Apologies for a lift from another forum, but this comment was made, it caught my eye, and the nature of the thing is such that I can't query it there. The post was made today and nobody there is disputing it, or even commenting on it.
It says:
"Until very recently, it was mandatory in the UK to return to the lane furthest from the median immediately after overtaking. Only very recently has this been changed to allow you to remain in the centre lane for extended periods. "
What did I miss? Can you now stay in the centre lane or is this so much rhubarb?
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Given the term 'median', I suspect this information is US sourced.
It's a new one on me too.
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Taken from the Highway Code on DirectGov:
"Single carriageway
135 Where a single carriageway has three lanes and the road markings or signs do not give priority to traffic in either direction
•use the middle lane only for overtaking or turning right. Remember, you have no more right to use the middle lane than a driver coming from the opposite direction
•do not use the right-hand lane
136 Where a single carriageway has four or more lanes, use only the lanes that signs or markings indicate.
Dual carriageways
A dual carriageway is a road which has a central reservation to separate the carriageways.
137 On a two-lane dual carriageway you should stay in the left-hand lane. Use the right-hand lane for overtaking or turning right. After overtaking, move back to the left-hand lane when it is safe to do so.
138 On a three-lane dual carriageway, you may use the middle lane or the right-hand lane to overtake but return to the middle and then the left-hand lane when it is safe."
So no. The Highway Code doesn't appear to have changed
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Indeed! It also appears that people still don't read or comply with it!
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You mean there are things on the Internet that aren't true?
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No I was commenting on the quote from the Highway Code and adding my own observation about how people seem to drive in ignorance or non-compliance of it! Both of these are true or fair-comment and not sourced from the net.
Last edited by: Meldrew on Tue 28 Feb 12 at 17:50
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>> You mean there are things on the Internet that aren't true?
I think WdB was referring to the quote in the OP rather than to the Highway Code.
It still frightens me how many drivers I talk to have no grasp, or worse still an erroneous grasp, of whole sections of the Highway Code.
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Quite so, Dave - and not entirely seriously.
I suspect the original quote was from an American visitor to the UK, who'd observed the general ignorance or disregard of the keep-left rule and mistakenly concluded that the rule must have changed.
For my part, I've become increasingly liberal in my interpretation of the provision to 'keep up with traffic in your own lane'. On the M4 some evenings it's the only way.
I wonder what our unknown American would say about chevrons bordered by solid lines. 'Must not enter except in an emergency', says the HC, but I see people cross them almost every day.
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The quote comes from here:
tech.slashdot.org/story/12/02/26/1855239/uk-to-dim-highway-lights-to-save-money
It doesn't appear to come from anyone in authority, it is just an opinion from an unknown person. But to be fair, if you read the full post you can see that it has been taken selectively and out of context.
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Thanks, Cliff. I've read the whole comment now and it's a curious thing, clearly written by an educated UK writer trying to use vocabulary that an international readership will understand. But it's still plain wrong on the keep-left principle.
Curious how strongly the delivery influences the effect of the message. If that comment had been written in the typical language of a blog comments board we'd have dismissed it as ignorant nonsense, but because it's well written in standard English, we pause to consider it.
Reminds me of Alexei Sayle's 'Boil Yer Cat?' sketch from about 1983. Three callers ring the bell in turn: a roughly-dressed tradesman, a salesman shiny of suit and whiny of voice, and a sultry blonde (actually Sayle in a wig but never mind.) The first two are turned away with varying degrees of haste and politeness; the third is welcomed in - whereupon she produces a saucepan and sets off in pursuit of the cat. Might provoke a thought or two when you hear that nicely-spoken Mr Cameron say that he's not privatizing the NHS or removing benefits from people too disabled to work.
}:---)
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>> Reminds me of Alexei Sayle's 'Boil Yer Cat?' sketch from about 1983.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSx-TEgydgw
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Brilliant, F - well done!
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It is almost as if there is a carefully planned campaign to force a change in British motorway rules with regard to lanes, overtaking, etc.
If enough people keep repeating "Britain still forbids undertaking " and "in the rest of the world traffic stays in lane and moves at its own speed, regardless of other lanes" then a general expectation will grow that the rules are about to change ("come into line"), and then British roads will run as smoothly as American.
Then finally the expectation will become unstoppable, the police will admit that they no longer enforce current lane discipline, and the law will have changed. Words like "still" and "come into line" gnaw away at resistance like water on a stone.
Or so the campaigners hope.
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Solid white lines are frequently abused these days too which makes me doubly aware when I'm on the bike.
The ringroad approaching Antwerp from Gent has a sectioned off lane with solid white line. Watching the locals that solid white line means no national speed limit and race to the front before switching lanes.
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Have I missed something? - DP
