Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

South Wales Police have not fined a single driver for hogging the middle lane since they started enforcing the law last year.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the number of drivers given fixed penalty notices for driving without due care or giving enough consideration to other motorists.

South Wales Police began to enforce the offence in June 2015, but since then they haven’t issued any tickets to drivers for needlessly hogging the middle lane of a motorway.

Manchester police have fined more than 1,000 drivers

They have issued seven offences under the wider umbrella of driving without due care or driving inconsiderately but this pales in comparison to other forces in England and Wales.

For example, in Greater Manchester, police have issued more than 1,000 of these tickets since August 2013 for offences like lane-hogging, tailgating and performing dangerous manoeuvres like handbrake turns.

Road safety charity Brake believe drivers hogging the middle lane is an important issue.

Spokeswoman for Brake, Lucy Amos, said: “Middle lane hogging is a fundamental road safety issue.

“The middle lane is not a central carriageway, it is designated for use when overtaking other vehicles and should not be used as a thoroughfare by impatient and selfish drivers.

“We see the devastating consequences of dangerous driving every day from our work with bereaved relatives.

“Our police forces must be given the resources they need to make road traffic policing a priority so dangerous drivers know they cannot get away with this.”

The bad driving and shocking car crashes caught in this dashcam footage is unbelievable

'Careless drivers are a menace'

Fines for inconsiderate driving such as the ones outlined above fall within two separate fixed penalty notice categories: driving without due care and attention; and driving without reasonable consideration to others.

Both offences were announced on June 5, 2013 by the then Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond.

He said: “Careless drivers are a menace and their negligence puts innocent people’s lives at risk.

“That is why we are making it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers by allowing them to immediately issue a fixed penalty notice rather than needing to take every offender to court.”

According to Dr Daryl Hibberd, from the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, the danger of middle lane driving isn’t always with the driver in question.

He said: “Middle lane hogging is one of the behaviours that annoys other drivers the most. “It can cause people to make erratic or dangerous decisions, such as undertaking at inappropriate speed, tailgating or cutting in front of the offending driver to communicate their frustration.

“Part of the reason this is a contentious topic is that despite violating the Highway Code, it often has no obvious impact on the safety of the offending middle-lane driver, who may not see the potential danger in their actions.”