National Highways Launches Motorway Driving Safety Campaign
National Highways has launched a motorway driving safety campaign targeting middle lane hogging and tailgating.
The campaign follows new figures that showed just how widespread both middle lane hogging and tailgating are on the UK’s roads.
One in three drivers admit they’ve been guilty of hogging the middle lane, with 25% saying they have tailgated another driver in the past.
Lane hogging is one of the most likely bad driving habits that leads to frustration among other drivers, with tailgating leaving drivers feeling unsafe or stressed behind the wheel.
Bad Driving Habits – How Unsafe Are They?
Middle lane hogging and tailgating are common issues that most of us will witness if we’re driving regularly on the motorway.
For fleet drivers, that behaviour is something they’re much more likely to witness given the amount of time they spend on the road.
Data released by National Highways shows that two-thirds of drivers believe tailgating or drivers following closely is a serious issue on motorways and main roads, while one-third have noticed middle lane hogging on a recent journey.
Lane hogging and tailgating are both classed as careless driving as far as the law is concerned. That means the police have the power to dish out on the spot £100 fines as well as three penalty points.
It’s why National Highways safety campaign, titled ‘Little Changes, Change Everything’ is targeting drivers through a national advertising campaign.
Lane hogging can cause serious issues for other drivers, given that it disrupts the natural flow of traffic and causes other drivers to make decisions on how to approach slow-moving traffic in the middle lane.
It can lead to undertaking, which is unsafe, which is why National Highways wants to make it clear that the middle lane should be used for overtaking, letting traffic onto the road through slip lanes and other roads, and when conditions don’t allow for the left lane to be used.
In any other situation, drivers should keep left unless overtaking and return to the left
lane once they’ve done so.
Keep Left, Unless Overtaking…
According to the highway code, drivers should allow a two-second gap to the vehicle in front, which is the time calculated to think and stop quickly should you need to.
In adverse weather conditions, the general rule is to double that stopping distance as a minimum.
This driving safety campaign is another clear example of National Highways and driving safety groups looking to reach out with awareness campaigns to improve safety on the roads.
Given the recent awareness campaigns around distracted driving and research showing that mobile phone use while driving is still an issue, it’s clear that work needs to be done to curtail bad driving habits.
Middle lane hogging and tailgating are two serious issues that we all witness, but they’re two examples of issues that could lead to more serious situations.
Do you think more needs to be done to prevent middle lane hogging and tailgating? Should punishments be more severe? Let us know in the comments below.
