Middle-lane hogging rife despite the threat of a fine

A year on from the first driver being prosecuted for middle-lane hogging, almost a third of motorists still admit to hogging the middle lane of a motorway, according to new research by motoring website Confused.com. Meanwhile, new freedom of information police data requested by Confused.com reveals just 135 cases of middle-lane hogging have been recorded since spot fines were introduced by the government in 2013 to tackle careless driving.
September 16, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

A year on from the first driver being prosecuted for middle-lane hogging, almost a third of motorists still admit to hogging the middle lane of a motorway, according to new research by motoring website Confused.com. Meanwhile, new freedom of information police data requested by Confused.com reveals just 135 cases of middle-lane hogging have been recorded since spot fines were introduced by the government in 2013 to tackle careless driving.

A further look at the FOI data reveals the actual number of drivers caught middle-lane hogging could be much higher. Careless driving also includes tailgating, undertaking and driving too slowly - offences which are often a direct result of middle-lane hogging, even if they’re not recorded as such. In total, 1,158 drivers have fallen foul of careless driving spot fines.

Despite the fact that many drivers admit to hogging the middle lane, the practice is deemed selfish by over half (51%) of other road users. An additional 48% believe it is a leading cause of increased traffic congestion. Meanwhile, over one in 10 drivers have experienced a vehicle collision or near miss on account of another road user hogging the middle lane.

Many drivers believe more needs to be done to make motorists aware of the rules of middle-lane hogging, with half of them saying motorway signs should be used to raise awareness of the dangers.

The research also shows that almost one in five drivers say they have never been taught about middle-lane hogging, while almost two-fifths of UK drivers are unaware that the practice is an offence punishable by at least three penalty points and a £100 fine.

Related Content

  • Automated traffic enforcement – speed or greed?
    December 9, 2015
    US research and education charity Frontier Centre for Public Policy has released Speed or Greed: Does Automated Traffic Enforcement Improve Safety or Generate Revenue?, a study on the effects of automated traffic enforcement (ATE). Report authors Hiroko Shimizu and Pierre Desrochers state that the decline of road fatalities by 58 per cent is largely due to better engineered vehicles, seat belts and other safety measures. Although there is little credible evidence, the report says some ATE supporters a
    Read More
  • Agencies in pursuit of high-speed WIM accuracy
    April 20, 2017
    Alan Dron looks at where WIM is heading in the near future. As Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) systems grow in sophistication and accuracy, they are increasingly being used in more active roles to help ensure road safety through enforcement action against overweight vehicles.
    Read More
  • In-vehicle warning systems ‘reduce risk of run-off-the-road crashes’
    August 27, 2015
    In-vehicle lane-departure warning systems can help reduce the risk of dangerous run-off-the-road crashes, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Minnesota’s HumanFIRST Laboratory. “Run-off-the-road crashes are a huge concern, especially in rural areas,” says project co-investigator Jennifer Cooper, a HumanFIRST Lab assistant scientist. “Crash statistics tell us they contribute to more than half of all vehicle fatalities nationwide and that these crashes occur most often on two-la
    Read More
  • Putting a stop to intersection indecision
    March 9, 2015
    David Crawford takes a look at innovations to reduce crashes at rural intersections. Intersection crashes continue to represent a worryingly large share of deaths and serious injuries across US highway networks. Statistics from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration show that an average of 21% of road traffic accident deaths occur at crossings. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calculates that intersection crashes account for 48% of all injury-related i
    Read More

Highlighted Content