Motorway Middle Lane Hoggers Can Be Fined On The Spot.

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Uh, oh ... missed that! apologies.

Were you in the middle lane

 

[Surrey Seagull]

You are now only allowed 25-30 seconds in either the middle or outer lane at motorway speed before the cops can pull you over and fine you.

You don't need to even "hogging the middle lane" to be fined, 25-30 seconds is enough. You lot really need to read the fine print on what is actually happening!

 

[otk]

With regard to enforcement of these new regs, it will probably be down to an officer's view of what is 'reasonable'. I remember reading that you are allowed to reverse a 'reasonable' distance on a road, meaning that if someone decides they want to drive five miles in reverse gear, this would be deemed 'unreasonable', etc. Cue the courts having to come up with a test case verdict at some point, on what is a reasonable distance to drive in the centre/outside lane...

 

[Surrey Seagull]

With regard to enforcement of these new regs, it will probably be down to an officer's view of what is 'reasonable'. I remember reading that you are allowed to reverse a 'reasonable' distance on a road, meaning that if someone decides they want to drive five miles in reverse gear, this would be deemed 'unreasonable', etc. Cue the courts having to come up with a test case verdict at some point, on what is a reasonable distance to drive in the centre/outside lane...

That's already been decided for them, it's half a mile which equates to 25-30 seconds.

"Police are likely to be given the powers to penalise the worst drivers – those who offend for half a mile or more – at the roadside, while lighter offenders will be invited to attend a refresher course on driving rules, similar to existing speed awareness courses."

The best bit is "worst offenders", driving for 30 seconds in a lane makes you a lane hogger!!! Imagine being caught in the middle lane for a whole minute, what's the punishment then, summary execution?

If you really want to know just how stupid this new law is, here's how the Government rates the "danger". The following will give you the same fine as being a "lane hogger" on the road;

Using a mobile phone whilst driving
Running a red light
Not giving way at a junction
Not wearing a seatbelt

Yeah I'm convinced too!

 

[franks brother]

About time they brought this in over here, they have been doing it in france for years

really annoys me when people overtake me then just sit in the middle lane for miles on end, anyone would think lane 1 was booby trapped or something

 

[portlock seagull]

Middle Lane Hogs leads to people undertaking which is dangerous.

 

[portlock seagull]

The most stunning bit about this legislation is that it's taken decades for authorities to act finally re: what we could all see - would and should have been a lot easier if they'd not let another 2 generations grow up getting into this cultural bad habit. Which means people might just might start to take notice in 20-30 years. Nice one Police and Politicians. Next you'll be tackling pubs in service stations...but first let them all open so it takes 30 years before someone admits it was a bad call.

 

[Garage_Doors]

No, this one isn't. Can you explain what message "Think Bike, Think Biker" is supposed to convey?

really If you need this explaining you are a danger on the roads.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Middle Lane Hogs leads to people undertaking which is dangerous.

I call them CLODs Centre Lane Only Drivers.

 

[Petunia]

Maybe in Heaven that happens but here, in the real world, most drivers seem to think that they can steam as far as possible down the emptying right hand lane and then just expect people to let them in 30 yards before the lane closes.

But if the right hand lane didn't empty, and the two lanes filtered one after the other at the end of the queue, there would be no pushing in, the length of the tailback would be halved and everyone would be happy. Oh, and if people stopped leaving such big gaps the tailback would be even shorter!!

 

[Weststander]

But if the right hand lane didn't empty, and the two lanes filtered one after the other at the end of the queue, there would be no pushing in, the length of the tailback would be halved and everyone would be happy. Oh, and if people stopped leaving such big gaps the tailback would be even shorter!!

True.

Those pulling over to the left lane pointlessly early on, seem to be riled by those who perfectly legally overtake the lot of them and then pull into the single lane as the cones/roadworks begin. None of their business.

