Loving the new Police powers to finally stop middle lane hogging. It is dangerous and it shows the culprits to be insecure drivers only feeling comfortable with another lane either side of them, at the very least they are showing themsleves to be selfish with a "this is my lane you go round me attitude". Loving the new Police powers to fine mobile phone drivers more. Loving the new Police powers to fine non-seatbelt more. Abhor the attack on a Mosque. Dismayed that hospital waiting times at A&E is getting longer, declaring an average waiting time of 4 hours is nonsense though, these times are "massaged" 4 hours perhaps to get your temperature and blood pressure taken on a trolley in a corridor or dedicated waiting area on a trolley and another 4 hours before you get seen by a doctor. Sasha was released from her hospital bed at 10:30am this morning, I was able to take her home after 4pm when a Doctor finally "signed her off" after she spent the day in a waiting room. She was sent not to A&E by our local Doctor on Monday, she was directed to the SAU (Surgical Assessment Unit) where they had requested (with a letter she was given) a scan for cancer and further assessment of her condition, (the scan or whatever test they did was clear) the assessment and treatment was excellent, they operated on her the following day, but she waited 5 hours in the assessment unit before being seen by a Doctor but the Nurse admitted that this would not be recorded as she had been seen by a Nurse in the SAU long before that. This is not an isolated situation we ourselves have experienced.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to finally stop middle lane hogging. It is dangerous and it shows the culprits to be insecure drivers only feeling comfortable with another lane either side of them, at the very least they are showing themsleves to be selfish with a "this is my lane you go round me attitude". Loving the new Police powers to fine mobile phone drivers more. Loving the new Police powers to fine non-seatbelt more. Abhor the attack on a Mosque. Dismayed that hospital waiting times at A&E is getting longer, declaring an average waiting time of 4 hours is nonsense though, these times are "massaged" 4 hours perhaps to get your temperature and blood pressure taken on a trolley in a corridor or dedicated waiting area on a trolley and another 4 hours before you get seen by a doctor. Sasha was released from her hospital bed at 10:30am this morning, I was able to take her home after 4pm when a Doctor finally "signed her off" after she spent the day in a waiting room. She was sent not to A&E by our local Doctor on Monday, she was directed to the SAU (Surgical Assessment Unit) where they had requested (with a letter she was given) a scan for cancer and further assessment of her condition, (the scan or whatever test they did was clear) the assessment and treatment was excellent, they operated on her the following day, but she waited 5 hours in the assessment unit before being seen by a Doctor but the Nurse admitted that this would not be recorded as she had been seen by a Nurse in the SAU long before that. This is not an isolated situation we ourselves have experienced.
i think they will be more occupied with those coming out of the pubs being built on the motorways mids
Today's news, tomorrow's sausage wrapper. Just as much as the 'news' that 51% of voters (who were asked a preference) said that they would leave Europe
Only 51% I guess as with all such surveys I guess it depends where the survey was polled and what cross section of the population, at this time I would expect the number to be higher. Pubs on Motorways, that I have not heard and see dismay, what possible advantage would that have, what is to gain by it population wise especially since you would not be able to access the pub without driving on the motorway and the temptation is just not necessary for those travelling the motorways.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to finally stop middle lane hogging. It is dangerous and it shows the culprits to be insecure drivers only feeling comfortable with another lane either side of them, at the very least they are showing themsleves to be selfish with a "this is my lane you go round me attitude".
Mids. The speed on a motorway is 70mph. I always sit in the middle lane doing that speed, and I certainly do not class myself as " hogging " that lane. I am doing the legal speed limit on a motorway and there is another lane to the right of me, if anyone wants to break the law and overtake me. I drive a lot on the motorways and I wonder if these higher payment on fines laws will include lorry drivers? I see this about a zillion times a day when a lorry is doing 50mph in the inside lane and then another lorry tries to overtake it doing 51mph and takes around 5 miles to pass. Sometimes both lorries end up doing 51mph together, so the lorry in the middle lane is hogging big time. Next time anyone goes onto a motorway look out for this most annoying and now illegal practice. I bet these new hogging laws will not affect lorries. I think if a lorry is caught doing this the fine should be £200, as when a lorry causes an accident it causes absolute mayhem.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to fine mobile phone drivers more.
