Inside, Outside, Near Lane, Far Lane, whatever...

[Carol]

Geoff:
> The offside - to my right.
> 
> I haven't said that the middle (of the entire road) isn't the middle.
> 
> I said that, within a context of driving with three lanes going in
the same direction, in UK English, the leftmost lane  is the inside
lane, the rightmost lane the outside lane and the lane is the middle
is.... the "middle lane".

Carol responds:

But what, exactly, is your "inside lane" inside? Ours is "inside" the
road itself, whether or not there's a median. Our "outside lane" abuts
the shoulder or sidewalk, which is "outside" the road.

I just don't understand how the lane nearest the edge of the road
could be "inside" anything.

At least we agree on the concepts of "fast lane" and "slow lane"! And
"middle lane." :-)

Carol, understanding that you didn't invent the term and just striving
to understand the concept