Safe Speed Forums

Hopefully this is a slightly different angle than the usual.

For the last couple of months I have spent quite a bit of time on the M20 travelling at the lower end of the speed range, i.e 60 - 70 mph, and have noticed a driver behaviour that I have not before.

Drivers in the middle lane that have a reluctance to use a clear right hand lane.

You are in the lhl catching another vehicle, you can see a car catching you in the middle lane and you estimate they will not pass before you need to pull out. You decide to indicate your need to move out in plenty of time so that they can either-

Move out to the, clear, rhl
Accelerate so you can pull in behind
Slow and let you out in front - not sure why they would want to do this, simply included for completeness

What they do is just ignore your indicator completely so you either have to accelerate out in front or slow to pull in behind. I am not talking about expecting them to react to a couple of flashes, the minimum time they have to react before I have to slow has been in excess of 4 seconds and up to over 10 on a few occasions.

The second behaviour of this type occurs when you are already in the middle lane overtaking a vehicle or line of vehicles, a car catches you up then slows and sits behind you, not always but frequently a bit too close for comfort. There is nothing in the outside lane to stop them from simply moving over and passing, they just don't. When you pull back into the lhl they then generally just accelerate back up to their previous speed and pass.

It does not bother me much, I give myself space to accelerate and pull in front if they are not going much faster or back off a little to slip in behind if they are. I am wondering if anyone else has noticed this and if you think it comes from the same school of driving as the traditional mlm.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

My guess would be that they are just completely oblivious to anyone else on the road.

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

In the second case they do slow down rather than run into the back of my car, might be closer to say they are on autopilot or unconscious cruise control. Do you mean they are oblivious to what may happen as opposed to what is happening, driving in a reactive rather than proactive mode?

If they are driving unconsciously then why doesn't an indicator trigger a response when a car in the way does?
Is it because allowing someone out is of no perceived benefit whereas avoiding running into the back of a car is?

Sorry - I think about this stuff while watching other drivers to stop me from falling asleep while I pootle along at 65mph on a motorway.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

due to £1.10/litre petrol I have had a change of motoring policy. Where once I stalked the overtaking lane the Civic is now in its expected habitat,ie lane 1 going slow.

I now find it much harder to concerntrate at 55-60 mph than at err, "lane 3 speed". Every thing just seems to happen so much slower now and I'm slower to react to it. It is just a pity she wont do 45mpg at "lane 3 speed"

Seriously though. I think this behaviour is a minimum-effort approach to driving "safely". Just stay in one lane and don't hit the car in front of you. If anyone hits you from the side or from behind it will be their fault. I think tiredness and/or boredom (one usually tends to accompany the other) causes it and with our current climate of speed cameras and high fuel prices an increasing number of people are being forced into long boring drives and thus the problem is getting worse.

It probably comes back to the lack of training drivers get on how to use motorways. If they are driving unconsciously, not necessarily a bad thing, then selecting the easiest choice to cope with the situation from their set of learnt behaviours is to be expected. Unlike a number of the 'militant' mlms that have posted on here at least they are passively safe as opposed to actively unsafe.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

That's been a constant problem for many many years. I still think the sudden rise in this kind of MLM is purely down to tiredness and boredom. I have to confess to having employed the tactic myself (though in L1) when hit by sudden tiredness. I only do so for as long as is necessary to get to the next services, however. (Which can be a very long time, happened to me recently just after South Mimms on the M25 and the next services was Reading)

I bet no one has ever told them that watching other traffic and changing lanes helps stop you from getting bored, works for me anyway.

I pulled off the MW and got a couple of hours kip in the back of the van on one run from Glasgow back down to Kent. I was a bit short on sleep from the previous two days and was hit by what I can only describe as a wave of tiredness. It was so strong I did not wait for the next service just took the next exit found the first place to stop off the road and got my head down. I was woken up by a traffic officer checking out the van a couple of hours later.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

An increasing section of the motoring public simply don't care about anyone else but themselves.

In this case I honestly think some motorists don't move over to let you out because they can't see any personal benefit.

What I could do is pull out in front of them, accelerating if necessary, slow until I am barely passing the vehicle in the lhl and do not pull back into the lhl until they actually pull out and overtake.

I don't as it is not my job to educate them, it would probably just annoy them rather than help them learn something anyway.
It would also be unsafe for any number of reasons and I would feel like an mlm to boot.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

There are plenty of MLM threads or I could start a new one, however I am posting this in here as I started the thread in the first place. My contribution to the eco recycle/reuse strategy.

A little youtube item found by Spikeyhead and posted on PH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7yusL3E3to

Enjoy

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

I was thinking of this thread on the way back from Glasgow this evening! I wasn't in a hurry, and after Abington Services I joined the motorway and noticed an MLM pootling along next to a lightly-trafficked L1. As he/she was doing about the same speed as me, I was then treated to the most monumental display of numptyism I've seen in a very long time! Between then and when I left the motorway at Carlisle, he/she didn't ONCE deign to use the inside lane!!! Is this a record?

I've often wondered if the millions thrown in to upgrade motorways from 3 to 4 or 4 to 5 lanes would be better used to upgrade the motorway police presence and educate/ persuade / [choose your own phrase ] those who cause the congestion by poor lane discipline .
Reduce the congestion =reduce the frustration = increase the road safety =safer roads .
I've always wondered about the benefits of having a second test to qualify for motorway status after holding a licence for a period .Personally ,I never see the need for it - I passed my test in the 60's in Glasgow .I learned to drive on S/C (single and double ) and D/C - and from my memories the same principles still hold true today ( and can be applied to motorways ) - I was taught to keep left unless there was parked vehicles in the left lane /I was turning right /or there was another reason .For about two years I played about on single track roads where the biggest danger in winter was a black faced sheep keeping warm in the road or in summer a tourist - equally dangerous IMHO .There was also the added incentive to keep on the tarmac - no breakdown service in those days - so if you did come unstuck - carry a some rations ( and for breakdowns a good set of tools- sort of Mears in the Highlands)
Then lured by prospects I got the chance of a transfer to London ( my sister also getting a job in the civil service in London) and for six months we took regular trips home - about 600miles(each way) sharing the driving -never having had any motorway training -just good driver training .( And the knowledge that anyone causing problems would get put in their place by trafpol -highly unlikely we'd get fast enough to upset the motorway police in an old A40).

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on