I think giving the Police even more powers to fine on the spot is not always the greatest of ideas. Do you really think that an extra 40 quid will make a jot of difference Mids?
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to fine non-seatbelt more.
I have to say that I would never drive without my seat belt on, and to be honest I have not seen a person without one on for a very long time.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Abhor the attack on a Mosque.
I realise that people like to pick and choose which bits of the Highway Code they think apply, particularly when it comes to targeting cyclists and motorcyclists for a bit of abuse. However, the law and the Highway Code are fundamentally in step with the requirement to keep to the left hand lane when using the motorway. It is a little silly to describe someone exceeding the speed limit as breaking the law and not accepting that you are breaking the law yourself by not keeping to the left hand lane - it is the law, so we should all abide by it. Thankfully, lane hogging will now be punished and quite right too. If the limit was 60mph and rigidly enforced then we could probably utilise the American system of overtaking any lane.
Quote by starlightcouple Loving the new Police powers to finally stop middle lane hogging. It is dangerous and it shows the culprits to be insecure drivers only feeling comfortable with another lane either side of them, at the very least they are showing themsleves to be selfish with a "this is my lane you go round me attitude".
Mids. The speed on a motorway is 70mph. I always sit in the middle lane doing that speed, and I certainly do not class myself as " hogging " that lane. I am doing the legal speed limit on a motorway and there is another lane to the right of me, if anyone wants to break the law and overtake me. I drive a lot on the motorways and I wonder if these higher payment on fines laws will include lorry drivers? I see this about a zillion times a day when a lorry is doing 50mph in the inside lane and then another lorry tries to overtake it doing 51mph and takes around 5 miles to pass. Sometimes both lorries end up doing 51mph together, so the lorry in the middle lane is hogging big time. Next time anyone goes onto a motorway look out for this most annoying and now illegal practice. I bet these new hogging laws will not affect lorries. So two wrongs make a right in your book, you will brake the law and use the middle lane at all times whilst believing that those that choose to overtake you are breaking the law though so that makes it ok for you, this might not be the case, the Police have guidelines as to speed because it is recognised that not all speedometers are accurate, meaning that you may actually be doing 66mph whilst your speedometer says you are doing 70mph, by the same token the person overtaking you may be doing 74mph whislt their speedometer reads 70mph, there is certainly a case that they MAY be breaking the law or MAY not be, a court would not convict them of speeding that is a fact, someone using the middle lane unnecessarily however IS breaking the law and will be fined. I think if a lorry is caught doing this the fine should be £200, as when a lorry causes an accident it causes absolute mayhem. I have seen nothing to suggest that lorries will be exempt the law and I think that this would have been reported by the radio report I listened to.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to fine mobile phone drivers more.
I think giving the Police even more powers to fine on the spot is not always the greatest of ideas. Do you really think that an extra 40 quid will make a jot of difference Mids? Yes I do, fines do make a difference, very few people that would use mobile phones while driving, speed, fail to wear seatbelts actually do now that there are fines, I for one never used to wear a seatbelt, I never got into the "clunk click every trip" mindset because when it became law because I was a hackney carriage driver and was exempt the law, when I moved to Stoke 3 years ago I started wearing it after observing that outside my lounge window on a main road the Police used the side road opposite to watch for drivers not wearing them, at least twice a week 2 motorcycle officers park there and pull every driver not wearing a belt.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Loving the new Police powers to fine non-seatbelt more.
I have to say that I would never drive without my seat belt on, and to be honest I have not seen a person without one on for a very long time.
Quote by MidsCouple24 Abhor the attack on a Mosque.
It was NOT a Mosque. You know me, don't watch TV news, don't read papers, catch snippets on the car radio, so appologies for my mistake but it was something connected with the Muslim faith I believe and is believed to be a racist attack, I abhor all forms of racism.
