[Closed] Quick, out my way I need to get to the outside lane....

Are you typing this whilst holding the traffic up in the middle lane?

even if it does start then stop and usually make worse progress than the

What?

"It takes the lotion from the basket"

OP certain German brands have a huge electromagnet in the off side sill. This kicks in above 50mph and draws the car to the armco barrier or re-inforcing bar in the concrete. HTH

Usually it's because the inside and middle lanes are snarled up with articulated lorry's and other slow moving commercial traffic. It's more prevalent when joining a dual carriageway where the inside lane is almost exclusively occupied by lorry's trundling along at 56mph.

It is sad to see the way many people take stupid risks to save seconds. Jumping over 2 lanes in one go as there's a tiny gap etc.

All I can imagine is that they must really love their jobs and want to be sat at their desks as long as possible every day.

I'd rather be sat between 2 cars than 2 lorries.

If they're indicating (although the point about intereference from the electromagnet is often overlooked here), they're allowed out - that's the whole point of [s]entitlers[/s] indicators

I'd rather sit between 2 40 tonners than 2 cars, at least they're
predictable !!

I was going to post something about the Scouse prick who tried to take me out twice with his lane changing antics and perceived right to make better progress than anyone else on the motorway.

I'd rather sit between 2 40 tonners than 2 cars, at least they're
predictable !!

...hmmmmmmm, ok assuming the following truck gives you space which they often don't, usually because they will not adjust their speed by 0.3 mph to suit or they don't want some other numpty filling it when they make a last minute dive for their junction!

All user groups have equal numbers of guilty parties when it comes to road discipline, there those that stick to the rules, there are those that think the rules are for everyone else, there are those that are scared sh**less and the rules go out the window even though they know them, there are those that stick to the rules but will break them if they think someone else has impeded them ....... and worst of all, those that are oblivious to all around in a little world of their own!

Usually it's because the inside and middle lanes are snarled up with articulated lorry's and other slow moving commercial traffic.

Usually, it's because they're idiots.

Don't know if you've noticed, but most people who drive cars are complete morons. There's no rationalising what they do (or don't do).

There should really be a lane just for high powered SUVs

Hmmm... hard to know the scenario you're in. Heavy traffic that i scrawling along, as it passes a city or just a section of DC that has got to capacity and so has braking waves moving back through the traffic?

I do go the right hand lane (politely) on the A1 through Newcastle/gateshead in heavy traffic for the primary reason that I know I'm on the A1 for the whole thing, not leaving, lots of other people are needing to change lanes and we're only doing 40 so it seems sensible to stay out of their way. I'm happy to keep up with those ahead of me.

Just read the OP again, do you mean outside as is in left hand lane? which I think of as the outside, but I'm often wrong about these. I find near side a confusing term. Near to what?

I was going to post something about the Scouse prick who tried to take me out twice with his lane changing antics and perceived right to make better progress than anyone else on the motorway.

How did you know the driver was scouse? Were the wheels from a different car? 🙂

M1 J44 near Leeds is best, everyone is so desperate for the third lane that the middle lane is often empty, apart from the occasional Audi who has failed to overtake the queue for the exit and sneak in and is sat hoping someone will let them in before a 40 tonner rear ends them. I think that's about the only time I ever see an Audi indicator working.

Why do motorists make a mad dart to the outside motorway lane

How did you know the driver was scouse? Were the wheels from a different car?

Case rested, M'lud.

Fair summary 🙂

.. (ignoring my last comment) anyone know why it's only the slow drivers of "compact" type cars who insist on using the [i]right[/i] lane of a sliproad?
You can always spot them on the roundabout leading to the sliproad because they brake all the way round and don't indicate (until they get to the end of the sliproad, whereby the most important right indicator begins it's crucial flash).

do you mean outside as is in left hand lane? which I think of as the outside, but I'm often wrong about these. I find near side a confusing term. Near to what?

I'm so pleased I'm not alone!
Can someone please explain why the lane that's near to the 'central reservation' is called 'the outside'? 'central' being the indicating word.

Are you typing this whilst holding the traffic up in the middle lane?

unklehomered - Member

Just read the OP again, do you mean outside as is in left hand lane? which I think of as the outside, but I'm often wrong about these.

Not sure if this is trolling or not....

The inside lane is the one nearest the hard shoulder. The outside lane is the one nearest the centre of the road.....

Can someone please explain why the lane that's near to the 'central reservation' is called 'the outside'? 'central' being the indicating word.

So the inside lane is the one on the outside of the road as a whole and vice versa.

Got it.

Don't understand it, but do got it.

The left of the vehicle is always referred to as the nearside, right of vehicle as offside.

This is probably just because I'm on the spectrum but again, that's the opposite of my instinctive interpretation. I think of near side as being, near... well Me. as the driver.

