Be Excellent To Each Other

It is, but more like having a parent telling you to be a rebellious shit.

You're not a policeman though, so it's not your duty to enforce the laws.

If they want to go faster than 70 then let them past. Especially as if they're tailgating you, chances are they're not safe drivers and are therefore much better off in front of you where you don't have to worry about them jamming their bonnets up your arse all the time.

It is also possible (and likely) to fail your driving test (car) if you don't drive at the speed limit where conditions allow.

If they don't feel safe on the road, they shouldn't be on the road, the highway code says you should keep up with the flow of traffic.



So it's better you break the law rather than them? (as you are doing if you're not in the leftmost lane when not overtaking)

You're not the police, fuck off with your trying to be them, apart from the actual tailgating, which I know not everyone does, there's only one dangerous driver there, and it's you, not the guy doing more than the speed limit on a near empty road.

In my case I'd have just passed you on the inside anyway. Or if it was empty and I was feeling beligerent, change lanes twice to go round on the right, then immediately change back left two to be where I, and you should be.



Yep and all driving tests leave 30 limits for this to be checked.

You can fail your car test for going too slowly, but not as easily as you'll fail your bike test. And on a HGV test you'll get failed for going to slowly really easily, or slowing down too much for roundabouts, etc.

I'll start by saying I partially agree with you, and was banging on about doing 70 in the middle lane to get the inevitable comedy reaction.

So.

Is it actually against the law to sit in the middle lane if the inside lane's free? Or is it just a recommendation in the Highway Code that you don't? Because if it's the latter, then surely it's people breaking the speed limit who can fuck off, because only one party in that situation is breaking the law? Plus - there's a handy lane on the outside they can use to go past...

EDIT - a quick google and I can't find anything about sitting in the middle lane being illegal. Found a few petitions asking for it to be made illegal, though.... If you could post a link that'd be great, ta.



Which is, by that logic, what the speeding person is doing by trying to flash the person in the middle lane out of the way, isn't it?

EDIT - Ah, you've edited. And you're breaking the law even more by undertaking.

Moving away from the semi-mythical empty motorway, what about when someone stays in the middle lane rather than weave in and out of the inside lane along a strung-out line of lorries? Because I've seen drivers trying to do 90 plus go spastic at people in the middle lane doing 80 not weaving in out of their way for 5 seconds, rather than use the outside lane to overtake. Which strikes me as over the top.

I think a problem is that different people have different ideas of when you should move into the inside lane rather than continue to use the middle lane to overtake the traffic in the inside lane - when there's a car length gap? 100 metres? 200?



Yeah, I'll stick my hand up and say that I do this too. Whilst I don't think sitting in the middle lane deserves the absolute bouncing-in-the-seat fury I've seen people display (even, as in the example above, where it's someon in the middle lane for a couple hundred metres between lorries), it does piss me off when people do this in fairly sparse traffic. So I make a point of it by overtaking them and pulling into the inside lane in front of them.

I'm against people sitting in the middle lane when it's quiet, but I get really wound up by people who think that if there's even a car length on the inside lane that you could pull into, you should do so and let them past, rather than let you carry on overtaking the line of traffic and them go round you on the outside. And there are a lot of people like this.

More so because (a) they're getting wound up about not being able to break the law* and (b) there is a handy lane on the outside.

*I break the law, as I drive at 80 on average when it's safe to do so. But I don't treat it as my right to do so. Which is basically what winds me up about these people.

Enough about cars. They are something I don't like. (Though hypocritcally I never turn down a lift, and can drive.)

I don't like gossip. Lots of people seem to. It's not just harmful gossip, I'm genuinely reluctant to inform people about who a mate's going out with, or passing on something silly someone we know had done. The only exceptions are me bad mouthing management decisions I disagree with, and passing on gripes about anonymous co-workers who are idiots/evil. That balance is there to keep me sane.

They do feel safe on the road, just not going as fast as you want them to go.

If they are at the front of a queue of traffic the the flow of traffic is the speed that they are going!

Malc

If they don't pull over and let people through then they are a cunt. It even says this in the highway code.

