Left Lane Squatters - Read the DAMN Sign...

[liberal N proud]

I am so sick of the left lane squatters causing traffic to back up forcing others to pass on the right many times between other vehicles. It doesn't,matter if there are two or ten lanes these drivers move to the far left.

What is the attraction to the left lane that so many just sit there as they drive across town or across country? I drove more than 2000 miles this week and the single biggest hassle was these morons who refuse to get over as they pass the "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT" signs which are posted on both the left and right side of the road.

[Jamaal510]

1. I don't even have a license yet,

and even I know this!

[NightWatcher]

2. Mom, I didnt know you post here

I think this more than anything else drives Leadfoot, er I mean my mother, mad.

I oft wish for a Nerf bumper to give these yahoos a little love tap to get out of the way.

[liberal N proud]

5. I use bright lights at night

If I come up behind a slow car in the left lane and I am trying to pass, I will light up their interior.

[Fawke Em]

19. Don't do that. It just pisses the person off.

I know it does me. If I'm passing a line of slower cars at 75 in a 65 and some jerk comes up behind me doing 90 and does that, then I just flip up my rearview mirror and make them wait until I need to do what I need to do.

We should just all be more courteous.

[liberal N proud]

22. I don't do it until the vehicle has passed up several opportunities to yield by pulling over.

And it usually someone going under the limit. If a car is at least doing the speed limit, I am much more patient.

[grahampuba]

45. on the uptick

Id say this is more prevalent than it has been in years past. Probably for the last 5 years it really seems like 'stay right unless passing' rule has been fading from the public consciousness.

I understand its hard to talk on the phone, eat your McDonalds, swat the kids, drive your car and participate in a civil society all at the same time.. but gtfo!

[liberal N proud]

60. I wonder if GPS instructions have a part

Last edited Fri Jan 3, 2014, 08:06 AM - Edit history (1)

The last message they hear is keep left (not right) and the morns don't understand that it applied to an exit they were to avoid taking. So keep right translates to squatting in the farthest right lane.

[A HERETIC I AM]

109. You mean "left"

Right?

[HubertHeaver]

129. I had assumed he was English.

[liberal N proud]

176. My other right!

Brian fart

[A HERETIC I AM]

298. Brian who?

[liberal N proud]

302. It must be dyslexia

You nkow what I mean.

[A HERETIC I AM]

309. LOL....

[Fawke Em]

97. OK. Good.

I'm fairly impatient, so I've tried to temper myself when someone is at least doing the right thing, even if they're not going the speed I want. I can only ask that of others.

You know what REALLY bugs me, though? I'm a driver of a manual transmission and I HATE when I'm stuck behind someone in an automatic on a secondary or tertiary road who goes between my second and third gears (too strong a speed for the second and not enough speed for the third) so that I'm constantly changing gears. I think it's just under the 30 mph mark. Ugh. Hurts my knee.

[MADem]

71. If you are driving in Europe, this is SOP. It is not considered rude.

It is telling the driver in front that you are coming along, and please get over so the person does not have to brake.

It is rude to NOT get over after someone has given you the "click click." And most drivers will give you the "click click" in sufficient time so that you can get over without them needing to slow down.

Lane discipline is practiced more rigorously in Europe, I've noticed.

[4Q2u2]

83. Driving in Mass is a Combat Sport

Yellow light Go Fast, Red Light Go Faster. Green Light stop there is some SOB running the red light in the other direction.

[MADem]

90. Boston to me is rather similar to a large Italian city

in terms of traffic--Rome or Naples. Rte 93 is like the tangenziale without the tolls!

Back in the day there'd be more use of sidewalks if traffic was really bad and your vehicle was small enough, but that's kinda gone by the wayside. It's still a feature of traffic jams in the Middle East, though (hey, if there's space to go forward, you use it!).

[4Q2u2]

94. While in Iraq we had a Name for It

The radio call was John Candy, that meant some one was driving on your side of the road in the opposite direction. Sometimes you had to because a lot of the bridges were blown up. First driving lesson was with my Dad in a 1976 Lincoln Town Car on Storrow Drive at rush hour. I am not sure who was more scared.

[MADem]

107. Holy shit--Storrow in a Town Car at rush hour? You're now qualified to drive a tank!

I learned to drive in large cities, and it never has bothered me. I know there are some people who do get nervous when they are surrounded by a lot of traffic, but I am able to adjust to it.

I don't listen to radio in the city when driving, though--this is something that I will do in the country, but in the city I keep my wits about me!

[4Q2u2]

113. That is Pretty Much What You need

for Storrow Drive at Rush hour. Have a good night MaDem, I am heading home. All done Plowing, at least for tonight.

[MADem]

125. Sleep well, there will be more tomorrow I am sure.

I'll be shovelling and snowblowing like a tired old crab tomorrow....but not before!

[Atman]

135. I learned to drive on Storrow Drive!

15 years old back then. I'm amazed I lived to tell the tale.

[MADem]

141. They've been gussying it up a bit, lately--improving the road.

It still winds like a snake and if you don't know where the hell you're going you can end up going way outta your way! I suppose I white knuckled it the first few times I skidded down that thoroughfare, but now I barely notice it. I think it helps to know the road, certainly!

It's a damn sight better now with the Zakim Bridge and improvements, too. I can remember when getting onto Storrow coming from north of the city entailed a hard right at Boston Garden...what a cluster!

[Mister Ed]

84. It's long been my understanding that the left turn signal is used on the Autobahn.

If someone is behind you in the left lane with their left blinker on, it means they'd like to pass. High-speed drivers on the Autobahn sometimes drive with their left blinker on continuously, so that their intent is clear even from a mile back.

That's even better than a flash of the brights. I'd be happy to oblige.

Sadly, Americans won't settle for a flash of bright lights. Here, the accepted way to indicate that you'd like to pass is to tailgate. That's beyond rude - it verges on assault. And of course, it's dangerous.

[MADem]

87. I've seen that to some extent, but the click-click is de rigeur, as well.

It's not rudely done, the person doesn't come up and kiss your bumper and illuminate your vehicle, it's done from a fair distance, to say "I'm a coming up on you, step aside because I am moving at considerable speed..."

You have an awareness of lights well behind you, click-clicking, and you get over...they go by without having to slow down, and all is well. If the middle lane is a bit pokey, one can get back over to the left and keep on truckin...!

[pangaia]

157. True, but that's in educated countries, remember.

[MADem]

288. I do think, if someone squatted in the left lane in some of those countries, that someone not

terribly educated, but pissed off, just might tip their back bumper and run 'em off the road.

It's a very ingrained thing over there--ya just don't do it. It's like, I dunno, pooping in church or something. Very ...discourteous!

[liberal N proud]

177. Europe enforces left lane laws

And driver respect them.

[MADem]

287. It's just politeness--if you aren't going fast, don't disaccomode those who are! nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

78. Yep.

Unless they have a backward "Ambulance" on the front of their vehicle I'm not jamming on my brakes to merge in to slower traffic just so they can pass.

If they flash lights or tailgate it only lengthens the process.

[Niceguy1]

81. if I am going over the speed limit by

a comfortable margin then I'm not going to enable them to drive like a maniac

[Hassin Bin Sober]

91. Like George carlin said:

Anyone driving slower than me is .... AN ASSHOLE!

Anyone driving faster than me is ... A FUCKING MANIAC!

[Niceguy1]

104. most of the time

There is a car in front of me. We have a lot of people who think that our freeway is the autobaun

[A HERETIC I AM]

112. And you'll be god damned if you're going to allow that, eh? n/t

[Niceguy1]

118. why should I pull over if there is a car

In front of me and I am keeping up?

[A HERETIC I AM]

121. Is there an open lane to your right?

If so, you are BOTH in the wrong lane, THAT'S why.

"Why should I?"


Yeah...perfectly American approach.

If you are keeping up and get passed on the right, who is in the wrong? You or the driver that just passed you?

[ZombieHorde]

258. If the two slower drivers are going the speed limit, or slightly over,

then the passing vehicle has to break the speed limit in order to pass, so the passing vehicle would be breaking the law, and not "in the right."

[FatBuddy]

230. in that situation

you can't go any faster than what is in front of you.

[Mister Ed]

126. His point should be considered

The open road is one thing, and urban/suburban freeways at rush hour are quite another.

When I'm in the left lane on a crowded freeway doing 10MPH over the speed limit, and I'm a short distance behind another car doing 10MPH over the speed limit, who's a short distance behind another car doing 10MPH over the speed limit, who's a short distance behind another car doing 10MPH over the speed limit, etc, etc, as far ahead as the eye can see - with lots of traffic on my right, and more merging from my right every mile...

...then what's the use of tailgating me?

[A HERETIC I AM]

139. I agree.

Obviously common sense must prevail. I, and I would surmise the OP, are speaking about situations on "rural" sections of interstate.

[Lizzie Poppet]

252. Agreed. Urban freeways are different.

It helps ease traffic congestion if people make use of every available lane when traffic is high. In many urban areas, traffic levels are high for most of the day. But in low traffic situations, not yielding the left lane to faster traffic is a dick move.

[Lizzie Poppet]

249. It's not your call to make.

If the law says 'yield the left lane to faster traffic," then the speed you happen to be going is irrelevant. The law requires you move right as soon as it's safe to do so.

[enlightenment]

266. Generally, that is not true - the speed is not irrelevant.

Most states use the "posted speed limits is the limit" rule. If you are traveling at or above the posted speed limit, you are not obligated to move over for someone is who is traveling faster than you.

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

It is tempting to think that US highways are like the Autobahn - but they're not. As a lead-foot, I find it frustrating but I would be more frustrated to get a speeding ticket, so I've learned to consider long road trips as a meditation exercise. When I get stuck going slower than I would like, I try to think of it as a "zen" moment.

