This new law that came into force today in regards to middle lane hogers, and mobile phone users ( Not new just a bigger fine). Has anyone noticed how many officers are sitting on the side of the roads now. I had seen 4 from the M42 jct heading to the A14 on the M6 all sitting there with lights on and caming past me at speed to pull a vehicle over.
I hate people just sitting there in lane 3 (Overtaking lane) doing 50mph making a 4 lane road down to one lane road. About time they did something about it but I do feel it is a quick earner
Went Oxford from Oldbury + Back
Counted 11 police units on way down + 7 on way back
Safety… or money is the priority ?
Like anything new its a novelty for them, it’ll wear off in a few months. They have to be seen enforcing the new law although I do think they will target anyone and everyone. For now, motorist be vigilant.
voodoo1:
Went Oxford from Oldbury + Back
Counted 11 police units on way down + 7 on way back
Safety… or money is the priority ?
Safety I would say.
There is no other way to teach morons other than penalize them.
IMHO around 70% of accidents on motorways in The UK happens because of tailgating and lane hogging.
Lane hoggers annoy me, but when I’ve thought about it I’ve come to the conclusion that its better for them to stay in one lane, the thought of these dozy muppets trying to move from lane to lane is pretty scary 
but to counteract that the police should turn a blind eye to those of us who go past them on the left if its done with caution and in a sensible manner.
Tailgating well that’s wrong, and I have been guilty of it and I’m sure I still am guilty of driving a bit close to the vehicle in front from time to time.
Lane hogging’s ■■■■ annoying no doubt, as for tailgating I was left shaking my head this morning at just how close some truck driver’s are happy to drive to the vehicle in front. This is lifted off my phone using dailyroads app. The UPS wagon had just finished an overtaking manoeuvre so presumably must have been flashed in by Johnny Suicide. Will the prospect of a £100 fine stop this if the prospect of being smeared all over the back of a trailer is no deterrent? Unlikely. If anything had gone wrong I reckon it’d be instinct in right hand drive to swerve right i.e. straight into lil 'ol me.
Yes he flashed him in and UPS drivers pulls in, but it’s then down to the other driver behind to back off a little bit.
£100 and 3 points for tailgating. I do wonder how they would judge that in the picture. I think they would give him a fine if they stayed as there were. If the driver behind backed off I don’t think anything would have happened to that driver. But again it’s down to the overtaken vehicle to back off slightly and then put the throttle back down. There not going to lose anytime sleep or time over it. I think this new LAW will help with making drivers drive better.
I hate having to come from Lane 1 and move over 1-2 lanes to get by the vehicle sitting in lane 2 (That’s when I am in a works van)
interesting situation.
the overtaking driver may have been flashed in but if the overtaken driver then has to slow down to avoid being too close, surely the overtaking driver has come in too early and is guilty of some offence or other.
If you cause a vehicle to alter speed or direction then you must be in the wrong some way or other.
at least 40% of the cars i saw on the M74 were in the wrong lane last night. surely they would know about these new penalties coming into force and therefore every traffic car both marked and unmarked would be out on the motorways. apparently not as a BMW shot past me at approx 100MPH which i thought was an unmarked car until i saw it again about 3 miles on with a marked traffic car sitting behind it on the hard shoulder with the blues going 
First of all…the ‘law’ is not new…it’s just the way in which it is dealt with that has changed.
It’s all about revenue generation, disguised as road safety.
It’s always been an offence to ‘tailgate’ or ‘lane hog’…but until now it has required the courts to determine guilt meaning that the evidence had to be 100% correct etc etc…
If, as some would have you believe, it is all about safety, why weren’t there the same police cars out on the roads previously?
Why have they only appeared now it is down to the subjective opinion of an officer whether you are guilty of an offence or not?
Of course it far easier to write a fixed penalty notice than it is to prepare a case file for submission to the CPS and then have to be prepared to attend court and have your evidence subject to examination…
There will be literally thousands of motorists who are wrongly convicted under this new policy…many of them will be HGV drivers…
Not wearing a seatbelt was once acceptable. It is now one of the deadly sins of the road and you will be fined for not wearing it. The truth is it does nothing for road safety.
I wonder if farmers are worried about this tightening of the law? More tractor drivers seem to be pulling over than before…
The copper still has to be prepared to attend court and have his evidence challenged - the Fixed Penalty Notice is only an offer and it remains up to the alleged offender to decide whether to pay it or opt for a court hearing (he has 28 days to decide).
From the PC’s point of view, there is little difference (as far as amount of paperwork is concerned) between issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice and submitting an offence report for process by summons. The same evidence and information has to be recorded in both cases (so that a File Preparation clerk can put together a prosecution file).
muckles:
but to counteract that the police should turn a blind eye to those of us who go past them on the left if its done with caution and in a sensible manner.
There’s nothing wrong with overtaking on the left. If you’re in lane one and your lane is clear then fine, just don’t do it to get any kind of gain (ie pull over to the left, undertake then move back out to the right).
One major problem with fixed penalties issued to HGV drivers.
We travel over very large distances, We may get a ticket in Cornwall, We may be based in Scotland, We are expected to take time off work and travel hundreds of miles to challenge a £100 ticket issued by an over zealous police officer.
They know we will probably cough up.
This is where the justice system falls apart. They should let us challenge a ticket in a court of our choice.
And what about undertaking?
Regarding the picture the 2 trucks are far too close to each other and that is down to the drivers.Nobody else.
It is no wonder there are bad accidents when clowns like these have not got a clue how to drive!
limeyphil:
One major problem with fixed penalties issued to HGV drivers.
We travel over very large distances, We may get a ticket in Cornwall, We may be based in Scotland, We are expected to take time off work and travel hundreds of miles to challenge a £100 ticket issued by an over zealous police officer.
They know we will probably cough up.
This is where the justice system falls apart. They should let us challenge a ticket in a court of our choice.
So no change there then? It has always been the case that Not Guilty pleas are heard in the court local to the place of the alleged offence. Pleading Guilty by post has been an option for several decades now (and still remains as an option later on, even if you choose not to accept the fixed penalty).
Saw a silver BMW in my os mirror with the antenna on its ns, and watched it go by, an unmarked police car.Ok no problems with that, but it then creeps up behind a lorry within the 2 second rules for ten minutes, and they are ment to lead by example 
DearBoy:
Lane hogging’s ■■■■ annoying no doubt, as for tailgating I was left shaking my head this morning at just how close some truck driver’s are happy to drive to the vehicle in front. This is lifted off my phone using dailyroads app. The UPS wagon had just finished an overtaking manoeuvre so presumably must have been flashed in by Johnny Suicide. Will the prospect of a £100 fine stop this if the prospect of being smeared all over the back of a trailer is no deterrent? Unlikely. If anything had gone wrong I reckon it’d be instinct in right hand drive to swerve right i.e. straight into lil 'ol me.
Please do not assume that the lorry had been flashed in by Johnny Suicide as you put it. My experience these days is the overtaking lorry 80% of the time does not wait to be flashed in but trys to take your mirrors with them as they pull in before you have a chance to flash and then guess who is guilty of tailgating? Me, the overtaken lorry.
