Another driving one...

[Donkmeister]

WARNING: Another driving one, so anyone who finds these sorts of posts boring should probably just leave.

I usually keep left on the motorway, but when there's a lot of lorries I get sick of people drawing alongside without overtaking, so forcing me to slow down before I pull out behind them to overtake a lorry. When it gets like that I often stay in lane 2 unless there is a big gap before the next lorry. My justification is that I'm generally going a bit over the limit anyway, and there's still at least 1 lane (usually 2 or 3) to overtake me.

For one reason or another, a lot of people do the same, but occasionally you get someone who has an obsession with keeping left who cuts you up in an effort to "teach you a lesson" about lane discipline. Generally they are oblivious to the irony that they're driving 90+mph!!!

Anyway, after looking at the Highway Code for the first time in 12 years, I've noticed that there's nothing saying "Thou must keep to lane 1 or face the wrath of lane 1 man!!!" - instead it just says you have to return to the middle or left lane "when it is safe to do so", i.e. not half a car length from the car you've just overtaken.

So there.

Won't do any good, mind. They won't hear me as I shout it to them from the middle lane!

(I'm not a member of the "middle-lane owners' club", those people who always drive in the middle lane regardless of speed or traffic!)

 

[ColJack]

not to be picky, but the hghiway code is just a guide to the law.. and as is often the case with such guides, is based on several peoples concensus of what the law actually says.. and as such may be flawed in it's interpretation..

and..
from the online hiway code bit of the direct.gov website..

264
You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past.

 

[Donkmeister]

not to be picky,

You're responding to a man who has just written a post quoting the semantics of the highway code, pick away!!!

I see your point, it's just the word "safely" that made me think about it. I know that when a car is yanked across several lanes quickly, at high-speed, it is far less stable than if it is gently steered from one lane to the next. I wouldn't suggest you try this anywhere but a disused runway, but you can quite easily spin a car by yanking the wheel one way then the next at motorway speed.

Not to mention, pulling in front of someone without leaving a safe gap is worse than tailgating, as you are more likely to throw up stones/surface water and if you suddenly need to brake, they may not have time to avoid hitting you.

 

[ColJack]

I was actually aiming at the

there's nothing saying "Thou must keep to lane 1....

and

it just says you have to return to the middle or left lane

bits of your post..

says quite clearly that you should return to lane 1 and not drive in the middle lane when the left hand lane is clear..

I'm not condoning the actions of those idiots who cut people up

I've forced a lorry driver to pull back in on one occasion.. not my proudest moment but I'd had enough.
they were 2 abrest going up a long incline..
the lorry in the middle lane was maybe 1/2 a mile and hour faster than the one in the left hand lane.. both doing no more than about 50..
so I overtook and pulled in sufficiently far in front of the middle lorry and slowed down gently forcing him to do the same or break the law .. he eventually pulled in behind the other lorry after losing his "extra momentum"...

 

[sooey]

Just do as I do, stay in the middle lane and when someone tries to overtake put your foot down a bit.
It's what the accelerator pedal was made for.

 

[tim west]

Isnt it in the Ten Commandments?

Thou shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

I'm sure one has broken that one whilst driving

 

[conny]

[/quote]the lorry in the middle lane was maybe 1/2 a mile and hour faster than the one in the left hand lane.. both doing no more than about 50..
so I overtook and pulled in sufficiently far in front of the middle lorry and slowed down gently forcing him to do the same or break the law .. he eventually pulled in behind the other lorry after losing his "extra momentum"...

Thought I was the only one that knew that trick!

 

[CortinaV8]

Sometimes there really is no point pulling back into the slow lane if you are making progress of other cars.

Sometimes you come across middle lane man where there is no traffic for miles, and no excuse really. If I am bored I play a game, overtake, pull in front, squirt washers, drop into slow lane and then drop in behind, repeat.

Aim of the game is to see how many times you can do it until they move over.

 

[ColJack]

Isnt it in the Ten Commandments?

Thou shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

I'm sure one has broken that one whilst driving

oi, no religion on the boards please..
what you do in the privacy of your own place of worship to whatever deity you choose is between it and you..
we don't wan't or need to know.. so keep the religious drivel off the boards..

 

[tim west]

if god wanted us to have forums he'd have been a mod.
what you mean he is??

 

[gregers]

as far as i can remember they are overtaking lanes and im sure it says somewhere in that great book that once the manouver has been completed then you should proceed to the inside lane,i do agree that with the lorrys stuck in lane 1 then there is no pint in swerving all over the motorway,but like that famous advert a few years back by the AA which showed the van driving down an empty motorway in lane 2 then that imo is a bit silly.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Anyone who stays put in the middle lane needs to have their balls electrocuted.

This boils my pi$$ more than X Factor, Jeremy Kyle, Chavs and motoring threads on this forum (oh, and caravans).

 

[ricicle]

As an aside, if I am in the left hand lane (or middle lane) and the lane to my right slows down for some reason, do I have to slow down as well or can I pass them on their left if my lane is still clear ?

 

[WDIK]

As an aside, if I am in the left hand lane (or middle lane) and the lane to my right slows down for some reason, do I have to slow down as well or can I pass them on their left if my lane is still clear ?

yes

 

[securespark]

Is the answer to which question??