Does politeness dictate a move to the right? Usually, but if there is a line of slower traffic (like a truck convoy going up a hill, for instance), then politeness dictates that the driver of the turbo-charged V-8 should realize that the V-6 in front of them is under no obligation to push their engine to the redline to satisfy the their desire to keep their cruise control set at 90. At the same time, if there is not impediment - if the driver of the slower car isn't going to be forced to slow down to 40 in a 65 by moving right - then they should. That's also polite.

Common sense and some regard for everyone else on the road should prevail. The faster driver's desire to go the speed they wish, rather than what traffic (or, heaven forbid, law allows) does not give them a "right" to do what they want. The slower driver's desire to stick to the speed limit is technically legal, but it should be accompanied by the knowledge that they are probably going to be among the slower cars on the road. When a driver pulls into the far-left lane and sits at the speed limit, they are usually doing it with the knowledge that they are forcing other traffic to drive at their standards. Unless it's a State Trooper who is doing it to slow things down on purpose (and I see them do that, a lot) then it is rude. Generally, though, it is not illegal.

[Lizzie Poppet]

277. The chart actually indicates "most states" are sort of in the middle.

That is, the speed <i>limit</i> is irrelevant to the requirement to yield the left lane; that requirement is based on the person travelling "slower than the normal speed of traffic" (which is, on most highways, faster than the posted limit). This is not a "posted speed limit is the limit" situation, which is indicated in red on the chart, and only applies to five states and Puerto Rico.

"The slower driver's desire to stick to the speed limit is technically legal..."

Again, not in most states, it isn't...and the chart you linked bears this out. It's only legal if the "normal flow of traffic" isn't faster.

[enlightenment]

319. Won't argue.

But I will say that if the highway patrol starts pulling people over, they'll argue that "normal flow of traffic" isn't an excuse to go faster than the posted limit.

[Lizzie Poppet]

320. So true!

Here in Oregon, the actual speed law is a prohibition against "speed greater than reasonable and prudent" (or at least it used to be...may have changed). In practice, of course, even if there's no one else on the road, under perfect conditions and driving a perfectly-maintained, capable car, anything more than about 5mph over the posted limit will be "greater than reasonable and prudent" to the State Trooper.

Because revenue...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

338. Yep. And if you have ever been in traffic court that is EXACTLY what the judge tells you.

Save your breath with the "traffic flow", "I was late for a job interview" or "my speedometer is broken". Your only defense is you weren't speeding. Period. The end.

[liberal N proud]

276. You are willing to break the law to keep others from breaking the law

[Mister Ed]

103. Only time in my life I ever flashed and tailgated, my wife was about to give birth in the car.

Poor Mrs. Ed was clutching her shoulder belt and pounding on the passenger-side window in agony. And there we were, stuck in the walled-in, single express lane. No going around the guy. I really needed him to go a little faster.

But the brights and the flashers just made him more stubborn, and he started jamming on the brakes.

I bet that's pretty rare, though.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

108. Sorry about that. I thought your wife was pounding on the window out of anger.

Hope everything worked out.

[Mister Ed]

114. Ha! Made me laugh out loud!

And yes, the nurses got her into the hospital bed with two or three minutes to spare, so no harm done.

[liberal N proud]

178. You might want to check the laws on driving in the left lane

You are not only required to yield to emergency vehicles.

http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

[Hassin Bin Sober]

254. Lol. Let them flag down a cop and perform a citizens arrest....

.... and sate they were doing 25 over the speed limit and the guy doing 10-15 over passing cars on the right wouldn't move out of their way..

See how that works out for them.

You need to look up what the "law" says is faster and slower traffic. This isn't Germany. Cars can legally travel on the interstate at, IIRC, 40 or 45 (maybe more now the speeds increased). If some asshole doing 85 is running around flashing his lights and tailgating HE is the one who will get the citation.

Cops are going after so called "aggressive" drivers with a focus on using unmarked or minimally marked cars.

I witnessed a beautiful peace of poetic justice over Thanksgiving. I was in a group/pack of cars that was traveling behind a state trooper - these days you can't tell they are trooper cars until you are right on them. I almost got pinched passing the group but I, and every one else, slowed up as to not pass him. This included cars in the left lane as the right lane was packed. The pack got big enough, apparently, that some jackass didn't know there was a copper acting a space car. He was back there swerving and flashing his lights. We all went over an overpass and jackass used the entrance ramp to pass everyone. On went the cherries. Busted

Cops ARE around sometimes when you need them. LOL

[Niceguy1]

80. me, too

Amd I have been known to drop 5 mph, too

[liberal N proud]

179. Check the laws on left lane driving

http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

Now if only the police would enforce them.

[alato]

101. why don't you just do the correct thing?

[Drahthaardogs]

166. like obey the law and drive the speed limit

Hilarious people here insisting they hage the right to break the law.

[liberal N proud]

181. You don't have to be breaking the speed limit to pass on the right

Many drivers are sitting out there going under the speed limit.

Check the laws on left lane driving: http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

[Drahthaardogs]

187. Ah nonsense

I bet you 95% of the people complaining about people driving "too slow" in the fast lane, really mean "I am an aggressive driver and habitually speed and you are NOT allowing me to endanger myself and those around me by driving faster than allowed by law"

I see it every morning. Aggressive drivers, speeding like hell, weather bad and not applying the two second plus rule, tailgating, texting, etc.. Garbage ass drivers risking everyone's lives because they cannot get their asses out of bed ten minutes earlier.

Very rarely do I see someone going UNDER the speed limit in the left lane. This is aggressive drivers complaining that people are not breaking the law enough for their own tastes.

[liberal N proud]

191. 95%?

Even if they are speeding, does that make it right to block them by driving in the right lane?

[Drahthaardogs]

192. Yes.

I am going the speed limit and passing appropriately. You are breaking the law and want me to stop my legal pass so you can continue doing your illegal rush in the left lane. That kind of gives me the right to proceed and it kind of means you need to sit there and deal with it until i am done and move over.

[liberal N proud]

202. Nothing in the left lane laws says it is OK to stay there just because you are doing the speed limit

If you are passing another car, then you have every right to be in the left lane, but just sitting there going down the road when there are cars behind you is wrong.


Here is a little link on the laws:
http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

[Drahthaardogs]

209. Maybe,

The defense noted below (from your article) has NOT held up in court...

"The most popular law follows the Uniform Vehicle Code, which says a car driving below the "normal speed of traffic" should be driven in the right-hand lane. Because it indicates "normal speed" instead of saying "speed limit" a driver going above the speed limit but slower than most traffic is still in the wrong."

and a New York Judge said you can sit in the left lane all day if you are going the speed limit.


Regardless, if I am going the speed limit in the left lane, and you are going like a bat out of hell, YOU are not NORMAL TRAFFIC, thus I still have no obligation to get over for you. Oh, I will, but not until I FEEL like it.

[liberal N proud]

216. Self appointed traffic control?

Who gives you the right?

You are unsafe at any speed!

[Drahthaardogs]

221. What? The right to pass at the speed limit and in a safe amount of time and distance?

Seriously?

I have never had a moving violation and I have never been in a car accident (while I was driving anyway) in 35 years of driving.

I think I am pretty safe. You on the other hand....I worry about.

[El_Johns]

322. +1. To the extent that people who want to drive at the limit are almost forced to speed to

avoid these creeps who tailgate & make wild lane changes.

[demwing]

330. there was a farmer

Had a dog...

Bingo was his name-o.

[alato]

387. no, like obey the law

and if people are passing you, that means you should be in the slow lane.

just because other people are speeding doesn't make you an enabler, you rebel you. it just makes you an ass

[we can do it]

260. I don't care if it pisses the asshole off. They need to get over.

It doesn't apply to you if you are passing others, only dickheads sitting out their texting and twirling their dicks or what the fuck ever they do other than drive.

[dflprincess]

48. I had some jerk do that to me

and I was going 10 miles over the limit & passing cars in the right lane. What the idiot couldn't figure out was that he and his pick up truck were so close to my bumper I couldn't see if it was safe to move into the right lane.

[liberal N proud]

53. When used, it needs to be done safely

As I said, I only use it when several opportunities to pull to the right have been ignored. And I never keep them on bright., just a flash, next time maybe a longer one.

[dionysus]

292. i got my only ticket in a scenario like that.

doing 75 in a 65, slowly passing a long convoy of trailer trucks. driving next to those things freaks me out. some d-bag in an F-350 gets so close on my bumper that literally all I can see in my rearview mirror is the grill of his truck.

this double freaked me out and led me to keep increasing my speed, hoping to pass this goddamn convoy and pull over so this jerk can be on his merry way.

once we get past everything, the unmarked trooper that had been following us lit up like a Christmas tree and pulls us both over.

unbelievably, as I'm trying to pull over and stop for the trooper, some *other* asshole passes me on the right, almost resulting in a wreck.

I'm on the side of the road, shaking, and the cop is furious.. at me! only time I've ever had a cop scream in my face. luckily he did calm down after a minute.

2 years later, I saw the same trooper marching in a phalynx towards a fight at Woodstock 99, that was trippy....

[SomeGuyInEagan]

102. Careful with that ...

Just last week a friend of mine came up behind someone in the left lane southbound on I-35 on northern Iowa. The driver ahead passed a few but did not return to the right lane but continued on until she came up even with another but did not pass - she held even.

So my friend behind her gabe her a high beam flash - common practice in the upper Midwest.

A few minutes later he was pulled over by a two troopers, guns drawn. Soon there were four more and he was in cuffs. The other driver had called 911 and reported that my Friend had flashed a gun at her.

He had not and after a search was allowed to head on his way.

[NutmegYankee]

117. I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

I'm sure police will trace that little stunt right back to the original caller and deal with them accordingly.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

124. What if a cop is having an off day?

What if a cop thinks he/she is judge as well?

