this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2024
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Speed limit is the speed limit. End of.
If someone wants to go above the speed limit in the fast lane, then they're contravening road rules.
No matter what social norm people believe there to be, it doesn't have precedence over the speed limits.
In a case where the the car in front is going slower than the speed limit, it would be good etiquette though to move over.
In the UK it goes lanes 1, 2, 3. You stay in lane 1. Lane 2 and 3 are for passing only.
You will often see members of the lane 2 owners club just cruising along in lane 2 but this effectively closes lane 1 (undertaking is illegal and very unsafe).
Sitting in lane 3 closes the entire motorway.
I agree there is a speed limit. But the law says you cannot just sit in lane 2 or 3 if you are not overtaking someone. They even updated the law recently. If you hog lane 2 or 3 the police can report you and the penalty is 3 points and ยฃ100 fine
People who sit in lane 3 at 69mph are breaking the law and likely to cause an accident by forcing people to pass on the wrong side out of frustration (yes illegal but they will do it) and this is why they are over taking lanes, not just cruising lanes.
Never be the reason someone else does something stupid on the road. Always do the safest thing.
Interesting to see how different that is from Australia. In your example only lane 3 is a passing lane, and "undertaking" isn't a thing, it's completely legal to overtake in any lane.
Often people use those lanes to speed. If a car ahead is overtaking at or within a reasonable range of the speed limit, but not at the speed the speeder wants to travel. The speeder must be patient, they don't get to dictate what manoeuvres are happening ahead.
The argument you present at the end isn't logical,
I can largely agree with this sentiment, but you say before,
If undercutting is the most unsafe thing for the person behind to do in the situation, then as your sentiment captures, the frustrated party undercutting are still in the wrong.
They are in the wrong because, they have failed to 'always do the safest thing' in the given situation.
Nice sentiment again, but it implicitly assigns a rigid cause and effect regime to a situation where the 'frustrated party' behind has their own agency and likely as much training. There is no necessity that they undercut, it is a choice the party behind makes. The cause does not necessitate that effect, at best it could contribute.
In essence the sentiment shifts the blame from the person causing a potential accident (the undercutter), to the person ahead who, at worst, is causing poor traffic conditions.
Like I said undertaking is bad. No excuse for doing it, except where it is legal. If someone goes under speed limit in lane 3 you can undertake I believe, though I would still be super cautious.
Obviously speeding is illegal, and I'm not suggesting anyone should support do so. But we should let the police deal with it.
Just to clarify, you don't think it is ok to sit in lane 2 or 3 at the speed limit if there is room to move over ? Not doing so is also illegal in the UK.
While the majority of people stay within the law (+/- 10%) there are enough people behaving badly on the roads that you should always take that into consideration.
This is a great example of the is/ought problem. You can try your best to make the "ought" true, but don't neglect what reality "is". On the road that means; assume there is an idiot nearby, and drive in a way that keeps you safe from their shit.
You are correct. If the flow of traffic in lane 1 or 2 is faster than the flow of traffic in lane 2 or 3 then it is okay to pass. Intentionally changing lane temporarily to pass a car on the inside is illegal.
The other poster confused your point.
If someone in lane 3 is going 69 and overtaking someone then there's no reason to pass them, and probably isn't safe or legal given there is, by definition, a car on the inside lane already.
Not in America.
They tried that.
Worked about well as you'd think
A roadway allowed multiple speeds across the lanes could be how to get around this.
If the citizens of a transport zone don't like the rules as they stand, ie, one single speed for all lanes, they should lobby to vary them.
Apart from cases where multiple speeds happen, the speed limit is the speed limit, the person behind contravenes rules if they speed, use the shoulder, etc. They're in the wrong, they have agency, and decide to cause the unsafe situation.
The person ahead, as that video showed to the tune of straight funktown, may cause worsened traffic conditions, but they're not the people being dangerous on the road. (Assuming they are going within the range of the expected limit)