Sorry to hijack a tiny bit but does anyone find that they are travelling quite normally in lane 1 on a quiet motorway and you have a middle lane warrior sticking to lane 2 even though lane 1 is clear - do I have to therefore move two lanes over to overtake him and move all the way back?

I think the modern driving test needs a motorway section with lane discipline taught.

 

can't see it as an issue

if it's a 'quiet motorway' you see these people from way back

you therefore have stacks of time to use the right most lane to pass

which is obviously no hardship at all

exaggerated circling overtakes are just pathetic and unnecessary

 

Again highway code is very clear, only undertake when traffic more slower in other lanes in a congestion scenario. The fact that muppets hog middle lane when nothing else about is irrelavant to the guidance given.
Im sure most know the crack its just a case of justifying their undertake. In example above I tend to carry on in lane 1 and undertake them slowly.

 

I actually believe it comes from having too much choice ie 3 lanes.

People go on about how good it is to drive on motorways in France, however they carry far less traffic than the UK's motorways and more importantly the majority only have 2 lanes making lane discipline even more important.

From my experience, as soon as you hit a 3 lane motorway in France the middle lane morons appear.

We are also very selfish drivers in the UK which compounds the issue. It is very seldom that people give way to let you pull out (not just on motorways, but any junction for that matter) nowadays which also, in my opinion, leads to people occupying the outside 2 lanes of the motorway with some misplaced received wisdom that these are the lanes to make progress in.

So much capacity is wasted on the UK motorways, instead of widening or building new stretches, they should police them more vigorously to increase capacity at peak times.
On thing that impressed my in Italy recently was that for certain stretches of motorway, HGVs were limited to lane 1 only, good idea in my book.

 

I never undertake on a motorway its just too risky when there is a close proximity of idiots who cant drive properly on a motorway.

I witnessed a bad crash many years ago in my earlier years of driving when someone undertook, the (undertaken) driver i presume didnt know what to do/what was happening thus collided.

 

I know the spot well in the OP's post.

The stretch of M6 between Stoke & Knutsford is often better and safer being driven in lanes 1 & 2. The problem in lane 3 is the stop start nature which is tedious and relatively dangerous.

It's a good point about more selfish, however I think more accurately it's the British stick up the backside attitude.

The right of way issue has definately got worse.

 

i go on the fact that it's free game if their under the limit, and there is ample room todo so.

wrong or right, i dont know but thats just my thoughts!

 

I often do "undertakes" on relatively empty motorways.

The 4-lane sections of the M25 and M1 are prime examples. Usually I am in lane 1 "undertaking" cars sat in lane 3, so there's a nice safety cushion of the empty lane 2 (as well as the hard shoulder in case of emergency).

It's rare anyone moves over after I've "undertaken" them.

 

I agree with you about 2 lane motorways in France.

However, if you middle lane on the continent you'll rapidly have someone six inches behind, skewed to the side (so you can see them in the mirror), indicator on, flashing their lights and using their horn.

And whereas here people don't like to let you out, on the continent people don't ask to be let out and just swerve out dangerously as long as there's at least a car's length - which there usually isn't because on the continent drivers stop others from pulling out by closing within inches.

It's not that we're bad drivers, it's that we're not bad enough.

 

Unfortunately I do the undertake move most mornings on the way to work, I drive a short stretch of dual carriageway(governed by m/way regs) that splits into two(north/south) sliproads, all these muppets insist on travelling in the right hand lane from the start for approx 11/4 miles at usually 50mph because they seem to think it is a great long sliproad, I am not sitting in lane one at less than that because they want to dawdle along.
Sorry folks, I know it's wrong but I don't have any patience in the mornings.