HGV drivers............

[DRHysted]

You are reading something into my reply that doesn't exist. What I said was, if I am driving at 70mph as indicated by my sat nav then anyone overtaking is over the speed limit and it is fact that you can drive at 70mph in any of the three lanes of the motorway unless speed restrictions are in place. Oh, and it only happened to me once. My op related to what I witnessed going to Manchester this last Sunday night not what happened to me personally and I never asked for sympathy.

Just to try to point a simple misunderstanding you seem to have. You can not use all three lanes at 70 if the inside two are not in use. The law is that the inside lane is for normal driving, the others (unless marked otherwise) are for overtaking. Once you have completed your overtaking manoeuvre you should return to the inside lane. Feel free to pick and chose whatever road laws you wish to use, but do not tell others.

 

[DRHysted]

I regularly use the motorways at all times of the day and night, and it doesn't seem to make much difference to a lot of people's lane sense. 2am on the empty M6 going through the Lake District, and you still get people chugging along in the middle lane at 50mph when the left lane is empty (apart from some knight of the road HGV driver heading for Manchester airport, who is not allowed in the right hand lane, and therefore goes into the middle lane and gives the middle lane hog a gentle flash of the lights - from a safe distance, naturally - to try and coax them into using the left lane ).

What he said....
I tend to only do 2 long distance drives a year nowadays. Similar to HGV's I'm towing so can not use the outside lane if some stupid idiot is sitting in the middle lane doing 50 (which happens a lot). In this situation you can either sit behind them hoping at some point they'll wake up to the road laws and move over, break the law yourself by moving to the outside lane, or by overtaking using the inside lane.

 

[Brandane]

Oh, and it only happened to me once. My op related to what I witnessed going to Manchester this last Sunday night not what happened to me personally and I never asked for sympathy.

OK; so you come onto a forum for a "rant" because of something that didn't happen to you. Well, it did once, at some point in the past. Then you try to educate drivers about use of lanes on the motorway, wrongly as it happens, even according to the article you linked to in support of your version of lane discipline. It's the internet, why am I not surprised.

 

[steve50]

OK; so you come onto a forum for a "rant" because of something that didn't happen to you. Well, it did once, at some point in the past. Then you try to educate drivers about use of lanes on the motorway, wrongly as it happens, even according to the article you linked to in support of your version of lane discipline. It's the internet, why am I not surprised.

yeah you twist it to suit your own ends, I'm not trying to educate anyone just putting across my version of events but , ah well, like you say this is the internet. I've done here.

 

[Brandane]

What he said....
I tend to only do 2 long distance drives a year nowadays. Similar to HGV's I'm towing so can not use the outside lane if some stupid idiot is sitting in the middle lane doing 50 (which happens a lot). In this situation you can either sit behind them hoping at some point they'll wake up to the road laws and move over, break the law yourself by moving to the outside lane, or by overtaking using the inside lane.

I would recommend the passing up the inside option, rather than going into the right hand lane. You're more likely to get a sympathetic hearing if you get caught!

 

[steve50]

Just to try to point a simple misunderstanding you seem to have. You can not use all three lanes at 70 if the inside two are not in use. The law is that the inside lane is for normal driving, the others (unless marked otherwise) are for overtaking. Once you have completed your overtaking manoeuvre you should return to the inside lane. Feel free to pick and chose whatever road laws you wish to use, but do not tell others.

Just to clarify before I leave this thread for good, never have I stated that it is ok to drive at 70mph in the outer right hand lanes if the nearside lane is clear!
The speed limit on our m/ways is 70mph regardless of whether you are in lane one or two or three that is the speed limit , i can't say it much clearer than that.

i've never tried to "educate" anyone but there are some members on this forum who believe they are able to perceive how i think , drive etc and they can read things into the written word that does not exist, alas that is the nature of the internet, so i am now done on this thread.

 

[skudupnorth]

I have driven on that section of motorway a lot and see loads of vehicles flouting the 50mph limit and wonder what those nice cameras are actually doing when some drivers do not obey the law ? Are the speeders actually in any danger of being fined for breaking the average speed limit ? Like all types of road user, we only remember the bad ones whether they are driving a car, bike or in this case HGV drivers. When I am out cycling I find HGV's are normally the better vehicle to be passed by so it goes to show there are good ones about

 

[Katherine]

I have seen the kind of driving by HGVs, as mentioned in the op.
I have also been on the receiving end of aggressive tailgating by an HGV and it is not just intimidating but scary too.
Once, I moved into lane 2 of 4 before the M60 splits for the M60 or the M62, so I needed to get into lane 3. I was indicating right for ages but the driver just got closer and closer to me so I couldn't see past him in my mirror to find out if it was safe to pull out. I had to slow down or I would have run out of room. I had to wave my hand out of the window and point to my mirror to get him to back off, then I accelerated quicker than he could, to see round him and move over. Then he followed me, when it became 3 lanes further along, he overtook and tried to run me off the road. I had to swerve into the hard shoulder.

Now, when someone sits on my tail, so that I can't see past them in my mirror, I slow down until they back off.

The lane changes for the motorway network around Manchester can be difficult at the best of times and isn't helped by people not letting each other in or out.

 

[Drago]

If they're up your arriss gently slow down, then watch them angrily juggle a dozen or more gears as you accelerate away.

 

[Brandane]

[QUOTE 4158759, member: 259"]Is it still illegal in the UK? Or was it ever?[/QUOTE]
Depends on your (and the court's) interpretation of rule 268 of the Highway Code. Although not a specific offence in law, you could find yourself charged with careless driving (Road Traffic Act 1988 section 3) if your driving falls below the standard expected of a reasonably competent driver (or some such wording).
Rule 268 says:

Rule 268
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.

 

[mustang1]

In a 50 zone, the speed limit is 50 + 10% + 2, that's why the cops leave you alone.

The rules show this is the speed limit but the police seem to think the above formula is more appropriate, so why jkot be practical and help!the cops out.

 

[Tanis8472]

In a 50mph zone the speed limit is 50mph. No ifs or but's,

 

[Milkfloat]

Once, I moved into lane 2 of 4 before the M60 splits for the M60 or the M62, so I needed to get into lane 3. I was indicating right for ages but the driver just got closer and closer to me so I couldn't see past him in my mirror to find out if it was safe to pull out. I had to slow down or I would have run out of room.

Although it would have been nice to let you in, it is not his responsibility it is yours.

 

[Katherine]

Although it would have been nice to let you in, it is not his responsibility it is yours.

He was behind me and was too close for me to use my mirrors to change lane.

 

[Milkfloat]

He was behind me and was too close for me to use my mirrors to change lane.

It is still your responsibility, you are the one trying to make the manoeuvre.