A driver has been fined close to £1,000 and given five penalty points on their license after being convicted in court of hogging the middle lane of the motorway.
This is thought to be the first such conviction since the law was changed in 2013 and the Government introduced on the spot fines of £100 to deter the practice.
Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard that the driver persistently refused to move out of the middle lane of the M62.
The motorists was stopped by police in West Yorkshire near Huddersfield on August 25 last year, with traffic officers stating other drivers were forced to swerve to overtake the vehicle.
The driver, who failed to turn up to court, was fined £500 in his absence and ordered to pay £400 in costs with a £40 victim surcharge.
PC Nigel Fawcett-Jones from the Road Policing Unit of West Yorkshire police said lane hogging ‘reduces the capacity of roads and motorways, and can lead to dangerous situations where other drivers 'tailgate' the vehicle in front to try and get the lane hogger to move over’.
‘Members of the public regularly tell the Road Policing Unit that lane hogging and tailgating are real problems on our roads and this conviction shows that the police and the courts understand the public's concerns and take this offence seriously,’ he added.
A spokesman for the AA said: ‘Drivers will be saying Hallelujah that finally someone has been prosecuted because lane hogging causes a huge amount of frustration. This also sends a message out to drivers who think they can get away with it that the police are clamping down.’