Quote by starlightcouple Mids. The speed on a motorway is 70mph. I always sit in the middle lane doing that speed, and I certainly do not class myself as " hogging " that lane. I am doing the legal speed limit on a motorway and there is another lane to the right of me, if anyone wants to break the law and overtake me. I drive a lot on the motorways and I wonder if these higher payment on fines laws will include lorry drivers? I see this about a zillion times a day when a lorry is doing 50mph in the inside lane and then another lorry tries to overtake it doing 51mph and takes around 5 miles to pass. Sometimes both lorries end up doing 51mph together, so the lorry in the middle lane is hogging big time. Next time anyone goes onto a motorway look out for this most annoying and now illegal practice. I bet these new hogging laws will not affect lorries.
Difference is the lorry is attempting to overtake another vehicle... Not just bimbling around using his holier than thou attitude to justify breaking the law....
So staying in the inside lane on a motorway doing 70mph is going to be met with a fine? Is that really called hogging now then? Still being the cynic I am sure there will be an increase in patrol cars, as lets be fair the motorist is a far more easier target for their figures and their coffers, than the other more serious hard to prove cases. All those who think it is such a wonderful idea, be very careful what you wish for as we all break the law, and a lot more often than we think.
Quote by starlightcouple So staying in the inside lane on a motorway doing 70mph is going to be met with a fine? Is that really called hogging now then? Still being the cynic I am sure there will be an increase in patrol cars, as lets be fair the motorist is a far more easier target for their figures and their coffers, than the other more serious hard to prove cases. All those who think it is such a wonderful idea, be very careful what you wish for as we all break the law, and a lot more often than we think.
I don't hog middle lanes on motorways, ever, I conider it selfish, dangerous and I simply have the ability to drive correctly using the correct lane and the correct overtaking procedures, so I am happy with my wish. No staying in the inside lane is legal and recommended at any speed suitable for the lane at the time (albeit there is a minimum and maximum) Motorway patrol cars are dedicated vehicles for that purpose, if there were no accidents, idiots, speeders, lane hoggers, stolen vehicles, criminals using them then I am sure there would be less vehicles allocated to that department, those officers are there for the motorways and not sent off to investigate burglaries etc even when the motorways don't require them (which is not often), I seriously doubt there would be much profit in recruiting more officers, training them in advanced driving courses and outfitting them with suitable vehicles as a result of the fines that can now be imposed, there will be a glut of fines at the start as there was with seatbelts but people would soon learn to drive correctly.
Mids. The speed on a motorway is 70mph. I always sit in the middle lane doing that speed, and I certainly do not class myself as " hogging " that lane. I am doing the legal speed limit on a motorway and there is another lane to the right of me, if anyone wants to break the law and overtake me. I drive a lot on the motorways and I wonder if these higher payment on fines laws will include lorry drivers? I see this about a zillion times a day when a lorry is doing 50mph in the inside lane and then another lorry tries to overtake it doing 51mph and takes around 5 miles to pass. Sometimes both lorries end up doing 51mph together, so the lorry in the middle lane is hogging big time. Next time anyone goes onto a motorway look out for this most annoying and now illegal practice. I bet these new hogging laws will not affect lorries.
Difference is the lorry is attempting to overtake another vehicle... Not just bimbling around using his holier than thou attitude to justify breaking the law.... I agree, they are trying to overtake, the problem is that the 2nd vehicle slipstreams the first vehicle, with no wind resistance that has been taken by the first vehicle, the 2nd gets closer and closer to the first, the 2nd vehicle uses less power and less fuel to achieve the same speed as the first, it is very much like the long distance runners or Tour de France cyclists, a pacer leads for a while then someone else takes their place to share the benefits and disadvantages. So when they do decide it is their turn to take pole position it does take them a while to get past the lead vehicle.
Quote by GnV For someone starting a thread on today's news Mids, you don't seem to be well read on what the day's issues were....
