Fined for hogging the middle of the road

[Brandane]

If you go abroad (I have driven in the USA and Canada) where everyone is going along at the same speed (the legal limit and not a single mph more) then the issue does not arise. Over there they have very bad lane discipline but no one is deemed a road hog.

They have very bad lane discipline because they are allowed to use any lane for passing.
Your experience of them sticking rigidly to the speed limit is not what I have found.
The fact remains that middle lane hoggers on a 3 lane motorway are effectively cutting the road capacity by 33%. There is no good reason for it. Thoughtless, selfish nobbers all of them.

 

[Drago]

Bottom line is you're supposed to drive as far left as the traffic conditions permit. If you can't manage something as simple as that you're not fit to be behind the wheel.

Might as well lock the thread now

 

[Archie_tect]

It's a metaphor for life really...

 

[Drago]

Dressing to the left?

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

The other day I was cruising along as usual in my BMW coming to one of my motorways,which was very busy with inferior cars.

First off, I could not believe that the traffic didn't slow down for me at all as I came off the slip road! I had to squeeze into a small gap between two cars In order to get onto my motorway (the driver of the car behind did realise his mistake though and gave me a long blast of his horn to apologise). Unbelievably I had to do the same again before I could get into the BMW lane. Anyway I was soon in the BMW lane and tootling along at 110 mph enjoying the adulation that the inferior car drivers were giving me .

After a while I noticed an inferior car not only in front of me but in the BMW lane and driving at a ridiculous 70mph. Naturally I got a foot or so off his rear bumper and flashed my headlights to remind him that he was in the BMW lane and to get out of my way. Once he realised it was a BMW behind him, he did just that but I could hardly believe it when he pulled straight back out behind me. He then tried to keep up with me but when he realised I would out run himm he put on some blue lights that were hidden in his grille and urged me to pull onto the hard shoulder so that he could congratulate me on my excellent car. Needless to say, I was eager to oblige and when we stopped the man gave me a piece of paper confirming what I already knew - that my car goes fast! Apparently he wants everyone to know what a superior car I have so I had to take my licence to a police station to have some points put on it. They're not free either they're £20 each and I was only allowed 3 but the man at the police station said that because I drive a BMW, it wont be much longer before I earn the full 12 points. At which point I won't even need a driving licence, so it would be taken off me!

See, now that's the sort of respect you get when you drive a BMW

 

[mybike]

[QUOTE 3762520, member: 9609"]You certainly do get the clowns who sit in the middle lane at 50mph and they should be escorted off the road. However I do imagine that the majority of people getting their knickers in a knot over lane hoggers are sitting behind someone who is doing, or at least thinks they are doing the speed limit.

I would suspect the widely differing calibration of speedometers does cause problems - we are all aware of the Mercs, Beamers and Audis in the fast lane, part of the reason for this is they have very accurate speedometers, the bloke in the Citeron doing 80 things the BMW must be doing 90, truth is they both think they are doing 80.

I have a Berling Van whos speedometer is nearly 10% out, at 70 I am only doing 63½ - my wife has a Mercedes and at 70, it is doing 70. I would get pretty frustrated sitting in the fast lane behind someone only doing 63mph.

Someone pointed out earlier regarding lorries passing him in a 50 zone on a motorway, tachographs are pretty accurate, the truck may well be only doing 50 and he may well be only doing 45.[/QUOTE]

I doubt very much that those 'quality' cars do have more accurate speedos. More likely that those exceeding the speed limit are just doing that. My Focus had an error of about -2mph at 40MPH and I doubt it was much different at 70. A GPS can give you a fairly accurate reading and the signs warning you of your speed are quite accurate too.

 

[Pathfoot]

Can you confirm that you agree that someone doing 80 on a motorway, should not be doing 80 on a motorway.

There are vehicles that may legally exceed the speed limit on a motorway or other road, therefore, it's not generally true to say that someone doing 80 mph on a motorway shouldn't be doing 80mph, though most times, that will be true. The emergency services and other medical or coastguard services may also have blue light capability.

Regardless, it's not the function of any driver to act as a speed regulator or traffic controller for other vehicles, and should not use his vehicle in order to control or influence the speed or course of any other driver. Expert advice is to get out of the way of a tailgater as soon as safely possible. I'd certainly rather have a tailgater in front of me, where I can see what he's doing and keep a safe distance, than behind me where most of my attention cannot be, and risk him misjudging braking distance if I have to decelerate quickly.

 

[Milkfloat]

Well that is the case if you have a blinkered view.


