Overtaking Lane/Middle Lane Hoggers - How to get the message across?

Berty

What build a whole loads of gantries like this one

L1011

Berty wrote: »

Middle lane hoggers have no idea that they are in the wrong. They do not watch the TV ads, read the signs and certainly do not read this forum.

Or worse, like another user on here, they'll insist to the death that they're right for hogging the middle lane and try to justify it with safety reasons (which are invented).

Berty

MYOB wrote: »

Or worse, like another user on here, they'll insist to the death that they're right for hogging the middle lane and try to justify it with safety reasons (which are invented).

There was a truck that overtook a truck in the left lane only to come upon a car in the middle lane driving even slower. The artic moved into the right hand lane to overtake the car in the middle whom could have pulled into the left lane but didnt.

I could see what was going to happen because the truck driver did not have the foresight to see that there was a line of middle lane hoggers so he was left in his artic in the right lane(N7 Naas north) for around 2 kms with the right hand hoggers going mental behind him. I just cruised along in the left lane. I was not gaining any ground or losing any ground BUT I was content in being hidden away from all that silly road rage going on around me.

AND to top it all off the Newlands Cross lights were not working and it was carnage.

Noopti

Big bloody signs on the roads are what is needed. And a TV advert campaign, they did it for other ROTR so why not this?

I think the middle lane hogging is down to the fact that most people are so used to dual lanes that when they encounter 3 they don't know what to do!

Quint

Do they have TV ads saying to drive in the left? I never saw them if there were.

Why is undertaking illegal anyway? Surely if I'm driving in the left lane at the speed limit, say 100kph and someone is in the middle lane at 80kph it's safe to pass on the left? Are you allowed to move from the right lane to the left with out looking and indication or something?

Zube

Quint wrote: »

Why is undertaking illegal anyway?

It's a lot simpler and safer on a dual carriageway if everyone follows our rules. The American system calls for a bit more care, but obviously if you have 8 lanes of traffic and exits on both sides, it isn't practical for people to only pass on one side.

McSpud

colm_mcm wrote: »

what did you do?

Drove in the left lane & still able to do 65mph+ & maybe only have to overtake 2-3 cars.

colm_mcm

McSpud wrote: »

Drove in the left lane & still able to do 65mph+ & maybe only have to overtake 2-3 cars.

You're just compounding the problem.

Berty

Show me somebody who is making an effort to address this issue other than a bunch of nobodies discussing it on a forum in the depths of cyberspace and maybe I along with others might consider stopping it.

Im not undertaking because I want to get there faster. I do not see the point in having to leave the left lane to pass into the third lane to pass somebody in the second lane to drive back across to the left lane to continue my journey only to have to do this minutes later.

Im not the problem. Im not compounding the problem. They(elusive they) are!

AugustusMaximus

Middle Lane Morons manage to do 1 main thing.

That is reduce the capacity of a 3 lane motorway to that of a 2 lane motorway because of their own incompetance. The Naas road might aswell be a 2 lane road because of these idiots.

I too stick in the left hand lane and bomb on past them. Idiots.

kdouglas

colm_mcm wrote: »

It's easy. flash your lights, make a fuss. at least make them see that what they're doing is wrong. Overtaking on the inside not only compounds the problem (by both making them afraid to pull into the left lane and making them think what they're doing is ok) nut is also illegal.

While I do use the indicate, flash lights approach, sometimes it just doesn't work, I approached two drivers tailgating eachother in the overtaking lane on the M1 north the other morning, tried it and they just would not move over, there were no other cars on the stretch of road for about a mile in either direction but yet they felt the need to clog up the overtaking lane.

While the flash lights/indicate method commonly works for those in the overtaking lane, how do you get the message across to middle lane hoggers?

mikemac wrote: »

Spot on! I'll openly admit I was a middle lane hogger the first time I drove the naas road southbound.
Because it seemed to me and to plently of others that the left lane was for exits and I didn't want to go down some exit so I stayed in the middle.

True, they only changed the signs recently, it used to be signed in such a way that the left hand lane appeared to be for the next exit only, the problem still persists though.


So my idea of a website fails... but perhaps we should get onto the RSA and start asking for better signage? And I dont just mean a stupid internet petition, with enough people mailing in letters, they might actually just read one of them

milltown

kdouglas wrote: »

I approached two drivers tailgating eachother in the overtaking lane on the M1 north the other morning, tried it and they just would not move over

Surely the guy doing the tailgating was also trying to get past the slow coach in front. Just doing it more dangerously.