Excellent reason for starting a thread then eh! I get to learn things I did not know. I have long pointed out that I don't read newspapers and rarely watch TV news programmes, but I catch snippets on the radio and occasionally TV. Where better to find out honest opinions (right or wrong) than here, where the posters are not trying to sell a paper or boost audience figures, where facts are often gleaned from many other sites via google.
In the news today, Milliband confounds those who thought his 'Red Ed' moniker at all deserved by being every bit as blue as the Tories. FFS, he's as good as repeated their lie about generations of the workless, something already found to be complete bollox and utter shite by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation study. Labour peddling scrounger narratives to middle England to try and secure an election win. Jesus, what is the point of 'em? How about, and I know this must sound dangerously radical, you get some policies of your own Ed and at least make a stab at effective opposition, cos if you're gonna accept the Tory benefit cap, and ATOS assessments, and the bedroom tax, the breaking of the link between benefit rate and inflation, an end to universality in favour of expensive to administer means testing, yadda, yadda, ya the electorate might well conclude they're as well with the devil they know come next election, who can at least say that they weren't in charge when it all went tits up in 2008. FFS. . Hahahahahaha. Quite. Except of course it ain't fucking funny. Oh well, best get on with trying to build a genuinely radical party of the left I s'pose then, eh, cos three main parties all being right of centre does not a democracy make.
Quote by neilinleeds In the news today, Milliband confounds those who thought his 'Red Ed' moniker at all deserved by being every bit as blue as the Tories. FFS, he's as good as repeated their lie about generations of the workless, something already found to be complete bollox and utter shite by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation study. Labour peddling scrounger narratives to middle England to try and secure an election win. Jesus, what is the point of 'em? How about, and I know this must sound dangerously radical, you get some policies of your own Ed and at least make a stab at effective opposition, cos if you're gonna accept the Tory benefit cap, and ATOS assessments, and the bedroom tax, the breaking of the link between benefit rate and inflation, an end to universality in favour of expensive to administer means testing, yadda, yadda, ya the electorate might well conclude they're as well with the devil they know come next election, who can at least say that they weren't in charge when it all went tits up in 2008. FFS. Mark Steel on Milliband in The Independent. Hahahahahaha. Quite. Except of course it ain't fucking funny. Oh well, best get on with trying to build a genuinely radical party of the left I s'pose then, eh, cos three main parties all being right of centre does not a democracy make.
i think this is what they call popular politics selling out yourself and your beliefs in favor of votes
Not much of a difference between a politician and a used car salesman flogging off this week's 'star' banger or bankers flogging inappropriate insurance to unsuspecting private individuals or small businesses. It's a form of witchcraft and those suspected of such heinous crimes should be burnt at the stake or dragged, kicking and screaming, to the nearest village ducking stool to prove their innocence!
Mids. The speed on a motorway is 70mph. I always sit in the middle lane doing that speed, and I certainly do not class myself as " hogging " that lane. I am doing the legal speed limit on a motorway and there is another lane to the right of me, if anyone wants to break the law and overtake me. I drive a lot on the motorways and I wonder if these higher payment on fines laws will include lorry drivers? I see this about a zillion times a day when a lorry is doing 50mph in the inside lane and then another lorry tries to overtake it doing 51mph and takes around 5 miles to pass. Sometimes both lorries end up doing 51mph together, so the lorry in the middle lane is hogging big time. Next time anyone goes onto a motorway look out for this most annoying and now illegal practice. I bet these new hogging laws will not affect lorries.