If you go abroad (I have driven in the USA and Canada) where everyone is going along at the same speed (the legal limit and not a single mph more) then the issue does not arise. Over there they have very bad lane discipline but no one is deemed a road hog.

On average drivers in the U.S. speed to a greater extent than Europeans (except Russia). I have billions of points of data to prove this.

You may be surprised to find, that average speeds on motorways are actually well below 70mph.

The 'middle lane hogged' is rarely going at 70, they are slower, partly due to the average speedo over reading by up to 6% and partly because an indicated 70 is the maximum they will drive.

 

[Scrapheap Challenge]

I'm thinking of becoming a camera wielding nobber.

I'm so sick of poor driving, I'd love to get some - most - drivers disqualified. Yesterday:

Pulling out onto a motorway at 70mph across two lanes far too close to traffic...whilst texting.

I try and avoid motorways now,for this very reason.(oops eight pages in)

 

[Pathfoot]

The speed limit applies to all vehicles - including emergency vehicles. Therefore the statement is generally true.

If an emergency vehicle can lawfully exceed the speed limit, then it makes no sense whatsoever to say that it "shouldn't be exceeding the speed limit", since the law makes explicit allowance for the necessity this may involve.

What the emergency vehicle must continue to do is observe safety requirements and due care, but that is a different thing from saying that an emergency vehicle responding to an emergency where speed of response is of the essence should not exceed the national limit even where it is essential to response time..

 

[Dan B]

[ deletes attempt to score pedant point by noting that "all vehicles" somewhere upthread should probably say "all motor vehicles" ]

 

[Archie_tect]

except tractors and electric tricycles.... and mopeds.

 

[Over The Hill]

There are vehicles that may legally exceed the speed limit on a motorway or other road, therefore, it's not generally true to say that someone doing 80 mph on a motorway shouldn't be doing 80mph, though most times, that will be true. The emergency services and other medical or coastguard services may also have blue light capability.

Regardless, it's not the function of any driver to act as a speed regulator or traffic controller for other vehicles, and should not use his vehicle in order to control or influence the speed or course of any other driver. Expert advice is to get out of the way of a tailgater as soon as safely possible. I'd certainly rather have a tailgater in front of me, where I can see what he's doing and keep a safe distance, than behind me where most of my attention cannot be, and risk him misjudging braking distance if I have to decelerate quickly.

First point - this is a chat thread not a legal document. You are being ridiculously pedantic picking up any exception for emergency vehicles. We are talking about normal road users.

Second point - I have not at any point suggested that the so called lane hogger should hog the lane or act as any sort of speed controller.

My point is that when looking at the issue, it should be kept in mind that in most cases the middle lane hogger is travelling at the maximum legal speed for the road. The driver who is calling him a lane hog is driving illegally by speeding.

Most or all of you responding to my posts are it seems supporting the speeding driver over the lane hogger. I am simply pointing out both to be in the wrong not just one of them.

in pari delicto potior est conditio defendentis
In law we have the "clean hands doctrine". a case in which involved parties are mutually or equally at fault. In such cases where a party's own conduct is mutually wrongful, that party may not claim damages or satisfaction from the other(s) in a court of law.
I know this is the road not a law court but I am simply applying a legal principle.
If hogger is doing 50 and car behind 70 then hogger is totally in the wrong.
If hogger is doing 70 and car behind 80 then they are both in the wrong.

 

[tyred]

A special place in Hell should be reserved for the tractor driver who decided to pull into my path while I was in the overtaking lane about to overtake him, making me and those behind me brake hard and then proceed to overtake another tractor whilst going 0.0005mph faster and the two of them sat side by side creating a 20mph rolling roadblock for the entire length of the NSL dual carriageway section of the N4 south of Sligo on Saturday.

 

[mybike]

[QUOTE 3763336, member: 45"]Then your point has changed. A couple of pages ago you said that a speeding driver was responsible for the lane hogger hogging the first overtaking lane.

In both of your cases here, and regardless of the speed of either vehicle, if the car in the first overtaking lane should be in the default lane then he's a lane hogger. There is no shared responsibility for this, so it makes no sense that you keep banging on about another driver.[/QUOTE]

Methinks he said that the lane hogger would not be a problem if the speeding driver were keeping to the speed limit. Indeed a lot of problems are caused by speeding drivers.

FWIW, changing lanes is a hazardous manoeuvre and if the likelihood is that you will be pulling out again very shortly it is probably better to stay in the middle lane. And as already been mentioned, where traffic is entering the road from a slip road it is a good idea to move to the middle lane to give them room if necessary. That is not lane hogging but driving intelligently.