During the weekend, as I made a couple of 80-mile journeys on the M3, I chewed over the recent news that the police are to get increased powers to issue on-the-spot fines for careless driving offences — such as poor lane discipline and tailgating.
The move has been made following “extensive public consultation” according to the Department for Transport, so on the face of it this seems to be a case of giving the people exactly what they want.
If it leads to more traffic officers keeping our roads safe, that’s a positive step. But in my view, the new powers seem to contain some vagueness that could make them counterproductive.
According to AA president Edmund King, middle-lane hogs are “a pet hate” alongside mobile phone users and tailgaters.
I don’t think hogs should be vilified in quite the same way. Using a handheld mobile phone, like not wearing a seatbelt, is black-and-white; if you get caught, you can’t really argue with an on-the-spot fine, points or whatever else comes your way. Similarly, tailgating really could endanger life by not leaving sufficient stopping distance and a clamp down should be welcomed.
However, middle lane hogs, while infuriating, do not actually endanger lives in the same way. Yes, hogs are frustrating, but for any skilled driver they are easy to spot and usually stick to a consistent speed, so can be negotiated with a little bit of patience and forethought.
Are we now saying vehicles that cause others to slow their pace or make risky overtaking moves face censure? Then by extrapolation surely the police will be clamping down on lorries running side-by-side on two lanes of a motorway, or on cyclists from slowing traffic on an A-road by cycling alongside each other.
Okay, there’s a touch of facetiousness about that statement, but to me, middle-lane hogging rarely seems like a product of malevolence. In fact, I suspect that in many cases such actions are the result of poor driver training or road awareness or a lack of confidence. So if someone is causing a nuisance, by all means pull them over and have a chat about what they’re doing wrong, but is a fine and endorsement really necessary in this instance?
Furthermore, if the authorities – even those that represent motorists’ views – are singling out road hogs, it risks further encouraging those imbeciles who take it upon themselves to teach other road users the error of their ways, cutting them up, tailgating or flashing their headlights at them.
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Actually, road hogs are a
Actually, road hogs are a danger to the public and I am surprised that a car journalist does not realise this?
The more road hogs you find on the road, the more congestion you get further down the line, I have watched and witnessed this happen various times on the opposite carrigeway. The roads end up becoming narrower and narrower until you get to a point further ddown the line where it just suddendly stops! This is when the vehicles behind this suddenly have to break hard to stop and I think you will find that a lot of accidents have happened like this.
About 30 years ago on a very wet day, this happened and a car crashed in front of us and then 5/10 mins later, a bus crashed behind us and went over the embankment on the M5 and a few people lost their life in that bus.
I am excluding those who do
I am excluding those who do 65 or less here... Middle lane hogging is a non problem in my view.
How can you "hog" a lane whilst doing 70? Should people be going faster than that in the middle?
No. 70 is the speed limit.
Is it safer to drop in and out of the left lane between lorries and caravans all the time?
No. Definitely Not.
Do motorways have enough capacity for everyone to drive in the left lane?
No. Have you seen the M6 lately?
Does changing lane constantly wear your tyres more?
Yes almost certainly
Overtaking (right) lane hogs yes, but not people in the middle lane doing 70, this is a totally stupid law.
Yet Another Two Solutions
I was going to say to make offending drivers take an on-line Highway Code test and if they fail that to then give them the fine. But they would probably give answers that did not reflect what they actually did whilst driving.
Then I thought, rather than calling it a fine and going into the government waste basket, why not make drivers purchase an advanced driver's course for motorway driving, that way it would also boost employment and the economy.