A photo of a car 'hogging' an empty motorway middle lane in the early hours of the morning has sparked a Twitter row. Road ragers, you might want to look away now.
On 1 June, traffic officer Dave Harford shared a photo of a car cruising down the M5 at 5.00am. The car was in the middle lane, and the roads were empty, but in his tweet, Dave pointed out that cars should stick to the left.
Dave’s snap kicked up quite the kerfuffle, with some social media users calling the driver’s choice ‘infuriating’, while others struggled to see what the problem was, considering the motorway was empty.
Dave also said that the car was doing around 50mph and had been in the middle lane for more than a mile.
His initial tweet read: “5am on a Wednesday morning. The M5. Not much traffic. And this happens. Oh my god – why why why?”
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One person replied to Dave’s tweet saying: “It drives me mad!” while another simply said: “Infuriating.”
“So irritating! And THEY get annoyed when you flash. Or worse, pull over to the left then back into the middle after you have passed! I think they are the main reason I’m on blood pressure meds,” a third person tweeted.
Others were baffled by Dave’s tweet, pointing out that the road was totally empty. “Why not? Empty road, so not causing a problem and if they were to get a puncture allows more space to control the car,” replied one social media user.
Another wrote: “Dave, I presume you are an advanced driver. On an empty motorway you should be positioning for safety and the middle lane will give you options either side. Obviously not the way to drive when other traffic present but you described it as empty.”
Not mincing their words, someone else replied: “Empty road. Who is this upsetting, other than you, clearly?”
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In a series of follow up tweets, Dave added: "Traffic was behind this vehicle and said traffic had to move to lane 3 to go past him – causing more risk.
"People need to take responsibility for their actions and stop blaming others and finding excuses. It’s lane hogging. It’s illegal & causes congestion when lots of traffic is around."
In a thorough examination of middle lane hogging on their website, the RAC explains it is an example of 'careless driving' that could see you fined up to £100.
The website notes: "Yes, it is an offence, although it comes under ‘careless driving’, along with tailgating, accidentally running a red light and even being distracted by eating or drinking.
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"New laws introduced in 2013 give police officers the power to hand out on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points, meaning failing to keep left on the motorway could hit you in the pocket."
Aisha Nozari