June 29: Motorists may have no choice but to ‘hog’ lanes

From: Charles Taylor, Hemingfield Road, Hemingfield, Barnsley.

RECENT letters and your own editorial (The Yorkshire Post, June 23) on the subject of so-called ‘lane hogging’ seem to me to be missing some very obvious factors in their glee at the prospect of a crackdown on ‘offenders’.

In general, the subject has to be viewed in the light of how motorway traffic has evolved up to the present, and calls into question the validity of some of the Highway Code strictures, not brought up to date to cater for these present circumstances.

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To state that the middle and outside lanes are for overtaking only ignores the actuality of the fact that the inside lane is now an unbroken stream of HGVs mainly just about nose-to-tail, travelling at or about their maximum allowable speed.

In turn, the middle lane is composed of an equal (or even greater) number of cars, again in an unbroken stream, all travelling for the most part at 70mph. This stream therefore is effectively engaged in a permanent overtaking manoeuvre of the endless HGV stream in the inside lane. To suggest that these cars should properly be dodging in and out of the inside lane between the lorries is therefore ridiculous.

I’m only glad I don’t have to leave the sty to go on the motorway that often these days.

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