The bane of boat towing in the UK..

[Rapier]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/midd ... ailsignout

Also prevalent on the M3 restricted speed section...along with the motorcyclist who tries to go through the middle when you're overtaking on a dual carriageway - I kid you not; that stupidity was en-route from Eurotunnel this year.

[Alacrity]

Hear hear, drives me nuts.

I am due to attend a 'naughty boys course' courtesy of Sussex Plod for driving without due care & attention early next month. Reason? I undertook a lane hogger (I wasn't towing this time) who was turning right in a mile & a half & who was doing about 55mph on an empty dual carriageway at 8.45 on a Sunday eve. Unfortunately for me the shiny black Audi A6 a couple of hundred yards behind me was plod so on came the blue lights. Now fair enough, it was, as they say, a fair cop (I was also speeding which they let go thankfully) BUT - did they stop the lane hogger as he passed us a good few minutes later? No, off he went laughing at my fate I'm sure. Now I don't have an issue with them stopping me, I was bang to rights, no argument, but I do have an issue with them not stopping him as well.

I shall be asking the question when on the course, what do I do when I am towing & have 200+ miles of motorway ahead of me plus said 50mph middle lane hogger? It is illegal to undertake & illegal for me to take the trailer into the outside lane. Am I to just sit there for the length of the journey? I know it is normal to knock our HGV drivers buy this must drive them to distraction as they have to cope with this every day.

I will let you all know what I am told.

[Rapier]

Good point. That and overtaking etiquette, being stuck behind someone doing 40mph to join a motorway, use of indicators & pulling in front of a towed rig, then slowing down. The UK needs to repeal undertaking laws - it's not an offence in many countries, as it encourages slower drivers to stay in the inside lane & as the volume of traffic increases here traffic flows could do with improvement (and I don't mean 18 miles of 3 lane 50mph enforcement on the M3).

[Rapier]

...I shall be asking the question when on the course, what do I do when I am towing & have 200+ miles of motorway ahead of me plus said 50mph middle lane hogger? It is illegal to undertake & illegal for me to take the trailer into the outside lane. Am I to just sit there for the length of the journey? I know it is normal to knock our HGV drivers buy this must drive them to distraction as they have to cope with this every day.

I will let you all know what I am told.

Did you ask the question? I see this so often on the M25 when towing and we know that's filled with gantry cameras to catch anyone doing it.

[Alacrity]

The course was a joke. I was with a jobsworth driving instructor who contradicted himself all the time. I asked the question that what if the 50mph middle lane hogger was also driving from the M25 along the M4 to Wales without stopping & his predictable reply was that you just have to sit behind him. So sadly no further forward.

It was a complete waste of time which was a shame as one can always learn which is what I was hoping to do.

[Rapier]

Thought that'd be the response. At least it is now illegal to do so and with recent moves to get learner drivers on motorways there's a chance they'll be better educated.

From the Telegraph, "A poll of more than 2,000 drivers found 43 per cent of hoggers said they drove in the middle lane because it was an “easier way to drive” and “saves me changing lanes”.

The Direct Line research released last August also disclosed the worst stretches of motorway in England for middle lane hogging.

M4 J5-J6 westbound (Slough) 27%
M1 J4-J5 southbound (Watford) 26%
M4 J7-J8/9 eastbound (Slough) 24%
M25 J4-J5 clockwise (Sevenoaks) 22%
M25 J12-J13 anti-clockwise (Cheshunt) 21%
M4 J2-J3 westbound (Brentford) 19%
M25 J18-J19 anti-clockwise (Watford) 19%
M25 J16-J17 clockwise (Gerrards Cross) 17%
M4 J5-J6 eastbound (Heathrow) 16%
M25 J16-J17 anti-clockwise (Gerrards Cross)12%"
Source: Direct Line