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[Lizzie_Zoom]

If I've got a clear run ahead of me on motorways I tend to use cruise control, more so to maintain a sensible speed. On a long motorway journey yesterday, I'd set the cruise control to 70mph and, as the road ahead was clear, I sat in lane one. Some of the cars that were overtaking me, at a few mph more than me, eased off through lack of concentration, which meant they slowly drifted back so that I glided up the inside of them.
Mrs YZ had a right pop at me, saying that I had undertaken them, which strictly speaking I had.  I told her that I had done nothing but maintain the same speed.

My questions are, assuming road ahead is clear:
1. Am I expected to switch cruise off every time some arse in lane two doesn't concentrate and drifts to a slower speed than I'm travelling at?
2. Why do they even bother going past me when they are going to do this?

In my younger days I would have just hoofed it so that I put about ten miles between me and them, but you can't do that these days can you.   

Anybody else suffer this?

Apart from the fact its the law they should pull over into lane 1, when they have overtaken you, so when they slow down, you can move over to lane 2 and overtake them.
Maintaining a constant speed in lane 1 and 'undertaking' them isnt considered as undertaking, as long as you stay in lane 1.

An example of undertaking would be ...

lane 3 to lane 2 to get past car in lane 3 then back to lane 3

So in the eyes of law as i see it, you were correct and your other half wrong, technically...i think....and in my example.....if the car in lane 3 wasnt actually overtaking anything....then they could considered as breaking the law....as they should have moved over to lane 2 or 1 as appropriate....

But im sure the law (ex or not) will be along to say im talking 'dangle berries' or not 

That was my take on it as well. 

And mine. 

You can have an empty motorway & members of the Middle Lane Owners Club will still be in the middle lane ....... no way will I move to lane 3 to overtake them. At best I'll flash them while I'm still in lane 1 to give them the oportunity to move over, other than that I'll stay in lane 1 - assuming of course I'm doing a legalish speed 

If you are on a highly congested motorway, such as the M25, M6, etc, where you are in lines of traffic that is also occupying all the lanes then as long as you move ahead at the same speed as the traffic in front of you, you can pass the other vehicles in the lanes to your right that may be stationery, or just moving at a slower speed than the traffic in your lane.  That is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the law.

However, if you are on a freely moving motorway where there are no queues in each lane and there is space to overtake slower moving vehicles in the lanes to the left, or in front of you (i.e. in lane 2, with lane 3 free), then you must overtake in the normal manner, NOT undertake which is illegal.



Not quite sure I agree Lizzie.
I have no hesitation in staying in lane 1 or 2 and proceeding at my current speed passing vehicles on my right hand side.
I would not However move lanes to pass someone on their inside  to "gain benefit" as per below.

United Kingdom - The Highway Code discourages undertaking on motorways with some exceptions (rule 268): "Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake". Undertaking is permitted in congested conditions when frequent lane changing is not recommended.[4] On other roads, the Code advises drivers "should only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right" (rule 163).[5] Rule 163 uses advisory wording and "will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted", but may be used in evidence to establishing liability in any court proceedings.[6] On all roads, undertaking is permitted if the vehicles in the lane to the right are queueing and slow moving.[citation needed] Undertaking in an aggressive or reckless manner could be considered Careless Driving or more seriously Dangerous Driving, both of which are legally enforceable offences.[dubious – discuss][citation needed]

It is illegal to undertake with the exception of the situation I previously described.  No one turns right off a motorway, so that exception does not apply. In all normal circumstances if you are feely able to move out to overtake and then move back in you must do so. You will be prosecuted if you are travelling along undertaking when you could easily have overtaken as the law prescribed.   

This is what the Highway Code actually states:

"268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake."

[Jusme]

Except of course when instructed to 'stay in lane'....

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Except of course when instructed to 'stay in lane'....

Indeed, which in particular often applies to road work sections on motorways.

[Andy B]

....

If you are on a highly congested motorway, such as the M25, M6, etc, where you are in lines of traffic that is also occupying all the lanes then as long as you move ahead at the same speed as the traffic in front of you, you can pass the other vehicles in the lanes to your right that may be stationery, or just moving at a slower speed than the traffic in your lane.  That is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the law.

However, if you are on a freely moving motorway where there are no queues in each lane and there is space to overtake slower moving vehicles in the lanes to the left, or in front of you (i.e. in lane 2, with lane 3 free), then you must overtake in the normal manner, NOT undertake which is illegal.

Similar to FranksDad

but in a freely moving motorway where Middle Lane Hogger is sat there for mile after mile after mile ....... and makes no effort to move back to lane 1 when it's been empty for mile after mile after mile ...... if I have room/time to pass by on the inside, then Middle Lane Hogger is also wrong (and now supposedly illegal) for not moving over. 
 And as Dave says, undertaking in my view is eg moving from lane 2 to lane 1 & then back to lane 2 ....... staying in lane 1 the whole time to 'undertake' is OK to me

[TheBoy]

Trouble is, Andy B, whilst I have the same frustrations as you with middle lane hoggers, you can still get pulled 

Suffering the same frustrations, I refuse to answer if on an otherwise empty motorway, if I've actively moved to inside lane and undertake (a proper undertake, defo naughty) in order to embarrass the retard...   ...and thus could not say if they then subsequently still carry on blindly in the middle lane       

[Lizzie_Zoom]

....

If you are on a highly congested motorway, such as the M25, M6, etc, where you are in lines of traffic that is also occupying all the lanes then as long as you move ahead at the same speed as the traffic in front of you, you can pass the other vehicles in the lanes to your right that may be stationery, or just moving at a slower speed than the traffic in your lane.  That is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the law.

