The Motorway
A motorway can be a daunting place to be, especially for the beginner driver or someone who isn't naturally confident behind the wheel.
Full of fast moving heavy goods vehicles, aggressive drivers, over inflated egos and plain old stupidity, it's hardly surprising that a lot of people tend to switch off and just stick to the middle lane, incorrectly believing it to be the easy route out or the safest place.
The motorways in the UK originally had no speed limit, designed to allow for cars to travel up to 100mph in safety. The first opened around half a century ago in 1958.
Most have three lanes, with the nearside lane intended for all traffic and the outer lanes designated for overtaking slower moving traffic. As we all know, around 90% of the UK driving population don't know this or choose to ignore it. I'd bet on a 50:50 split of people who intentionally drive in the middle lane against people who genuinely believe it's not an overtaking lane.
So how do we deal with these pests? Contrary to popular belief it is NOT illegal to undertake but it can be considered dangerous and traffic police are likely to frown upon such a behaviour. I wouldn't recommend it but I will admit to undertaking in a situation where overtaking middle lane hogs would slow the outside lane down unnecessarily. On these occasions I undertake carefully at a steady speed and keep an eye on the actions of the middle laner.
I am also under the impression that talks are in place to make undertaking illegal in all cases. I guess if you read this site and are unsure then have a quick search on the internet, I certainly couldn't find anything on the internet to prove undertaking was illegal except reading misinformed forum users' posts.
The best piece of advice I can offer to motorway users is to be constantly aware of everything around you. Use your mirrors even more than you do around town, and don't be afraid to accelerate into a gap rather than brake suddenly and potentially cause an accident. Always be aware that other drivers switch off on the motorway so try to avoid making unexpected manoeuvres. You shouldn't ever need to brake on a motorway in normal conditions, providing you look ahead and leave a big enough gap to the car in front.
I am currently attempting to create a car sticker that informs people to use the inside lane in a compact and to the point fashion....
