The police have been given new powers to crack down on drivers who are lane hogging and tailgating while driving on the motorway.

CLODS can really get in the way!

CLODS or Centre Lane Owner Drivers as they are called, are people who never pull back to the left hand lane of the motorway after overtaking. Instead they stay in the centre lane forcing drivers who wish to overtake into the right hand lane and making it difficult for large vehicles to overtake.

You should always pull back to the left after passing vehicles as this makes best use of road space and allows for a freer flow of traffic. You may also tempt people to pass you in the left hand lane by staying in the centre lane which can be very dangerous. I always teach about this during motorway driving lessons in Nottingham.

If you can see a slower moving vehicle in the left lane and it will be a short time before you reach it then by all means do overtake and then pull back in afterwards. If it will take a while to reach it then move to the left and move back to the middle lane to pass it when you are closer.

Practise on the motorway with a driving school.

When passing a joining slip road it can be best to stay in the centre lane to allow traffic to merge in on the left. Pull back over after the junction when traffic has finished merging. You’ll need to look well ahead if you see a service station and watch for people leaving and re-joining the motorway. Check your left door mirror when you are passing a slip road. Joining cars can be easily hidden in your blind spot. Speed up or slow down to give them a gap. You can move over to let them in as long as there isn’t a CLOD in the way.

Tailgating is driving too close to the car in front for prolonged periods of time. This can be deadly. Always allow a two second time gap between you and the vehicle you are following. At high speeds it would be best to leave even more. If a vehicle pulls in front of you then check mirrors and make sure you drop back to reinstate the two second gap. If the surface of the road is wet then make it four seconds

Young or inexperienced drivers can commit these offences through ignorance rather than wilful bad driving. You can’t drive on the motorway as a learner as they are not included on driving test routes so you don’t gain any experience until after the test, often unaccompanied. It’s a good idea to take some lessons on a motorway before you drive on your own.

driving instructors Nottingham