h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you find the traffic on any UK motorway just asleep in the middle lane then you are extremely lucky, I find both the middle and right hand lanes full whenever I travel anywhere. The left hand lane (or lurgy lane as I like to call it (no -one uses it cos its got lurgies)), nearly always contains about 1/10 of the traffic. This would make it ideal for overtaking except for the occasional lorry or caravan (snail - carrying a house around with you) and the fact it is illegal. I have now started using it on occasion to overtake when the right hand lane is full and the two other lanes are empty, thus creating a buffer of one empty lane, still illegal but then the highway code does state you should keep to the left lane and use the other lanes for overtaking only. If everyone did keep left the traffic would flow much better, especially if the average British driver could master merging.
My other pet hate about other drivers is the way that they bunch up as if to overtake on single carrigeway roads and then don't, but they also don't leave enough space for other road users (me) to overtake into.
So - Keep left
and if your not overtaking - drop back so others can
(you are also less likely to have an accident).
Usually drivers just go to sleep in a line of traffic. This can be demonstrated (if you are somewhere near the front), by starting a gentle weave from left to right (about 30 mph is best, it livens up traffic jams), then slowly increase the amount of weaving and you will end up with a long snake of unaware drivers behind you. You canuse this technique to be kind to motorcyclists.
On that point, why is it that when ever you are in a traffic queue inside the M25 if you move over for motorcyclists they thank you, but outside (the M25)they don't bother. Maybe they are more used to being attacked inside the M25 and are so suprised to see a car driver assisting they can't help themselves.
Be Aware - Keep Left - Drop back and wave when I pass !