Highway Code: Drivers risk £100 fine while driving on the motorway

Getting stuck behind a slow driver on the motorway can be incredibly frustrating, but what’s even more frustrating is getting penalised for breaking the rules of the Highway Code.

Undertaking a slow moving vehicle may get you to the head of the traffic queue a lot quicker, but it’s also a faster way of losing your licence. If caught for undertaking recklessly, you could be fined £100 and hit with three penalty points, the Liverpool Echo reports.

That’s because you’d be in violation of Rule 268 of the Highway Code. The rule states: “In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right.

“In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.”

READ MORE: Highway Code: Britain’s most annoying driving habits revealed – and middle lane hogging and undertaking beaten to top spot

Undertaking recklessly could land you in big trouble

There is actually no specific law that prohibits undertaking, but going around a vehicle from the left to get in front of them could be deemed as a dangerous manoeuvre that could land you in big trouble.

A vehicle travelling in the middle lane of the motorway when the left lane is clear could be stopped by police for breaking the rules, resulting in the driver being handed a fixed penalty. But undertaking a vehicle that is driving in the middle lane could also be punishable.

Undertaking is when you overtake on the inside lane. When you overtake a slower vehicle on the road using a lane that is kerb side to the vehicle you are passing. In the UK this would be a lane to the right of the vehicle being passed.

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This happens usually on roads where there is more than one lane in the same direction, such as motorways. Where traffic is congested and everyone is moving at similar speeds you may be able to undertake to keep up with traffic in your lane even though it means you pass vehicles in the lane to your right.

However, you shouldn’t weave in and out of the lanes to get ahead. The Code strongly advises that you avoid overtaking generally and you can get into trouble if you decide to move across three lanes.

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https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/highway-code-drivers-risk-100-23284455

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