Safe Speed Forums

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,3 ... 11,00.html

Tailgating is the biggest cause of road rage on motorways, a survey has revealed.

In more than two in five cases, motorists react by slowing down or braking sharply to annoy the tailgater.

The survey also found 84% of drivers ignore the 70mph motorway speed limit, with most thinking it is too low.

The average speed in the fast lane of a motorway is now around 87mph.

Lane-hogging, failing to signal, driving too slowly and overtaking on the inside are other bugbears for m-way drivers.

The survey, for insurer Direct Line, found motorists in the North East drive the fastest on motorways (79mph).

Drivers in Yorkshire, Wales and the west of England most want to see motorway speed limits rise.

A Direct Line spokesman said: "More than 14 million motorists have experienced motorway rage.

"If all drivers make a conscious effort to drive considerately on motorways it will help to reduce the number of accidents and road rage incidences.

lol - why stop at motoways?

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Its interesting to note how...

Driver A does something that annoys driver B (hogs a lane)
Driver B reciprocates by doing something that annoys driver A (tailgates or undertakes).

Thus, two irritations can be addressed by sorting out one problem.

One person's middle lane hogging may be down to the person in the middle lane seeing a situation develop before the person behind realises what is going on. I find when in the middle lane I will drop back and create a safety space if the outside lane is full and the inside lane is full of trucks and there isn't a safe non meat in the sandwich kind of gap to move into. Some see this as middle lane hogging but I see it as defensive driving. I also sometimes do the same when in the outside lane if I see there are trucks overtaking up ahead I leave a gap for some of the other middle lane cars to move across safely into rather than just pushing into the queue that forms from people not leaving gaps.

as someone who witnesses lane hogging on a regular basis, i can see your point here and i wouldnt criticise at all. the ones that annoy me are on an open stretch with no reason to stay in the middle lane. if the left lane is empty, move into it. is that far more complex than i see it to be?

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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scanny77, it is as simple as that! Last night I had to move from L1 to L3 to overtake 2 cars in L2 who chose to stay in L2 despite L1 being empty for at least 2 miles ahead!

I watched them in my rear view mirror and they didnt pull in despite several cars also performing the same lane change......

Or worse, the ones who stick at 55 in the middle lane?

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

This phenomenon is particularly prevalent on the M8 in Glasgow for some reason - on longer stretches of 3-lane motorway, lane discipline tends to be better. I think it's because of the high number of entrances and exits on the M8, folk think it's easier to stay in the middle lane.

Nevertheless, I don't see why lane discipline is pretty much textbook on a two-lane motorway and completely breaks down and collapses on a three-lane section.

Although I know you shouldn't act the part of the policeman, this irritates me so much that I sometimes move into L2 and flash my headlights at the perpetrators. Responses range from:

actually moving over to the left
moving over to the left, letting me pass, then moving back into L2 again
not budging, even when travelling at 50mph in a 70mph section
not budging, and flashing the hazards when repeatedly flashed (God knows what THAT'S supposed to mean...)

Just what do so many people find so difficult in the concept of staying left unless overtaking? Do they think the rules change on a 3-lane motorway? Are they being self-righteous pace cars? Or have they just not engaged their brain?

looking at this from the offenders point of view:
why would they want to stay there at all? admittedly, my point is geared towards driving a truck rather than a car but the principles are the same albeit different levels of risk.
normal situation, i am on the CC at 56MPH and i pull out to overtake a truck travelling at 50MPH (bloody tesco ). the last thing i want to do is sit in the middle lane for any longer than necessary. the reason is quite simple. there is very little leeway there. 2 trucks next to each other can be a bit dodgey especially in high winds but even after completing the overtake, that leaves a lane at either side, both of which could have undesirable risks ie overtaking on one or the other side plus there are effectively more blind spots. very few people are stupid enough to overtake on the hard shoulder so the risk on the near side is greatly reduced leaving 2 lanes on your good side. i always find myself itching to get back in to L1

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Richie

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I find this to be even worse on 4 lane sections of motorway. I drive half of the M60 most days and can guarantee that on the clockwise section from J22 to J24 which is mostly 4 lanes there will be streams of traffic doing 60mph in L2. As I quite like to cruise at 65-70mph in L1 a lot of the time I find myself undertaking without any acceleration or effort at all. Before anyone comments I know this is wrong and to be frowned upon, (though technically not illegal). However to get past any other way would involve having to sharply accelerate across two lanes into L3, (normally through busy traffic) and then cut back across to L1. In these instances it seems a lot safer to perform the undertaking manouvre, (and to drop a hint to the lane hoggers).

