Is overtaking on the left really dangerous

obi_waynne

obi_waynne

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Do you think it is dangerous to overtake cars on the left? This is allowed in a lot of other countries so why is it such a problem here?

(The uk has a rule on our motorways that prohibits undertaking, ie over taking a car on the left. We have to move out into the right lane in order to overtake. So many drivers seem to just sit in the middle lane though it creates bottlenecks as we all have to move out into the right lanes to overtake!)
 
I've driven many thousands of miles in the states and can say it works very well. It should be employed in the UK to avoid the idiots who hog the middle and overtaking lanes! I will admit to undertaking when I am approaching a slow car hogging the centre lane, why should I have to cross from lane 1 to lane 3 to pass when it is safer to go right past them in lane 1? Afterall will they move? Not a chance! It is only dangerous if done deliberately and at high speed when you get drivers undertaking just to get ahead of a pack of cars on purpose. If the law was changed we could adapt I'm sure, would make drivers more aware and traffic would flow much better I reckon.
 
I have used the inside lane to undertake if the middle an outer lanes are a no go, but this is rare.
 
There is no special law for overtaking on motorways, as far as I am aware. It is the same as on any other highway, overtake on the right.

As for the States, legally you have to pass on the left. However, what tends to happen is you choose the lane travelling at the speed that suits you. If you have a crash overtaking on the right you will be the one in the wrong.
 
It should be illegal and loss of lisence for people hogging the middle and overtaking lanes.
Hogging the middle and overtaking lanes is what's dangerous as it creates frustration and agrivation to other drivers.
 
stamford said:
I've driven many thousands of miles in the states and can say it works very well. It should be employed in the UK to avoid the idiots who hog the middle and overtaking lanes! I will admit to undertaking when I am approaching a slow car hogging the centre lane, why should I have to cross from lane 1 to lane 3 to pass when it is safer to go right past them in lane 1? Afterall will they move? Not a chance! It is only dangerous if done deliberately and at high speed when you get drivers undertaking just to get ahead of a pack of cars on purpose. If the law was changed we could adapt I'm sure, would make drivers more aware and traffic would flow much better I reckon.
Click to expand...

This. As someone who's often at the motorway at 5am, you even see it then. It's frustrating to see someone dawdling along in the middle lane with not another car beside myself with a two miles radius. Why should I have to move all the way over and back again? I normally pass and indicate left once I've passed. Sometimes they get the idea, other times they just continue. Annoys the hell out of me!

If you drive how you should drive (ie keep left) it's amazing how many cars you undertake unintentionally :embarrest::lol:
 
They are oblivious to what they are doing, like you said they carry on in the same lane too scared to move left or right. Come to think of it I have come across a baron motorway with someone in the fast lane and stuck to it!
 
Totally oblivious definitely especially as you hardly EVER see them look in their mirrors as you come up behind them/alongside them! Middle lane, eyes fixed straight ahead and that's it for maybe 100 miles lol.
 
When I did my advanced driving course I was told the safest place on the road is in the middle of the available space, so that you have the maximum amount of space either side in the event of an incident, either external or internal.

The caveat was that you also have to be aware of other drivers. So, when driving at night when the road is empty I use the middle lane but keep an eye open for faster moving vehices in my mirror and move over when they appear.
 
That's not a bad idea OG, if only they'd move over. You and I both know 99% of middle lane hoggers are not there because of their advanced driving course!
 
I think if these people did the driving course they would probably just think it was justification to stay in the middle lane even more.
They would deliberately take it as meaning the middle lane and not as OG made quite clear that it is the middle of the lane you are in.
Definately good idea OG, I do the same.
With kangaroos waiting to jump in front of the car its safest to sit in the middle if there's no one else on the road. Sometimes even on a 2 lane road with it being 1 lane each way.
There's a 100km/h stretch of road out the back of our suburb which has the bushland coming right up to the road on one side. Always see dead Roo's along it.
 
It's a hard call. Assuming that the driver in the middle lane is so unaware of what's around them then they're likely to make a spurious lane change without warning and cause a collision.

For which you're likely to take at least 50% of the blame.

Possibly unfairly but life's like that at times.
 
Id never do it. You never know if the car will suddenly move into the slow lane. However something needs to be done about it. Id recommend using cameras that recognise which lane a car is in and also evaluates where it should be and then operates spikes in the road so they get a puncture and are forced to swerve left and maybe crash into a ditch ;)
 
Jakeymd said:
Id never do it. You never know if the car will suddenly move into the slow lane. However something needs to be done about it. Id recommend using cameras that recognise which lane a car is in and also evaluates where it should be and then operates spikes in the road so they get a puncture and are forced to swerve left and maybe crash into a ditch ;)
Click to expand...

And that's going to reduce traffic hold ups? :lol:
 
natural selection. Survival of the fittest. Or in this case survival of the non-middle-lane hoggers.
 
I know. But I dont think he had middle laners in mind when he wrote the origin of species
 
Err, no, possibly not ;)

I just with that if they need to be in the middle lane they'd use it constructively and pass something in lane 1 at more than 0.00001mph speed differential.
 
Personally I dont think there should be such a big issue with it if you are not using it as a way of just cutting through traffic.
If they are sitting there in the middle lane at 60mph with the left lane empty then they are unlikely to move across anyway.
If they are to move back into the left lane by some miracle then they should be checking their mirrors regardless of whether someone should or shouldnt be undertaking them.
Its the same principle with overtaking a lorry for example. You wouldnt overtake and then pull straight back in without making sure the left lane was clear.

People hogging the middle lane is one of the things that annoy me the most about motorway driving. Seems very common place these days though unfortunately. Personally I think its just a case of them being too lazy to move across as its easier to just sit in one lane the whole journey.
 
Or those like my father who will occupy lane one at no more than 55mph, thus pushing all the goods vehicles into lane 2. Thus basically forcing everything else into lane 3.
 
When driving in Europe, especially in Italy if you creep out from the inner lane and stay there for no reason other than to overtake then someone will flash you in disgust to get back in... Wouldn't happen here though, just look at the kennith knowl saga
 
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