Finally someone's seen the light
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,853
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From: London/Surrey - UK
Finally someone's seen the light
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22770064
Give it another 5yrs and it could actually be nice to drive on UK motorways!
Give it another 5yrs and it could actually be nice to drive on UK motorways!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 6,690
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From: Guildford
Nice idea but I'd be interested to know how they intend to enforce it. Are they really going to pull over everyone hogging the middle lane. and how do they define "hogging". As long as someone is going faster than vehicles in the nearside lane then won't they be "overtaking". How many seconds behind the next car in the nearside lane makes someone a "hog".
and how many more patrol cars would they need on the motorways to enforce it.
There is a fine for people using mobile phones while driving but it doesn't stop them being used. IMHO the only way to change this is through education and changes in public opinion. As has been the case to some degree of success with drink driving which has now become socially unacceptable.
I just cant see this being effective.
and how many more patrol cars would they need on the motorways to enforce it.
There is a fine for people using mobile phones while driving but it doesn't stop them being used. IMHO the only way to change this is through education and changes in public opinion. As has been the case to some degree of success with drink driving which has now become socially unacceptable.
I just cant see this being effective.
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
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From: London/Surrey - UK
Other than enforcing it they need to campaign it, lots. Make all these morons aware that they're the ones causing the traffic jams and that they can get fined if they don't
it works on the continent, no reason why it can't work here
it works on the continent, no reason why it can't work here
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From: Frustration
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From: South Coast
I've just got back from a week of driving in Sicily so it was almost a pleasure to drive home on UK motorways.
As said above, how many people do you see a day on their mobile phones ? I'd hazard a lot. The issue isn't the fine/points, but the actual chance of them being caught which is very slim. I'm guessing this will be the same for the middle lane morons and I'm sure they can't devise a camera for that.
As to whether it works on the continent, well I'm not so sure of that either. I've done a lot of driving in Europe and there are very few motorways of 3 lanes or more, in general they tend to be 2 lane affairs.
These tend to self police as if you don't get out of the way then you are literally forced out of the way. If our motorways only had 2 lanes then maybe it would be the same here.
The stupidity of it all is the 4+ lane sections of motorway with nobody sat in the first 2 lanes and the outside lane is a steady solid line of traffic. It really isn't an efficient use of space.
As said above, how many people do you see a day on their mobile phones ? I'd hazard a lot. The issue isn't the fine/points, but the actual chance of them being caught which is very slim. I'm guessing this will be the same for the middle lane morons and I'm sure they can't devise a camera for that.
As to whether it works on the continent, well I'm not so sure of that either. I've done a lot of driving in Europe and there are very few motorways of 3 lanes or more, in general they tend to be 2 lane affairs.
These tend to self police as if you don't get out of the way then you are literally forced out of the way. If our motorways only had 2 lanes then maybe it would be the same here.
The stupidity of it all is the 4+ lane sections of motorway with nobody sat in the first 2 lanes and the outside lane is a steady solid line of traffic. It really isn't an efficient use of space.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Stanmore
I've just got back from a week of driving in Sicily so it was almost a pleasure to drive home on UK motorways.
As said above, how many people do you see a day on their mobile phones ? I'd hazard a lot. The issue isn't the fine/points, but the actual chance of them being caught which is very slim. I'm guessing this will be the same for the middle lane morons and I'm sure they can't devise a camera for that.
As to whether it works on the continent, well I'm not so sure of that either. I've done a lot of driving in Europe and there are very few motorways of 3 lanes or more, in general they tend to be 2 lane affairs.
These tend to self police as if you don't get out of the way then you are literally forced out of the way. If our motorways only had 2 lanes then maybe it would be the same here.
The stupidity of it all is the 4+ lane sections of motorway with nobody sat in the first 2 lanes and the outside lane is a steady solid line of traffic. It really isn't an efficient use of space.
As said above, how many people do you see a day on their mobile phones ? I'd hazard a lot. The issue isn't the fine/points, but the actual chance of them being caught which is very slim. I'm guessing this will be the same for the middle lane morons and I'm sure they can't devise a camera for that.
As to whether it works on the continent, well I'm not so sure of that either. I've done a lot of driving in Europe and there are very few motorways of 3 lanes or more, in general they tend to be 2 lane affairs.
These tend to self police as if you don't get out of the way then you are literally forced out of the way. If our motorways only had 2 lanes then maybe it would be the same here.
The stupidity of it all is the 4+ lane sections of motorway with nobody sat in the first 2 lanes and the outside lane is a steady solid line of traffic. It really isn't an efficient use of space.
The simplest solution would be to allow overtaking on both sides (which is pretty much what happens on the M25 nowadays anyway). You'd need a police presence to stop the dangerous swerving around and cutting up that would inevitably ensue (drive on a busy Freeway in L.A. and you'll see Civics doing this a lot!) but otherwise it would probably help the flow of traffic.
Bit of a contradiction with these two though
Driving too close to the vehicle in front
Overtaking and pushing into a queue of traffic
If people weren't driving too close, then there'd be no need to push into a queue when overtaking.
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
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From: London/Surrey - UK
Ok maybe I shouldn't have said 'the continent' but just the Netherlands seeing as I've spent most of my driving life there and you get none of the annoyances you get on the motorway here.
You can drive the whole length of the country without being bothered by other drivers which you can't do for 10 minutes here.
But then in NL people are actually being taught how to drive on the motorway and it's not made out to be this big scary thing it is here.
You can drive the whole length of the country without being bothered by other drivers which you can't do for 10 minutes here.
But then in NL people are actually being taught how to drive on the motorway and it's not made out to be this big scary thing it is here.
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That's the problem-in the UK we're taught how to drive in town, country roads and the odd dual carriageway. You pass, then you're expected to be able to drive on a 3 or 4 lane motorway with no training. Learners even have to point out where the dip stick is but aren't taught how to drive on three lanes with lorries and idiotic Range Rover drivers doing 100+