A van driver is reportedly the first motorist to be convicted for hogging the middle lane of a motorway since the law was changed back in 2013.
The motorist, who was driving a Citroen Berlingo van, was stopped on the M62 after police in West Yorkshire spotted him refusing to leave the middle lane of the motorway, even after being given several opportunities to do so.
The van driver caused several motorists to swerve due to his refusal to move out of the middle lane, a Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard.
Said to have been driving in an “Inconsiderate manner”, the van driver was fined a total of £940 - £500 for failing to turn up to court, £400 in costs and an additional £40 victim surcharge – and also had five penalty points put onto his licence. These penalty points are particularly hard-hitting when you consider that a speeding conviction usually carries a penalty of around three points.
PC Nigel Fawcett-Jones, from the Road Policing Unit of West Yorkshire police, commented on the danger of middle lane hogging: “It reduces the capacity of roads and motorways, and can lead to dangerous situations where other drivers 'tailgate' the vehicle in front to try and get the lane hogger to move over.
“Members of the public regularly tell the Road Policing Unit that lane hogging and tailgating are real problems on our roads and this conviction shows that the police and the courts understand the public's concerns and take this offence seriously.”
The middle lane law was introduced in an attempt to reduce congestion on motorways, with £100 on the spot fines put in place to deter drivers.