Safe Speed Forums

They've done it in Holywell, north Wales, as well. It makes me sick. Those boneheads make roads that make you change lanes. Now I have to do a lot of barging about at roundabouts because they screwed up the lanes and put stupid arrows everywhere! Watsamatterwivem? Still, when I go nice and slow, things work out OK. In particular, go very slow at roundabouts. It's amazing how many spivs treat them as mini racetracks.

I'm not making a fuss.
Yes some people make the occasional mistake when changing lanes; the great majority get it right.
The biggest concentration of danger is when drivers are changing lane, from a slip road to the main carriageway, because there are people who think they don't need to think or consider others at pinch points. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that people who don't think about it wouldn't know that.

I still say a person who is incapable of changing lanes without being quite dangerous shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Nor does it detract from the simple fact that it can be done safely



Were those from the UK only, or worldwide from areas where lanes can be designated as fast and slow.
How many of those hits were parts of phrases?
Were those from authoritive sites stating their official designation?
Why don't you type into your search box: "fast lane" site:gov.uk and see what you get. I did and found this:
"On the motorway, keep to the left hand lane unless you are overtaking - and remember that the right hand lane is not "the fast lane"."
Every properly educated driver knows they should keep left when not overtaking, regardless of their speed. It is usually those who are ignorant of this rule, who also believe the left lane is a 'slow lane', who inconsiderately hog Lane 2 so causing needless congestion.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

It's good that you know you're not perfect.



That's why imperfect people (like you) must go slower there.



You say one thing up there (mistakes happen) and another thing here (mistakes don't happen). Please don't lie to me that we never change lanes without being dangerous. We know your not perfect. And be consistent within the same post, even if you can't manage it between different threads.



Because gov.uk is well screwed up, Steve. The govt is not Britain - they are different things. You must be shitting me if you don't know what the slow lane is! Everybody else does...

All manner of lanes interfere that - deceleration lanes, loading lanes, merge lanes, tool booth lanes, carpool lanes, bus lanes, bicycle lanes, tram lanes, truck lanes, overtaking lanes, jammed up lanes, lanes with accidents, closed lanes, building work lanes, bus stop lanes ...


The rule makes no sense at all, man. Please, get real, will you? And take your little rule book and stick it somewhere safe. The lane to the left is called the slow lane - that's its F'ing name, for God's sake. Whatsamatterwithyerman? Go against the the OED if you like, but your on your own from here on in.

Hey, I'm not saying they should go poodling along in the fast lane ... you should drive fast over there. That's why it's called the fast lane. I'm just saying that you should stick in the slow lane until that's too slow for you, then go in the middle lane. If even that's too slow for you (God forbid) then go in the fast lane, but just for a bit. That's how people drive. But don't go changing lane too much - that's counter-productive. And don't get mixed in with all those heavy trucks in the slow lane - that's the worst thing you can do, unless (like me) you like to do a bit of slip streaming to get 70 mpg out of your crate! Basically, if you go into that old slow lane, get prepared to be stuck behind a behemoth for 15 minutes - good for gas, but you need a slow metabolism to stick it!

if lane changing is so dangerous and the driving public in general are so inept at it.... how come motorways move at all ?

the number of lane changes that take place every day...... and the number that result in an incident must surely result in an absolutely minute %age

it's lane 1 mate

Lane 1 is a live covers band playing music from the 50's 60's 70's 80's 90's and todays chart music rock and pop. The slow lane, however, is the traditional name for the strip of road where the truck are.

whats the traditional name for the other 2 lanes ?
and what if there are 4 or 5 !

Because proper drivers know that the vast, majority of our time on the m-way should be spent not changing lanes. The oddballs here who claim to spend a big fragment of their driving time straddling two lanes are just taking the piss, basically.

The traditional names are the fast lane (immortalised by The Eagles), and the "middle lanes" for the others. There are other naming schemes, of course. But only one canonical one.

Of course all this does make for an interesting philosophical question..

Which is the "Correct" terminology?

The definition contained within a government pamphlat (which, in most cases, is never opened again after the test is passed)

Or the common usage of almost all of the countrys 40 odd million drivers

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

HC seems to use LEFT lane... and RIGHT lane in the motorways section !

That's just immature. Yes let's move into a lane which is closed, has an accident, has trams....


That's how some people drive; others do it properly, safely and with consideration.
Rules 137 and 138 of the Highway Code would disagree with you - with good reason too.

People may well call them fast and slow lanes, but they're not; it just so happens that's the type of traffic that usually resides in them because of the nature of going relatively faster when overtaking within the overtaking lanes.

Motorways have the best safety record (for the net distance travelled on it) despite their highest speeds, yet this is the type of road where lane changing is most likely and quite frequent. Go figure.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Abercrombie,

You have a PM. Please check your message inbox.

They are called the fast lane and the slow lane, because people have noticed that the
slow lane is slow and the fast lane is fast.



OK, let's all change lanes more frequently to make the m-ways safer! Not!

Yet the slow lane can also have 'fast' traffic....

Drivers should keep left as per the Highway code rules, that is why 'fast and slow lanes' are misconceptions otherwise the rules would be compatible with one remaining in lane for the duration – which clearly isn’t the case.


That's obviously a silly statement. Such action need not create danger (which is my point); not creating additional danger doesn't equate to making it "safer".

If a manoeuvre can be done safely (which really can be the case by a competent and aware driver) then it follows that no additional risk was posed.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

The Bard did all the work on this:

Of course; it's just called "the slow lane".



The name appears to be incompatible with the rules. Yet no power exists in the world to change the name - it is well and truly stuck. We will have to live with the world, as we find it.



It's a good start.

If appeal to popularity really is the accepted way, can we also apply it to speed limits, especially for DCs and motorways?

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign