‘Middle-lane hoggers aren't just annoying – they pose a real safety hazard'

Telegraph

4 days ago

As we head towards the UK's motorways for day trips and lengthy breaks, members of the 'Middle Lane Owners Club', oblivious to the inconvenience and danger they are generating by hogging the centre lane on motorways, could face disqualification and an unlimited fine if their ignorance is found to have led to a serious road accident.
And about time too, you're probably thinking.
It's not a new law, but leading traffic offence lawyer Nick Freeman (aka Mr Loophole) says he can't ever remember a prosecution for the plague of lane hogging on UK motorways in an era when the Road Haulage Association says jams and delays costs drivers £968 each a year.
Freeman reckons that it is time to clamp down on lane hoggers and develop motorway cameras to track and prosecute those drivers who cause delay – or leave carnage in their middle lane wake.
An everyday occurrence
Like many drivers I find UK motorways incredibly frustrating. For example, midweek, at about 10.30am, I'm on the M6, heading south. When traffic starts to congest and slow, it's no real surprise.
The middle lane, or lane two as the motorway authorities call it, is becoming crowded with HGVs tailgating vans and cars, and the familiar concertina-effect of speeding up and slowing down develops. Accidents in waiting.
The traffic rhythm has all the trademarks of a slow-moving oversized load in lane one ahead, but you can sense drivers are getting tetchy: they don't know what's causing the delay.
I reach the front of the jam. But there's no lane closure, no oversized load – only a grey Peugeot 3008, a Toyota Corolla private hire taxi and a 15-year-old Lexus, nose-to-tail at 65mph in the middle lane, the inside lane empty.
They pass under a matrix sign: in huge letters it says 'KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING' – and they stay exactly where they are. I can see in my mirrors that's the case long after I pass.
Existing penalties
At the lower end of the penalty scale, in simple terms driving without reasonable consideration for other road users – in this context hogging centre or outside lanes, oblivious to the delay to other road users – can mean three points and a £100 fixed penalty.
But if lane hogging generates such frustration for other road users that a serious accident results, that offence, part of the laws covering driving without due care and attention, carries a penalty of between three and nine points, or a period of disqualification and an unlimited fine in the most serious cases, said Paul Loughlin of solicitors Stephensons.
'The offence of driving without due care and attention is made out if the standard of driving alleged can be said to fall below that of a competent and careful driver. Middle-lane hogging is an example of this,' he says.
The police view
A police motorway patrol officer, commenting on such driving standards, told me: 'There are drivers who are never involved in accidents, but who see them in their mirrors – if they use them.
'You see 40-tonne HGVs tailgating a car hogging the middle lane, lane one empty, and the car driver is oblivious to the proximity of the HGV, chatting to passengers or simply zoned out. But it's the truck driver who is committing the more serious offence, potentially of 'dangerous driving', with no chance of avoiding a collision in an emergency.'
Lawyer Freeman is a 50,000 miles-a-year driver, so speaks for many UK road users, and says that lane hogging is part of endemic poor lane discipline.
Mandatory motorway testing
'Can I tell you how rare it is to be prosecuted for lane hogging? Literally never,' he says. 'Some people haven't got a clue which lane to be in. In my view, it should be mandatory for learners to be taught and tested on the motorway.
'Some people are terrified of motorways, while there are probably a million-plus drivers who took their test abroad and are unfamiliar with how UK motorways operate.
'The remedies are the driving test, familiarisation and being tested on The Highway Code at least every 10 years, as well as stigmatising people who hog the middle lane. But it only works if you have a police presence and there are prosecutions.
'Fail your 10-year test and your licence should be suspended until you pass.'
Is technology the answer?
Freeman says UK motorway cameras combined with AI technology should be developed to pick up middle-lane hogging, with the technology used to prosecute offenders.
'Let's have a month's education on television about lane hogging: 'This is how you need to drive. And then we're going to start using cameras to prosecute people',' he says.
The motorway operator's view
National Highways, which is responsible for the operation of motorways in England, has more than 1,500 cameras observing multi-lane roads.
'Middle-lane hogging frustrates drivers, increases congestion and can lead to collisions, which is why we regularly display advice [on overhead signs] to help improve driving habits,' said a spokesman.
'Always allow plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front and, unless overtaking, move into the left-hand lane. Safety messages around lane hogging is something we look to repeat on a quarterly basis to help remind drivers of good habits.'
However, it's understood that current camera technology on the motorway network is unsuitable for enforcement action against middle-lane hogging. It's unclear what sort of modification would be required to enable it.
Safety hazard
Edmund King, the president of the AA, says middle-lane hogs are among the top pet hates of AA members: 'They are more than just an annoyance, they pose a real safety hazard. By blocking the middle lane when there is space on the inside, drivers impede the ability of other vehicles to overtake safely, potentially leading to tailgating or road rage.
'Some drivers take the law into their own hands by undertaking the hogger, which can be dangerous, or by teaching them a lesson by overtaking and then swooping closely in front of them into the inside lane. Neither is recommended…'
Freeman confirms: 'Such 'swooping' can be an offence in itself. Complete the overtake, leave space, then indicate left and indicate again before moving into the inside lane.'
King adds that lane hoggers potentially reduce road capacity by up to one third by wasting an entire lane, while those 'keep left unless overtaking' signs should be used more.
It's sometimes said that embarrassment is the most effective in driving change, so Freeman is probably right: stigmatise and ridicule The Middle Lane Owners Club.