England: Faster traffic on right or left?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 972
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
England: Faster traffic on right or left?
I would assume that, driving on the left, faster traffic would be on the right on highways (which would correspond to how things work in the U.S. where faster traffic is on the left). Is this correct? Can't find the answer online. Thanks in advance.
#2
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Right hand lanes are for overtaking only. And overtaking is permitted ONLY on the right. There's a reason we call overtaking on the inside 'undertaking'
You should always return to the lefthand lane after overtaking.
You should always return to the lefthand lane after overtaking.
#3
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 250
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bearing in mind that many of the major roads are in fact three lanes either way - same principle applies but if there are 3 lanes and you are driving at the speed limit don't be in too much of a hurry to get back into the leftmost lane as you will undoubtedly get stuck behind a truck or similar. Also be aware that speed signs are a bit of a rarity on many roads.
#4
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I disagree with eliza3. Obviously, don't go right back in to the far left lane if there's a large truck right there, and you'll only have to come right back out again. But the middle lane, if there are three is not for coasting along. It is for passing. And the far right lane is for the Royal Family and Porches. (Just kidding, but it is for the serious, serious driver.)
I had a British friend tell me once that the thing they most despised about North American tourists was their bad habit of using the middle lane as their personal driving lane. It isn't.
If you notice there are people flashing their lights at you and coming up fast behind you, it's because you are in the wrong lane.
I had a British friend tell me once that the thing they most despised about North American tourists was their bad habit of using the middle lane as their personal driving lane. It isn't.
If you notice there are people flashing their lights at you and coming up fast behind you, it's because you are in the wrong lane.
#5
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,000
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah - those guys flashing their lights behind you are <u>much</u> more important than you are, and <u>their</u> need to break the law <u>always</u> takes precedence over <u>your</u> right to pass slower traffic.
So if you don't want to exceed the posted speed limit by 10 or 20 mph, get back in the slow lane and shut up.
So if you don't want to exceed the posted speed limit by 10 or 20 mph, get back in the slow lane and shut up.
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 972
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the replies. As a first-timer in England, I will pretty much just stay to the far left lane.
I'm having trouble finding info. about speed limits, particularly for the M6. Can anyone help with that?
I'm having trouble finding info. about speed limits, particularly for the M6. Can anyone help with that?
#9
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's all in the Highway Code, which we referred you to some weeks ago.
The national speed limit is 60, unless there's a specific lower limit indicated or you're on a dual carriageway ('divided highway') where it's 70.
In practice, speeds up to about 90 on motorways (when possible, and when there isn't a lower limit shown) are tolerated. Apart from a stretch of the M4 that won't concern you, motorways aren't camera-controlled, unless there's a specific 50 or lower limit. And most of the time, the police have better things to do. But speeding over 100 can attract rapid police response, and it's best keeping your speed around 90.
On rural roads away from motorways, limits of 50 are common, reasonably well marked and viciously controlled by omnipresent, pestiferous, cameras.
The national speed limit is 60, unless there's a specific lower limit indicated or you're on a dual carriageway ('divided highway') where it's 70.
In practice, speeds up to about 90 on motorways (when possible, and when there isn't a lower limit shown) are tolerated. Apart from a stretch of the M4 that won't concern you, motorways aren't camera-controlled, unless there's a specific 50 or lower limit. And most of the time, the police have better things to do. But speeding over 100 can attract rapid police response, and it's best keeping your speed around 90.
On rural roads away from motorways, limits of 50 are common, reasonably well marked and viciously controlled by omnipresent, pestiferous, cameras.
#11
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,260
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This "driving saga" of yours is truly wonderful (I mean it!) since as you may recall i can kinda relate to it having driven in the Uk for the first time last month, and now planning to do so for an even longer period this coming September.
Just wanted to say that I think you will find drivers over there are much more reluctant to sit on their horns which is a welcome change.
Just wanted to say that I think you will find drivers over there are much more reluctant to sit on their horns which is a welcome change.
#12
Drivers here in California don't "sit on their horns" either, but I noticed when in Philadelphia recently that drivers there use their horns A LOT!
In the UK, drivers have to actually drive, not just plant themselves in a lane, any lane, and stay in it until their exit comes up, no matter how far that may be. How I wish drivers here would move over when a faster car comes up behind them. I know they're supposed to, but very few ever do. A lot of the congestion on freeways would be relieved if drivers just did what they're supposed to do. My pet peeve is to find four drivers, one in each lane, all going the same speed with a mass of traffic building up behind them. You would not see that in the UK.
In the UK, drivers have to actually drive, not just plant themselves in a lane, any lane, and stay in it until their exit comes up, no matter how far that may be. How I wish drivers here would move over when a faster car comes up behind them. I know they're supposed to, but very few ever do. A lot of the congestion on freeways would be relieved if drivers just did what they're supposed to do. My pet peeve is to find four drivers, one in each lane, all going the same speed with a mass of traffic building up behind them. You would not see that in the UK.