Then they should pull over every so often to allow the queue of traffic to go past them.

How many car drivers do you see doing that?

Actually driving round in the Lakes it happens quite a lot, it seems to be the "done thing".

Agreed they should not hold up other people if they can avoid it, but only do so when it's safe.

I hate people who are not aware of their environment/surroundings.

Malc

Actually, scratch that previous 'cars' one. Replace it with 'talking about cars'. Hysterical weeping!

Yeah fair enough, I'm done moaning anyway, it's an hour away from being weekend

I'm with Chris on this one. Like most people I'll drive at 90 on the outline lane of the motorway when it's reasonably safe to do so. 70-80 is about right for the middle lane, and 60-70 for the inside lane. There's no good reason to get right up the arse of someone just because you'd like to go faster than the legal speed limit.

But there is a road near me (the A34 heading south out of Manchester, fact fans) where the speed limit is fairly well enforced by regular speed cameras. The limit is 50, and so I drive at 50, because I don't see the point at driving at 50 until I reach the camera, and then put my foot down for a mile before slamming on the breaks when the next camera comes up. The twats behind me don't think so though, and stay right up my arse despite the fact I'm going the speed limit, enforced by law but more realistically enforced by the regular cameras. So when a twatface undertakes me and presumes to get angry at me for driving at the limit, I'll give him a full load of horn and appropriate sign language.

I'm with "twatface" on this one. Sorry.

That's ok Grim... just be thankful we don't live in a society where we allow guns. I think if I was driving in America and got cut up really badly, the compulsion to fire off a few rounds at the speeding vehicle would be too much to resist

But if he can undertake you, then there's obviously nothing on your left and you should move over to let him pass. This is in the highway code. Rule 264: "You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear."

OK, so there is no "MUST", therefore indicating a legal requirement, but where's the benefit to you in staying in the middle lane? Why not just move over? It stops the guy behind getting enraged and putting himself at risk (and by extension, yourself).

I think it's fine to be in the middle or outside lane if you're overtaking vehicles on the inside lane, even if that line of vehicles has a few hundred metres between each of them - as long as you're going faster than them. If you've got a clear half kilometre on the inside though, it's best to pull over.

However, if you've got a chuffing thick queue of people behind you doing the same thing as you, if you're the only one following the Highway Code and pull in to the inside lane you may not get out when you come up to the lorry 500 metres down the road....

Generally I agree, but on a particular road where driving at 70 is unsafe, and the limit is 50 for a good reason, AND when there are speed cameras positioned so regularly that it's really not worth it, I really really don't feel compelled to make things easy for these arseholes.

Don't get me wrong, if I'm driving on the motorway I'll move out the way, unless, of course, it's one of those fuckfaces who start flashing you immediately before giving you a chance to move. Oh no, that's not an attitude that'll get me moving over, no sir.

That's the thing though, I'd much rather have those fuckfaces in front of me speeding off into the distance than sitting on my arse.

Depends how stubborn you are chap, and I'm enormously, annoyingly stubborn. It's conceding to aggresive shits like that which makes them think they can drive like that in the first place.

They're the same people who will zoom up the RIGHT TURN ONLY lane only to cut in on the FORWARD ONLY lane at the last second. Again, there's a section of road near me where people do this, and there's just no fucking reason in the world they should be allowed to cut the queue ahead of everyone else. At times like that I want an RPG. So, I'm one of those people that doesn't let the fucknut cut in when he wants, while simultaneously giving him the horn/finger combo.

I'd generally agree. Sometimes, however....

I ws driving back from Manchester after a long couple of days working up there. I'd gotten to the Birmingham area and it was getting late and the roads were pretty empty. A chap in front was sat in the middle lane, so I pulled out from the inside to outside, and proceeded to overtake him. Of course the twat sped up a bit then (another habit which should result in death). Another car then barrels up behind me at what must have been over 100, and sits on my backside flashing at me. I'm already doing 85 and have no intention of speeding up to overtake the guy in the middle any faster, so I jump on the brakes.

