Are you a “motorway centrist”? If so, we can remind you that driving in the middle lane is still an offence under the highway code, which requires drivers to drive in the right-most lane if it is free.
In this scenario, a driver is exposed to a 2nd class fine of 35 euros (22 reduced), without losing points. Only in theory, because the practice does not seem to decrease every year.
A trivialized practice
This was recently confirmed in the 2024 edition of the Sanef Observatory on motorway behaviour. We learned that in 2024, one in three drivers (36%) “will drive in the middle lane while the right lane is free (and the distance between them and the vehicle in front is sufficient to safely overtake them)”.
A figure slightly lower than last year (39%), but which has never fallen below 33% since 2012.
The phenomenon is even more significant at night and on weekends, this time with a large majority (57%) using the middle lane excessively this year. A situation a little less catastrophic than that of 2022, where the Sanef observatory showed a rate of 65%, or almost two out of three drivers.
Why is it dangerous?
But why do these drivers drive in the middle lane? For drivers, “this may seem more comfortable,” notes the Sanef observatory. In fact, the road surface may be slightly more deteriorated in the right lane, used by heavy vehicles.
It is true that we often encounter slower vehicles in the right lane: driving in the middle of the lane avoids having to overtake them, maintaining a stable speed for most of the journey. An argument that does not really hold up, but, by anticipating their overtaking, we can a priori maintain our speed. It is not necessary to wait until we are right behind the slow-moving vehicle to start overtaking, which also allows us to respect safety distances.
The Sanef observatory, for its part, evokes an “underestimated danger”. In fact, the occupation of the central lane induces “more delicate overtaking manoeuvres” by other users who would otherwise be driving in compliance with the rules and, therefore, in the right lane: “deviating into two lanes presents risks due to visibility problems and blind spots”, points out the motorway company.
This also encourages other drivers to overtake on the right, a dangerous and (also) prohibited manoeuvre.
Source: BFM TV