Difference is the lorry is attempting to overtake another vehicle... Not just bimbling around using his holier than thou attitude to justify breaking the law.... I agree, they are trying to overtake, the problem is that the 2nd vehicle slipstreams the first vehicle, with no wind resistance that has been taken by the first vehicle, the 2nd gets closer and closer to the first, the 2nd vehicle uses less power and less fuel to achieve the same speed as the first, it is very much like the long distance runners or Tour de France cyclists, a pacer leads for a while then someone else takes their place to share the benefits and disadvantages. So when they do decide it is their turn to take pole position it does take them a while to get past the lead vehicle. And not forgetting that a lot of companies have now had their fleets' speed limiters reduced from 54mph to 52mph..... Believe it or not this saves an enormous amount on fuel over the course of a year... Even vehicles that have the same speed limiter setting will vary slightly (within specified tolerances) as things like tyre pressure and even tread depth will have an effect on the actual speed the vehicle is doing compared with the recorded speed by the vehicles tachograph (IIRC they are allowed to be +/- 2kph either way) ..
Star I am confused, you keep talking about the "inside lane" and I am wondering if that is a coloquial thing, for me and where I was brought up we call the lanes of the motorway Emergency Lane/hard standing (if you have to stop through an emergency/breakdown on the Motorway) Slip road (to get on and off the motorway) Crawler Lane (a fourth lane in some areas for steep inclines that slow lorries and the like) Inside Lane (the motorway road you should use which has a minimum and maximum speed limit Middle Lane (for overtaking) Outside Lane (for overtaking) So when you say the inside lane, no you cannot hog the inside lane unless you are below the minimum speed limit which is an offence and always has been. Yes you can do 70mph in the inside lane, traffic conditions permitting. The other two lanes are purely for oertaking but of course in heavy traffic these can be a continuous line of vehicles but the oertaking concept still applies, you should still only be in the middle lane if you and your line of traffic are moving faster than those in the Inside lane. (standstills or all lanes moving at the same speed with a continuous line of vehicles being the exception)
Quote by MidsCouple24 Star I am confused, you keep talking about the "inside lane" and I am wondering if that is a coloquial thing, for me and where I was brought up we call the lanes of the motorway So when you say the inside lane, no you cannot hog the inside lane unless you are below the minimum speed limit which is an offence and always has been.
Yes Mids I did mean to say the MIDDLE lane. I will continue to stay in the middle lane doing 70mph, as I believe that is in no way hogging any of the motorway. For someone to overtake me at that speed, they would be breaking the speed limit of that road. No matter how many police are on the road, or how much the fines are you will not change people's driving habits. Why? Because most people do not know or are not aware, or don't care about breaking those laws. What about 4 lanes on a motorway, or in some areas of the M25 there are 6 lanes. Does everyone have to get over to the inside lane on a six lane motorway?? People on here come across as so flipping high and mighty as though they never break the law whilst driving. Oh look.........a flying fairy.
Not very many high and might comments as far as I can see. If you break the law by speeding you get 3 points and a £60 fine. The proposal is that if you break the law by hogging the middle lane (at any speed) you get an on the spot £100 fine. I accept that if I get caught overtaking you at 85mph I will get 3 points and a £60 fine, you also have to accept that by breaking the law and not driving in the left hand lane you have also broken the law and you will get a £100 fine for it. As long as you are happy with that, everyone is happy cos we take the risks knowing the possible consequences.
Quote by starlightcouple Star I am confused, you keep talking about the "inside lane" and I am wondering if that is a coloquial thing, for me and where I was brought up we call the lanes of the motorway So when you say the inside lane, no you cannot hog the inside lane unless you are below the minimum speed limit which is an offence and always has been.
