One in three drivers commit habit and it could cost them £100 fine

One in three drivers have admitted to commiting an illegal driving habit, which, if you're caught by police,could leave you in some heat and picking up a fine and points on your licence.

For many motorists, you'd have to roll the clock back a fair few years to their driving test, and while "mirror, signal, manouvre" may still ring out in your head, in the years after you've passed, you've likely picked up some bad habits.

While coasting to a stop or cornering a bit too early may be a relatively harmless quirk, there is one habit that can be especially annoying for other road users and may leave you in big trouble.

According to a recent survey by National Highways, one in three drivers admitted to hogging the middle lane while travelling down the motorway - that's nearly 14 million drivers.

While national campaigns have been airing to warn drivers of how dangerous this can actually be, many people still don't see the harm in it.

To understand the deeper issue, you'll need to dust off your highway code and look at rule 264. The rulebook states: “You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slow-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past.”

Although hogging the middle lane may seem like an innocent mistake, it can often cause long build-ups for traffic behind, as drivers attempt to file into the one lane to the right, whereas if they were in the left lane, drivers would have two lanes to file around them.

Asking why people midlane hog, the RAC has a few ideas. Writing on their website, the motoring experts said: "It could be because practical motorway training isn’t part of the UK driving test – meaning drivers haven’t been taught how to drive on the motorway, apart from what they’ve learnt as part of the theory test.

"It could also be down to laziness – it’s easier to sit in the middle lane rather than move in and out of the inside lane."

If police catch you hogging the middle lane, you could be hit with some nasty consequences. The bad habit is actually illegal and is classified under "careless driving" and therefore could leave you with three points on your license and a £100 fine.

The offence comes under the same category as running through a red light, tailgating and eating while driving.

The RAC added: "The new fixed penalties were intended to reduce the number of people lane hogging and carrying out other acts of careless driving on UK motorways, but it’s still prevalent today.

"With the number of traffic police falling, it’s increasingly difficult for police to fine lane hoggers, and it’s not something that can be monitored using cameras in the same way speeding can."