Speeding on a motorway

Dogbreath said:
We aren't in the USA however. In the US you can overtake on the left or right, which you (lawfully) can not in the UK, so hogging the middle/outer lanes causes problems and people that do it are cretins.
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I am aware that we are not in the USA, thanks for pointing that out.

I agree that it unfortunately does not work here. However this is only due to the way people have been educated on how to treat multi lane roads and our backwards passing laws. It does not make people who think our system is rubbish and should be changed "cretins".
 
Jez said:
It does not make people who think our system is rubbish and should be changed "cretins".
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I agree, but that's not what I said. People are entirely free to think what they want, and lobby for change.

The cretins are the ones that don't just think the system is rubbish, but hog the middle/outer lanes anyway, somehow believing they are more important than anyone else on the road. Every single day that I drive to/from work I am held up behind people like this who refuse to leave their nice comfortable lane to let other cars pass.

FYI it's not mandatory to use cruise control whenever you can, if the traffic conditions make driving correctly with cruise on difficult then simply switch it off.
 
I'd be interested to see some studies to compare the traffic flow performance of different driving systems.

I'm sure it's something which can be simulated.
 
Dogbreath said:
The cretins are the ones that don't just think the system is rubbish, but hog the middle/outer lanes anyway, somehow believing they are more important than anyone else on the road. Every single day that I drive to/from work I am held up behind people like this who refuse to leave their nice comfortable lane to let other cars pass.
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You have to wonder why people wishing to break the traffic laws by speeding (and therefore getting held up behind people cruising at 70mph) don't simply pass on the left?

FWIW i do not do this, i do keep left where possible out of general courtesy, but not because i believe it is the correct way to drive.
 
Jez said:
You have to wonder why people wishing to break the traffic laws by speeding (and therefore getting held up behind people cruising at 70mph) don't simply pass on the left?

FWIW i do not do this, i do keep left where possible out of general courtesy, but not because i believe it is the correct way to drive.
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I would consider undertaking someone genuinely a lot more dangerous than merely just exceeding the speed limit (slightly). You see it all time, someone pootling in the outside lane with traffic behind them and they'll just randomly move in even though the inside lane will have been clear for ages. They just need to do that when someone behind them has had enough and you've got an accident or near miss.
 
Jez said:
You have to wonder why people wishing to break the traffic laws by speeding (and therefore getting held up behind people cruising at 70mph) don't simply pass on the left?
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Primarily because it can be a risky manoeuvre. If the lane hogging cretin decides to pull over as you are passing on the wrong side (either because they simply don't bother with observations, or because they have seen you and take exception to being overtaken), then you'll probably be the one at fault.

I occasionally pass on the left when I'm on my bike because I can get past very quickly, and there is far more room to escape if the lane hogger does something stupid, but in a car it is a risk that I would rather not take unless I'm pretty sure that the dozy lane hogger is going to stay put.

Also cops tend not to worry about people doing 80-85 as long as they are driving safely. However, if you get spotted pulling left to overtake on the inside then you are quite likely to get pulled for it.

Lane hogging in the UK is entirely selfish behaviour, there is no reasonable excuse for it.
 
I love how people that don't know how to drive on motorways try to justify there driving by saying it works fine. Maybe for you but what about everyone behind you?
 
Overlag said:
I love how people that don't know how to drive on motorways try to justify there driving by saying it works fine. Maybe for you but what about everyone behind you?
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I doubt anybody here (on a car enthusiast forum) would not know how to drive on UK motorways, the ones who genuinely don't are probably also completely unaware that they are causing a problem in the first place.
 
Jez said:
You know in the states the guidelines are to stay as central as possible and pass on both sides. This improves traffic flow and safety. Its definitely much smoother to drive centrally on multi lane motorways, resulting in much fewer lane changes. If i am set on cruise control at 75mph for example, keeping left will result in lane weaving as you pass trucks and slow moving vehicles endlessly. Staying central results in a smooth journey with little manipulation needed. Outside lane people should simply pass on the nearside if a slower vehicle is there.

