Lane hogs beware!

[Gob]

Could this be the long-awaited start of a clampdown on middle lane drivers?

The middle lane hogger is possibly the kind of driver that that annoys fellow road users more than any other.

Now, such a driver has been fined for clinging to the middle lane in what is thought to be the first conviction of its kind.

The Citroen Berlingo van blocked at least six other vehicles which had to brake and then overtake as it travelled at 60mph despite the left hand lane being free, magistrates heard.

The driver had several opportunities move into the inside lane of the M62 near Huddersfield but didn't, The Mirror reports.

The driver then failed to attend Leeds Magistrates Court, where he was given five penalty points and ordered to pay a £500 fine, £400 in costs and a £40 victim surcharge.

PC Nigel Fawcett-Jones from the Road Policing Unit said: "Lane hogging causes congestion and inconvenience to other road users.

"It reduces the capacity of roads and motorways, and can lead to dangerous situations where other drivers 'tailgate' the vehicle in front to try and get the lane hogger to move over.

"Members of the public regularly tell the Road Policing Unit that lane hogging and tailgating are real problems on our roads and this conviction shows that the police and the courts understand the public's concerns and take this offence seriously."

New £100 on the spot fines specifically for middle lane hogging were brought in by the government in August 2013.

[Scooter]

We have such horrible lane discipline here, it drives me nuts.

Granted, interchanges are a lot closer together on highways around here than on typical U.S. interstates or European motorways. So there is a temptation to stick to the middle lane of a three lane highway in order to avoid having to constantly dodge merging traffic.

But...

I cannot count the number of times where the middle lane is jammed with cars following someone going 80 or 90 km/h (speed limit is 100), with cars darting in and out of the left lane to get around them (forcing cars coming up from behind at 130 or more to come to a screeching halt), while I am sailing past all of it in the right hand lane doing 110, because it is virtually empty. (We drive on the right here, reverse directions for those who drive on the left.)

Simple rule that works for any number of lanes (on some roads around here there are up to six) - if cars in the lanes to the right of you are passing you, you are going too slow for your lane, move to the right.

And I don't speed much at all, but I cannot abide the hall monitor types who sit in the left hand lane doing exactly the limit and think they are justified in creating a traffic jam behind them, because supposedly no one should be driving faster than that.

[Econoline]

I try to avoid passing on the right, but when I do it's because of the exact same circumstances as you just described. (But when I do it, I pass at 70mph not 110kph, because *U*S*A*, HELL YEAH!!!!! )

[dgs49]

I don't know what it's like now, but my experiences on the superhighways of Europe has been uniformly good. If someone is in the passing lane (yes, they seem to understand the concept of a "passing lane") and going too slowly, the following driver (a) puts on his left turn signal, and if that doesn't work, s/he (b) flashes the high beams, and the person in front always moves aside. It is quite nice.

Doesn't work that well here in Western Pennsylvania, where there is a persistent belief that radio reception is better in the passing lane, so people like to drive there permanently, regardless of speed.

[oldr_n_wsr]

We have such horrible lane discipline here, it drives me nuts.

I feel your pain scooter.

[Econoline]

Dave - I had similar experiences in Europe (on the autostrade in Italy). I am embarrassed to admit that I was once (but only once) the target of those flashing high beams...and it made me a better driver once I was back home in the USA.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Saw more than a few people with poor lane discipline on the ride back from the lake house yesterday. 100%% were on the phone or texting.

[Crackpot]

I pass on the right more often than I should and I never use the flash to pass anymore. Last time I tried that I was involved in a road rage incident so bad that if that jackass hadn't backed off we both would have probably died. (Him slightly more likely than me) to many people around here take lane position as thier God given right. I just go around and avoid the hase.