Even best case scenario is you are cuffed, humiliated and scared, losing an hour of your time.

My friend was lucky. He dealt with Iowa State Troopers.

[NutmegYankee]

132. I think it will be a rare event at best.

The driver who called in the false report is in deep shit.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

144. But happened.

I don't care about that driver. More concerned with safety.

There are a lot of self-entitled dipshits out there. You never know who is stable. That includes peace officers.

[NutmegYankee]

147. You can't go through life constantly in fear of something like that.

I expect that was pretty random.

[liberal N proud]

162. Let them stop me and then they can stop the driver for false accusations

I don't own a gun!

LOL

[SomeGuyInEagan]

257. Right. But why add to the anger?

I will start with ... I am in complete agreement with the basic point: unless you are passing someone on the right, you have no business being in the left lane.

But it would seem that the general ... I'll say "stability" ... out there is on the decline. You really never know who is on the road. Or for that matter, who has a badge. So why add to the general anger out there by running up behind someone with the high beams on? Hell, even the simple high beam flash - which is very common in the upper Midwest as a way to let someone know you need them to move to the right so you can legally pass in the left lane - is enough to send some folks to calling in false reports.

Which is what I should have posted. That is what I meant by "be careful with that."

I've been driving since the late 70s. Lived in Minnesota, southern California, Washington and driven all over the West Coast and Midwest.

IMO, general driving skills are on the decline. Or driving behavior is perhaps more accurate, because I can't know if people don't know what they are doing or simply chose to do what they do. But I'd really hate to drive for a living in this environment, though. Especially the big rig drivers with the crap I see people in cars do to them on interstates and freeways, both in the open spaces and in city.

[brewens]

127. I hate being passed on a two lane highway and then the guy gets behind a truck and is too

chickenshit to go by. I drive a pickup that doesn't have a lot of power up hills. This happens to me all the time. Then he passes up several opportunities to get by the truck and I'm stuck behind him because he's tailgating the truck! Now I have to make an illegal double pass and hope he's paying attention and sees me coming by him! If he doesn't and decides to make his move not seeing me coming by, we're both screwed!

I had a girl driving a blood center van following the bus one day so she could bring me back when I got it to our destination. I'm going up a long grade slow with my flashers on and she's right on my ass. Nothing that would bother me under the circumstances but I see a state patrol come up on us. It's a two lane road with passing lanes and slow vehicle pullouts but not enough. I'm wishing I would have given her a walkie-talkie so I could tell her to back off and give the Smokie room to go by her and pull in behind me to set up for the next pass. We us the radios a lot. Sure enough, she gets pulled over for following too close! She just got her ass chewed for not leaving him room. She's a kid and didn't know.

[Marrah_G]

217. Anytime someone does that shit to me, I slow down

[liberal N proud]

226. Making you the problem

Not only the problem, but an even bigger problem and becoming unsafe.

Where is the common courtesy to get out of the way?

[Codeine]

336. About what I'd expect from a Sawx fan.

[Marrah_G]

337. Yup

When I am in the fast lane and I am passing the cars in the travel lane and some asshole comes flying up on my ass with his high beams, I slow down and keep pace with the car next to me...

[El_Johns]

327. Wow. Just wow.

[yeoman6987]

366. Actually that is appreciated

I know that sometimes when I am driving a long distance, I will zone out and not realize that I am going a bit slower then needed and a car comes up behind me and puts the brights on (for only a quick second), it gives me an immediate realization that I need to either go faster or get int he right lane. i chose to go in the right lane typically. I think it all depends on how the process is done. If it is respectful, I don't think what you do is a probable at all.

[NYC_SKP]

3. The left lane is often the slowest lane where I drive.

People tend to think it's the fast lane and all go over there.

LOL.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. It's not that they think it's the fast lane...

it is that many people just simply REFUSE to move over to the right when they have completed a pass. Since it only takes one, that is often why you see the phenomena you describe.

[liberal N proud]

25. Refusal is pretty accurate.

[JoePhilly]

4. They don't want to be considered "Slower Traffic".

[liberal N proud]

8. Wanting and being are two different things.

[itsrobert]

6. And stay out of the car pool lane

if you are going to go slower than the regular traffic in your Prius.

[gcomeau]

14. +1000 -nt

[frylock]

58. shit, down here the prius drivers are doing 80+..

80 mph, late braking, and jack rabbit starts. why the fuck did you buy that car if you're going to drive like that?

[abelenkpe]

143. Long commute, gas prices?

At least that's why most people I know drive them. There are so many Prius' in LA. Many with quite aggressive drivers. I loved my Prius. Never drove that fast tho. The only time I ever get on a freeway it's for two exits on the 10 and while the posted speed limit says 65 doubt I've ever managed more that 16mph thanks to traffic.

[frylock]

259. i'm a devout hypermiler..

which is not easy in my Honda Element, but it is a 5-speed manual, and I manage to eke out 24 or so mpg. but I just absolutely cringe when I see someone in a hybrid racing to a red light and braking hard.

[abelenkpe]

342. I know, right?

Driving a hybrid really is a different experience altogether. You're good! Driving a manual? Whoa. That is impressive!

[caraher]

368. Reminds me of this Top Gear bit

They looked at mileage driving a Prius at something like 100 MPH vs. a sports car. It's not pretty.

Of course, those Top Gear guys have an ill-concealed, ideological contempt for the Prius. But it still drives home the point that you don't get 48 MPG simply because you are on a highway...

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. They aren't the slower ones until right lane kamikazees show up.

[liberal N proud]

10. What constitutes the term right lane kamikazes?

Trucks generally have a slower speed limit and many squatters run near that speed or just a little faster but refuse to let anyone pass them.

[TheCowsCameHome]

21. I'm doing 72, left lane, in a 60 zone

on a two lane road and some prick in a BMW blows by me on the right doing 85.

That term applies.

[liberal N proud]

23. I like to get them past me so they can smoke out the speed trap

If I am doing 72 in a 65 and see you coming at 90, I will make extra effort to get out of the way.

[TheCowsCameHome]

27. Good,

if you see them coming...............except if you go to pull over, and they suddenly shift right to take your passenger side doors off.

[ryan_cats]

28. You've got that right

You've got that right! I gladly let people fly by me so they can take the heat. I love seeing the brake lights come one and the swaying of the car as the front dives when they hit the brakes because they weren't paying attention to what is up front.

[Glassunion]

290. Is it just BMW's or does it count when I blow by you in my Ford as well?

If someone blew by you on the right, that tells me you were not passing anyone.

My Bimmer gets better mileage around 75 to 80 as opposed to 60. So in my effort to reduce emissions, and my carbon footprint, I drive between 75 and 80. I'm thinking of the children.

[Control-Z]

24. Well.........

There is a speed limit. Usually posted. I don't know about your state but in mine 10 miles over the limit will get you a reckless violation.

[liberal N proud]

33. I bet they won't touch you at 7 over though

Most will not.

I passed a highway patrol at 7 over and he never even made a move.

[frylock]

63. they won't bother because they know that someone will be along shortly..

doing 20-25 mph over the limit. that's where the big bucks are made.

[Ms. Toad]

59. I was going to post that there are other signs

that apply equally to the situation. (i.e. speed limit signs.)

[Vattel]

110. wow, harsh state. On the 95 highway in Maryland you have to go at least 15 over the limit.

[ljm2002]

9. Sometimes people don't realize...

...there is traffic backing up behind them. If that is the case, usually they will notice after the first one or two cars passes them on the right. But by that time there's a lot of impatient drivers backed up in the left lane, so they keep passing on the right and never give the slow car a chance to move over. Me, if I see they're looking at getting over, I back off and let them do it, then lead foot it when they're out of the way -- and then usually I have to get over pretty quick after that, because my car isn't powerful and I never like to stay in the left lane either.

If more people were more aware of traffic flow, and just tried to help keep the flow going smoothly, it would help most of the time.

[liberal N proud]

11. Many just run in the right lane

I have seen many that move to the third lane as soon as on is available rather than letting someone pass them in the "passing" lane.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. I prefer this sign;

Though I doubt it would pass the approval stage!



What you are referring to is known as "Lane Discipline"


Something American drivers lack in a rather comprehensive way.

[liberal N proud]

15. Maybe they would understand that one.

[liberal N proud]

282. Saw this one here

[Egnever]

13. Drives me batty

That and people who will form a road block by driving right next to another slower moving car,sometimes for miles.

Makes me want to chew on the steering wheel.

[stranger81]

61. In our household, the phenomenon you're describing is known as the "Wall of Stupidity."

The drivers the OP is complaining about are "road boulders."

Occasionally, I'll see one of these "road boulders" with a bumper sticker that reads "DESIGNATED PACE CAR." Those really chap my hide. I sometimes wonder if they're even on the road for the purpose of traveling from Point A to Point B, or if they're not just out there to play self-appointed hall monitor and aimlessly fuck up traffic for miles for the sheer pleasure of it.

[Egnever]

64. Road boulders

I like it. May start using that myself.

[A HERETIC I AM]

116. I like it too, but I've referred to them as "Rolling Chicanes" n/t

[Lizzie Poppet]

278. The Anti-Destination League.

[stranger81]

286. Ooohh . . . . that's a good one! [n/t]

[Packerowner740]

17. My FIL is one of those squatters and set in his ways.

Here in west texas it's a common occurrence. I gave up getting mad a long time ago. It keeps my blood pressure down.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

89. I was going to ask about Texas and Oklahoma and road courtesy.

I drove out to Phoenix from Chicago last November and seemed to have lots of trouble with idiots in Oklahoma and Texas who either hogged the lane or sped up when being passed.

