You’ll be fined £100 for motorway blunder – but there’s a loophole to avoid it

DRIVERS have been warned about a motorway blunder which could land you with a £100 fine – but there’s a loophole to avoid it.

“Undertaking” is when you overtake a slower car on its left-hand, next to the kerb.

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You may tempted to undertake if stuck behind a car hogging the middle lane – but you could end up slapped with a fixed penalty notice for careless driving or for driving without due care and attention.

Your punishment will usually be either three points on your licence or a £100 fine.

More serious undertaking could be considered dangerous driving – with disqualification, a £5,000 fine and a court summons all possible penalties.

But there is a loophole which could let you avoid a fine for undertaking on the motorway.

The Highway Code says that it is OK for a car to undertake in slow-moving traffic – if its lane is moving faster than the one to the right.

If this is the case, it is safer to undertake than to weave in and out of traffic.

The Code reads: “In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right.

“In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right.

“Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.”

Undertaking is also allowed for average speed checks, if signs say to “stay in lane” or when average speed limits are in force.

A shocking number of drivers don’t follow a huge rule change which came in last year – and could be slapped with a £1,000 fine.