Very, very dangerous, I know, especially with the twat sat a few feet off my bumper, but the look on his face was worth it.

EDIT - sorry nervouspete! No more cars soon, promise.

You are in fact me, and I claim my £5.

There's a lot of roads near me where people simply don't know the speed limit, and so you crawl through a fucking 60 zone at 40, but then they continue doing 40 when the limit drops to 30.

Anyone, other things I don't like that I'm supposed to:
babies
children
horses
chocolate milk

Sounds like I don't ever want to find myself on a stretch of road anywhere near you two then

I don't drive like the fuckfaces in your examples, but if you're prepared to do dangerous shit like that just to make a point then you should have your licenses revoked.

As I'm doing myself a few disservices today with being imprecise, I should clarify that "jumped on the brakes" is a massive exaggeration - I tapped the brakes to show him the brake lights without slowing down, which put the wullies up him satisfactorily. Still somewhat dangerous, but hey. His fault.

I often think that if I had a shit car that wasn't worth repairing, I might use it to crash into the next person that pisses me off enough. That'd teach the bastard.

It's only a fantasy, though.

Hey, I've got a 205 needing a new home...

If you're going to do that, your handbrake will slow you but not turn your brake lights on...

Thought about this loads, kind of like how bumpkins have 'Pub Cars'.

Haha! Evil.

That's fair enough then.

I would like to get one of those programmable LED message displays and have that hooked up to the rear window. "BACK THE HELL OFF" and "GET OFF YOUR BLOODY PHONE" would be good pre-programmed ones.

"COCK OFF, FAGBALLS" would also be fandabbadoozy

Wasn't someone on WoS making one of those?

It isn't actually illegal to undertake. There's no such thing, in fact. It's called Overtaking on the Inside, and whilst frowned upon and possibly opening yourself up to charges of dangerous driving, isn't illegal in itself.

Of course, not all cops know this. But then, lots of cops still think there's a fast lane.

Ah, well - happy to be corrected. I'd always wondered about it, to be honest. On busy bits of the M25 there's always signs saying "stay in your lane", which suggests that you can keep going at 80 on the inside past peopel doing 65 in the middle. So that makes sense, as I can't see anything wrong per say with going faster than someone in an outer lane.

It's where people duck into the inside in a gap, speed up and then pull back out into the middle that strikes me as dangerous driving.

Indeed. It's driving dangerously that's dangerous, not travelling faster than the number on a sign or not passing people in a different lane even if yours is clear.

Unfortunately, the non-dangerous laws are black and white, and ban this sick filth etc. if you even think about breaking them, regardless of how safe it may be.

There are a couple of sections of road on my commute, borderline 40-60 zones, where I'll quite happily and safely be doing 80mph coming out of the 40 into the 60. Sounds disgusting on paper, but I challenge anyone to go there and point out that it's dangerous and that I should be fined, arrested, banned, penalised and subsequently jailed for doing it.

MR GASPY FACE.

You're WORSE THAN HITLER, sir. My uncles didn't fight in Normandy for you to go around breaking the Queen's laws, sir!

I used to think this. Now I just dislike online gaming without my chums. Online games with chums > single player > Online games without chums.

Also: Milk. It's vile.

This! And eggs! The white bit specifically! Exclamation marks!!!!!!!!11111oneoneoneringtorulethemall

[edit]Hahaha rule the mall

That only works because you're so awesome, dude.

You can't hate eggs without hating cakes & pies.

I love Zardoz. He is Acebest.

And you can't hate milk without hating tea.

If you have tea without milk, you not only hate tea, you also hate yourself.


TEAFAX

You can't hurry love.

No, you just have to wait.

Oh, oh I hate tea!

I'm not fond of warm drinks, anyway, but I can drink coffee and hot chocolate if need be.

Tea, though, can just fuck right off.

This, except for the being able to drink coffee bit.

Except Coffee smells lovely. Grr. Coffee cake = great.

Well let's assume the theoretical empty motorway again, it's pretty unquestionably safe for either of us to stay in the inside lane and go past middle dawdle guy than change out 2 lanes and back in 2 lanes...