Or re-pass and then slow down. I pride myself on never touching the accelerator or brake - I drive on cruise as much as possible. It's really frustrating to have to pass the same car over and over.

Both my partner and I were like WtF is wrong with Texas and Oklahoma drivers.

Another thing we weren't used to was trucks traveling the same speed and hogging the left lane taking FOREVER to pass another truck. In Illinois the trucks are restricted to slower speeds.

[Major Nikon]

123. Rural areas are particularly bad

I see a lot of drivers, especially in OK driving slow in the left lane with nobody else around. I'm one of those who refuse to pass people on the right unless I have no other choice. After you click your lights a couple of times they eventually get over to the right, only to get back in the left lane once you go by. Slow thinking also seems to apply.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

136. I'll drive in the left lane when there is no one around.

But If I see a car coming I'll move long before they are anywhere near me. Besides, I'm usually moving at a good clip.

My partner bitches at me sometime "that's illegal you know"

He is the complete opposite. Drives in the right lane even in town. Then gets frustrated when a cab stops to pick up a fair, or a car door opens or a buss pulls out. Or on the highway gets frustrated with merging traffic etc.

[Major Nikon]

140. I do that myself

If there's nobody around and you're moving fast there's not much point in moving over into the right lane, especially with a good chance of merging traffic onto the freeway.

The problem is when people just expect you to pass them on the right rather than move over which creates a hazzard for everyone involved.

[Ikonoklast]

142. There are no split-speed restrictions on commercial traffic in Illinois.

All CMV traffic moves at the posted limit which is same for all other vehicular traffic.

In certain urban areas there are split-speed limits, but the vast majority of all roads in Illinois have the same posted limit.


The limit was just raised to 70mph on rural interstates in Illinois for all traffic starting on Jan. 1 of this year, but until the signs are changed the posted limit of 65mph will be enforced.

I drive across Illinois in a CMV twice a week.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

149. I do a lot of trips to see family between chicago and peoria. Twice a month at least

I'll have to pay closer attention.

IIRC, a good portion IS around urban areas so maybe that is my confusion.

Just looked and say they raised the truck speed in 2010/2011.

I still think there are some areas trucks are more restricted than cars. Going downstate for Christmas last week I recall passing a line of trucks and getting held up by a truck doing 70. My partner commented I was going a little over (65) but the truck was way over.

This was before the new year so it's all changed.

[liberal N proud]

174. Illinois also has one of the better laws against left lane driving

I didn't realize they finally raised the limit in Illinois.

I was just through there this week and thought it weird that the limit was 70 east of Effingham. I drove across on 80 earlier in the week going the other way.

[NutmegYankee]

130. Boston drivers can fix that.

Seen them pass those people on the right and brake check them hard. Usually shakes them up enough to get them out of the lane. I love it when the Massholes are on the road. They really know how to clear things out.

[Rockholm]

218. I do that almost daily on 128.

These bastards sit in the left lane, going 65 (sorry, they are either in Subaru's or pickup trucks). I pull up behind them and wait. Really sucks when they decide to drive side by side with the other offending car in the right lane!
Either they are plain a-holes or just oblivious.

[WilliamPitt]

240. Heh.

[Fawke Em]

18. If they're going the speed limit, there's not much you can say about it.

I know that it's supposed to be the passing lane, but if the speed limit is 65 and they're going 64 to 66, then they can be there.

It's a pain and I often fuss at my husband for driving in the left lane instead of simply passing, but it is what it is.

[liberal N proud]

20. If you are slower then you should pull over

If you are passing other vehicles, then fine but the appropriate thing to do is pull over when clear the vehicle in the right lane. The sign says "slower" traffic not traffic at or under the speed limit.

[vanlassie]

122. Slower Traffic KEEP RIGHT.

What is confusing about that? It's not for us to police the guy behind us who wants past. You must keep to the right if you are slower. Period. And if they seem reckless? All the more reason to let them pass. Who knows why they're speeding? Not my problem. Or business.

But if they are forced to pass on the right because of your stubbornness, they could cause an accident and take you with them! And you would have some responsibility. Because you didn't Keep To The Right when you were slower.

[pnwmom]

199. And what if all the lanes are slow and full?

Like this:

http://www.worldofstock.com/stock-photos/the-405-freeway-at-sunset-rush-hour/TRC5002

Where I live, the far left lane is often just another traffic lane because there are too many cars on the road.

[pnwmom]

159. But the other sign says "SPEED LIMIT." How come it's fine to ignore that sign?

Is it because most people do it?

Well, lots of people ignore the "slower traffic" sign, too.

[Drahthaardogs]

196. Yes!

Drive the speed limit and no one has problems. Most of the accidents are caused my the guys going too fast, following too close, and just generally not paying attention.

[TheKentuckian]

233. What does "fine" have to do with it? If you want to enforce the law on the road then join the

Highway Patrol, if you fancy yourself as complying with the law then get the fuck over when you are the slower traffic and let the pros deal with speeders.

Compliance with one law doesn't give you some magical right to disregard another, you are not allowed to enforce any speed limit anymore than the faster traffic is permitted to ram your pokey ass to enforce traffic flow.

Get your ass over for faster traffic and stop bogging up the flow, if you can't live with that then join the fucking police academy.

[pnwmom]

324. "Compliance with one law doesn't give you some magical right to disregard another."

I totally agree.

Everyone should be complying with the directions on both signs: the "slower traffic keep right" signs AND the speed limit signs.

[El_Johns]

350. The people who are bugged so much by "left lane squatters" are speeders. I've been tailgated

many a time by them, & not because I was driving under the limit (usually about 5-10 over), but because they want to go faster than the limit.

They're the biggest jerks on the road, IMO.

[Vashta Nerada]

352. Of all the things in the world to get pissed off about, you choose this.

Shame.

[El_Johns]

354. I didn't write the OP. Maybe you should talk to that person.

[pnwmom]

355. Shame??? You said it yourself:

"Of all the things in the world to get pissed off about, you choose this."

[klook]

379. +65 (n/t)

[TheKentuckian]

382. Great, now if you'd accept that you have no authority to enforce the speed limit and are required

to surrender the lane to faster traffic regardless of the speed you are going then we'd be somewhere.

You want to enforce speed limits, join the highway patrol.

[pnwmom]

384. Who said I'm trying to enforce the speed limit?

But it certainly sounds like you want to enforce "slower traffic to the right."

[A HERETIC I AM]

29. ABSOLUTE AND UTTER HORSESHIT!

Sorry, but your sentiment is wrong, period.

"As long as you are going the speed limit, you can stay in the left lane" SAID NO HIGHWAY ENGINEER, EVER!

It doesn't matter what the speed limit is or how fast you are driving, if there is an open lane to your right, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG DAMNED LANE!

I know that it's supposed to be the passing lane, but if the speed limit is 65 and they're going 64 to 66, then they can be there.

No. No you can't. Just....no.

[Logical]

49. LOL, dramatic much? n-t

[A HERETIC I AM]

52. No, it's just that I see it every day, day in and day out....

and the idea that someone would defend the practice in that way is....


fucking wrong.

But on the other had, Logical...

(insert alertable insult here)

[Logical]

55. Go ahead and cuss more. I won't alert it. I imagine you and road rage are good friends. n-t

[A HERETIC I AM]

67. Pal, I'm one of the safest drivers you would ever come across

That is the result of having an inordinate amount of patience for utterly clueless drivers. I'm the truck driver you pay absolutely no attention to whatsoever, because I am in the right lane, doing the speed limit and I am constantly aware that I might be holding someone up and do my best to minimize that.

As far as clueless drivers are concerned...

Perhaps you are one of them?

[Logical]

73. Well, stay safe on the road. You drivers have a tough job. n-t

[A HERETIC I AM]

74. Well, thank you. I truly do appreciate the sentiment.

No hard feelings on discussing a subject I am passionate about, I trust.

[Logical]

79. I understand. My bad. I can imagine the bad drivers you see. n-t

[FatBuddy]

198. Thank you, driver

a dying breed.

[ProfessorGAC]

204. My Dad Drove A Truck

He was also a very courteous and consciencious driver. The things that rile you, did the same to him. So, i understand, even though i don't drive a truck for a living.
GAC

[liberal N proud]

206. I salute truck drivers for putting up with some of the bullshit from drivers

From the driver who can't wait for you to pull back to the right after passing a slower vehicle and passes you on the right to the asshole who pulls over in front of you and slows down.

Better yet, the guy squatting in the right lane preventing you from pulling out to pass a slower vehicle.

I will yield to the trucks for two primary reasons among others
1). you are making a living at this and need to get there on time and safely
2). the momentum required to slow down or speed up to make a safe and timely pass.

It never hurts to tap on the break and let a truck out to pass so they don't have to break. I will drive in a pack of trucks any day over a pack of cars.

[cherokeeprogressive]

69. No. He DRIVES much. His time is MONEY. Miss the point much?

[A HERETIC I AM]

72. ....

[cherokeeprogressive]

77. Wow. Just Wow.

So how'd the long trip go?

Looks like I'm going to Northridge. She said no. Either that or find a more local store where I can find the nog. All is not lost.

Be safe My Brother. Looks like I may be changing jobs soon... be driving UP and DOWN the hill every day.

[A HERETIC I AM]

88. The long one to Detroit and Pitt? I got sick as hell!

LOL....got home around noon on the 30th, and felt like I had been run over by the truck I was driving! Achy all over but no fever. I laid down at about 2 PM and slept on and off till maybe nine the next morning. Every move I made hurt. Coughing made my head hurt. Looking too far to the right or left made my eyeballs hurt!

I think I stayed out of bed until about 6 PM New Years eve, went to bed, back up at ten for a little while and then slept until 10:00 AM or so New Years Day and had a 9.5 hour sleep last night.

So out of the last 48 I've been in bed 30 hours at least.