[PEDANT: Two cars can't tailgate each other /PEDANT]

hayyman

kdouglas wrote: »

So I drove Dublin -> Dundalk -> Newbridge yesterday, and also drive Dublin -> Newbridge several times a week (usually late in the evening when there is little traffic) and I got to thinking a bit recently about an idea.

As with many other posters here, the middle lane and overtaking lane hoggers get on my nerves and although the occasional indicator/flash of headlights works for some/most of the overtaking lane hoggers, it seems like driver's need to be educated on what they're doing wrong.

(Middle lane drivers really frustrate me, what's wrong with the perfectly good empty lane to your left??!? especially late at night when there are very few other vehicles on the road)

It's a basic principle of the rules of the road, you keep left. And I believe lack of driver education is the root cause of this problem.

So, I got to thinking, would it work if someone started a website aimed at educating drivers on such things as lane positioning on motorways and other similar common pet peeves/bad habits.

The website would need to be promoted well to reach a wide enough audience of course, and I thought bumper stickers with the website address would be an effective way to get the message out to the right audience. (plenty of other drivers would see them)

Just an idea I had, and was wondering if anyone else had any other possibly effective ways of educating drivers on correct motorway discipline?


(Note: I'm in no way saying I myself am a perfect driver, we all have our downfalls, this is just one major thing that annoys me Also, not meaning this thread to turn into a debate/moan thread about such activities, looking for discussion on ways to solve the problem)

Its just bad mannered people that drive in the overtaking lane on dualcarriageways n motorways.like get a life its not dare job 2 hold up people that want 2 go faster,thats y its there

Voodoomelon

milltown wrote: »

Was up to Newry yesterday and I must say the lane discipline on the M1 seems to be much, much better than the M50, N/M7 and N/M4.

This is true, I drive the M1 20+ times a year and its plain sailing. When I arrive on the M50, the madness breaks loose...

jim o doom

Buy and old really beaten up clearly unloved Toyota hi-lux and drive REALLY close to the back, if they don't move - then ram! heh heh only joking, but there are times behind these people that it doesn't seem like such a bad idea

TheBazman

Heading up the M7 this morning and came up behind a plonker in a wine Skoda in the overtaking lane - there wasnt another car to be seen. I moved out to the overtaking lane and waited and waited, eventually I flashed quickly, then again, and finally a flash of around 1 - 2 seconds...no move. Eventually I undertook. After that I look in the rear view mirror only to see him move into the inside lane. Why could he not have done while I was behind him ??

j2dab

Berty wrote: »

I try to anticipate if they will move in to the left lane but HELL what are the chances of that???

lol , no chance they are allergic to the left lane.
I have also given up flashing its not worth the stress anymore 1 in 5 drivers doing it will not pull in to prove some sort of point I find, so I just undertake them but am sure to be very observant in the process.

L1011

TheBazman wrote: »

Heading up the M7 this morning and came up behind a plonker in a wine Skoda in the overtaking lane - there wasnt another car to be seen. I moved out to the overtaking lane and waited and waited, eventually I flashed quickly, then again, and finally a flash of around 1 - 2 seconds...no move. Eventually I undertook. After that I look in the rear view mirror only to see him move into the inside lane. Why could he not have done while I was behind him ??

He was likely acting policeman and trying to "slow you down"... far too many of this class of driver on the road.

dade

Berty wrote: »

In Florida you can pass somebody in any lane you feel like. I still kept to the right lane because I was still getting used to their roads.

Ferris wrote: »

It really was that good, I'd always been told the LA was a traffic nightmare but it was brilliant compared to the M50

driven in both LA and FL and to be honest found the LA traffic so much easier drivers tended to be more courteous when you went to change lanes. probably all the tourists in FL

Dearg81

Are you allowed to undertake cars while your driving in the bus lane(after 7pm and sundays)? I presume you are as taxis always do.

ordinary_story

Its simply a matter of signage. I assume that the vast majoritty of people complaining about the middle lane hoggers actually use the road regularily and know where they are going.

When driving from Mullingar to Sligo the first roundabout at Longford is the same principle. I know that I will be technically turning right so I should be in the right lane, however, the right hand turn is also the second exit. I know how to use the roundabout but 80% of the other people using this particular roundabout dont and are generally quite assertive in their opinions.