However, if you are on a freely moving motorway where there are no queues in each lane and there is space to overtake slower moving vehicles in the lanes to the left, or in front of you (i.e. in lane 2, with lane 3 free), then you must overtake in the normal manner, NOT undertake which is illegal.

Similar to FranksDad

but in a freely moving motorway where Middle Lane Hogger is sat there for mile after mile after mile ....... and makes no effort to move back to lane 1 when it's been empty for mile after mile after mile ...... if I have room/time to pass by on the inside, then Middle Lane Hogger is also wrong (and now supposedly illegal) for not moving over. 
 And as Dave says, undertaking in my view is eg moving from lane 2 to lane 1 & then back to lane 2 ....... staying in lane 1 the whole time to 'undertake' is OK to me

The middle lane hogged is now committing an offence, but so are you if you undertake him. This situation has been tested in a High Court case some years ago when it was ruled that even if a driver stays out in lane 2or3 under no circumstances can you undertake no matter how frustrating it is. You can only undertake in those circumstances if directed by a police officer. That was the ruling and you will be prosecuted if you undertake in those situations.

[Andy B]

When I used to work night shift in Halifax I travelled along the M62 to Windy Top where it's 4 lanes (I suspect Jason M knows the stretch well) I used to select cruise at around 70 mph  in lane 1, I could almost guarantee that there'd be someone near the top of the hill out in lane 3 (because they'd been in the middle lane at the bottom). There's only be two of us on the motorway  - no way was I going out to lane 4 & back to overtake some knob that couldn't use a motorway.

Anyway, I see it as my lane is moving faster than his/her lane ..... and that covers me 

[05omegav6]

Technically you may pass, from within lane 1 (ie NOT moving into lane 1 with the specific intention of undertaking), any vehicles which are either queueing or you have been instructed to stay in lane by either a written sign or due to traffic management systems such as the variable limits on the M25.

With regard to queueing traffic, I suspect that this would require more than one vehicle in lane 2 (or 3) to be travelling at significantly less than the posted limit.

Incidentally why is it that a car driver might get pulled up for passing on the left, yet motorbicyclists seem to be immune from threading through traffic, which is technically the same thing and they wonder why they keep getting squished...

[YZ250]

Just to put this in to perspective, what some of you are saying is...

One of you guys are travelling down the motorway at 70mph in lane one, I can crawl up the side of you in lane two so that I have my back wheels level with your bonnet, I then slow down, which in turn means that you have to slow down otherwise you have undertaken me. 

If that's the case, I'm going to have immense fun on my way back down the M6. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

In TB's retard example ie empty motorway, maybe late at night and you come up behind the retard doing 65 in the middle lane.    It's tempting to zip by in the inside lane, but I always pull out to the outside lane and then back to the inside lane, just in case the retard decides to move over without looking while I'm undertaking. 

I always give the retards plenty of abuse whilst carrying out my exaggerated maneuver! 

[YZ250]

EDIT: Just to put this in to perspective, I know that most are seeing where I'm coming from, but what some of you are saying is...

One of you guys are travelling down the motorway at 70mph in lane one, I can crawl up the side of you in lane two so that I have my back wheels level with your bonnet, I then slow down, which in turn means that you have to slow down otherwise you have undertaken me. 

If that's the case, I'm going to have immense fun on my way back down the M6. 

And to add to that, nobody has changed lanes to undertake, which is naughty, I just stayed where I was, in lane one. To exaggerate my example, hypothetically, a car in lane one is travelling at 60mph, the car in lane two overtakes him at 62mph, so is crawling past. A car in lane three overtakes at 65mph but just as he is drawing past the vehicle in lane two the lane three driver slows down.
Would you automatically expect the vehicles in lane one and two to ease off, so that they couldn't be accused of undertaking.........no, thought not. 

That's what kept happening to me. No lane changes, just people slowing down for no reason. 

[05omegav6]

I have driven all the way from Guildford to Norwich using only Lane 1. I wasn't in any hurry so wasn't speeding, and unusually encountered no lorries as I recall. I did however have to use the hard shoulder for about 100 yards on the M25 when some gimp doing 55 in lane 2 took exception to being passed by me. His deliberate action was to swerve into Lane 1 about 20feet in front of me, and I know this was deliberate as once I had avoided him by moving onto the hard shoulder, he indicated back into Lane 2... breakless arsewit

[YZ250]

I think this is based on a misenterpritation of undertaking.

It would be rediculous for you to stop in an empty lane if, for example, the person in the lane to your right stops. By that measure. If lane 3 becomes congested, and slows to 30mph say, then everyone in lanes 1 and 2 should slow and go no faster than 30 even though the road in front is empty.
 
This is rediculous.
.............

Apologies for my example, as Chris had already posted a sensible example above. 
As said though, none of these cars had actually cleared the front of my car, otherwise I'd have been far more cautious. 

[cem_devecioglu]

Trouble is, Andy B, whilst I have the same frustrations as you with middle lane hoggers, you can still get pulled 

Suffering the same frustrations, I refuse to answer if on an otherwise empty motorway, if I've actively moved to inside lane and undertake (a proper undertake, defo naughty) in order to embarrass the retard...   ...and thus could not say if they then subsequently still carry on blindly in the middle lane 

my general behaviour is I over take them , come to the front , leave some space first then slam the brakes

[X30XE]

1.  Undertaking is not specifically Illegal.

2. The Highway code is not Statutory legislation so stick it up your chuffer.

3.  Undertaking at speed could / would amount to DWDC...

4.  ... but as said previously, so is chumping down lane 2 for no reason whatsoever.