A lot better today though. Hoping for a trip tomorrow or Saturday. They have trips to LA and SF, but they are timed really tight. If I got one and we had some leeway, I'd stop by and take you and the missus out for dinner. Thing is, since this is a seasonal gig and they will pick only a handful of all the seasonal folks they hired (40 or so drivers) I have to make a good impression with the ones making the decisions on who to keep on. I've done my best to do that. I may have mentioned this is mostly a Union shop, so to be a Teamster again has great appeal.

I hope the new job works out. Home every night? Good pay? That's what's important.

As far as the nog is concerned, don't put too much effort into it. But man.....that stuff is delish! I appreciate the efforts.

[Mariana]

51. The highway engineers may not say it

but the law does - in some states, if not all.

[A HERETIC I AM]

54. Bullshit. (Edited)

Please just pick a random state, look up the applicable statute and prove to me that drivers can sit in the left lane.

Just one. I'll wait.

The hell with it, I'll do the search for you;

http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

5 states have a "weak or no law" situation.

All the rest address the situation by requiring drivers to move over in some way or another.

None that I could find say that it is just fine for you to just hang out in the left lane and every state has signs that say at the very least "Slower Traffic Keep Right"

[cherokeeprogressive]

70. SHOW me where a law, ANY law, says "drive in the left lane" if you're going the speed limit.

Dare ya.

[quakerboy]

99. How about the law that says "drive over the speed limit"

I believe the general assumption of the laws is that you are going to be following the other laws as you apply subsequent laws to the situation.

So if the posted speed limit is 65, the built in assumption of the other traffic laws are that you will be limiting your speed to 65.

So the "faster" traffic would be 65. People slower than that definitely ought to be over in the slow lanes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

105. That's not the point.

A cop would have to be a real dick to ticket you for doing 67 in order to complete a pass and move back over.

The "faster traffic would be doing 65" idea is nonsense. The signs don't say "Slower traffic keep right unless you are doing the speed limit"

The simple fact is, you are ALWAYS slower than someone else, even if that someone else is ten miles behind you.

Use the left lane to pass, and when the pass is complete, move back to the right when it is safe to do so. If more people followed that simple concept, there would be less highway accidents. There will always be faster and more impatient drivers. Many will willingly pass on the right, which is an inherently dangerous maneuver. Keeping right minimizes that risk.

[Drahthaardogs]

220. Come on man,

They are not talking about people going 45 in a 65 in the left lane. This OP is about people who drive 10, 15 maybe even 20 mph over the speed limit and think that everyone needs to get the hell out of their way because they are coming! To them, if you are passing a line of cars and going 67, YOU still need to MOVE because they are going 85 and they feel like it is their damned RIGHT to go as fast a they want in the left lane. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! is their motto.

I see it everyday going to work (and no, I don't speed so I stay out of the left lane). These guys do not follow the 2-second rule, and tailgate like hell. They weave in and out of traffic. Flash their brights cause they want the world to know they are coming and you best get your ass out of their way. They don't use their turn signal. Brake hard and accelerate harder.

Every morning someone gets rear ended because these damned fools won't get their butts out of the door 10 minutes earlier.

[A HERETIC I AM]

317. The OP says nothing of the sort.

I am presuming you are using "OP" for it's intended purpose - "Original Post" and in it, liberal N proud says nothing at all about speeds, only that those who get in the left lane and stay there should move the hell over - a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.

I've read your other posts on this thread and it is clear to me that you hold the opinion precisely the opposite. Your attitude with regard to drivers who want to go faster than you is basically "Fuck em". That was made clear by your stating that you " have no obligation to get over for you. Oh, I will, but not until I FEEL like it."

Again, basically Fuck em.

On questions of economics and income, the overwhelming majority of DU'ers and Liberals in general condemn the concept of "I got mine, the rest of you can fuck off". I see no difference from that attitude to yours.

We all have to take your word for it that you have driven for 35 years and have NEVER :::cough:: had a ticket and that you always drive the speed limit in the right lane. But woe betide the rest of us if you decide you are going fast enough in the left lane. Fuck em, eh?

Look, here's the common sense concept which should be clear to any experienced driver with an ounce of logical capabilities;

Use the left lane as little as possible. Use it to pass slower traffic and as soon as is safe to do so, move back to the right. I drive with this motto in mind; Endeavor to never be passed on the right.

It's simple, really. Why should you give a damn if someone wants to drive faster than you do? Oh...I see...everyone that is doing so just needs to " get their butts out of the door 10 minutes earlier.". Because...you know....that's the way you do things and so should everyone else.

Yeah? Bollocks.

In one of your posts you stated "Most of the accidents are caused by the guys going too fast, following too close, and just generally not paying attention." Well, it isn't speed in particular, it is DISPARITY in speeds, and while distracted driving is most certainly a cause of accidents and tailgating is a contributing factor, it is a stone cold fact that if "Slower Traffic Keep Right" was more adhered to, accident rates would fall dramatically.

[Drahthaardogs]

343. Really? I think your attitude is much more GOP-ish than mine.

Mine may be "Fuck you I got mine (although I fail to see how following the speed limit equates to "got" anything"


Yours on the other hand is basically "I am a trucker and MY TIME is money so I will BREAK the law and endanger other's lives around me. FUCK your rules and regulations. SAFETY is safety but money is money"


As for the Author, the rest of the posts go on to describe a driving style rife with disregard for the law and safety of others up to and including "love getting a rabbit to go ahead so I can let them get hit with the radar"


Just saying...

[A HERETIC I AM]

345. How fucking DARE you?

Who the hell do you think you are talking to?

Yours on the other hand is basically "I am a trucker and MY TIME is money so I will BREAK the law and endanger other's lives around me. FUCK your rules and regulations. SAFETY is safety but money is money"

You've got a lot of fucking nerve writing that sort of bullshit, I'll have to tell you. How the fuck dare you impugn my professionalism? You don't know me. You know nothing about me. But I'll tell you this;

I'm willing to wager I drive more miles in one year than you drive in ten and I already have more miles under my belt WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT OR TICKET than you will have in 3 lifetimes. So kindly stifle that bullshit, OK?

I am going to bite my tongue and fingers pretty god damned hard, because I don't want this alerted on by you because of what I am thinking right now, but it probably already will be because of what I've said so far.

Like I said above, I have an inordinate amount of patience for asshole drivers. Those are drivers that do not have the common fucking sense or the god damned decency to at least TRY and understand how to properly navigate a multi lane, limited access highway, not to mention the myriad other idiotic things automobile drivers do, much less have any understanding about how to operate safely around 80,000 pound vehicles with 18 tires.

Here's a quick questionnaire for you;
When you are driving away from the sun (westbound in the AM, Eastbound in the PM) do you have your headlights on, even though it may be 2 hours before or after the day/night transition?
Do you understand why you should?

When you are driving in even the slightest amount of rain, do you have your headlights on as a matter of course?
Do you understand why you should?

When you are driving on an overcast day, do you burn your headlights?
Do you understand why you should?

When you are on a two-lane road, regardless of weather and time of day, do you burn your headlights?
Do you understand why you should?

Have you ever taken more than 2 or 3 seconds to pass the tandem sets on a tractor trailer?
Do you understand why you shouldn't?

Have you ever, in the entire 30 whatever years of driving you have done, become frustrated behind a slow moving or slowly accelerating heavy truck and accelerated past him only to take the next exit just a short bit ahead?
When you are entering a freeway, are you looking over your shoulder or to the left while accelerating so as to merge smoothly and not cause the nearest driver to apply his brakes?
When you are exiting a freeway, do you do your best to signal your intentions at the appropriate distance and do your best to maintain highway speed until you reach the decel lane so as to not cause the person behind you to brake?

I'd like to say I am interested in your answers, but the fact is, I'm not. I have a pretty bloody good feeling I know the answers to most of them.

I figure I save some idiots life on average once a day when I am making a long trip, simply because I conduct the driving task in a professional manner, because the idiot whose life I saved, doesn't. And I think I am probably typical of the vast majority of the more than ten million American professionals who drive commercial vehicles for a living. When you see a tractor trailer off in a ditch, and no other vehicles involved, I can pretty much guarantee you that if the guy didn't fall asleep at the wheel, he put that truck there saving some idiots life.

You are relatively new here, so let me clue you in a little. This forum generally runs in cycles with regards to topics, and threads about highway safety, hogging the left lane, speeding etc., come up on a regular basis. I've been in almost all of them, simply trying to make the point that if there is an open lane to your right and people are behind you, .....

[font size=6]YOU ARE IN THE WRONG FUCKING LANE[/font]

Now, I have no idea whether or not font size makes any difference to that thick, bullheaded skull of yours, but THAT is the entire point.

It has nothing to do with whether or not you are doing the speed limit. It has nothing to do with whether or not you feel justified. It has nothing to do with whether or not you get a kick out of pissing others off and it has nothing to do with whether or not you are so damned superior to everyone else that you (and you aren't alone, I assure you) feel it is completely OK to hold someone else up merely because you have appointed yourself safety manager for that stretch of the boulevard.

It has to do with common courtesy and common sense.

Something it is now clear to me you lack, rather comprehensively.


"Just saying..."

[Drahthaardogs]

364. It's not common sense. It's science!

Modern speed limits are set by studies done by traffic engineers and is usually 85% of operating speed. Safety engineers have a hand in it too. Some environmental guys as well to make sure we are not polluting more than we need to.

So, if you are a professional, please follow the law! It is there for a reason.

and just FYI,

I'm not new here. I was here when Kephra died. I was here when graywarrior had that silly-assed duck taped for years. Was here the night we thought Kerry won -- then he lost. I remember Fox news attack on Andy. Been here a long time dude.

Anyway, I was in the Army and had multiple moves. Had more than a few user names. Once was without internet service for over four months. Hence different user names at different times.