Of course nobody seems to understand this, favouring the "keep left" nonsense, which results in many lane changes and people getting frustrated with one another.
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This is very true as it opens up two options to the driver. a lot of the time you can get blocked in with no one letting you out in lane 2 or 3. This causes braking and causing a slow down in your current lane. Then everyone fighting to get out into the lane over.

Whereas if it was like the US, you would be able to go left or right to overtake.

However it is difficult here as we only have 3 lanes.
 
Slightly off topic, but this thread and a journey down to Brighton on Saturday reminded me how poor some drivers are at maintaining a steady speed.

On the M25 just after the Dartford Crossing, between junctions 1 and 3, a marked police car was cruising along at just under 70 mph in the middle lane. Instant fear seemed to grip most drivers, nervous at passing slowly. Cars wavered between 65 and 70, eventually painfully limping past. I already had my cruise control set for 75 and as soon as I was clear, applied it and carried on.

Of course, the police car completely ignored me and was more interested in those sitting in the middle lane at 65 with an empty lane to the left.

I was driving a fairly modern car (Volve T4 62 plate) but figure that 75 on the dash is probably 70 actual (Tom Tom suggested 71). We've all seen the same behaviour around speed cameras, even the average speed ones where people suddenly speed up after the first camera, suddenly twig it and then break to 10 mph below the average speed.

Maddening.
 
Jez said:
You have to wonder why people wishing to break the traffic laws by speeding (and therefore getting held up behind people cruising at 70mph) don't simply pass on the left?

FWIW i do not do this, i do keep left where possible out of general courtesy, but not because i believe it is the correct way to drive.
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I agree, sort of. I'll always sit left if I don't see anything up ahead worth overtaking, but I'm not going to weave from left to right every 20 seconds if it's busier and there's more slower-moving traffic.


I also think that overtaking on the left (undertaking is what funeral directors do) in the UK should be permitted. I do it sometimes myself.


In regards to the OP, I think motorway speeding offences should be judged on the merits of weather and traffic conditions, the condition of the car to some extent, and the attitude of the driver, and after reading several anecdotes in this thread, it would seem these factors come into play at least partially. However I would expect in reality a straight-faced copper to just issue a court summons, probably.
 
Jez said:
Actually that driving style is the advice in the states for the exact opposite reason, it increases traffic flow partly due to lack of lane changing. I am not sure why we do not adopt the same system which they employ, they have far more multi lane highways and far heavier traffic than we do.
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Americans also have much bigger roads, come to Scotland and that rule goes out the window with probably less than 20 miles worth of three lane roads.

Most roads over there are a minimum of two.
 
Isn't it also true that in the US, an exit slip can be on either side of the carriageway?* So it makes sense to encourage drivers to spread out across the lanes because they may need to do so anyway to exit the highway.

Whereas in the UK, where we almost always exit the motorway to the left, it makes sense to make the left hand lane the primary lane for driving in, while the other two lanes are intended for overtaking only, for faster moving traffic that intends to remain on the motorway for a longer distance.

*Think my sister told me it's like this from her road trip last year, I've never visited the US so correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Presumably there is a gap between the two carriageways and it goes up over the other one on a bridge/ramp.

wazza300 said:
a fine

anything over 100 mph is a ban plus a fine

I was caught doing 102mph and got 28 day ban and fine, been good few years ago though so might have changed since then
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ACPO guidelines are 96mph+ results in a summons so if I were caught doing 97 I would expect more than just a fine.
 
This feels like bad news.

I got pulled late at night on the M1 (or M6, can't remember) and the copper had me on video doing 120+, however he simply warned me and wrote me down for 95. I assume due to the the time of night and the fact I was in my M5... with this new policy I'd be banned :(

No bueno!
 
NVP said:
This feels like bad news.

I got pulled late at night on the M1 (or M6, can't remember) and the copper had me on video doing 120+, however he simply warned me and wrote me down for 95. I assume due to the the time of night and the fact I was in my M5... with this new policy I'd be banned :(

No bueno!
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Sounds like he couldn't be bothered with the paperwork/court appearance :p
 
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