*Passing on the left* is allowed in the UK. Undertaking is not. Undertaking is moving left, then passing on the left. Whether or not you have undertaken is a matter for the policeman who observes it, AFAIK there isn't an actual definition. It's like the difference between the ball striking your hand by chance when you are playing football and a handball.As far as I am aware, undertaking safely is not necessarily illegal, at least on motorways and dual carriageways, in the UK and most of the EU.
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...It's like the difference between the ball striking your hand by chance when you are playing football and a handball.
Yes, but you do know they drive on the right in those countries?As far as I am aware, undertaking safely is not necessarily illegal, at least on motorways and dual carriageways, in the UK and most of the EU.
Most of the A2 motorway between Amsterdam and Utrecht is 5 lanes wide with a 100km/h speed limit during the day (130km/h after 7pm). Often in the middle of the day, when traffic is usually light, there are cars driving at 95km/h in the faster lanes with nobody at all on the inside lanes : I frequently cruise past on an inside lane at 100km/h, leaving at least one empty lane between us. Germans invariably correct their lane positioning if this happens, the Dutch usually not...
*Passing on the left* is allowed in the UK. Undertaking is not. Undertaking is moving left, then passing on the left.
Yes, but you do know they drive on the right in those countries?
Correct. As long as you're moving at a legal speed, not accelerating, and not changing lanes you are within the law.
Yeah that is a good point. I think of the highway code as the rules, but some of it is advisory - I assume contravening the highway code would mean you could be charged with reckless driving, but is that actually the case?Are these really are all legal requirements, apart from speed : I think driving safely is the issue &, if prosecuted, this is the area of fault that the police would need to prove ?
No, it's legal. If say you are driving down a Mway or DC in Lane 1 at 70 and someone is in Lane 2 or 3 at 55 you can carry on at 70 and pass on the left. That's if you can find a UK motorway with a limit as high as 70, at least.To the best of my knowledge you can pass on the left ... if you are in a traffic jam and the outside lane is going slower, otherwise it isn't legal. Happy to be proved wrong though!
Thanks. Interestingly, the link makes it clear that undertaking is not in & of itself a chargeable offence.
Thanks. Interestingly, the link makes it clear that undertaking is not in & of itself a chargeable offence.
No, it's legal. If say you are driving down a Mway or DC in Lane 1 at 70 and someone is in Lane 2 or 3 at 55 you can carry on at 70 and pass on the left. That's if you can find a UK motorway with a limit as high as 70, at least.
No, not the M6. 150 miles twice a week on the f*ing M1. Smart motorway my *rse. The limits go up and down like a whore's drawers and the scameras follow it. I now have to go on a speed awareness course for doing 47mph on a sunny evening on the f*ing M1 because the "smart" motorway had decided to impose a 40 at that point.
It wasn't Thursday was it? I had a bloody nightmare on Thursday last week. Left Bucks about 0730, drove to a packing site in Cardiff. Pleasant enough drive, rush hour traffic, got there about 11. Sorted out the factory, all good, back in the car about 1430. Sat Nag said ETA Leeds 1900. OK. Usual pain on the M5, as I got to Brum it said "M42 a bit slow, better off going M6/M62." OK then. Slow again through Brum but moving, got to Hilton Pk at 1800ish, overhead gantries then said "M6 buggered at Stoke, 90 min delay". Checked this at the services, yes, Stoke is all over the place. Great. So decided to get on the A5 and do Lichfield-A38 - Burton-Derby-M1. Eventually made it home to Leeds at 9pm.Sorry to hear that and I feel your pain. I foolishly decided to drive to my Manchester office last week and after a relatively calm time on the M1 and A50 on the way up (as M6 was basically closed at J2-4) decided that an early afternoon drive down the M6 would be fine! Oh boy was I wrong, it is essentially a continuous 50 limit from Manc down to the M1 with a couple of short breaks thanks to the smart conversion going on.
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It wasn't Thursday was it? I had a bloody nightmare on Thursday last week. Left Bucks about 0730, drove to a packing site in Cardiff. Pleasant enough drive, rush hour traffic, got there about 11. Sorted out the factory, all good, back in the car about 1430. Sat Nag said ETA Leeds 1900. OK. Usual pain on the M5, as I got to Brum it said "M42 a bit slow, better off going M6/M62." OK then. Slow again through Brum but moving, got to Hilton Pk at 1800ish, overhead gantries then said "M6 buggered at Stoke, 90 min delay". Checked this at the services, yes, Stoke is all over the place. Great. So decided to get on the A5 and do Lichfield-A38 - Burton-Derby-M1. Eventually made it home to Leeds at 9pm.