And we wonder why there are crashes?

[blinkey501]

Under taking is illegal and could result in a fine and points.

The government made it illegal for the middle lane "Wankers" to do what they are doing and was supposed to be sending the police out to combat this problem.

On the first point, this ad been covered, so no need for me to say anymore unless you know something different to me, and please do not show your ignorance by quoting the Highway Code which is advice not law (unless the regulation is supported by an act and section or regulation)

On the second point,, the Governement did not make it illegal, t was aready an offence. Te offence of centre lane hogging has been around since 1972, what did change however was that instead of lane hoggers being booked and put before the court, it can now be dealt with by fixed penalty.

I didn't realise the middle lane rule had been out for so long?

The police "should" be enforcing this and issuing fines and I am all for it.

This does cause a lot of frustration to many, and you can see the issue when driving a van, as you have a higher viewing point?

As in regards to quoting the highway code, this is not the case.

I am led to believe that undertaking is not permitted.

This does not include exiting on a slip road, or when vehicles are stood in the middle and outer lane of a motorway?

I am talking about when you have vehicles sat in the middle lane at 45-70 with no intention of puling in?

To slip up the "inside" at these speeds is what I mean TC?

I would imagine this would be deemed as dangerous driving and a penalty issued.

If this is not the case, then I will take it on the chin and say I was wrong fella.

[blinkey501]

.... and TC continually advises us that it is perfectly legal - and he's the best qualified of us to know.

I used to think it wasn't allowed but since TC has corrected that view, I have been doing so - when safe to do so ..... whilst aware that the middle lane or outside lane numptie will not be expecting it as clearly if they don't know what they are doing is wrong, they are unlikely to know that what I'm doing is correct.

Fair play Andy....

You do get the occasional driver that is oblivious with what he/she is doing.

Have we all been on a journey and arrived somewhere and thought how the hell did I get here?

When coming up behind vehicles I have flashed my lights to let them know they need to pull in, and give the thumbs up when passing when they do.

You do get the occasional driver who will give you the "Finger" and refuse to pull in.

These are the ones to me that need dealing with by the police.....

[T.C.]

The police "should" be enforcing this and issuing fines and I am all for it.



As in regards to quoting the highway code, this is not the case.

I am led to believe that undertaking is not permitted.

I am talking about when you have vehicles sat in the middle lane at 45-70 with no intention of puling in?

To slip up the "inside" at these speeds is what I mean TC?

I would imagine this would be deemed as dangerous driving and a penalty issued.

If this is not the case, then I will take it on the chin and say I was wrong fella.

On your first point about the Police. Traffic policing is no longer considered as being that important hnce the reason why numbers and funding has been slashes. When I served, we had a department of 200 traffic cops spread over 3 counties, of which 42 of us were full time motorcyclists. We had personal issue bikes and cars because we were professional traffic cops and we had expertise including a full time motorway team which we al had to do our time working on before we could specialise within a specialist department. Our driving and riding courses were intense and we all had to do a 12 week traffic law course which was the same as we did for our basic training.
art time motoryclists

Now it is a 3 week driving course and a 1 week traffic law course,. In my old force traffic is down to less than 100 personell and there are 6 p
So given the reduced numbers and the fact that the Police only go onto the Motorway (in my force anyway) when they are called to an incident, the chances of these centre lane hoggers being booked on a scale of 1 - 10 is zero. It has always been one of my pet hates.

On the point of the Highway Code, as I have said, unless it is supported by the apropriate act or regulation it is advice, not law, so must not is usually qualified by an act or section, should not is advice.

I think that others have quoted my previous statements in sufficient detail, suffice to say, that at the risk of repeating myself, the simple act of undertaking in lene 1 (or 2 fr that matter) is insufficuent to secure a conviction for either careless or dangerous driving.

However.... If you passed on the nearside at high speed and then weaved from lane to lane at the same continous high speed, then that may well be sufficient to secure a conviction.

Bear in mind that the centre lane hogger also has a statutory duty of care to ensure that it is safe before any lane change is carried out, and this applies to all of us, in that we should be checking to ensure that it is safe before any lane change is commenced.

The courts are now starting to accept in crash cases that undertaking is not illegal and are finding in favour of the undertaking driver or rider and holding the centre lane hogger liable. I have had 3 cracking results on this very mater in the past couple of months

[wayno]

The guy in this incident was an ex policeman, he should know better.

Ex Special Constable, Hobby Bobby big difference, but yes he should know better.

When it comes to Policing the Motorway, it is a completely different ball game to any other type of policing. And if you believe that the Highway Code is all the trainig that is needed to police the Motorway, then sorry but my respect for you has just gone straight out of the window along with your copy of the Highway Code

I'm not talking about policing the motorway, I'm talking about the panda car driving on the motorway in the third lane I saw with nobody in the other lanes for ages. This man was not working, just driving like a twat, annoying everyone. He was just driving normally up the motorway so all the training he needs to know he's being a dick is the highway code.

I have full respect for the skills of trained police drivers, but no respect for ones that drive in the wrong lane giving out the message that it is perfectly fine to do so.

[T.C.]

The guy in this incident was an ex policeman, he should know better.

Ex Special Constable, Hobby Bobby big difference, but yes he should know better.

When it comes to Policing the Motorway, it is a completely different ball game to any other type of policing. And if you believe that the Highway Code is all the trainig that is needed to police the Motorway, then sorry but my respect for you has just gone straight out of the window along with your copy of the Highway Code

I'm not talking about policing the motorway, I'm talking about the panda car driving on the motorway in the third lane I saw with nobody in the other lanes for ages. This man was not working, just driving like a twat, annoying everyone. He was just driving normally up the motorway so all the training he needs to know he's being a dick is the highway code.

I have full respect for the skills of trained police drivers, but no respect for ones that drive in the wrong lane giving out the message that it is perfectly fine to do so.

Can I suggest that you read my last post again.

As I explained, there are no or very few trained drivers in Panda cars anymore, and even traffic are not trained to the same standards.

I agree with you in respect of a Panda car driver knowing better, and this is where they lose credibility when they book people for something when they themselves are no better qualified than someone who has just passed their test

[Gio]

They should both lose their licences, then when they are allowed back on the road they have to retake the test. Both parts I should add.