Driving

[felt-tip]

IF THE driver behind you is too close, indicate leisurely to your left and pull into the left hand lane when safe to do so. Let the impatient / quicker / tosser driver get past and continue driving, humming contentedly to Fleetwood Mac, knowing you have bigger battles to fight and more important things to worry about than petty and potentially dangerous acts of traffic vigilantism.

[waynetta]

LORRY DRIVERS Make time appear to stand still by attempting to overtake another lorry whilst taking care not to actually accelerate.

[Marie81]

Waynetta you are funny! I can't stand the majority of London drivers, everyone is in such a hurry and noone lets you out of a side road or says thankyou when you let them pass. I must say whenever I have had an issue with another driver it's always a man. I love to watch them in my rear view mirror, tempers boiling over as I slow down to stop them trying to overtake me, not on a motorway but on a normal road.

I still don't understand what the fuss is about with hogging the middle lane, everyone else does it, surely the slow lane is for under confident drivers doing less than the speed limit but the other two lanes you can use at your leisure not exceeding 70mph. Anyone doing over the speed limit is usually the type driving too close to the car in front putting other drivers in danger.

[felt-tip]

if someone comes up too close behind me I just pull over to the left and let them pass. I dont want to be involved in a road rage incident. Good on you though - really striking a blow for, err I'm not sure who.

[expat]

>I still don't understand what the fuss is about with hogging the middle lane

Read the highway code

[expat]

>IF THE driver behind you is too close, simply pull on the handbrake. This will not activate your brakelights and he will >have no warning that you are about to stop. Watch his face in your rear view mirror as his car slams into the back of you.

Especially good if it is a truck - his face is likely to be the last thing you see.

[waynetta]

DRIVERS Overcome boredom on motorway journeys by closing your eyes for as long as you dare, then daring yourself to close them for longer.

[DJKillaQueen]

surely the slow lane is for under confident drivers doing less than the speed limit

Err NO..as someone said above READ the highway code (unless of course you are trolling). If you don't know that rule goodness knows what other rules of the road you ignore which makes you an usafe driver I'm afraid.

[felt-tip]

I think the problem is that middle lane hoggers feel quite righteous about the fact they are 'enforcing' the speed limit even though their actions make motorways more dangerous and alot more congested.

[Marie81]

expat: I have no intention in reading the highway code, I found it boring studying it the first time so won't be doing it again.

I am not an unsafe driver. I never been involved in a accident, not even a minor one in all my years in driving and I know the highway code...ok all except the section on motorways! Perhaps I will google that rule now.

[Narnia]

DJ....you cycle don't you? You can have an opinion on anything you want but an informed opinion would be good sometimes. The highway code I'm pretty sure states the speed limit on a motorway is 70 mph. If someone is doing that safely in the middle lane,what exactly is the problem?

[Narnia]

felt-tip Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think the problem is that middle lane hoggers

> feel quite righteous about the fact they are

> 'enforcing' the speed limit even though their

> actions make motorways more dangerous and alot

> more congested.

I don't use motorways often but usually the inside lane is too slow and the outside lane is too fast. If there is a lack of traffic I'd always choose the inside lane as it feels safer.However to accuse people in the middle lane as being 'hoggers' suggests to me that you prefer to break the speed limit in the middle lane.Maybe there is less likelihood of you being caught as there is always some idiot going faster on the outside lane.

[DJKillaQueen]

So you don't know the highway code then and that kind of arrogance is an accident waiting to happen I'm afraid......

[Townleygreen]

Waynetta, you are totally wrong about this. If the inside lane is clear, that is where you should be. Stop showing your ignorance of good driving practice and the highway code. Speed is irrelevant. Don't be such a bollard!! lol

[DJKillaQueen]

Narnia, I cycle and I drive (for 18 years now) and I ride a motorcycle.....I think we can safely say I know about the rules of the road :)

The highway code clearly states that the middle lane and outside lanes are for overtaking only.

[Narnia]

Oh holy mother of Mary and all the Saints in every part of the Universe..........who obeys the Highway Code and it's 70 mph limit. The looneys in the outside lane don't. Leave the middle lane plodders alone.

[felt-tip]

Narnia - if the inside is too busy and too slow for you to be in it then by all means stay in the middle lane - you are after all overtaking.

It is when the inside lane is by and large empty and people in the middle lane are either driving at the same speed as the inside lane traffic (no overtaking) or there is no traffic to the left (again, no overtaking) that this middle lane hogging complaint relates to.

Whether compliance with this rule facilitates the crime of others driving at 71mph is the police's business and not the middle lane hoggers'.

[DJKillaQueen]

A good time time to see that is when driving at night on motorways. The inside lane has little traffic but there's always someone staying in the middle lane. I even once saw a middle lane hogger on an empty motorway....I was in the inside lane and had to pull out to the outside lane to overtake him....idiots....

[felt-tip]

I've experienced that too DJKQ, I didnt spot this FOOL until the very last minute as I was topping 120 in my BMW M3 (convertible) and I had to swerve abruptly across the road.

[Narnia]

Well excuse me but I'm an inside lane driver unless I have to overtake. What pisses me off is all those drivers who overtake me on the outside lane going well over 70. Pick on them for a change.

[DJKillaQueen]

That's usually the outside lane tho isn't it. Speeding drivers do get caught and I think eventually the gatso average speed camera will be rolled out on the motorways (there's already ANPR covering all of them).

[Narnia]

So you agree anyone going at 70 in any lane is ok then provided they don't get too close to another vehicle?

[KidKruger]

felt-tip Yesterday, 08:24PM :

"It is when the inside lane is by and large empty and people in the middle lane are either driving at the same speed as the inside lane traffic (no overtaking) or there is no traffic to the left (again, no overtaking) that this middle lane hogging complaint relates to. "

Exactly. We all use the middle lane at some point, but to cruise along irrespective of the speed of the left-lane is ignoring that there's a whole community of road users around you. If you're going same speed or slower than the left-lane then move aside.

[expat]

Marie81 wrote

>as I slow down to stop them trying to overtake me

and

>I am not an unsafe driver

In your opinion and if you drove like that you would fail the test.

[DJKillaQueen]

No Narnia I don't agree with that (and nor does the highway code). If the nearside lane has space you use that, with the middle lane for overtaking only. If the nearside lane is extremely busy, as it might be with lorries and other vehicles limited by law to lower speeds (with small gaps between vehichles), then you stay in the middle lane until such time as reasonable space becomes available in the nearside lane. That is a totally different attitude to thinking 'sitting in the middle lane no matter what' is ok.