I think the reason drivers do this, (esp on this section of the M60) is because 2 miles ahead L1 becomes a slip road and through either laziness or just being 'in a daydream' it is too much effort for them to move over at all.

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Why can't we just use Common Sense?

I have discussed this with a few L2 "offenders" in the past, and their arguments are simplified down to "I'm too lazy, and I don't care, and you shouldn't be speeding anyway". I haven't got a clue what is going on in the heads of L3 blockers other than pigheadedness or empty-headedness.

Basically most people that get into the middle lane and stick there no matter what justify it with something like: "I will only have to pull out again in a minute or so, so why pull in. It is better to stay where I am than changing lanes every 5 seconds or so". This is flawed, as while there are some people that do change lanes into gaps that are pointlessly small (less than 10 secs), a "minute or so" is a long time.

Underlying it all however is a nervousness of Motorway driving, especially changing lanes, so they try to avoid it. Just get on, move into L2 so that you don't get stuck behind a truck, and only move back again at your desired exit. Basically they are driving in the style that Basingwork used to describe a variety of people: "Thumbs in Bums, Minds in Neutral".

Interesting that tailgating is the biggest cause of road rage, I’d have a guess that half the drivers that rage about tailgaters, are the same driver who tailgate, albeit completely unaware of their driving habits, they just don’t think.

I’ve been a passenger with many a lane hogger, it infuriates me so much, that I have to ask them, what their problem is with L1. Same answers, who care’s, can’t be bothered and, oh I don’t like the ruts left by the trucks. , what these people think is going to happen if they drive in the ruts I have no idea.

BTW, great forums.

when driving a truck in these ruts, it does the steering for you. scary stuff

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Richie

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I once drove down the M1 at 3 in the morning with the cruise on and no hands on the wheel...for a good 10 minutes. The tramlines in the tarmac kept me nicely on track! It got me thinking, I could die and no one would know until I got to London.

I belive some people don't see the motorway having two overtaking lanes. They think it is the SLOW,MIDDLE AND FASTLANE.

I hate people who sit in lane 2 (when there are clear gaps in L1) , I drive at about 75~80 and I often find I get trapped in L3, with some one in an fat ugly german car up my bottom. I am unable to move out of the way into L2.

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Oct 11 Birmingham Half Marathon. I am running for the British Heart Foundation.
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Middle lane owners are the bane of my life! My car isn't happy above 70 so I'm back to L1 sharpish, and not popular in L3! I'm absolutely sick of the MLOs boxing me in on L1 and my having to repeatedly cut out in front of them.

I noticed a few weeks ago that electronic signs had started appearing on the M6- "Keep Left". At last some hope! But not seen any more recently......

Seriously, these guys are creating mayhem, danger and congestion. What can be done about them?

Ooohhh yes, tramlines can be great fun... NOT! The A34 between the M3 and Newbury / M4 is an absolute nightmare for 'em. We often pull our boat along there on the way to and from the coast. The trailer is only about 600kg, 16' long and about 6" narrower than the tramlines... talk about wobbly!

Can't say I've ever had too much of a problem with them in a car though so I recon that's a pretty poor excuse for bad lane dicipline.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

gotta agree, they are bad there. even an artic can be thrown around in them. been there, done it. when i worked on the rank hovis contract, i used to go up that route almost daily

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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Depends on the dimensions of your car and how the tyres interact with the ruts though. Some bits of the M4 between Slough and Reading (before they were resurfaced) were so badly tramlined that I had to fight the steering on my Omega to avoid being thrown from one side of the lane to the other. Not much fun to be stuck in L1 there...

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Chris

The other 16% being HGV drivers?


Aren't they just? Keeps me up all night sometimes though
And welcome!

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Andrew.