Learners allowed on motorways from 2018

You flash your headlamps to alert other road users to your presence. This is clearly needed when the driver in front does not keep over to the left when other traffic wants to pass (that's rule number 1).

In practice, lane 1 is occupied by lorries and slower traffic. The middle lane is occupied by middle speed ~70mph, and the outer lane by faster traffic > 70mph. That's what happens, that's the normal situation.

In the morning, as I see it, all these lanes are fairly well occupiped, hence the choice of lane purely depends on your chosen speed, and the opportunity to change lane either way.

If someone drive up too close, or appear to drive erratically, then I just move over to a safe lane, no problem. On one occation that saved me from being cought up in a sandwich.

I suppose I'm what you might call a "muppet".

Where does it say this in the highway code?

Rule 110.

What if there is no room at the left? What if the driver in front just keep up with other drivers in his front, e.g. an overtaking lorry? Then giving you room doesn't help you very much, you will get stuck just the same.

That driving instructor (Neil Sullivan) was literally brilliant, I know many people that he taught to be safe, competent drivers, including my sisters and my wife and he would not allow you to dawdle around either. Unfortunately he is now dead, but he had a very satisfied local base of customers, purely on recommendation. He used his own car for tuition: a bronze Mark 1 Escort 1300GT.

One of the worst exit lanes is from M4 Exit 4B coming from west and joining M25 Junc 15 both North and South. Hence that sliproad accomulate exit traffic into M25 in both directions, so it becomes very long. Some drivers hate to queue and try to squeeze into the middle often causing accidents. I see that accident about once a week. Well you can blame one careless idiot, but it affects others, hence 50% of drivers involved gets their cars damaged on this sliproad through no fault of their own. Bad motorway design.

The law does not list those as exceptions.

This sounds contrieved to me. Why does he need to know your present when coming from behind. It's your job to keep safe distance to the car in front. Or are you perhaps conveying a different message?

He needs to know that (potentially) faster traffic is approaching from behind so that he can drive considerately by keeping (or moving) to the nearside and thereby not obstructing that traffic. Lane-hogging is an endorsable offence under Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988: driving without due consideration for other road-users.

And there is also Highway Code Rule 168, which includes the instruction: "Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass."

A driver might unnecessarily obstruct traffic to his rear if he hasn't (yet) realised that traffic is there. That he hasn't realised it is the charitable explanation for what would otherwise be an endorsable offence: lack of due consideration. So the lights are useful.

Note: this sort of behaviour is, in Europe, almost exclusive to the UK (and maybe Ireland). In other countries, drivers move back to the right when they have overtaken, thereby allowing others to overtake them. You can make usually better progress on an Italian or German dual 2-lane motorway than you usually can on a UK highway with four lanes per side because other drivers don't see it as their mission to stop you from getting past.

Its not contrived.

I also admit to being in the middle lane on occasions when I should not, especially when I've just overtaken someone and can't see anyone behind me. If someone does correctly view that I am in the wrong lane (hogging) then I appreciate a flash to make it clear I am in the way and I'll move over.

Only someone with antisocial tendencies would take offence at a gentle reminder.

You seem to be getting confused when the lane on the left is clear to move into, and when it is not.

It may be normal to you, but not to most drivers.

The argument here is when lane 1 is empty. Such conditions are not comparable.

Given you seem to accept that middle lane hogging is acceptable I suspect that may well be the consensus here.

If you had to would you be prepared to put that on a police witness statement?

Quite.

Often, lane one is fairly well peppered with lorries and so most people (doing ~70) would end up mostly staying in lane two because it would be more dangerous pulling in and out.

If (however) I'm doing that, see a quantity of traffic coming up behind me and see an appropriately long gap between lorries in lane one I'll pull back into it. The only problem there is having enough room to pull back out into lane two as it's either that or slowing to the speed of the lorry and having to work a bit harder (or wait a bit longer) to be able to get back up to speed again (even if only to overtake the lorry and getting back to lane one).

If you are lucky you will find someone who has seen what you have done and makes enough room for you to get back out again ... all helping to keep the traffic flowing.

Cheers, T i m

I had someone jam on their brakes many years ago, I won. I find that headlamp flashing now adays is usually just ignored, so I don't bother.

Years ago I established for myself that if the gap was long enough for me to stay in the inner lane for seven seconds or more then it was worth moving over. Continual streams of traffic are one of the OK times to stay in your lane (providing you are all keeping up.

If there's no one behind you - what's the problem? Don't feel too badly about it!

However, it should be fairly automatic that you soon move leftwards - unless by doing so, you're very soon going to have to move out again to overtake. That way, you don't need to have to keep checking in your mirrors quite as often - and this helps to make driving more stress free.

I feel deeply embarrassed when someone has to flash me!

Unfortunately, there's a lot of them about.

I guess the law assumes you've got at least an ounce of common sense. Some drivers don't.