Undertaking... Yes Illegal but wrong?

[vwdeviant 0]

 

So we all know undertaking is against the law.

 

But in your eyes is it wrong?

 

I spend a lot of time sat behind idiots on the M25/M11 who seem to have lost any comprehansion of lane discipline, and for whom the inside (and if it has a propellor or 3-point badge, the middle :censored: ) lane just doesn't exist apart from to dive over form/to a slip road!

 

And yes I put my hand up :wave: to using "other" lanes to get past, if safe.

 

Personally I like the US system of overtaking on all sides and also (in some states) turning right at a red light if traffic allows (Would be left over here).

 

Just wondering your opinions?

[coolrado 0]

Undertaking is not actually illegal, although if your caught doing it you will usually get done for dangerous driving, but passing on the left is not a specific offence.

 

and yes a few times i have passed on the left when some muppet is sitting in the outside lane pottering along at 60 with two completely open lanes to his left for miles ahead, what i do hate though is people who do it when the outside lane is moving at the speed limit or faster and they still undertake.

[kaiserVR6 0]

as long as you take some care and dont just recklessly accelerate behind and then swerve left and undertake i see no problem.

 

I did see once that on the large matrix boards on the M6 they had the message

"use outside lanes for overtaking only"

and i was shocked to see that everyone was reminded of their lane discipline, and that includes the BMW and Merc drivers, and moved over to the must inside lane feasible!

 

i think they should impose a penalty fine, not necessarily points, to those who repeat offend, but marshaaling this would be near on impossible.

 

I like the way of driving with my dipped beams on during all times of the day (no fog lights though thats just annoying) and then once behind an offender falshing the full beams a few times, if that doesnt work then moving to the inside lane and under taking!

[SamG40 0]

A good trick is to stick your right indicator on as a bit of a nudge. Its not as aggressive as flashing people and seems to work for me most of the time. The problem I have in the G40 is that most people dont want to let an old polo pass them as they think they will have to overtake me again shortly.

 

The worst thing I ever saw was when I was coming back up the M1 really late on a Sunday evening, it was completely dead. I was doing possibly a little over the speed limit on the inside lane on my own more or less. Next thing I caught up a cavalier in the outside lane going a lot slower than me so I just carried on the inside lane as I knew there was no way he would shift. How wrong was I, just as I had nearly caught him up he swerved across all three lanes right in front of me. To say I was a little upset was an understatement. If he didnt want to be undertaken why wasnt he using the inside lane himself, it was completly empty!

 

Lane discipline in this country is absolutely appauling imo. Whenever I've driven in France and Belgium it seems to be much better.

[boost monkey 0]

From a debate in the House of Lords:

 

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, overtaking on the inside is against the law. Significant stretches of our motorways are under surveillance. The driver of a vehicle who deliberately comes up behind another vehicle in a middle or outside lane and then swerves inside to overtake could easily be charged with careless driving.

 

Lord Elton: My Lords, will the noble Lord kindly write to me

[davidwort 0]

Thing about undertaking in the US is that the roads are wider straighter, there's less traffic, the speed limit is lower and people sit on 'cruise', in that situation it works well.

In the UK the above is rarely true and we all have to regularly swap lanes to pass traffic of different speeds, it just makes undertaking more dangerous.

I do own up to doing it though, especially in heavy traffic on the M1 on my way home, the inside lane sits at a steady 55-60 in heavy traffic but the other lanes bunch and slow down as individuals accelerate and then have to brake sharply, in that situation you often make better (and safer) progress and undertake just by sitting at a steady speed in lane 1.

[.A.N.T. 0]

Have found that when I used to do the M25 past Heathrow a lot. The inside lane always seemed to move quicker. It had all the people leaving at the junctions, then as soon as people join they move over to the outer lanes leaving less traffic in the inner lane... When it was at a standstill it was often quicker to exit the motorway, go over the roundabout and back on again and gain yourself a few hundred yards, but I never really did that as it could cause more bother than it sorts.