Driver side, passenger side are my preferred terms.

There should really be a lane just for high powered SUVs

Isn't that the outside lane? M25 seems to be clogged with them. Makes pootling along the inside at a sedate 65 quite pleasant.

The outside lane on Motorways is now reserved for Brexiteers, it's an area cordoned off so the intelligent amongst us can drive past an mock the idiocy.

OP certain German brands have a huge electromagnet in the off side sill. This kicks in above 50mph and draws the car to the armco barrier or re-inforcing bar in the concrete. HTH

Whilst I don't have anything against certain German brands (I've owned some and would buy more), the vehicles the OP is talking about invariably have a badge on the back which says 320D or 520D. Seems to be a label to drive like a total idiot most of the time. Guess they must be angry their company car allowance doesn't let them buy a quick version.

Last year on M80, a car decided to do the 'outside lane asap, between two trucks' - and took out the car hidden from his view that was faster than the trucks. This was two cars ahead of me, in heavy traffic at Cumbernauld.

I stopped about a metre from a car facing backwards in the outside lane, three other cars and one of the trucks damaged, debris everywhere and motorway blocked.

The d*ck who caused it was frustrated that the car he had hit was there, and seemed to have no idea of his responsibility. I left within a few minutes, as soon as first police arrived, so had not chance to see how it developed, but I think the truck drivers were ready to take him aside and see to it he [b]was[/b] injured in the crash.

I've had to slam all on a couple of times when people have made the clean sweep on joining the motorway across all three lanes in one move.

I find you can often tell they're going to do it, their driver-langauge (body language for cars) gives it a way as they come in on the slip road, like they're itching for the off.

"I-wanna-do-somehting-stupid-I-wanna-do-somehting-stupid-I-wanna-do-somehting-stupid--Oh-I'm-gonna-do-it-Ooooooh-any-second-now-here-I-Go!-SURPRISE-MOTHER-******s!"

Usually it's because the inside and middle lanes are snarled up with articulated lorry's and other slow moving commercial traffic. It's more prevalent when joining a dual carriageway where the inside lane is almost exclusively occupied by lorry's trundling along at 56mph.

Not really true when the outside lane is crawling along at 15mph in the rush hour traffic though.

I observe this every morning. People will actively stop and wait for someone to let them out into the outside lane, while they block a clear inside lane... It makes no sense and just causes more congestion.

It'll be the same people who dart across the chevrons to get off the slip road, so that they can sit even further back in the stationary queue of traffic on the motorway, when there's an empty slip road... What's the point?

Generally, I find the complete lack of thought that people put into their driving inexplicable. Everyone's journey to work would be much quicker in the morning if more brains were engaged.

Use the M53 and M56 into Manchester most days. The [foolishness] is staggering. Best progress is made sticking to the inside lane and occasionally moving out at certain predictable points then back to the inside again to undertake all the stop start traffic.
Ironically such is peoples urgency to get to the apparent "fast lane" its often the case that if you stay put in the inside lane and let all of the half wits on, the inside lane becomes clear and you continue to over take them.

matt_outandabout - Member

Last year on M80, a car decided to do the 'outside lane asap, between two trucks' - and took out the car hidden from his view that was faster than the trucks. This was two cars ahead of me, in heavy traffic at Cumbernauld.

I stopped about a metre from a car facing backwards in the outside lane, three other cars and one of the trucks damaged, debris everywhere and motorway blocked.

The d*ck who caused it was frustrated that the car he had hit was there, and seemed to have no idea of his responsibility. I left within a few minutes, as soon as first police arrived, so had not chance to see how it developed, but I think the truck drivers were ready to take him aside and see to it he was injured in the crash.

I almost had this happen to me a while back by some complete arse biscuit who decided he'd swoop from the on-slip to the outside lane without checking his mirrors or glancing over his shoulder.
I hit the horn as he swerved across on a clear collision course for the side of my car. I braked slightly, but there was another arse biscuit right up my chuff, so I didn't want him to go into the back of me.
Once this bloke got the message that he was about to crash into me, he stopped coming across then reverted to type and started hurling abuse at me from his side window. He was shouting so loudly I could hear him in my car with both his & my windows up.....

You're welcome pal - no need to thank me for helping you to avoid a massive accident in rush hour that would have totalled our cars & caused severe delays for hundreds if not thousands of other commuters all trying to make their way home...... 😆

Usually because it's the first opportunity to overtake some dawdling t**t you've been stuck behind on the approach to the motorway

basically this and the inside lane of any motorway is just bumper to bumper artics doing 56 mph (on a good day).

the inside lane of any motorway is just bumper to bumper artics doing 56 mph (on a good day).

Just stroll along at 60 in one, or possibly two near a junction, and you MAY be a minute or so longer on the motorway, but with far less risk and stress.

