T.C. - What do you make of this?

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Dalemac · #1 Post by **Dalemac** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:18 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgfOcagYJfE

I don't get what all the fuss is about - the left hand lane is open for anyone to use, and the highway code says everyone should use both lanes and then merge in turn.

Some people seem to think that the cars in the left hand lane are undertaking, but i can't see how that applies or is even illegal....

T.C. · #2 Post by **T.C.** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:25 am

This has been doing thr rounds recently.

The major cause of frustration and queues is that people move over early because of the closed lane ahead only for the impatient greedy sods to barge their way up to the front expecting everyone to just cow tail and let them in.

The whole idea of advanced warnings is so that traffic can move over early, thereby allowing the flow of traffic to continue. So despite what the Highway Code states, traffic should have moved into the open lanes by at least the 600 yard marker board.

Both drivers are tw@ts, both could get done for carelesss driving or at least driving without reasonable consideration for other road users, which has nothing to do wth undertaking.

Dalemac · #3 Post by **Dalemac** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:44 am

Cheers!

I did ask a C/I for his opinion and he said to use both lanes and merge in turn. I guess it comes down to personal preferences.

What should a bike do in this situation? If traffic was in both lanes then normally I would just filter down the middle when safe and possible to do so, but with all the traffic in the right hand lane it becomes impossible to make progress unless the left lane is used.

T.C. · #4 Post by **T.C.** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:09 pm

It is not so much about personal preference, it is about using common sense. A similar analagy is those who approach an exit slip road sat in lane 2 or 3 and then cut across to exit at the last second. They should be in lane 1 by the 300 meter countdown marker.

Those that shoot up the clear lane to circumnavigate the queues simply because they feel that they are entitled to are the cause of major bottlenecks and hold ups at the approach to road works, and are a cause of a lot of all be it minor crashes.

I used to book these incosiderate drivers n a regular basis and they were convicted.

In respect of the bike, it is slghtly different simply because we do not use or occupy the same amount of tarmac as your average car, and so filtering can be applied without causing too much hassle.

Dalemac · #5 Post by **Dalemac** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:50 pm

I don't understand how it can be different for a bike though?

If I were to take the line I would take when filtering, down the traffic shown in the video I would be at a far greater risk of getting caught out by someone changing lanes than if I were to use the left hand lane appropriately. After all, why push right up to the side of a car when there is an empty lane available. If I did that then others would just see me as a selfish queue jumper.

Not disputing you or anything, just trying to make sense of the situation.

Dale

D-Rider · #6 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:23 pm

If the inner lane was closed, and I was in the car, I'd get across to the right hand lane right away (and I'd be pretty pissed off with cars, lorries, vans coming past on the inside and pushing in .... and I'd not go out of my way to let them in).
If I were on the bike, depending on the actual situation, I might proceed up the inside lane with caution, confident that as I approached the point that the inner lane stopped I would easily be able to merge in well in advance without causing any inconvenience to the traffic in the outer lane.

I realise there is little in the way of difference in "fairness" of waiting my turn but experience does show that with a bike's manoeuvrability and response, it's not a difficult thing to join the queue in a seamless manner.

spiderwheels · #7 Post by **spiderwheels** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:30 pm

D-Rider wrote: I realise there is little in the way of difference in "fairness" of waiting my turn

I think it's easy to justify fairness from the bike point of view as we are already making everyone else's journey slightly shorter by not adding another car to the road.

BikerGran · #8 Post by **BikerGran** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:20 pm

I get irritated if I'm in the right hand Q cos I moved across when signs started warning us to do so, and others go (usually fast) up the inside - but I console myself with the thought that at least I'm not as big an arse as they are!

Willopotomas · #9 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 3:21 pm

Fair play to the bloke who held the tosser up. Have done similar a few times in the cage, but not to that extent. The thing about that video I'd be looking at the most is right at the start where two cars undertake another (at speed) using the hard shoulder..

fatboy · #10 Post by **fatboy** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 5:22 pm

I'm with you on that one Will.
Although the guy's actions are not strictly legal,he'd seen the other two twats shoot past at an unsafe speed so slowing the third twat down was no bad thing IMO.
We have lane restrictions on the A4 near me, I see lorries blocking twats like that all the time,probably preventing stupid accidents caused by stupid road users

lazarus · #11 Post by **lazarus** » Tue May 05, 2015 3:50 pm

Dalemac wrote:I don't understand how it can be different for a bike though?

