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[The Refugee]

   Quite often I will drive in the centre lane of an empty motorway. There are many reasons for this. First and most importantly it gives you an extra option to avoid an emergency. The surface is often less rutted, and therefore you get a smoother ride. The smoother ride in itself could probably be rewarded with higher MPG, and so it goes on.


  So join me in the centre lane drivers club now.

[Glamdring]

I will smile when the police pull you over for behaving inconsiderately. No, honestly, I will...

[The Refugee]

    Its an interesting point actually, because if the road is rutted/subsided there are safety issues, and there are also safety issues when approaching an entry slip of a motorway you are already on. Under these circumstances I believe you would have an exceedingly strong and valid arguement.

[Wooster]

First and most importantly it gives you an extra option to avoid an emergency

1. It puts you further away from the relative safety of the hard shoulder if there is a problem.
2. It increases your risk since you are effectively in the middle of three (or more) streams of traffic.

So if an incident occurs ahead, you double your chances of being in a collision if you have to take avoiding action, (i.e. a lorry shedding a tyre)

[Roscop]

    Its an interesting point actually, because if the road is rutted/subsided there are safety issues, and there are also safety issues when approaching an entry slip of a motorway you are already on. Under these circumstances I believe you would have an exceedingly strong and valid arguement.

Nope you have no argument at all

Lane discipline
264

You should always drive 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 soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.

[Laws MT(E&W)R regs 5, 9 & 16(1)(a), MT(S)R regs 4, 8 & 14(1)(a), and RTA 1988, sects 35 & 186, as amended by TMA 2004 sect 6]

Suggest you have a quick refresher of this http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070202

[The Refugee]

First and most importantly it gives you an extra option to avoid an emergency

1. It puts you further away from the relative safety of the hard shoulder if there is a problem.
2. It increases your risk since you are effectively in the middle of three (or more) streams of traffic.

So if an incident occurs ahead, you double your chances of being in a collision if you have to take avoiding action, (i.e. a lorry shedding a tyre)

   1) A Hard Shoulder relatively safe mmmm ho hum. Personally I would rather be in a centre lane of an empty motorway, because then I have a choice of lanes to go into in an emergency.


    ") I did state a clear motorway, not a bust one, however see my 1 above I think it may still be safer.


    discipline
264

You should always drive 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 soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.

[Laws MT(E&W)R regs 5, 9 & 16(1)(a), MT(S)R regs 4, 8 & 14(1)(a), and RTA 1988, sects 35 & 186, as amended by TMA 2004 sect 6]


    I have quite often seen Traffic police using the centre lane of an emptyish motorway, especially where the inside lane is rutted/subsided.

[Trippynet]

Hmm, I have to admit that I find middle lane hogging to be one of the heights of bad, lazy and selfish driving. You end up with a motorway that has its capacity artificially reduced because people like you are incapable of driving in the correct lane. Hence you end up with some bozos in the middle lane, and then a packed right hand lane of cars trying to get past. Congestion builds up - despite there being a largely empty lane on the left! Three lane motorways don't exist just so that you can pretend that the left hand lane doesn't exist, that's not what it's there for. It's to provide a lane for driving and two lanes for overtaking.

When it comes to safety, how about all those who are driving properly who now have to move across two lanes to get past the pillock in the middle lane instead of just changing lane once to overtake? And as for emergencies, the beauty of the hard shoulder is that it should be empty a vast majority of the time and clear of vehicles. Hence in an emergency you don't need to worry about checking your mirrors to see which lane is free, or to see if there's a vehicle alongside you, you just glance ahead to make sure the hard shoulder is clear, pull left into the hard shoulder and end up in a free lane which has no driving traffic in it. You honestly say that in the event of a problem or emergency, you might pull into the right hand lane in order to stop??!! Jesus fucking christ dude!

As for your moaning about the odd pot-hole, that's one of the lamest and most pathetic excuses I've heard. If anything, it should be the middle lane that's in the poorest condition due to all the plonkers who constantly drive along in it.

The fact is, if you can't use the correct lane on a motorway when driving, you're a lazy, rubbish and selfish driver. No matter how many lame excuses you might try and come up with, the fact is that you're driving in the wrong lane and if the motorway is even moderately busy, you're having a negative impact on other road users.