Sitting in the middle lane for no good reason is a very British thing in my experience. Having driven on the continent a lot I've never seen it to the same extent anywhere else. Probably because you get tailgated within an inch of your life if you try it.
Beaten by fucktards that go barrelling into average speed controlled roadworks with 50 limit to pull in front of you and break hard down to 42mph.
Cheers twats