For example. You are at the southern tip of the M6 where the left lane becomes M1 north and the middle and outside lanes becomes M1 south. You’ve moved in to the middle lane to head south and there is a slower vehicle in front of you.
At what point do you consider the motorway to be a two laner so you can overtake in the outside lane?
1 . As soon as you see the 1 mile overhead signs and tarmac painted signs showing left lane is M1 north and middle and outer lanes are M1 south
As soon as the painted lines between lanes become short dashes to separate the M1 south lane from the other two lanes.
Not until you have gone past the junction and the carriage way is physically only 2 lanes.
Don’t bother overtaking just ease off it’s not worth it to shorten your day by 20 seconds and you will probably get held up later anyway.
Squiddy:
For example. You are at the southern tip of the M6 where the left lane becomes M1 north and the middle and outside lanes becomes M1 south. You’ve moved in to the middle lane to head south and there is a slower vehicle in front of you.
At what point do you consider the motorway to be a two laner so you can overtake in the outside lane?
1 . As soon as you see the 1 mile overhead signs and tarmac painted signs showing left lane is M1 north and middle and outer lanes are M1 south
As soon as the painted lines between lanes become short dashes to separate the M1 south lane from the other two lanes.
Not until you have gone past the junction and the carriage way is physically only 2 lanes.
Don’t bother overtaking just ease off it’s not worth it to shorten your day by 20 seconds and you will probably get held later anyway.
The LEGAL answer is number 2
The realistic answer is that if lane 1 is full of slow moving traffic then, if using lane 3 will not inconvenience others too much, you could use if safe to do so without the authorities really being interested
Definitely 2!
Likewise on four lane sections of M1 M25 etc otherwise you get undertaken (many of the aforementioned don’t even realise they’re risking a minimum 3 points by undertaking beforete white lines change.
A good friend of mine got himself a fine & 3 points at the M6 M5 split southbound for oulling out into lane 3 before the markings changed!
And if the outside lane isn’t free, do what I saw a car do earlier and undertake a truck down the hard shoulder.
It was one of those hard shoulders that sometimes become a 4th lane that car drivers seem to think is a permanent 4th lane. Amazed no one’s been killed doing that yet.
There are a couple of hard choice lanes I know of
M6 NB / M42 split - you can go up the right lane and legally cut across to the m6 into lane 3 which almost straight away becomes lane 2 M6 then turns into lane 3 M6 lol
Another is the inside lane coned off for road works - this in effect makes the motorway into 2 lanes which means using lane 3 is perfectly ok
cheers#Steve
milkchurns:
if your a paddy heading for holyhead it would have to be lane 3 at all times,
thats right - English , Welsh , Scots and all Euro drivers in the first 2 lanes . The Irish have the right ,the speed and the HP to use the outside lane so please don’t be blocking our way .OK ?
2, how slow is the vehicle in front? Are you likely to get past before the motorway returns to 3 lanes?
I don’t know that section of motorway. Does lane 2 continue as lane 2 and lane 3 starts after the junction OR does lane 2 become lane 3 when lane 1 starts, creating the possible situation of being stuck in lane 3 if the vehicle being overtaken speeds up?
