YES
MIDDLE lane road hogs make me mad! And that’s not a safe emotion when I’m doing 70 up the motorway (OK, 75). In case you hadn’t noticed we drive on the left in this country so what are you doing stuck in the middle?
Is it ignorance? Is it deliberate? Or are you in some kind of trance-like state, hypnotised by the monotony of the passing miles and the soothing tones of Radio 2? Whatever the reason for your hopeless driving it is dangerous. Very dangerous.
Because it has an unpleasant effect on other road users, turning them into road rage monsters intent on teaching you a lesson. Surely you must have noticed the fast cars that roar up behind you in the slow lane and illegally pass on the inside – or are you so unaware of what’s going on around you that you don’t even see them?
Have you never wondered why other drivers get so close behind you, flashing their lights and sounding their horns? Did it not seem odd that when they eventually overtake you they almost rip your front bumper off as they hastily swerve all the way across to the slow lane, shaking a fist at you to follow them?
The fact that most middle-lane hogs don’t take the hint is what worries me most. It indicates they’re not fit to be behind the wheel because they’re just not thinking about what a good driver should be doing.
DAYDREAMING on the motorway, I know, is easy to do. Last summer I was cruising along minding my own business in lane two on a near-deserted M1, it was such a pleasant sunny day I didn’t even notice the copper on a motorbike starting to fill my rear-view mirror.
As he drew past he gave me a dirty look and indicated with three angry gestures of his left hand that I was a menace who’d get a ticket if I didn’t pull into the left lane pretty sharpish.
How many times I’ve wished I were a traffic cop as I came across an idiot in the middle lane. Trouble is, there are so many of them I would get writer’s cramp from issuing penalty fines.
So spare me your pathetic excuses like “there are too many lorries”, “it’s safer in the middle,” “other people shouldn’t be doing more than 70.”
Just keep left and get out of the way!