Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Middle Lane Driving Laws
This poll is closed.
- No effect whatsoever. - 177 votes
- 88%
- Yes, a positive change, people are obeying the new law - 14 votes
- 7%
- Yes, a negative effect - if anything drivers have got worse! - 10 votes
- 5%
Stats until: 09:17 Mon 29th Apr 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)
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'Fraid you're not correct, Bright Spark.
If you are travelling in an "overtaking lane" (that is any lane other than lane one) and you could pull into a lane to your nearside but fail to do so then you may be accused of careless driving. There have been quite a number of cases where drivers have been prosecuted for this. Your speed is not relevant. Highway Code para 264 refers:
"You should always travel in the left hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower moving vehicles you should return to the left hand lane as sonn as you are safely past"
There was a cas a couple of years ago where a driver pleaded not guilty to careless driving for "hogging" the middle lane. His defence was that since he was travelling at the legal limit nobody should overtake him so there should be no problem. He was convicted by Magistrates and appealed. The Crown Court upheld his conviction and refused him leave to appeal further. A further appeal would only have been allowed in exceptional circumstance and there was no dispute about the facts and no matter of law to argue.
If you are travelling in an "overtaking lane" (that is any lane other than lane one) and you could pull into a lane to your nearside but fail to do so then you may be accused of careless driving. There have been quite a number of cases where drivers have been prosecuted for this. Your speed is not relevant. Highway Code para 264 refers:
"You should always travel in the left hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower moving vehicles you should return to the left hand lane as sonn as you are safely past"
There was a cas a couple of years ago where a driver pleaded not guilty to careless driving for "hogging" the middle lane. His defence was that since he was travelling at the legal limit nobody should overtake him so there should be no problem. He was convicted by Magistrates and appealed. The Crown Court upheld his conviction and refused him leave to appeal further. A further appeal would only have been allowed in exceptional circumstance and there was no dispute about the facts and no matter of law to argue.
It's impossible to quantify Umm because each scenario will differ because of the relative speeds of the vehicles will differ.
E.g. You could justify staying out in lane 2 for a gap between two HGV's that were crawling up a hill which didn't affect your car's speed but which might justify popping back in if you were all on the flat and making good speed.
I think that this problem is why there is no actual offence - it would be impossible to Police.
The real problem lies with those so arrogant that they inhabit the second, third or even fourth lanes whether the inside lane is clear or not.
I was travelling back from Dover recently late at night when a BMW came up the onslip, accelerated hard to join in front of me, cut across the front of me into lane 3 and then slowed down to a modest cruising speed.......
What goes on in their minds?
E.g. You could justify staying out in lane 2 for a gap between two HGV's that were crawling up a hill which didn't affect your car's speed but which might justify popping back in if you were all on the flat and making good speed.
I think that this problem is why there is no actual offence - it would be impossible to Police.
The real problem lies with those so arrogant that they inhabit the second, third or even fourth lanes whether the inside lane is clear or not.
I was travelling back from Dover recently late at night when a BMW came up the onslip, accelerated hard to join in front of me, cut across the front of me into lane 3 and then slowed down to a modest cruising speed.......
What goes on in their minds?
Where I drive out of the nearest big town to me is a three lane road, not motorway. The left hand lane has many exits and entrances on it, also two places where the left hand lane becomes a slip road onto a motorway and the middle and right hand lanes go over a flyover. Eventually the poad joins a roundabout where I go straighy on and on to a single lane road. I stay in the middle lane. I don't want to filter or turn left and it give people joining the road a greater space to do so. So is this legal?
We can indeed pick and choose which bits of the Highway Code we wish to follow and which we wish to ignore. Heck we can even pick and choose which bits of the law we wish to follow and which we wish to ignore. Criminal types do it all the time. We are not automatons but are supposed to have free will.