[liberal N proud]

378. Explain why some states are 70 while others are 65 and some even 75

And then Europe uses different speeds based on what lane you are in on some highways.

Provide a link to this scientific study setting speeds. They really are used more for revenue thus evidenced by the presence of more highway patrol near the end of the month than the first. That is based on personal observation in the years and thousand of miles I have driven.

[liberal N proud]

323. You don't have to be speeding to be passing

Nowhere in the OP did I say anything about driving fast and vehicles driving the speed limit were keeping me from doing that.

I sat behind a woman in Iowa who was in the left lane while she reached in the back seat to grab a bag, I could see her lift it over the seat and set it in the seat next too her and then proceed to dig through it. All while she was cruzing the left lane. Then she go pissed off when I finally took my life in my hands and passed her swerving vehicle on the right without speeding.

Even if they speed, if you are sitting in the left lane causing congestion, you are creating a bigger danger than letting them go down the road where they possibly could visit with a patrolman about the speed limit that so many here claim to care so much about while they are willing to break another law to prevent.

[quakerboy]

332. Taking that to its absurdist conclusion,

no one should ever be in the fast lane. Say I am doing 110 down I-5, I should be in the right lane, because some guy 300 miles behind me is going 120.

How about people just kinda follow the speed limit. then this issue becomes mostly moot. A cop can look at anyone on the road, and if they are in the fast lane, doing 20 under the speed limit, he can politely flag them down and let them know that's inappropriate, because he wont have to spend all his time ticketing dirtbags doing 20 over and swerving around the lanes to pass people, so that they can get to walmart 36 seconds faster than anyone else.

My observation is that most of the crashes on open road seem to come from people making lane changes, rather than those going in a straight line. Ive been told by at least one civil engineer, though I dont have any links to back this up, that studies have also show that to be more than anecdotal on my part.

Faster cars on the left, slower on the right. Legally, you should be going no faster than the speed limit. Therefore, legally, the left lane should be for people doing the speed limit, the right for people going under the speed limit. If you chose to break the law, that's up to you, but in my opinion that limits the righteousness of any gripe with other chose to obey the law.

As to faster, more impatient drivers.. lets apply that same thought process to signal lights. A faster, more impatient driver may decide to pull through a red light without stopping, which is an inherently dangerous maneuver. Therefore, if more people would follow the simple concept of treating every light, red or green, as a stop sign, that would minimize that risk.

[A HERETIC I AM]

333. .....

Fine. You win.

Not sure what, but you win.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

56. :)

[brewens]

75. There are those intentionally trying to keep people slowed down out there. They feel it's their

mission. As long as they are going the speed limit, they are happy to see you stuck behind them and will not get out of the way.

The passing lane isn't the only thing either. I drive a lot of miles on a U.S. Highway that is two lanes but has good shoulders quite a bit of the way. I've driven trucks and busses on that road for years. I can get a big rig all the way over to make room for people to get by me and so can a lot of the other commercial drivers. We do it all the time. Why slow cars won't do it confounds me? A lot of them are older people that are oblivious but I know some have that attitude. Everyone is in such a hurry all the time! The only thing is they make inexperienced or stupid drivers get desperate and take chances. Whenever someone gets killed out there I always wonder? Was a slow driver intentionally being an asshole?

[A HERETIC I AM]

92. As I have said before, it's Lane Discipline, and most American drivers are just clueless

Re your story on the two lane - Though I've never driven across the upper plains in Canada, I been told that on the long stretches of 2 lane Canadian highways, drivers as a matter of course will move to the right to allow others to pass, making the center of the road an ersatz passing lane for both directions.

[brewens]

100. Yup. Any shoulder at all and there is room to be three wide. That makes it safe to pass even if

the it's not exactly legal or if the stretch where it is legal might be a little short.

[Egalitarian Thug]

155. +1 It's epidemic in AZ.

[Common Sense Party]

153. What you said.

Even if you're driving a little ABOVE the speed limit, you can't just chill out in the PASSING lane. It's there so that people can safely PASS other cars! I honestly don't get why some people refuse to grasp this.

[pnwmom]

160. "if there is an open lane to the right."

Which is just about never where I live. All lanes are full most of the day.

[bowens43]

183. The poster is right. If you are not exceeding the speed limit there is no problem

if you are exceeding the speed limit then YOU are in the wrong.

[A HERETIC I AM]

348. No, she is not right.

It has NOTHING to do with the speed. It has to do with a couple things, one of which is whether or not there is an open lane to your right. If there is, you're in the wrong lane, period.

The other is this;
Have you ever heard of the 75% rule?

That is, the safest speed to travel is that speed which 75% of the traffic is flowing, REGARDLESS of the speed limit. If the speed limit is 55 and 75% of the traffic is going 80, then the safest speed is 80.

Conversely, if the speed limit is 70 and 75% of the traffic is doing 35, the safest speed is 35.

In my experience, now that most states have gone to 70 MPH or more on rural stretches of freeway, most traffic is flowing within about 10% of the speed limit. In other words, usually between 70 and 75 - 77, whereas in the days of the national 55 limit and into the national 65 limit, the disparity was much greater between fastest and slowest.

If 75% of the cars around you are doing 5 or 7 MPH faster than you because ...dammit! I'M GONNA DO THE SPEED LIMIT!, then YOU are the hazard, not everyone else.

This is a simple fact of traffic flow and dynamics.

Sorry.

[Lizzie Poppet]

30. Depends on where you live.

In Oregon, failure to yield the left lane to an overtaking vehicle is illegal, regardless of how fast either of you are going.

[A HERETIC I AM]

34. Only recently, same here in Florida;

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2013-06-27/story/left-lane-slowpokes-face-fines-under-new-florida-law

[DrDan]

363. no, it's not

"Drivers going 10 mph slower than the speed limit who don’t get out of the way of approaching vehicles can be ticketed $60 and hit with a 3-point moving violation, according to one small part of a transportation bill that goes into effect Monday, July 1."

The speed limit DOES matter in these cases.

"The speed limit is the speed limit.”

[Gidney N Cloyd]

62. lL, too. And the law here was written by a cop turned legislator.

[liberal N proud]

285. I like the Illinois law

[Shrike47]

39. Husband's a control freak Repubkican, is he?

[NutmegYankee]

120. That mentality is the problem in a nutshell.

If the drivers behind want to go 70, let them pass. It's not your responsibility to enforce the speed limit.

[liberal N proud]

175. Exactly!!!!

[liberal N proud]

172. You might want to check the laws on that

http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

Nothing about speed limit allowing you to squat.

[pipoman]

186. Not in my state

It is a violation to drive in the left lane except to pass outside of city limits..regardless your speed. .enforcement is another issue...

[FatBuddy]

200. there's the law

and there's road safety.

and then there is common courtesy and placing others before yourself.

if you're loitering in the hammer lane (where people, misguided or not, illegal or not, will sometimes do 80, 90, or more) and fast movers descend on your slow moving self, it creates a major safety issue: fast movers have to slam brakes, avoid rear ending you, and doing Smokey and the Bandit maneuvers to get around you.

It is just simple, plain courtesy and much safer to let a fast mover pass.

Move it to the right.

[liberal N proud]

207. Well said

Safety is a big concern

[JVS]

347. I already drive 9 mph above the limit. I'm not wading into merging traffic so that some fuckface...

motorhead can go 90. They're just going to have to slow the fuck down.

[Trekologer]

213. Not exactly

In New Jersey, it is the law that you must keep right and only use the left lane for passing. If a driver is caught, it is up to a 4 point infraction (improper passing is 4 points, failure to keep right is 2 points). NJ has an insurance point system--you get an insurance surcharge for each point you have on your record and different infractions carry different points. If you accumulate 12 points, your license is suspended. Points are removed from the record over time and/or by taking a safe driving class.

Most other states have similar laws, but enforcement is key.

[Vashta Nerada]

241. People are attacking you for suggesting going the speed limit?

I never exceed the speed limit. I drive in the left lane. If one has a problem with that, it's their problem. Not mine.

There's a reason there's speed limits, people.

[A HERETIC I AM]

349. And there is a reason freeways have more than one lane in each direction.

I drive in the left lane. If one has a problem with that, it's their problem. Not mine.

No, YOU are the problem.

Arrogant, supercilious people like you are the exact point of the OP.

[Vashta Nerada]

353. So the speed limit signs are meaningless?

Money was spent on the signs for no reason?

[Atman]

362. There is a reason troopers tolerate 10 mph over the "limit."

There is also a reason that speeding fines are much lower for the first ten mph over the speed "limit." You're treating that stupid sign as some sort of sacrosanct commandment unto itself, when even those empowered to enforce it don't. It may seem a bit odd, but that's just the way speed "limits" work. Troopers are far more concerned with you driving SAFELY -- not tailgating, rapid lane changes, general ass-holiness -- than they are about you strictly adhering to the number on a sign. If you're driving 65 in the left lane and there are twenty cars backed up behind you just pull the hell over and heap praise upon your righteous self for adherence to the letter of the law. Those others will surely have to answer for their evil ways come judgement day...but that's not for you to decide.

[Vashta Nerada]

370. Uh huh.

So state troopers ignore the signs too?

So what's the point of having speed limit signs? To make the landscape a little prettier? I go the speed limit. If people don't like it, fuck them.

[Hosnon]

314. That's incorrect. The convention is "slower traffic" keep right.

Not "slower than the speed limit" keep right.

If there is somebody behind you and you are in the left lane, you are by definition "slower" and need to get over.

[El_Johns]

325. If I'm going the speed limit & some creep thinks that's not fast enough, they can make the

lane change.

