Is it wrong to hog the middle lane on M-ways?

CENTRE PARTING: People get annoyed by those who don’t drive considerately

IAM no fan of motorway driving. I’m usually to be found navigating my converted T4 VW campervan around tiny B-roads in the countryside where modest speeds and good reaction times are everything and where there is plenty of scenery to enjoy. But on those rare occasions when the van and I do take to the motorway I know exactly where to position us. Once up to speed I tend to chart a steady course down the middle.

I know it’s wrong to be a road hog – rule 264 has remained etched into my memory like a guilty conscience since the day I passed my test in 1988 – but I believe myself to be a safer prospect for other road users this way, even if it means risking a £100 onthe-spot fine in the process.

And I’m certainly not alone in my middle-of-theroad preferences. Fortythree per cent of people admit to doing it (65 per cent of Londoners) and 22 per cent say they do so because they feel safer in the middle lane. I identify with each and every one.

Understand that my beloved 17-year-old white diesel van is not famed for its acceleration – if I put my foot down while driving it the only sensation I feel is the floor. And so, with the sheer volume of modern cars merging endlessly from slip-roads on the left, I prefer to remain safely out of their way as they zip in front of me and pull away with aspirational rapidity.

LIKE a third of people polled by insurer Direct Line I prefer to avoid changing lanes too much because I think it is dangerous.

When I do get caught up in the left lane it usually takes the van so long to pick up enough speed to overtake the countless slowmoving lorries and Sunday drivers that I’ve created a traffic queue by the time this has been accomplished.

I prefer to use existing momentum, especially so given that I tend to stick like glue to the 70mph maximum speed limit whenever conditions allow.

According to this new survey one in nine drivers who avoids the inside lane does so because they are happy to drive along at the maximum speed.

After all, anyone who wants to go a bit faster than the law permits still has the heady release of the outside lane on which to practise their Formula One skills.