Motorways, "middle lane hoggers" ?

[Obelix 11]

Probably he's talking cobblers. J22 is Rishworth Moor, J23 is Ainley Top - that section is quite flat with very little steep climbs compared to say the climb out of Manchester or the descent from Ainley Top to Bradford.

 

If he was that worried about the van being blown all over the place we'd have heard about the artic's cascading off the hills. He's been caught thumb in bum mind in neutral bimbling along in the middle lane...

[geared 315]

I wonder how much the not turning up at court has added to his fine? I'm not sure why you'd think a summons to court isn't important..

 

It looks to me like they decided to make an example out of him and give a pretty stiff fine.

 

Thing is I bet the original fine could have been paid through the post for 60 quid or so if it was done as soon as it was received.

 

---------- Post added 23-06-2015 at 17:38 ----------

 

If he was that worried about the van being blown all over the place we'd have heard about the artic's cascading off the hills. He's been caught thumb in bum mind in neutral bimbling along in the middle lane...

 

and to add to that, if he was worried about the van being blown around then why was the stupid sod in the middle lane where he could have collided with either traffic on the inside or outside lane IF he lost control.

 

Surely if you were unsure you'd sit in the middle lane and follow a truck (at a safe distance)

[Grubshifter 10]

From Henceforth the wasock hogging the middle lane should be referred to as "MIDDLE LANE MARY". And let it be known throughout the land that this name originated in Sheffield. Time for somebody to produce rear window sticker to read " Don't be a Middle Lane Mary, keep left if not overtaking ".

Edited June 23, 2015 by Grubshifter

[Justin Smith 10]

You've changed your tune at least. You've previously argued that you should stay in the middle lane for several miles!

 

Sorry, where exactly did I say that ? What I might have said is if there are slower moving vehicles in the inside lane every few hundred yards then it is acceptable to stay in the middle lane until there aren`t. It is not only totally pointless and it is also bad driving to change lanes for only 5 to 10 seconds, personally I`d have thought at least 20 to 30 seconds would be the benchmark. Incidentally when I phoned SY Police they agreed with that.

 

---------- Post added 24-06-2015 at 13:50 ----------

 

Blimey, they're serious about it

 

Not really, the fact it`s made the news just emphasise how few people are actually prosecuted for (so called) middle laning.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Justin Smith

[Justin Smith 10]

Objective facts about overtaking :

 

Required 2 second gap at 70mph = 63 m. But this is front and rear, i.e. the gap between two vehicles must be at least 126m plus the length of your own vehicle (say + 5m = 131m) before you move into it even if all three vehicles are doing exactly the same speed.

If you`re doing 70mph and the vehicles on the inside lane are doing 50mph that`s a 20mph closing speed, which is 9m per second. So if you want to be in the inside lane for at least 20 seconds (to make lane changing worthwhile), the gap would have to be 20 x 9m (180m) plus 131m = 311m

Even if you`re one of those middle lane obsessives I assume you wouldn`t think people should swap lanes for less than 10 seconds, so we then have 10 x 9m (90m) plus 131m = 221m

But let`s say we had someone who was a pathological anti middle laner fanatic and thought it good driving to swap lanes for just 5 seconds*, we`d still have 5 x 9m (45m) plus 131m = 176m

 

* Question :

What is the point of swapping lanes for only 5 seconds if you can see there`s a slower moving vehicle ahead in the inside lane ?

How is someone going to have time to get past you and give you enough room to get back out again (you need a gap of 131m remember) in only 5 seconds ?

If you`re doing 70mph and the overtaker is doing 90mph (totally illegal and I`m sure you`d get prosecuted for that) the speed difference is 20mph, which is 9m/second. So, even if the overtaker could instantly accelerate to 90mph (which is totally impossible), he`d still take 14.5 seconds (131 divided by 9) to get past.

So the answer is it`s totally pointless.

But that won`t stop obsessives arguing that it is.

 

QED

 

An alternative scenario is a car doing 65mph and trucks in the inside lane doing 55mph. 65 mph = 29 m/sec & 55mph = 24.6 m/sec.