[WillowTree]

26. I'm with ya on that one. I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem.

I'm a 55 driver. I get on the tollway, set the cruise control at 55 (the legal limit in town) and take up residence in the right lane. The only times I venture to the left is if I see a long string of cars coming on the on ramp, at which time I'll move over one lane to the left if there's room do to so, just to give the mergers space to enter the roadway, and then I go back to the right. Or the very rare occasion when there's someone even slower than me in front of me. Other than that, I cling to the right lane like the winning Powerball numbers are to be found there.

And I can't tell you how often I get some idiot crawling up my tailpipe so far s/he can change the track on my CD player, sometimes even flashing their lights at me. And as often as not, there are two and often three lanes to the left where I can easily be passed. I never, ever speed up to mollify these nimrods, and occasionally will just kill the cruise and let my speed ease down until the offender either backs off (rare) or wises up and passes me on the left.

Nothing like being harassed for adhering to the limit.......in the far right lane.

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. From someone who drives for a living....

You are doing it right.

The only thing I would suggest is to keep it closer to 10% than just the 55 MPH concept.

In other words, if the speed limit is 70, you should try and keep your speed within 7 MPH of that limit. Too much of a discrepancy makes you a significantly larger hazard to the free flow of traffic, particularly on 2 lane stretches of freeway.

[liberal N proud]

36. You are driving the way many of us learned.

[Martin Eden]

31. That's not the best sign ...

... because many squatters don't think of themselves as "slower traffic" when they're going 10 mph over the limit on the expressway. In Chicagoland where I live going 65 in a 55 zone is relatively slow.

A better sign, and the functional rule of the road is

KEEP RIGHT
EXCEPT TO PASS

[A HERETIC I AM]

35. And that sign is the prevailing one in several states.

Oregon in particular.

[liberal N proud]

37. I always make great time going through Chicago on the Tri-State.

You will get run over if you drive the posted limit. I went through on Monday and my ETA on the GPS dropped by 5 minutes from East side of Gary to Joliet.

[Shrike47]

38. If you don't want to provoke a road rage incident, get out of the damned way!

Don't give me any crap about the speed limit, either. That's my problem, not yours.

[Festivito]

40. They read it too slowly, then obey it by turning on Rush.

I love the ones that slow when you cannot pass them, then speed up when you can -- NOT!

[liberal N proud]

41. I think that must be an ego problem

Those people think they must be the one who is out in front it gives them power. Don't know?

[Festivito]

57. The occasional control freak. Others seem to be in vindictive denial.

Hogging the left lane slowly, then seeing someone behind them they finally pull over to the right and speed up at long last. The act seems to vindicate themselves, since you're not able to pass them any longer, and allows themselves self-denial of having hogged a lane at all -- ever.

[pnwmom]

42. I guess some of them think that the far left lane is for

people driving as fast as the law allows, i.e., the speed "limit."

Or else what is the speed limit for? Only the gullible people on the right?

(Don't worry, I'm not one of them, unless I'm in the even farther left carpool lane.)

[BodieTown]

43. I Call Them "Traffic Regulators"

It's to make sure nobody exceeds the speed limit, not on their watch.

These same people don't fully stop when pulling onto the main road through their neighborhood. It's their road...if you are coming down it, they will pull out in front of you, forcing you to brake for them.

You will both proceed down the road at 5 to 10 mph lower than the posted speed.

Those are the rules, and those are the Traffic Regulators. Obey them.

[liberal N proud]

46. That applies to some, I am sure

But some are just idiots. I wonder how many are doing it because their GPS says keep left.

[Ikonoklast]

152. It's called "Nestoring", after the asshole made famous by doing it on purpose.

He also achieved fame in the Washington, D.C. area in 1984 after The Washington Post published his letter describing his favored driving method: On highways Nestor would settle his vehicle in the far left lane and set the cruise control at the speed limit, at the time 55 mph. He would not move to the right for drivers behind him. "Why," he asked, "should I inconvenience myself for someone who wants to speed?" [3]

Nestor's letter enraged many motorists and led Paul J. Leonard to coin the term 'Nestoring' to describe the practice in another letter to the editor.[4] Nestor died in 1999 at the age of 86.

[5]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nestor

Massive dickhead in many ways, the guy was a real gem.

[Zorra]

44. They are selfish, unsafe drivers. Maybe even twisted passive aggressive drivers.

They're one of my pet peeves also.

[liberal N proud]

50. Unsafe is precisely what they are.

In Europe, they would be taken off the road.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

119. Yep. Very unsafe.

I used to work with a woman who "liked" (her word) to hang in the left lane because it eas her "right" (again, her choice of words) and she also said people behind her shouldn't be speeding.

One dat I countered with, "What if that person behind you in the left lane is rushing a child to the hospital? Or someone coked up with a handgun?"

If you are not passing someone in the right lane, you have no business in the left lane.

It's that simple.

[Logical]

47. Ahhh....someone needs a nap! n-t

[brewens]

65. You get people on cruise control that take five miles to pass because they are set at just a

fraction faster than the guy they are going by. C'mon! Accelerate a little and get by and pull back over!

[Marie Marie]

96. Ding ding ding - My pet peeve!

For Jeebus sake, if you are going to pass in the left lane - step on the freaking gas! Then get back over and use your cruise control all you want but do not use it when passing!! Brewens, you and I are kindred spirits. This drives me insane!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

98. Yep. Use the set/coast button to raise and lower speed a touch.

It especially frustrating when you are being passed and it takes 5 minutes. Meanwhile you are about to get lane fucked by a slow moving semi .

[brewens]

106. I've been on I5 in Oregon heading down to California where trucks are doing that. You get a five

mile truck race, one guy wanting to go just a little faster passing a line of trucks. Then you see cars following the truck through and staying there in formation and get blocked in. Now they're riding along for miles right in the pack of trucks. No way! You have to be a complete moron to do that! The odds might be slim but what if one of those guys blows a tire right by you? That can get you killed! I had a tire seperate on the blood center bus I drive rip the exhaust pipe right off! A little car eating that could have been bad!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

115. Yep. I don't want to be next to a semi for more than a few seconds.

Always amazes me when someone will hang out next to a truck. He may not see you or you don't want to be around one of those things when a tire comes apart.

[brewens]

131. You don't have to go very far to see tire debris and skid marks where a trailor fishtails a little.

That at the very least will do some real damage if you're unlucky.

[CANDO]

357. Most trucks are electronicaly governed.

So the trucker you may think is being a dick for passing too slowly, is actually doing the best he can.

[A HERETIC I AM]

369. If I may speak on behalf of the nations truckers, I'm sorry, really.

As mentioned below, the vast majority of tractors in this country are electronically speed limited. All modern highway diesel engines these days have electronic engine controls (ECM's the "M" for 'Module') and the fleet manager can have them set to stop adding fuel at any speed they wish, and that speed is usually 70 or less, often between 60 and 65.

Very few trucks in this country are "Gearbound", which means that they will run as fast as the engine RPM's, tire diameter and final drive ratio will allow. That figure can be very fast indeed, as it is possible to spec out a truck that will be gearbound at over 120 MPH. Of course, it is impossible to purchase 120 MPH heavy truck tires. They don't exist. There is no speed rating system for truck tires - No "Z" rating or such. Either way, any driver that would regularly operate a truck capable of that speed AT that speed should have his license taken away. But there are trucks out there that are capable of doing it. I know. I've driven a couple.

Since almost all truck drivers are paid by the mile there is an incentive to drive the truck up against that limiter on the highway as much as possible. Their hourly rate of pay falls if they don't. Also, most trucks don't have 700 horsepower engines, so when loaded at or near their maximum, they can and often will slow dramatically when climbing hills.

Trust me on this - we all wish our vehicles could do zero to 60 in 8 seconds but they can't, and there isn't a damned thing we can do about it. We also wish that the trucks we drive could keep a steady speed going up hills, but the laws of physics aren't going to let that happen either.

It is frustrating to be driving a truck set at ...say 63 and coming up on a truck set at 62 1/2. I want to keep going and he doesn't want to lift, for the rate-of-pay reason I gave above. I know it sounds silly to a car driver, but over the course of a year, those drops in speed can mean a significant difference in time, collectively and therefore money. I have driven trucks set so strictly that I would say "This truck wouldn't go the speed limit if you dropped it out of an airplane!"

It is frustrating for you as an automobile driver and it is frustrating for the truck driver. We don't want to hold you up, honestly.

As far as "Sidegating" is concerned, you are absolutely correct in that car drivers should spend as little time as possible next to a tractor trailers tandems. When a truck tire with 110 psi of air in the tires has one let go, it can and often does sound like a cannon shot, that if you are right next to one, it could scare the shit out of you. Not to mention the hazard of debris coming off the tire.

I have driven all but about 1 mile of I-5 so I know the stretch you are speaking of. Crossing the Siskiyous on I-5 can be a bit of a pain in a heavy truck because of the numerous ups and downs, as well as the many sharp curves. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better when you get to the relatively flat and straight sections south of Redding, California, because California still has that stupid 55 for trucks, 70 for cars split speed limit. Those states that still cling to that outdated idea are making trucks rolling chicanes, not able to even try and make traffic flow easier if we wanted to.

[liberal N proud]

170. And by they time pass the car they intended to pass, they have come up on another

Some have no courtesy at all.

[The Wizard]

66. It's the unofficial

texting lane.

[catbyte]

68. LOL. Thank you! That is my #1 traffic pet peeve.

I've found myself, in my younger years, yelling to slow drivers to move to England if they insisted on hogging the left hand lane. Arrgh!

[neverforget]

76. The people who drive slow on a 2 lane road only to speed up when you get to a passing lane

is what gets me. They hit the gas when they get to the passing lane and then slow down again once it's back to 2 lanes. Frustrating.

