[Closed] Forgive me...we haven't done Middle Lane Hoggers for a while have we?

Normally my driving is mainly between Brizzle, Bath and surrounding countryside so I don't do much motorway miles. For the last six months I've been involved with some projects, all of which seemed to involve me driving M4 from Bristol to Swindon and then heading off in different directions from J15. I'm sure it's a stretch of busy motorway with which many STWers are familiar or a similar length to that which many of us "have" to commute during the working week.

Through a combination of necessity and desire, I've been sticking fairly rigidly between 70-75 (indicated) and doing my best to keep good lane discipline. I'm far from a driving god and yes, occasionally I'll find myself passing a second vehicle in the left lane while thinking "I really could have pulled back there..." Dunno, we've all done it i guess. We have haven't we? 🙂

But holy shit! WTF is going on with middle lane driving? Is it more prevalent or is it a function of the ever increasing number of vehicles on the road? I realise confirmation bias will lead some of us to think it's always doddery old men/women, van drivers, young women/men, reps, Audi/BMW/SUVers or whichever group with which we most object to sharing the road. But let's be honest, it's every type isn't it? Apart from HGVs who kinda have to pull back in. Now, not all of them are boorish selfish shits, as demonstrated by them often flashing to let you out when indicating. Which implies at least some level of observation of other vehicles and a willingness to make room for others. But as they pass in the outside, it's then back into middle lane and no further left than that.

So what makes people do it? We all learn the rules when learning to drive. They're pretty bloody clear. So what makes people ignore them when they start using motorways? Is it lack of compulsory motorway lessons after passing the test? Is it a "Well, it's only me that's afraid to pull back in; hopefully everyone else will do it and not notice me."? Has the ship sailed and will we never see proper lane discipline on the motorways again? Is it not really much of a problem and only something you notice when you're attempting to do it properly?