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Middle lane hoggers aren't just rude, but also dangerous.

I believe that people who drive solely in the centre lane do so because they can switch off mentally. They follow the car in front and adjust their speed to that car which means they have no awareness of other traffic but more importantly are not reading the road ahead. Centre lane hogging is much more than rudeness, it is dangerous for many reasons and I believe is a contributory cause of pile-ups.

The driver travelling at 80mph and changing lanes as the road traffic develops is a far safer driver because he must concentrate and watch his mirrors regularly. The centre lane hogger reduces a three-lane motorway to two thereby increasing traffic congestion and usually remains in lane two when on a two-lane road, causing similar problems. As the powers that be rely on speed cameras after having reduced the Police Traffic Division, I fail to see how they will catch these rude and dangerous drivers

Asked on 19 October 2013 by JS, London SW1

Answered by Honest John
I could not agree more. All day I have been responding to the type of reader you refer to, attempting to point out that driving in the correct lane at ridiculously boring speeds forces you to pay attention to your mirrors, your closing speeds, everything. It actually makes driving more challenging than simply sitting in the right hand lane at 100mph. But every traffic patrol car, including the ones in plain wrappers, now has video recording equipment to prove the offence.
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