Keeping the middle of the road may cost you £100

Keeping the middle of the road may cost you £100

With new legislation that comes in this week, motorists who choose to stick to the middle lane on the motorway can face an on-the-spot fine of £100.

A slew of new powers to help fight what the government is calling 'anti-social driving' have come into force this week, and cover a variety of poor driving practices. So, if you regularly hog the middle lane, tailgate others or are not averse to cutting up other drivers, then expect to be fined, and possibly prosecuted.

The new powers give the police more options to issue fixed penalty notices to offenders guilty of anti-social driving. These careless drivers will also receive points on their licence depending on the severity of their offence. The fines for current offences are also being increased as part of the new legislation, covering offences such as using mobile phones whilst driving without a hands-free kit, and performing handbrake turns.

In a survey held only just recently, it seems that almost a third of all drivers are guilty of hogging the middle lane. The Highway Code states that the middle lane should only be used to overtake, and so we may see a profusion of fines in this first period of the new laws.

The government's road safety minister, Stephen Hammond, commented that it is careless drivers who cause the most damage on the road, and offer the most threat to innocent motorists. He continued by saying that the new laws introduced are to give the police better powers to deal with careless drivers by issuing immediate fines, rather than having to prosecute them through the courts.

So next time you're trundling along in the middle lane, think twice unless you enjoy giving away cash.

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