Motorways part 2 - Lane disciple and the golden rule

What is the golden rule of the motorway then? How annoying is it by the way when writers answer a question you didn't even ask by first posing the question? Very. Good job there is none of that poor writing style going on here. The golden rule is simply this: keep left unless overtaking. The current speed limit for cars on UK motorways is 70mph and the speed limit for HGV’s & cars towing caravans is 60mph, and unless you aim to be an ultra cautious driver this means you will be overtaking frequently. The golden rule also extends to moving out to lane two where a slip road joins the motorway and there is a vehicle on the approach. Incidentally, if you’re wondering how you will remember all these different speed limits then GREAT NEWS there is a really effective and simple little rhyme in ‘The (yep it’s another plug) Demon Road: A Theory Test Novel’ it gives you the speed limit for every type of vehicle on every type of road. Did I mention that before already? If so well all I can say is, the rhyme is so good it’s worth repeating.                                                                            

It is often a complaint of car drivers that one HGV using lane two to overtake another HGV in lane one can cause a bottleneck and arrest the free flowing movement of motorway traffic, but, at least in this scenario lane three is still available because HGV’s (and towed caravans) are forbidden from using lane three (Remember this) so other (non restricted) motorway traffic can use this lane to get past. While the right hand lane is NOT for HGV’s and (towed caravans) the left hand lane is for ALL vehicles.

In previous posts I have mentioned two scenarios where it is permissible to overtake on the inside (undertaking) there is one more scenario where this is also allowed (but this isn’t it). It is unprofessional and poor lane discipline to use lane one to undertake somebody else hogging lane two (two wrongs don’t make a right. Right?) However, I didn’t bring this point up without reason, if we end up in slow moving traffic on a motorway then passing on the left becomes allowable (and actually, in such scenarios where all three lanes are crawling lane one often becomes the fastest moving lane). I will be recapping the three scenarios where passing on the left is allowable in an upcoming post (that’ll be something to look forward to then)... www.facebook.com/TheoryTestNovel   http://twitter.com/theorytestnovel