Dale

The principle isnt different for a bike. We all filter to the front of queues but my guess is that if you got an unsympathetic police officer you could have just the same trouble that TC describes and with the same result.

Mostly it seems that car drivers will happily let a bike into the queue in front of them whilst objecting strongly to another car doing the same thing. I see it regularly at the severn crossings where a bike delays traffic by not much less time going through the tolls but no one seems to get uptight when bikes push in at the front of the queue.

Funny really when you think how uptight people in the UK get about queue jumping.

Obiwan Kenobi · #12 Post by **Obiwan Kenobi** » Wed May 06, 2015 11:16 am

So I disagree with pretty much everyone on this point, sorry!
Driving a lot on motorways and dual carriageways, the amount of 'joke' matrix signs I see is unbelieveable: they say lane closed when it isn't, they say incident when there isn't etc etc.
Most drivers see a lane closed sign so dive straight into the other lane when the obstruction, if there is one, may not be for another mile.
All this does is back up the traffic further and for longer, maybe obstructing other junctions further back.
the sensible approach is to not move from the closed lane until you can see the cones blocking it off, then filter into the other lanes on an 'in turns' basis.
If you're going to move out of a lane so early on, and the lane is clear, then don't be upset if someone uses the clear lane to drive down. And undertaking in slow moving traffic isn't illegal.
Common sense really.
But anyhow, both drivers in the vid are cocks

Firestarter · #13 Post by **Firestarter** » Wed May 06, 2015 1:22 pm

Obiwan Kenobi wrote:So I disagree with pretty much everyone on this point, sorry!
Driving a lot on motorways and dual carriageways, the amount of 'joke' matrix signs I see is unbelieveable: they say lane closed when it isn't, they say incident when there isn't etc etc.
Most drivers see a lane closed sign so dive straight into the other lane when the obstruction, if there is one, may not be for another mile.
All this does is back up the traffic further and for longer, maybe obstructing other junctions further back.
the sensible approach is to not move from the closed lane until you can see the cones blocking it off, then filter into the other lanes on an 'in turns' basis.
If you're going to move out of a lane so early on, and the lane is clear, then don't be upset if someone uses the clear lane to drive down. And undertaking in slow moving traffic isn't illegal.
Common sense really.
But anyhow, both drivers in the vid are cocks

I'd go with that. I did a fair bit of driving in Germany, and where we hit roadworks, you would have queues of stationary traffic right up to the obstruction, at which point everyone would merge in turn, no arguing or bitching. Why choose randomly a mile earlier to move over, why not 1/2 mile, 200 yards? If the traffic is moving fast, I agree move over sooner, but when it's stationary why aren't we using all of the available road to reduce the length of the queue?

fatboy · #14 Post by **fatboy** » Wed May 06, 2015 6:55 pm

I dont think you can berate drivers for obeying traffic signage, the main point most folk are making is, unlike the german driving experience, there are more than enough selfish impatient tossers on our roads that have not considered or dont care that thier ME ME ME attitude endangers others

Firestarter · #15 Post by **Firestarter** » Thu May 07, 2015 7:25 am

fatboy wrote:I dont think you can berate drivers for obeying traffic signage, the main point most folk are making is, unlike the german driving experience, there are more than enough selfish impatient tossers on our roads that have not considered or dont care that thier ME ME ME attitude endangers others

Not berating anyone (except for those two numpties in the video), drive for the conditions and allow for changing conditions. Driving at 70 mph and merging at the cones is daft, because you're going to cause someone in the other lane to have to take action. Making yourself the arbiter for decency and swerving in front of other cars 1/2 a mile before the cones? Equally daft. Using both lanes and merging at an appropriate point? That would seem to be the thing, but who decides what the appropriate point before the cones is?