Looking at the legal thing above then, if the roads are fairly empty then you can plan well ahead and get in the inner lane well before needed to it's not a manouver to undertake. Interesting knowledge there...

Undertake where necessary really. Don't see why I should be slowed up by someone hogging the outer lane which happens so much...

[Lufbramatt 0]

i agree with whats been said- and have undertaken 65mph numpties on the inside before- but after spending the last few days driving round in a transit, pleaase dont try undertaking van or lorries! they have a massive blind spot on the nearside and its really hrad to see whats going on back there, especially at night. and you cant just turn your head round and look out the rear windows, cos they arnt there!

 

I had one occasion last night where i had overtaken a lorry and needed to get over to the indside to get in the filter lane to get off the A1 on to the M25, and some a-hole had come up the inside of both of us and i had no idea he was there, sitting right in my blind spot. So be careful guys and bear in mind that other drivers might not be able to see you!

[yeti 0]

ok.. hands up i undertake regulary, if i'm in a rush and wish to do 90mph i'm already commiting an offence i know but if a group of cars are sitting nose to tail in the fast lane doign 70 then i will undetake in the free middle lane, wrong maybe, but a lot easier than flashing people out of the way one by one and getting fingers and gestures waved for havignthe ordacity to want to overtake and move someone out of their lane!

 

Cant see a problem with it as long as you signal... could sya that people overtakign from slow to middle might crash into you but as far as i remember its part of the driving test that you mirror-signal-manouver so if changing lanes if you dont check to see whats coming and an accident happens would it not be the fault of the driver who didnt look?? grey area maybe?

[Jay2 0]

60mph in the middle lane while the inside lane is empty :bad-words:

 

Please note that the Highway Code has been changed so that the outside lane is owned by Merc, Beamer and nowadays Disco Sport and 'Warrior' owners. Using this lane in a 20 year old car will lead to irate owners of the above taking great offence and acting like a-holes. :cuckoo:

[vwdeviant 0]

Maybe we should have a poll?

 

Something like:

Yes Hands up I do it

No I'm a law abiding angel

Who cares as long as it doesn't hurt the price of Ham or Cheese?

 

:shrug:

 

:offtopic: why have't we got a Ham or Cheese smily yet?

[Jim 2]

Disco Sport and 'Warrior' owners. Using this lane in a 20 year old car will lead to irate owners of the above taking great offence and acting like a-holes.

 

Have noticed the growing trend of drivers of these cars taking offence to old cars even being on the same ROAD as them. I had some guy in a Warrior so desperate to go past me on a roundabout (prior to joining an A road) that he resorted to under taking me and almost ploughing into the back of a car going much slower than us in the outer lane.. so then pulled back out (probably now frothing at the mouth) and proceeded to tailgate me all the way to the A road where I buried my foot down and left him behind. I got up to unsensible speeds and that was still not enough and he STILL came barrelling up behind me. And all his rage was down to his own driving mistakes - i'd done nothing wrong.

 

Definate element of small man syndrome for some of the people who drive those things. Just glad that they're engines are geared for pulling and subsequently aren't much of a match for even a valver on an open bit of road :D

[g60karmann 0]

60mph in the middle lane while the inside lane is empty :bad-words:

 

the best cure for this is to drive right up behind round and then promptly cut up into the inside lane... singnaling all of this of course

[Mystic Rado 0]

My take is that normally I simply don't bother. I used to ride motorcycles a lot and quite aggressively in traffic and it makes you more aware of the sheer randomness of some people's driving, there's no guarantee that the numpty in the outside lane isn't going to swing left into you without looking or indicating. Seen it happen, don't want to be there when it does.

 

For the sake of getting home a few minutes later, I'd rather let them get on with it. When I was biking I was up the inside, the middle, filtering at 60mph plus etc, but in the car, I don't see the point. Leave 'em to the tail-gating, headlight-flashing loonies is what I say :?

 

I must be getting old...

