Sue
Whilst I also do not condone the aggressive driving of the person in the Passat, I am afraid that I think that you were in the wrong lane. As you write:
"...Someone in a Passat overtook me, then cut in front of me rather closer than
I would have liked, then moved very quickly into the left hand lane, almost
as if he (or it could have been she) was making the point that I was in the
wrong lane.
I considered whether I should also be in the left hand lane, and thought,
no, there's another string of lorries ahead and I won't want to get stuck
behind them. Sure enough, as I get to the end of this thought Passat driver
pulls out in front of me - again closer than I would have liked - and shoots
off past the lorries, which I also overtook a minute later..."
Thus, there was time, after overtaking you, for the person in the Passat to move into the inside lane. You also state that you overtook the lorries about one minute later. If you were driving at sixty mph, the lorries would have been one mile ahead. I, therefore, think that you answer you own question.
On a more general note, I often feel that people who do not move into the inside (slow) lane are scared that they will be trapped. From this, I deduce that they are poor drivers. Whilst I do not claim to be perfect, when driving on the motorway, I always try to be aware of every vehicle around me, their relative speed, intentions, and so on. Thus, if you see a car pull back into the inside lane, but still travelling relatively quickly, you appreciate that they will want to pull out again when the lane is blocked. Thus, you prepare to leave enough room for them and I also flash my lights for a short space of time to indicate that I have understood that they wish to pull out. There are of course times when I am ready to overtake such cars and leave enough room for them to pull out but they do not indicate their intentions. I then consider that they may be waiting because they are about to turn off or their mobile phone has rung and they have slowed down so they can talk. So, I proceed to overtake them. Occassionally, this is the case, but other times, their brake lights suddenly light up because they are, as they say, trapped.
The conclusion is that, if they had been constantly aware of what was going on, indicated early to be allowed out around the blockage in the inside lane, as well as monitoring the speeds of the cars behind them, they would not end up trapped. Again, by pulling back in to the inside lane and indicating early drivers of faster cars behind, like the Passat, are generally appreciative when they see what you are doing and allow you to pull out again, often with the falsh of the lights, or pull out one lane further to make room for you. Sue, it should also be noted that you may be the fastest car on the road and so you will never be trapped behind the lorries because no vehicle is currently driving faster than you to trap you.
(Disclaimer!!! I appreciate that all of the comments are not in accordance with the Highway Code but do believe that they represent real life on the motorway).
Andy
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