Is staying in the middle lane safer than constantly changing lanes on the motorway?

What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Is staying in the middle lane safer than constantly changing lanes on the motorway?

It seems to me that the continual movement of vehicles from the nearside to and from the overtaking lanes to make progress along a motorway is potentially more dangerous than staying for some distance in the same lane. It is hazardous and wearing for drivers to pop in and out between HGVs. The successful enforcement of any offence of 'lane hogging' will be as difficult as it will be to define the offence, and 'tailgating' has been almost impossible to enforce in the USA which has many more policemen.

Asked on 19 October 2013 by GE, Standlake, Oxon

Answered by Honest John

I disagree with that. Simply staying in the same lane leads to fatigue, drowsiness and inattention. When you are conforming to the UK's low speed limits you need to do things to keep yourself awake and alert. So staying in lane one as much as is reasonably possible makes a lot of sense because you constantly have to calculate the elapsing distance between you and the truck ahead and the elapsing distance between you and cars in lane two slowly overtaking you. And guess what? By constantly looking in your mirrors you might manage to avoid taking out a passing motorcycle. As for enforcement, every police traffic car, whether liveried or in plain clothes, has video recording equipment. I also disagree that overtaking either side is inherently dangerous. The only risk is that dumbed down and inattentive drivers are not expecting you to. If it’s the norm it can be perfectly safe, as illustrated in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=THksLID3DcI

Tags: motorways driving techniques

Similar questions

Why do drivers pull out from slip roads regardless of traffic?

People appear to think they have the right to join a trunk road or motorway from a slip road by just putting on their indicator and pulling out into the stream of traffic regardless of a vehicle being...

What is actually wrong with middle lane hogging?

I would appreciate your explanation of the new offence of hogging the centre lane on a motorway. Unless the motorway is relatively empty, keeping to the inside lane involves constant overtaking of slow...

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...