Those drivers who sit in the middle lane of the motorway, not overtaking, and going too slow, are annoying to most of us, unless you are that person.
What should you do if you are behind them?
- Drive as close as possible whilst flashing your lights? Absolutely not - this is very dangerous.
- Over take on the inside lane? Again - no very dangerous.
If you do not know why these things are dangerous then you really should not be driving.
Mr Tara Plumbing was pursued yesterday by one of these tailgating, lights flashing, undertaking maniacs - but Mr T.P. was not dawdling down the motorway in the ‘fast’ lane. He was travelling along the Thanet Way, in an easterly direction, in the overtaking lane - as he should, because he was overtaking the slower traffic. Maniac was close to Mr T.P.’s bumper, flashing his lights and swerving from left to right to get a look at the road ahead of Mr T.P.
Mr T.P., by the way, was driving a large white van; which means he only has wing mirrors for visibility; and the slower traffic in the left hand lane was pretty solid. Changing lanes to allow Speedy Gonzales to pass was not an option.
The slower traffic were all turning off to Whitstable, so as he passed this junction Mr T.P. (in his very large van) indicated to move into the left hand lane, only to find the Maniac behind him was trying to overtaking him in this lane. (N.B. That it why it is dangerous). Maniac, pulled back. Maniac then overtakes in the normal fashion, that is slowing down when next to Mr T.P. in order to make some tribal gestures.
It all makes more sense to me when Mr T.P. told me the maniac was driving a blue BMW. I lived in inner city London for many years and I can tell you BMW are the car of choose for wannaby gangsters and drug dealers and they are often stolen. A sensible drivers drive sensible cars: a VW Passat, a Volvo, an Escort - these cars are not stolen by boys who like to show off.
My confession - years ago, not long after passing my test, I found myself being one of those annoying slow people in the middle of the motorway. It was at one of those unfortunate junctions where 2 motorways meet. I found myself in the middle of the motorway - a scary place to be and I didn’t want to be there. I would have moved over to the left immediately but a load of boy in a van decided to do the driving up close behind me gesturing and flashing thing.
This was back in the days when cars did not have a passenger side wing mirror. By driving so close, in a large van, they had completely blocked my rear visibility so I could not see if it was safe for me to move lanes. After all, some other thoughtful driver could take that moment to overtake on my inside.
I am firmly of the opinion that “this sort of thing” should be a loss of license event for the idiot trying to kill people.