The left of the vehicle is always referred to as the nearside, right of vehicle as offside. Look at any body panel description.

You don't say! ( & quite a few other car bits that are 'sided')
No-one's yet explained why the lane nearest the central reservation is called the outside lane. (Why not 'nearside, middle & offside' lanes?)

cos it's outside of the near side lane. if it was inside the nearside lane it'd be the hard shoulder/footway!! 😉

No-one's yet explained why the lane nearest the central reservation is called the outside lane. (Why not 'nearside, middle & offside' lanes?)

So you still can't actually explain then? I guess it's gonna be one of life's little mysteries.

[url= http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/outside-lane ]Teaching is such a thankless task. I can explain it a thousand times, I just can't explain it to the answer that you want.[/url] 🙄

It's the outside of that carriageway, ignore what's at the other side of the barrier.

It's the outside of that carriageway, ignore what's at the other side of the barrier.

Ta Daaa, cheers Cougar, nice that someone could actually just say that!

Ta Daaa, cheers Cougar, nice that someone could actually just say that!

Pillock.

Well YOU didn't say it did ya?

And just to ruin it: "roundabouts." (-:

I usually say "first / second / third lane" as it avoids all this confusion.

And just to ruin it: "roundabouts." (-:

I usually say "first / second / third lane" as it avoids all this confusion.

I'm confused again, which is which? I'm saying that the 1st is the one on the left, the 2nd one is the middle & the 3rd's on the right etc etc?
1,2,3. Left to right? or is that sensible?

And just to ruin it: "roundabouts."

My wife comes from a country with very few roundabouts, from a state that had no roundabouts til relatively recently. When trying to teach her how to drive in the UK I couldn't understand why she got so confused and agitated when I told her to go straight on at a roundabout. After a few weeks of this she stopped at the line and shouted "I CAN'T GO STRAIGHT ON!" pointing at the kerb in front of her.

Doesn't really make sense either does it when you think about it.

I'm confused again, which is which? I'm saying that the 1st is the one on the left, the 2nd one is the middle & the 3rd's on the right etc etc?
1,2,3. Left to right? or is that sensible?

Yes.

Actually,

That makes sense because we both drive on the left and read from left to right. It [u]should[/u] hold up going right-left in countries that drive on the left, but it's way less intuitive.

I've had to slam all on a couple of times when people have made the clean sweep on joining the motorway across all three lanes in one move.

I find you can often tell they're going to do it, their driver-langauge (body language for cars) gives it a way as they come in on the slip road, like they're itching for the off.

I keep seeing more and more people joining the motorway like this (usually driving across the cross hatched area too 🙄 ) but the thing is there's nothing even on the motorway in front of them 😯

It's like they can't possibly drive in the 2 peasants lanes and must get straight to the important peoples lane asap. I think as far as intelligence levels go the human race peaked a while back and is now rapidly going the other way 😆

The general answer to the OPs question and many more like it is either:

1) They are not paying ANY attention to the actual task of driving

or

2) They are not looking any further down the road than the bonnet of their car.

I actually followed someone the other day who overtook a truck, which was doing about 35mph, and then immediately moved back to the left hand lane, even though there was, clear as day (in fact, even clearer than that) a large tractor, complete with bright orange flashing lights doing about 15mph in that lane about 50 yards ahead of the truck! At the last minute they did a full emergency stop and avoided ramming into the back of the tractor by about 3 inches.

Tractor driver had his head in his hands, shaking it side to side in disbelief.

(tbh, as the tractor was massive, weighed probably 10 tonnes, and the car was a nissan note, i suspect any impact wouldn't even have scratched the paint on the back of the tractor........ 😆 )

To the OP's original question...

My oldest mate from school does just this every time he joins the motorway. From what I can grasp, it derives from his sense of entitlement, powerful German car and complete intolerance of being held up by anyone who isn't like him.

Everything you might expect really.

If you have cruise control set it for a speed and watch them all yo-yo past you. One moment they are zipping past you 30 seconds later you are over taking them, is my cruise control buggered varying my speed so much?

Should you really be using cruise control in traffic that dense and unpredictable?

Depends on the separations and the cruise control you have.

You can get your foot on the brake faster, and you can , on mine at least, turn it off with a flick of the right Thumb on a steering wheel switch. But you don't get the instant engine braking you do when you lift off the accelerator.

If more people used Cruise, the speeds would become more predictable and there would be less variability and fewer "shockwaves". That's kind of what variable speed limits try and achieve. The M25 on weekdays, when not complete jammed is so much nicer to drive than on weekends when, although less busy, all the numpties whose speed oscillates wildly are out.

If you have cruise control set it for a speed and watch them all yo-yo past you. One moment they are zipping past you 30 seconds later you are over taking them, is my cruise control buggered varying my speed so much?

I'm convinced that some people want to drive slower than me, but in front of me.