Middle Lane Hoggers To Face On-The-Spot Fines

[mushroom25]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22770064

sounds good - but on the basis that it will be incredibly difficult to enforce, isn't this just a case of distraction politics?

[emmie]

another way to kick the motorist, too costly to police perhaps.

[Maydup]

If the police were on the motorway and came across a middle lane hogger there would have been nothing to stop them pulling them over anyway.

Definitely a case of distraction politics.

[FredPuli43]

Middle lane hogging , when an offence, is driving without reasonable consideration for other road users. If the police witness it they can have the driver prosecuted. Whether they can issue fixed penalties or not, if the driver contests that matter no money or time is saved. A complaint may be that police officers will try to issue fixed penalties every time they see someone in the middle lane when the inside lane is free, and the poor driver will think he has to plead guilty. That is, it's a way of increasing revenue.

Tailgating is not an offence in itself either. The same applies to it, as to 'hogging', except that it is more likely to be an offence in any given case; some danger may be presented by it and it may be regarded as reckless.

[Old_Geezer]

One problem is that, except in clear cut cases, deciding it is better to move back to the left when clearly approaching another car one wishes to overtake, than it is to keep switching lanes like some lunatic driver, is a subjective decision. The situation being ambiguous this allows open season on claiming wrong-doing then a reasonable person could dispute it. Furthermore one isn't going to do it in front of a cop car anyway so how much affect will it have ? I sometimes think folk feel it is better to look as if one is trying something for their end of year review, than it is to concentrate on finding something useful to champion.

[Old_Geezer]

I dislike tailgating: but I also dislike someone dawdling along in the right hand lane effectively stopping me passing them. I patiently wait for them to move over, and watch as others undertake again and again. And yes it is undertaking no matter what the excuse.

[ludwig]

It won't be any more difficult to enforce than what they do at the moment which is to give you a warning. They'll just give you a fine instead.

[Old_Geezer]

So: next to no enforcement at all then ?

[mikey4444]

About time. Hope the same happens to those tw*ts that follow about 2 feet behind me.

[BlueToffee]

Go and experience lane discipline in France. Although they tailgate, their lane discipline is superb.

Even BMW drivers use the inside lane!

[ludwig]

// So: next to no enforcement at all then ? //

Yep, pretty much. Unless they're given targets for how much money they bring in, which wouldn't surprise me.

[Allen Crisp]

FredPuli43 - "Tailgating is not an offence in itself either".

Not, perhaps, if you call it "tailgating". If you give it its proper name of "dangerous driving", it is a most serious offence.

[Baldric]

So, are they going to change Police sirens so that they will now goquote[Kerching?]

[Baldric]

^^^blooming italics!!!!^^^

[FredPuli43]

As I said Allen, it, 'tailgating' is more likely to be an offence (than hogging) in any given case because danger may be presented by it and it may be reckless. It no more follows that being close to the car in front is dangerous driving in every case than it does that exceeding the speed limit is dangerous or reckless driving in every case.

[ToraToraTora]

I've never understood the hysteria really, it's lane changing that causes most accidents. Anyway, pretty well uneneforceable. I'd always plead not guilty anyway on the basis that when to change lanes in mostly subjective.

[jake-the-peg]

//Even BMW drivers use the inside lane! //

//I've never understood the hysteria really,//

Now you drive a BMW don't you Tora? - Or am I confusing you with someone else? :c)

[ummmm]

Which is fine when there is traffic on the inside lane but some driver sit in the middle lane even when the inside lane is clear.

Some drivers don't understand the rules of passing on the left.

[mikey4444]

I drive about 35,000 miles a year. on both Motorways and ordinary roads, and I see appalling driving every single day, without fail. Speed is nearly always a factor. If someone is driving about 20 feet behind you at 70 miles an hours, than I can't see how much dangerous you can get. All the accidents involving lane changing, etc is made much worse with speeding.

But where are the Police ? A few weeks ago I drove from South Wales to Lands End, and as soon as I got over the Severn Bridge, I didn't see another police for 200 miles ! The M5 down into Somerset and Devon is a constant source of fatal accidents and yet the Police seem to ignore the situation.

We have a real bottle neck in South Wales, close to the Brynglas Tunnels on the M4. There are serious accidents at this spot on an almost weekly basis and the congestion caused can last for hours and hours, completely paralysing the whole area. ALL of those accidents are caused by people driving too close to the car in front, driving too fast, or changing lanes without using indicators, or a combination of all three.

So I would welcome more Police cars and tougher laws....it will save lives, simple as that. The Jeremy Clarkson school of driving, ie I want to drive my car as fast as I want and F*** you to every other driver is just not acceptable.

This may sound like a rant but I had to be cut out of my car in 2010 due to some one driving too close and too fast, and I am lucky to be alive.

[AB Editor]

It's more a case that people will stop doing something they know can cost them. It's a nudge, and it might work.