Yes Mids I did mean to say the MIDDLE lane. I will continue to stay in the middle lane doing 70mph, as I believe that is in no way hogging any of the motorway. For someone to overtake me at that speed, they would be breaking the speed limit of that road. No matter how many police are on the road, or how much the fines are you will not change people's driving habits. Why? Because most people do not know or are not aware, or don't care about breaking those laws. What about 4 lanes on a motorway, or in some areas of the M25 there are 6 lanes. Does everyone have to get over to the inside lane on a six lane motorway?? People on here come across as so flipping high and mighty as though they never break the law whilst driving. Oh look.........a flying fairy. High and Mighty, no, I have often admitted that I break the law, I do speed sometimes, I was stopped this week for doing 80mph on a 50mph dual carriageway (2am and only vehicle except the officers that caught me) I broke the law and I expect the consequences without any qualms or complaints. But I am a pretty respectfull driver, I go around roundabout not accross the lanes, I never, ever poke my nose out at give way/stop junctions and wait patiently to join the main carriageway not blocking or inconveniencing other road users with by pushing into the main road forcing them to avoid me, stop or slow down with a (you wait and give way to me because I WANT to go attitude), I give way as often as I can to other road users especially HGVs, I am always respectfull of learner drivers, we all had to start once. Not saying this makes my occasional speeding right, as I said two wrongs dont make a right. I am a patient driver, unless on the motorway behind a middle lane hogger then I just sit behind them flashing my lights and sounding my horn until they move over obviously we will never cross swords on this matter because you only drive at 70mph on the motorway. People DO change their driving habits, almost everyone now wears a seatbelt, when I first started driving in 1971 nobody wore them and it wasnt until it became law that it became prevalent to wear them, the number of mobile phone users is still too high but far lower than it was when everyone used to use their phone whilst driving, drinking and driving has been drastically reduced by education and changes in the law, very few people would dream of carrying babies in the car in unsafe conditions these days and so on. On speeding I understand the law, I understand why we have it, but it does work both ways for me, I drive for the speed of the road at the time, I dont speed often, I try not to speed but at 2am on a dual carriageway speeding is less dangerous than driving past a school at 3pm with the kids coming out at the legal 30mph. Some people though believe they are above the law and break it simply because they want to and putting others in danger is irrelevant. To answer your question, it doesn't matter how many lanes a motorway has, 2, 3, 4, 6 the rules are the same, where possible you use the nearside lane and the others are there for the purpose of overtaking Can I ask you though, why do you use the middle lane, why not the outside lane if that is empty and the middle lane has a bit of traffic in it ? why only hogg the middle lane ?I mean nobody should want to overtake you there if your doing 70mph should they !
Quote by Lizaleanrob I think more hazards will be caused by people changing lane than not what we have seems to work fine
I agree, what we have works fine, and what we have is overtaking lanes that people use by changing lane to overtake, a very small few sit in other lanes regardless of the nearside lane being available, so what is working fine is the lane changing.
Quote by MidsCouple24 I am a patient driver, unless on the motorway behind a middle lane hogger then I just sit behind them flashing my lights and sounding my horn until they move over
Why don't you just overtake the middle lane hogger? Surely that's the safest option? The driving you describe can best be described as aggressive and dangerous.
Quote by MidsCouple24 On speeding I understand the law, I understand why we have it, but it does work both ways for me, I drive for the speed of the road at the time, I dont speed often, I try not to speed but at 2am on a dual carriageway speeding is less dangerous than driving past a school at 3pm with the kids coming out at the legal 30mph. Some people though believe they are above the law and break it simply because they want to
Surely you must believe that you are above the law if you think that exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph is at any time acceptable?
Quote by MidsCouple24 Can I ask you though, why do you use the middle lane, why not the outside lane if that is empty and the middle lane has a bit of traffic in it ? why only hogg the middle lane ?I mean nobody should want to overtake you there if your doing 70mph should they !
I use the middle lane Mids as much slower traffic uses the inside lane, and it is better using that lane than constantly going from the inside lane to the middle lane sometimes every half a mile. I still will argue that doing the national speed limit of 70mph on a motorway in the MIDDLE lane is NOT hogging. This is a simple and easy case of extorting more money from the easy target that is the motorist. Nobody can run anyone down for breaking the law, when breaking the law themselves by doing something else, that is called double standards, and we know there is not a single person on this site with any of those Mids eh? Now if people want to slag me off for doing 155mph on the M20 last week on my very powerful 1000cc motorbike, then that is another debate entirely.
Quote by starlightcouple Now if people want to slag me off for doing 155mph on the M20 last week on my very powerful 1000cc motorbike, then that is another debate entirely.
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obviously we will never cross swords on this matter because you only drive at 70mph on the motorway.
