Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Lane discipline - theoretical question

Any action which causes another driver to brake or take avoiding measures is probably a wrong one.

As a frequent joiner of a dual carriageway, I am regularly 'blocked' from joining it by cars in the nearside lane who won't move over when the outside lane is perfectly clear. I guess it's their right....

[quote=milligoon


Okay let's get to the bottom of this, John is this you or someone you know

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No, it's an entirely theoretically question. I was thinking about lane discipline after some silly beggar undertook me on the M4 a couple of days ago.

Thats an interesting issue in its won right.The rules are quite clear - you leave the slip road and enter the dual carriageway when its clear to do so, and you cant just force a car in the inside lane to move to the outside. There never used to be a problem with this but in recent years its more and more the case that cars just force their way in from the slip road as if its their right to do so.

It is, however, a matter of common courtesy to allow a car to enter by either slowing a fraction or moving to another lane if it is clear.

Of course in these days of poor education in all walks of life and high stress courtesy is not common any more.

don't get me started about lane discipline!
Recent Example, M25, 4 lanes, I'm in lane 1 (completely clear, I'm the only one in it) lane 2 clear, lane 3....some muppet doing 55mph........
I'm supposed to move over to lane 4, overtake ,then move back to lane 1. Is that safer than passing on the inside? Maybe not legal, what would you do?

The slower car should have spotted the faster car in his/her mirrors before starting the overtake and waited until the faster car had passed him HWC 162 HWC 163 "use your mirrors signal when it is safe to do so take a quick sideways glance if necessary into the blind spot area and then start to move out."

I regularly pass slower-moving traffic on the inside. This isn't the same, however, as undertaking (which is naughty).

If there's someone behaving like a muppet in the middle lane on an otherwise clear motorway, one can always amuse oneself for a few minutes by 'orbiting' them a few times...

To my mind, it never has been the 'slow' lane. The left lane should be used whenever possible, even up to the speed limit of 70mph (slow?). The middle lane is used for overtaking and the outside lane as a last resort, if the other two are already occupied. Simple really, and should be drummed into every new driver so that it becomes second nature.

Where is Burgundymog when we need him?

The original question mentioned 'Priority', and the answer is no-one has priority in those circumstances. Both drivers have an equal obligation to ensure that their actions aren't dangerous or careless.

If a collision occurred then the culpability is shared and the circumstances in which it happened will be examined also. For example, what was the differential in speed between the vehicles? What were the traffic conditions & density? etc etc.

In investigation terms, once the point of collision is known as a fact then tracing the vehicles back along a timeline will show where they both were when the first vehicle commenced the manoeuvre. Adding this into the larger picture of traffic conditions and what others saw plus any factual evidence from electronics or cameras (most motorways have cctv running) and a reconstruction can be made.

The question of degrees of culpability will be based on all of this but even after all this effort it may be that blame is shared equally.

In terms of 'undertaking', the good old Highway Code says that if traffic is moving in lanes and the lane on your right is moving slower than you, then you can pass on the left. It doesn't say anything about motorways in that.

It's simply a symptom of overcrowded roads.

The biggest & possibly hardest thing is to take the emotion out of driving incidents. Keep calm, think logically & don't over-react as it takes two to argue. You won't see them ever again after five minutes.