Why do car owners drive in the middle lane?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Sometimes there's no space, then the car in the inner lane should accommodate the merging car so it can get on safely. It's not a written rule I think, but just the right thing to do.

Just try that driving in America.

realdanbreen wrote: »

Oh I dunno, I do a lot of business over the phone as I drive along so between that and listening to Joe Duffy I think I'll just relax and drive along in the middle lane.

You are joking.........I hope?

BanditLuke wrote: »

I just stick to the middle lane tbh especially on the M50.

So then artics can’t pass according to You( remember they can’t use the outside lane) ?

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Sticking to the speed limit is doing anything under that limit. A driver doing 70 in a 120 zone is sticking to the speed limit.

That can be a Drivng Test fail (failure to make progress) as well as considered dangerous driving (driving too slowly for conditions) as it can lead to accidents.

BanditLuke wrote: »

Artics are restricted to 90klms. Most middle lane traffic rolls at over 100

It doesn’t matter what speed an article is travelling at, you said You stick to the middle lane mostly, let me ask you a question, why is the inside lane there?

Darc19 wrote: »

Forget it.

I was driving from clondalkin to Kildare today and was behind a Garda car.

He hung about in the middle lane with lane one devoid of any traffic.

I drove lane one about 200m steadily behind him.

Just after the Johnstown exit he moved to lane one and then to the naas only lane.

Basically from newlands cross to Naas, he sat in the middle lane.

Just a couple of weeks ago on M7 just past ball at Naas going southbound, I came across the community Garda car, white Tucson with Garda emblazoned on it but no blue light strip on it. Driving in middle lane at about 110. I was in left most lane, moved to middle and then to most right holding 120 in cruise control, passed him and then all the way back to left most lane. He never budged out of lane and I kept making progress in left lane, moving in and out to pass traffic on left lane. Could see him behind in the distance still trundling along in middle lane as a moving road block.

StevenToast wrote: »

If someone is hogging the middle lane....i overtake them...problem solved

Ah! But then you have the Lane 3 Hoggers!

We're doing well, 137 posts in and it hasn't turned into a debacle about overtaking on the left (or roundabouts for good measure).......yet.

Zatoichi wrote: »

Ah! But then you have the Lane 3 Hoggers!

That was sublime!

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Seen something today that stunned me: coach in middle lane on the M7 NB, car behind it, car shifted to inside lane,, undercut the coach, then pulled back into the middle lane in front of the coach & carried on.



what goes on in people's mind?

Sounds like frustration that the coach was taking too long to move into inside lane.

There are a thousand and one things about driving that you could say "why do drivers do this" when they are not supposed to.....

A few off the top of my head examples - why do car owners

- pull over on the side of motorways to make phone calls
- park on footpaths
- park on cycle lanes
- accelerate through orange lights
- stop the car on yellow grid box
- drive in bus lane
- pull u-turns where its not allowed
- drive 10k over the speed limit (or 20k or 30k)
- adjust speed after the limit sign changes, as opposed to before it
- tailgate
- look at their phone in slow moving traffic
- and so on and so on and so on.

The broad approach seems to be that as long as you dont crash into anyone, its ok to do the rest of the stuff 60% right.

And if you get stopped by the Gardai for any of the above, then you get sympathy from other drivers - why arent they going after the real criminals, shooting fish in a barrel etc.

And on the other hand expect a completely different (higher) standard of rule compliance from other road users such as cyclists.

Its just mental what drivers get away with.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

why is it always someone elses fault.

This annoys me no end.

Its like the people who throw rubbish everywhere, and then give out because theres not enough bins - as if they have no other choice.

You know the rules.

You make a conscious decision not to obey them - thats on you.....

Its not the Gardai's fault that you do this.

The flip side is that if the Gardai do try to enforce there is uproar.

There are radio stations that will announce speeding checkpoints, warn drivers to watch out for them.

There is a massive culture of non compliance.

Its known as public choice theory (on wiki). People will sometimes choose their own selfish interests over the common good. Its part of human behaviour and is found in pretty much every walk of life and we are all guilty of it somewhere, sometime.

A cognitive bias thats also seen in people is a tendency to hold other people to higher standards than themselves. So, for example if another driver beeps you for a transgression, you will tend to go on the defensive and say you judgement is not in the wrong. Or another example is people who will give out about cyclists breaking red lights but they themselves will jaywalk all day long.