Thus :

Required 2 sec gap behind at 55mph = 50m

Required 2 sec gap in front at 65mph = 58m

Car length @5m

Therefore total gap must be at least 113m

 

10mph closing speed = 4.4 m/sec

Thus :

For 20 seconds in the inside lane the gap would need to be 88 + 113 = 201m

For 10 seconds in the inside lane the gap would need to be 44 + 113 = 157m

For 5 seconds in the inside lane the gap would need to be 22 + 113 = 135m

 

Unlike some people who think they never make a mistake, I do make mistakes. So if anyone can point out an error in my arithmetic I`d be grateful.

 

On the subject of the above, we were driving up the M1 just Nth of Leeds, I watched a blue VW Passat drive all the way from the outside lane into the inside lane (2 lane changes), then stay there for a grand total of 12 seconds. He then drove all the way back to the outside lane (2 more lane changes), went past a few cars then all the way back to the inside lane (2 more lane changes). He stayed there 8 seconds this time then went all the way back out to the outside lane (2 more lane changes).

So, in the space of a minute or two this guy executed 8 lane changes in order to stay in the inside lane for a grand total of 20 seconds.

Is there anyone who think that`s good driving ?

[Cyclone 10]

Was he making a point to all the people who were ignoring the empty 1st lane and driving in the middle lane for no good reason?

[monkey104 10]

Sorry, where exactly did I say that ? What I might have said is if there are slower moving vehicles in the inside lane every few hundred yards then it is acceptable to stay in the middle lane until there aren`t. It is not only totally pointless and it is also bad driving to change lanes for only 5 to 10 seconds, personally I`d have thought at least 20 to 30 seconds would be the benchmark. Incidentally when I phoned SY Police they agreed with that.

 

---------- Post added 24-06-2015 at 13:50 ----------

 

 

Not really, the fact it`s made the news just emphasise how few people are actually prosecuted for (so called) middle laning.

 

Who did you speak to?

[RonJeremy 10]

Was he making a point to all the people who were ignoring the empty 1st lane and driving in the middle lane for no good reason?

Indeed. It was the monkeys in the middle lane that would have been causing the problem. However it shouldn't have been down to the Passat to tell people what to do. Bit silly really.

[Cyclone 10]

He should have just undertaken them, if the lane was clear. It's arguably safer than changing two lanes in order to pass Justin middle lane hogging.

 

---------- Post added 21-09-2015 at 11:07 ----------

 

Sorry, where exactly did I say that ? What I might have said is if there are slower moving vehicles in the inside lane every few hundred yards then it is acceptable to stay in the middle lane until there aren`t. It is not only totally pointless and it is also bad driving to change lanes for only 5 to 10 seconds, personally I`d have thought at least 20 to 30 seconds would be the benchmark. Incidentally when I phoned SY Police they agreed with that

 

I think we worked it out for you.

 

Your several hundred yards, at a moderate closing speed, meant you would be in the middle lane for 2 minutes before you were actually overtaking.

 

You also believed (maybe still do) that the 2 seconds safe distance between cars applies to both cars and so actually makes a 4 second gap...

 

And if you really do keep phoning the police to ask them to confirm your opinions about driving I'm surprised that they haven't told you to stop wasting their time and get a driving lesson instead.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Cyclone

[tinfoilhat 11]

I "enjoyed" a trip to Sussex on Sunday. My dash cam was a greatest hits of poor driving and the worst of the lot were the middle lane hoggers - which is more of a rarity in the week. The legend of the Sunday driver is alive and well - and they mostly drive people carriers if yesterday's evidence was to be believed.

[Hots on 10]

Driving in the middle lane? big deal. Much a do about nothing.

[Justin Smith 10]

Was he making a point to all the people who were ignoring the empty 1st lane and driving in the middle lane for no good reason?

 

Even if he were, and I suspect he was, does that make it good driving ? The irony is that seeing someone go to so much trouble (changing lanes 8 times for a mere 20 seconds in the inside lane) would just reinforce to a "middle laner" that he`s driving correctly. Just to repeat my position, I hold the view that the middle (pun intended) ground is more appropriate. One should drive in the inside lane wherever possible, but not if it means swapping lanes for a poxy 10 seconds, that`s going too far the other way.

 

---------- Post added 23-09-2015 at 13:26 ----------

 

Who did you speak to?

 

I can`t remember it was months ago. It was the women who answered the phone at the SY police call centre. As far as I can remember she checked up on it, but I can`t remember for sure.