[Critical_Mass 10]

Seriously, people who hog lanes and have no lane discapline bring out the road rage in me. I know i should control it, but when they toddling along at under 70 in the middle lane for miles and miles when the inside is clear, it drives me up the wall. Also on dual carriageways when theres a car in the slow lane and a car in the outside line both driving side by side at the same speed. GRRRRRRRRRRR! why dont they think to speed up and pull over ??

[mrbeige 0]

I never make a point of undertaking anyone. I'll gladly sit in the inside lane and trundle past all the idiots sat in the outside line in heavier traffic, but that isn't undertaking as such. I have in the past got so irritated by some people just sat in the outside lane that I have made a point of undertaking and cutting in front of them, but if they have been there for that long, after flashing of lights or indicating right, as to have wound me up, it means that they really don't care what you do. and make no attempt to pull over once you've gone past them.

 

As some people have said, it really make very little difference to your total journey time, and at the end of the day just say to yourself "well, I'm clearly a better driver than you". :wink:

 

At the end of the day, the whole problem with motorways is there is no motorway driving in the test, and never has been, so all these people who p1ss you off, have no idea how to drive on them. I think it stems from the group of drivers who are scared of motorways, but find themselves one them. They sit in the middle lane as it is the 'safest' i.e. no trucks and can sit at 55-65mph quite happily. Then the majority of all the 'other' drivers who think they own the road, don't want to be slowed down by anything so just sit in the outside lane all the time. I say, educate the 'scared' driver and the rest will sort itself out.

[boost monkey 0]

i agree with whats been said- and have undertaken 65mph numpties on the inside before

 

70 is a legal maximum not the speed everyone MUST be travelling at. As long as the person is going faster then the vehicle on their left then they are perfectly entitled to be there as they are overtaking (how ever slowly!) but I can understand that people should pull back over if they can.

 

Prodigal taught me the 5 second rule where you should move to the left if it is safe to do so and the gap there requires you fill it! I like to think that there is an anchoring point on the left hand side of the road and your car is on elastic: the second you're past something you should get drawn back to the left! :nuts: :bonk:

[boost monkey 0]

At the end of the day, the whole problem with motorways is there is no motorway driving in the test, and never has been, so all these people who p1ss you off, have no idea how to drive on them.

 

Stu, you do get to drive on dual-carriageways on the test though and when learning, and the principle is exactly the same. People come on from the left as per DC driving, and you move left and right depending on whether you are overtaking etc etc.

[bcstudent 0]

Thing about undertaking in the US is that the roads are wider straighter, there's less traffic, the speed limit is lower and people sit on 'cruise'

Those two facts are not really true. I was driving back to Vancouver from Washington state three days ago and the Interstate highways there are no wider than in the UK. They're not surfaced any better either, and the speed limit was 70mph (60mph for short distances in a couple of areas).

 

There was definitely a lot less traffic though...and a lot more police.

[ziderapple 0]

As someone who has to drive alot for work, if the conditions are safe I think there is an obligation on the person in the fast lane to be doing at least the speed limit - in fact that goes for all roads; open road, clear, in day light and dry - do the fricking speed limit!!

 

Dont get me started on lorries on A roads that choose to over-take another lorry at +2mph on the only section of dual carrigeway that there has been a will only be for miles and miles. If you can barely overtake then whats the point??

 

I also have quite a loathing for middle lane hoggers! Oh and lane discipline in this country seems to be crap - I see so many people going around round abouts in practically a straight line - they use all three lanes sometimes and bollox to anyone who's either side of them.

 

Think I need a career change :lol:

[bristolbaron 10]

i only feel bad about undertaking on the hard shoulder..

[tandino 0]

I find it highly amusing at all the people in this thread referring to the the outside lane as the 'Fast' lane and the inside lane as the 'Slow' lane!! :cuckoo:

[junkie 0]

You can legally undertake though if the lane to your right is moving slower than the speed limit and also if your lane can move faster all so as to keep the traffic flow going.

 

So if your doing 70 in the left lane on a motorway and the middle lane is doing 55 then away you go.

[boost monkey 0]

Already mentioned, but still true. That isn't undertaking though.

[junkie 0]

Ah thought it would have been but too tired from work to be arsed to read the whole lot.