why is undertaking illegal?

joko | 15:42 Thu 26th Apr 2012 | Motoring

114 Answers

genuine question and just curious... it seems it is really just the manouvre of an overtake, but on the other side... so why is it so bad?

i know it is illegal so i dont need the legalities, just the actual reason why it was made illegal - why is it dangerous or bad etc?

been on the motorway a lot last few days and witnessed a few people do them, and couldnt really see a problem... they got round the person they wanted to easily enough, and perhaps its better than a bit of intimidating road rage tailgating?

or am i missing something?

thanks

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murraymints

Mike..want to come out and play ???

pdq1

There are so many foreign trucks on our roads it may make driving safer. Foreign trucks are left hand drive.

Mick-Talbot

lol lol

bednobs

my sister lives in florida where they over and undertake at will. people simply look at the lane they are moving into before they move into it, and they seem to rub along ok. Mind you she also texts and smokes at the same time as driving!

joko

Question Author

interesting pdq1 - hadnt thought of that aspect

bednobs... yes i am sure its the same for many countries

Mick-Talbot

not in Europe it isn.t

New Judge

It is more than discouraged. With the exception of congested conditions, the HC says “Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake”.

It is not a specific illegal action (i.e. you cannot be charged with “undertaking”), but then neither is overtaking on the brow of a hill (unless double white lines are present). But actions such as these can by themselves, constitute careless or even dangerous driving.

I believe the main reason it is bad practice is that drivers, having completed an overtaking manoeuvre in lanes two or three should not expect faster moving traffic to be steaming up on their nearside as they move back in. It simply cuts down, by 50%, the area of which a driver has to have cognisance when overtaking. I’ve driven on highways where undertaking is permitted and it is an absolute nightmare. Changing lanes is one of the most hazardous manoeuvres a driver makes on a motorway and it must be more sensible to restrict the faster flowing traffic to one side only.

Lane discipline on UK motorways is appalling. Jack, I’m afraid you are incorrect when you say “...motorway lanes, historically, have always been; Slow-lane, Fast-lane and Overtaking Lane.” The HC says that drivers should drive in the nearside lane. Lanes two and three are for overtaking only. And the safest way, Catch The Wind, to deal with the middle lane buffer, is to wait for a gap in the outside lane before overtaking. If no such gap materialises, wait behind the duffer (at a suitable distance without flashing your headlights). Driving on congested motorways needs tolerance and patience and if you don't posess both of those qualities in abundance you should steer clear.

joko

Question Author

thanks NJ...i undertsand the point that people 'expect' traffic to be faster on the right and slower on the left - hence the widely held - but false - belief that they are called the fast and slow lane.
i totally accept that most people believe that that is the reason its not an acceptable manouvre

but that is not a realistic assumption to make... as it simply isnt always the case...

what if the traffic on the left is in fact moving faster than the centre lane?...
traffic in all 3 lanes can, and does, travel at all sorts of speeds, and can speed up and slow down at any moment.
if i understand you correctly you're suggesting that most drivers will just move across without properly looking - because they dont 'expect' it?

surely motorway drivers should always be aware that other drivers could be travelling at a similar or faster speed to them, regardless of the lane theyre in - and so should always be 100% cogniscient all around them, at all times...?

i assume most people when they move back to the left lane just find a gap and move into it... keeping up with the flow of traffic...

i am very surprised you say its ok to be 50% percent less cogniscient of whats around you on the left... just because undertaking is frowned up...quite simply because people still do it...so you should be aware that it happens...

its no use ramming into another car, then saying well he shouldnt have been there because i didnt expect him to be...

i was taught very early on in my driving lessons, to NEVER assume drivers will do what you to expect them to do and to wait until you are sure before you act ... even down to ignoring their inidicators until you see the wheels begin to turn etc, as they may have forgotten the iindicators are on...

joko

Question Author

also when you say it was a nightmare when you did it, do you mean because you simply werent used to it and werent expecting it?
was it a nightmare for everyone else doing it too, do you think?

do you think if it was more common place and everyone did it, and people expected it, that it would still have been a nightmare?

Answerprancer

Is it illegal ? I thought it was just bad driving. Mind you it is tempting when you're suck behind the 'centre lane owners club' and the 'fast' lane is clogged.

joko

Question Author

No AP it isnt - i had thought it was - i think many other people think it is too... but actually it is just frowned upon and i wondered why - other than people dont expect it.

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