gethyn said:
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him.
how the hell is it safer???
His view was that in the outside lane there are no hazards such as slip roads to deal with so he can just sit there 'safely'. He claimed this was better than, even on an empty motorway, staying in the left hand lane and having to watch out at junctions or move across if traffic was entering from a slip road. As I said, I didn't agree with his view!
gethyn said:
essex.newb!! said:
gethyn said:
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him.
how the hell is it safer???
His view was that in the outside lane there are no hazards such as slip roads to deal with so he can just sit there 'safely'. He claimed this was better than, even on an empty motorway, staying in the left hand lane and having to watch out at junctions or move across if traffic was entering from a slip road. As I said, I didn't agree with his view!
I dispair sometimes at the total lack of driving abilty and roadcraft that some drivers have!
gethyn said:
essex.newb!! said:
gethyn said:
There was a long thread about this on one of the car forums recently and one chap got very angry because some of us criticised him for stating that he always sits in the third lane because it is safer there, no matter what else is on the road and he then pulls over if a faster car comes up behind. (no doubt if he reads this he'll join in on this thread!). I could see his argument for doing it, although I totally disagreed with him.
how the hell is it safer???
His view was that in the outside lane there are no hazards such as slip roads to deal with so he can just sit there 'safely'. He claimed this was better than, even on an empty motorway, staying in the left hand lane and having to watch out at junctions or move across if traffic was entering from a slip road. As I said, I didn't agree with his view!
ok i know you didnt agree bud but i dont get how he could say that.. i mean,,,,,,what he's effectively saying is that he wants to sit there and not even have to engage his brain while travelling at speed. that's why these people fcuk me off.
Edited by essex.newb!! on Monday 21st May 17:36
Just to clarify whats been said, and I know this has been done to death, but the highway code is not the LAW.
Even though technically overtaking on the left is not illegal (there's no crime under the road traffic act of "Overtaking on the left" (as far as I knoW!) - whereas there is for speeding etc,) because of the nature of the manouevour we all know its usually a bad idea (as most tts wont look over their shoulder before pulling back in) and that the BiB are almost certainly going to take a dim view of it.
So even though you wont get done for "overtaking" you may well end up being done with Dangerous driving.... which I wouldn't want to have to confess to at renewal time.
I think generally the BiB get just as frustrated with it and will pull lane hoggers over, however if you happen to drop a cog and fly through just as they are about to pull them, then I expect they'll leave him in his doze and come after you.
Cheers,
JC
Even though technically overtaking on the left is not illegal (there's no crime under the road traffic act of "Overtaking on the left" (as far as I knoW!) - whereas there is for speeding etc,) because of the nature of the manouevour we all know its usually a bad idea (as most t
ts wont look over their shoulder before pulling back in) and that the BiB are almost certainly going to take a dim view of it. So even though you wont get done for "overtaking" you may well end up being done with Dangerous driving.... which I wouldn't want to have to confess to at renewal time.
I think generally the BiB get just as frustrated with it and will pull lane hoggers over, however if you happen to drop a cog and fly through just as they are about to pull them, then I expect they'll leave him in his doze and come after you.
Cheers,
JC
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