Before these new gantry signs went up people obviously stuck to the middle lane incase they ended up going up a ramp into some housing development instead of staying on the motorway. It is the safest option if you arent familiar with the road. Again its not a matter of courtesy its a matter of education and upgrading the abismal standard of signage in this country.

meesa

TheBazman wrote: »

Heading up the M7 this morning and came up behind a plonker in a wine Skoda in the overtaking lane - there wasnt another car to be seen. I moved out to the overtaking lane and waited and waited, eventually I flashed quickly, then again, and finally a flash of around 1 - 2 seconds...no move. Eventually I undertook. After that I look in the rear view mirror only to see him move into the inside lane. Why could he not have done while I was behind him ??

Because he was on his phone and didn`t notice you:rolleyes:

nuttz

Lane hoggers are annoying all right, if I am driving at night, I don't flash them, I adjust the lights up and down, it's bound to hit their mirror.

AngelinaJolie

I admit I prefer the middle lane on the N7 - I like to keep my lane changing to the minimum and besides I always drive at 100kph which is the speed limit so there isn't any problem. I am aware of the correct lane discipline but I found that I had to keep overtaking slow-moving vehicles, or to allow vehicles join the carriageway and often I found myself stuck behind said slow-moving vehicle because of a line of middle lane hoggers like myself. So if ye can't beat em, join em!
On the motorway I always stay in the left lane, except when overtaking. To be honest I can't stand the boy racers who drive 120 miles per hour hogging the overtaking lane! And let's not forget the articulated tanker who insisted on tailgating me at night in the left lane on the M1 because I was driving at 100kph (not the speed limit I know, but I was a bit hungover). Eventually he decided to overtake and I caught up with him at the toll (I made sure he moved on first - i didn't want to repeat the experience).
What's everyone's hurry?

L1011

-1 for the "can't beat them, join them" attitude. People are going to assume that because the bulk of drivers are in the middle lane that that is the correct driving lane, causing a self perpetuating problem.

Additionally, I've found that when its dark theres usually huge amounts of phantom slowdowns in both lanes, meaning they suddenly go significantly slower, and the inside lane is generally the fastest lane on the entire N7...

darc

many years ago, (1988) I drove from Holyhead to london at about 3am & was stopped on a near empty motorway and fined £30 for driving in the centre lane whilst the inner lane was free of traffic.

learnt the lesson and used the inner lane ever since. - UK traffioc cops are quite strict on lane discipline, which is why lane discipline over there is particulary good.

A fine of €50 would teach most people a lesson in lane control over here.

Drummerboy08

I was behind a BMW 320d on the M50 last saturday evening. There was very little traffic around, for whatever strange reason. The BMW wouldnt move over, but i didnt flash, or beep, or anything. I just sat there for a while, hoping the driver would get the idea.

Next thing i know, the BMW hits the brakes, no car in front of it, and no car on the inside lane. Then, the driver flashes his hazards at me. I flash the headlights back. The eventually moves in, i go by, and next thing i notcie the BMW back behind me, with the female driver flashing her headlights at me!:eek:

There are some serious mentalists out there.

Slig

AngelinaJolie wrote: »

I admit I prefer the middle lane on the N7 - I like to keep my lane changing to the minimum and besides I always drive at 100kph which is the speed limit so there isn't any problem. I am aware of the correct lane discipline but I found that I had to keep overtaking slow-moving vehicles, or to allow vehicles join the carriageway and often I found myself stuck behind said slow-moving vehicle because of a line of middle lane hoggers like myself. So if ye can't beat em, join em!
On the motorway I always stay in the left lane, except when overtaking. To be honest I can't stand the boy racers who drive 120 miles per hour hogging the overtaking lane! And let's not forget the articulated tanker who insisted on tailgating me at night in the left lane on the M1 because I was driving at 100kph (not the speed limit I know, but I was a bit hungover). Eventually he decided to overtake and I caught up with him at the toll (I made sure he moved on first - i didn't want to repeat the experience).
What's everyone's hurry?

The curteous thing to do would actually have been to pull into the right lane to allow them to pass. They arent allowed to use the overtaking lane.

john_k

MYOB wrote: »

and the inside lane is generally the fastest lane on the entire N7...

+1

Daithi McGee

The problem with a lot of drivers in Ireland, in my opinion, is that they are very unaware when driving. They do not have a clue what is going on around and behind them. They assume that they have to give thier full attention to the road ahead of them. Not so, you do that naturally.

I remember when I did my driving test many years ago I had to use my mirrors. At them time I faked using all my mirrors by just moving my head about a lot looking into my mirrors just to make sure I got that bit of the test correct.

For about the past 10 years I have now fully understood the reasoning of using your mirrors at all times. You need to be able to see almost 360 degrees when driving.

You only have to see it on the new three lane M50. Oh look why don't you just stay in the middle lane?

Ah I'd better stop now I feel an explosive rant coming on