 

[Sea Cider]

Absolute bollocks. In the UK the motorways are jammed full of trucks in the slow lane going 50-60mph. Are you seriously telling me that if I want to go 70-80 that I've got to weave in and out of the trucks and multitude of other slow traffic in the slow lane? If they want to improve traffic flow and safety, they'd be a million times better off doing the following:

1. Banning trucks from overtaking. Slow lane only morons, especially on 2-lane motorways
2. Setting minimum lane speed limits (say 70 for middle and 80 for right). If you want to go 50, stay in the left lane with all the trucks.
3. Instantly banning any driver found to be within '2 chevrons' of another. Being 6 feet from the rear bumper if the car in front is not going to help you get to your destination quicker, it's just going to guarantee that you cause everyone else a long delay if the car in front has to stop suddenly and you smash into them, and in any case reduces smooth flow of traffic when busy
4. Bans for dickheads who think they have a right to drive 100+ and undertake if you have the temerity to be going 80 in the right hand lane

 

[trueblue]

The problem with this is that merging as you meet the queue, rather than overtaking everyone and only merging once you reach the point where the road actually narrows, results in a great deal of road space not being used by anyone - thereby lengthening the queue and causing tailbacks to earlier junctions. The most efficient use of roadspace to optimise the capacity of the road is for as many drivers as possible to overtake everyone and merge late. It may seem unreasonable to do this, particularly to those drivers who are overtaken, but - on average - it's the best solution.

Some situations which require vehicles to merge are now equipped with signs to encourage late merging, rather than early merging.

Hurrah. Common sense. Why people think it's better for everyone to merge a mile before roadworks etc is beyond me. They're effectively extending the lane closure. Surely not that hard to understand.

 

[dougdeep]

It doesn't really matter if it's enforced or not. As long as it brings to the attention of some people that blocking motorways isn't a good idea then it will have helped.

 

[dougdeep]

1. Banning trucks from overtaking.

That's the silliest idea so far.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

The People who undertake I find far more dangerous, they should be made to retake their driving test after a minimum period of 6 months off the road. This would also see off many of our "overseas" dangerous drivers.

Whilst I see your point...would you undertake if you cannot pull out to overtake and the car in the middle lane is doing about 40 be it motorway or dual carriageway...

 

[Mellotron]

Absolute bollocks. In the UK the motorways are jammed full of trucks in the slow lane going 50-60mph. Are you seriously telling me that if I want to go 70-80 that I've got to weave in and out of the trucks and multitude of other slow traffic in the slow lane?

This is a fair point. This rule would create far more lane switching, and thus more chaos and accidents.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Absolute bollocks. In the UK the motorways are jammed full of trucks in the slow lane going 50-60mph. Are you seriously telling me that if I want to go 70-80 that I've got to weave in and out of the trucks and multitude of other slow traffic in the slow lane? If they want to improve traffic flow and safety, they'd be a million times better off doing the following:

1. Banning trucks from overtaking. Slow lane only morons, especially on 2-lane motorways
2. Setting minimum lane speed limits (say 70 for middle and 80 for right). If you want to go 50, stay in the left lane with all the trucks.
3. Instantly banning any driver found to be within '2 chevrons' of another. Being 6 feet from the rear bumper if the car in front is not going to help you get to your destination quicker, it's just going to guarantee that you cause everyone else a long delay if the car in front has to stop suddenly and you smash into them, and in any case reduces smooth flow of traffic when busy
4. Bans for dickheads who think they have a right to drive 100+ and undertake if you have the temerity to be going 80 in the right hand lane

You may or may not be aware that we have things called speed limits in this country, and the maximum is 70mph.

Just out of interest, are you one of those people who starts off in front of me in a queue, keeps on swapping lanes to get ahead, and ends up behind me.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Are you seriously telling me that if I want to go 70-80 that I've got to weave in and out of the trucks and multitude of other slow traffic in the slow lane?

Yes, new legislation needs to take into account breaking the speed limit!

 

[hitony]

Absolute bollocks. In the UK the motorways are jammed full of trucks in the slow lane going 50-60mph. Are you seriously telling me that if I want to go 70-80 that I've got to weave in and out of the trucks and multitude of other slow traffic in the slow lane? If they want to improve traffic flow and safety, they'd be a million times better off doing the following:

1. Banning trucks from overtaking. Slow lane only morons, especially on 2-lane motorways
2. Setting minimum lane speed limits (say 70 for middle and 80 for right). If you want to go 50, stay in the left lane with all the trucks.
3. Instantly banning any driver found to be within '2 chevrons' of another. Being 6 feet from the rear bumper if the car in front is not going to help you get to your destination quicker, it's just going to guarantee that you cause everyone else a long delay if the car in front has to stop suddenly and you smash into them, and in any case reduces smooth flow of traffic when busy
4. Bans for dickheads who think they have a right to drive 100+ and undertake if you have the temerity to be going 80 in the right hand lane

I can't disagree with most of this post.

It will make all lorry drivers happy!!