[Mopar151]

111. They are scared of anywhere the road bends, and MUST SLOW DOWN - and they love SUVs

Han an interesting encounter with one of these, while doing a wandering Saturday of junk swapping with my old truck and car trailer - irony is my lot in life..... I finally got by him, cuz I anticipated a little passing zone he maybe did'nt know about, and I can find an apex when I need to.

And then there are the folks who MUST PASS ALL TRUCKS when they come to a truck lane - regardless of the room available, or the relative speeds involved.

[90-percent]

82. I always wanted to make a vigilante movie about driving

the traffic avenger has a van and a bazooka pops out and blows up rude drivers.

That's the last left hand turn you'll make from the right side of the lane, sucker!

That's the last time you don't turn on your left turn blinker until the light changes, sucker!

that's the last time you're going to do fifty in the left hand lane, sucker!

like a robo cop for rude drivers

-90% Jimmy

[ccsar]

85. I don't know

if this has been said yet or not (I didn't see it) but the left lane is mighty dangerous especially at night. If a drunk driver is on the wrong side of the freeway the left lane is gonna be where he is liable to be, thinking he's in the slow lane. And a lot of them drive unknowingly without the lights on. The far left lane just isn't a place to hang out at all for any length of time.

[HughBeaumont]

86. Surprised this doesn't have more recs.

This is especially aggravating on the mostly two-lane PA Turnpike on the way to DC. Fucking road cloggers.

Ohio doesn't have this sort of issue much, as most of it's highways are 3-4 lanes wide.

[SeattleVet]

93. If cars and trucks are passing you on the right, you're too far to the left.

Get your butt over where it belongs.

I've seen cars here in Seattle almost hit the Jersey barrier when they made a right turn onto a state highway and went all the way to the left lane before turning their wheels. Yep, a right turn across two traffic lanes, into the far left lane. Then *everyone* on the road went around them to the right, since they were nowhere near the speed limit by then.

I *loved* the three years I drove in Germany. Lane discipline is the norm, and it is enforced by major fines for the few that don't 'get it'.

[liberal N proud]

173. Enforcement - That is the key

Many states have laws, none enforce them.

[adamuu]

95. Yeah, sure. As soon as I move right, you slow down and sit in my blind spot

Screw that. I'm staying put.

[TekGryphon]

128. What percentage of the time does this occur?

Justifying an unsafe, disruptive, and downright rude driving habit for something that happens during one tenth of one percent of passing encounters is f*cking stupid.

[adamuu]

156. More than that. n/t

[liberal N proud]

168. I live in Ohio and I do see that from some Ohio drivers

I rarely see that anywhere else in the country.

Why would I want to sit in your blind spot? I am going faster than you because I want to go down the road, not fuck with some asshole on the road.


See this link on the laws in many states: http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

[azureblue]

133. The Law / Rule should be

"Keep right except for passing".

[pipoman]

187. It is in Kansas

[broiles]

134. Get a life.

[abelenkpe]

137. There's always someone in the left lane on La Cienega doing ten miles under the

Posted speed limit. Would drive my old supervisor crazy. He'd always say the same thing: slower traffic is supposed to keep right! I understand but gave up long ago. Better to pass on the right and save your disdain for people who don't use their turn signal when intending to go left.

[Atman]

138. Nope, don't agree.

I'm a left lane driver. Because I drive fast. The second I pull into the middle or right lane, some asshole is on my left shoulder, riding in my blind spot, forcing me to brake or drop back only to move back into the left lane.

The most amazing assholes are those who keep trying to pass on the right, and then get blocked by the very same douchebag I'm avoiding by driving in the left lane! These guys the wind up twenty car lengths behind, while if they just kept pace with the flow of traffic they'd be right there in the left lane...right behind me!

[KentuckyWoman]

146. You win the thread

Perfect example of a lane ranger. People taking desperate moves to get around your poke ass because you just feel you are far too special to be 2nd in line. You aren't setting the flow of traffic if someone is trying to get by on the right. YOU are the messing up the flow.

[Atman]

151. 100% WRONG.

I am keeping up with/setting the pace, which is usually already quite fast. I'm not talking about "normal" traffic. In heavy traffic I am never the slow guy, I promise you. But there is always an asshole who thinks the ninety seven cars doing 80 in the left lane are going too slow, so he speeds up and tries to cut in from the right. Hey, asshole! There is a reason we're all doing 80 in the left lane -- because the right lane is choked up! Why do you think you're going to do better in the right lane? Even if you do manage to cut someone off and move into the left lane, you're STILL doing no better than you were when you tried to pass on the right!

[KentuckyWoman]

195. You don't get to set the pace

I don't care if you are doing 100 in a 55. If there is a line of cars stuck behind you wanting to go 105 then get your butt out of the lane.

Look I'm always over on the right poking along like a granny. You'll not likely hold me up. But the bottlenecks drivers like you create endanger my safety. You are being rude out there with thinking you have any right to set the pace. Read the thread.

[Atman]

197. You're just totally missing what I'm saying

Completely. If I am in a line of 100 cars (which is what I am talking about) and we're all essentially a "train" moving at the same speed, it is the guy doing 105 who is the asshole. Me moving to the right to let him "pass", and me getting blocked off behind a slow driver and then not being able to move back into the train, does NOTHING for the asshole trying to go 105. The flow of traffic is moving at 75 -- that's the pace that has been set by the volume of traffic, not me. If I'm the guy at the front of the line and there is a line of traffic behind me, I WILL move over. But I will not get out of line just so some other idiot can move one car length forward, and then still be going the exact same speed I was going in the first place. This is NOT about me just cruising along in the left lane blocking traffic, it is about traveling with the flow of traffic.

[liberal N proud]

205. If you are at the front of 100 car line, you are the problem

You are keeping the traffic congested.

Regardless of the speed!

[Atman]

208. Agreed.

Which is what I've been saying all along.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

339. Yes. This was my point up-thread about how I'm not moving out of the way ....

.... for that person unless they have a backward "Ambulance" on the front of their vehicle.

If there are twenty cars ahead of me all doing 80 in a 65 in a high speed bumper to bumper train, I ain't moving unless you are an emergency vehicle.

This is often the case for the left lane inbound to Chicago on I55. 3 lanes hauling ass with the left lane about 10-15 faster than the middle and right. All the lanes are mostly packed so I just jump on the train and don't sweat the fact that I would like to go faster but at least I'm passing the middle and the right.

What I'm NOT going to do is slow down 10-15 mph and jump over just so some tail-gaiting light flashing jag-off who thinks he is an ambulance is going to better his position by ONE car length.

[Atman]

340. Bingo.

Liberal n proud doesn't seem to understand that point. He/she thinks I'm supposed to pull over just because an asshole knows how to flick his brights.

[KentuckyWoman]

344. You are correct

I did misunderstand. Something about your first post gave me the idea you were not moving over because you just preferred to be the one out front setting the pace. I never read the complaint in the OP to include highly congested traffic where all lanes were full so that may be part of why I did not realize you were talking about you being one of the drivers stuck in the middle.

Anyways I gave you a hard time and regret it. I stand by the comments but should not have directed them at you. Sorry about that.

[FatBuddy]

201. you're not a safe driver

[Atman]

212. Yes, in fact, I am.

You're just not a good reader.

As many others have pointed out (one even posting the law which underscores what I'm saying) it is safer to keep up and drive with the flow of traffic than it is to drive too slow and force other drivers to hit their brakes and have to swerve around you. What about that is difficult to understand?

[FatBuddy]

228. no, in fact, you're not

anyone who decides to play "traffic block" is not a safe driver.

What part about "move it to the right" is difficult to understand?

If the hammer lane is doing 90, 100, 120 or whatever and you're doing 80?

Move it to the right.

You don't have to be shown road courtesy by others to show road courtesy yourself.

Happy motoring!

[Atman]

238. Are you deliberately trying to ignore what I'm saying?

And what I have repeated in each of my posts? Where on earth did you get that I'm playing traffic blocker when in EVERY post I have only mentioned keeping up with the flow of traffic? That is all I've said, in addition to the fact that I will always pull over if I see that there is traffic built up behind me. How do you get that I'm blocking traffic by doing the same speed as all the other cars I'm in the lane with?

[FatBuddy]

255. no

i misunderstood what you said.

in a situation like that, disengaging from the hammer lane will break you out faster, especially if you have any proficiency with judging distances and quick lane changes.

[Atman]

270. That's the trouble...

I addressed the right-lane quick changers in another post. When you're driving in heavy high speed traffic and everyone in the left lane is driving at a steady speed, you're inevitably passing driver after driver going "slow" in the right lane. If so much as a three-car-length gap opens up on the right there is always some asshole who cuts over and speeds up, somehow thinking he's going to be able to advance. When EVERYONE in the left lane is doing the same speed (I'm talking miles of traffic, like after a weekend at the ski slopes), what is the point? He either has to then dangerously squeeze back into the left lane, or he's trapped himself in the right lane behind the slower drivers. Again, I'm not talking open highway, I'm specifically referring to when traffic is queued up like after a busy holiday weekend, or in tourist destinations or through cities. As I said, the interstate up here is only two lanes, and if you move into the right lane during heavy traffic, you may well be stuck there for miles. That's why it is better (and safer) to stay in the left lane -- as long as you're keeping up the pace!

[liberal N proud]

274. Others are going the same speed you are only because they can't get by

"How do you get that I'm blocking traffic by doing the same speed as all the other cars I'm in the lane with?"

If they are behind you and going the same speed, it is because you are setting the speed and keeping them from passing, thereby impeding traffic.

[Atman]

291. Ridiculous. Keep trying.

I'm blocking the 50 cars in front of me? The pack of cars I'm right in the middle of, and I'm blocking all the ones I can't get by in front of me? We're all driving the same speed! How is it even possible for me to BLOCK the cars in front of me?

You're desperate to find a way to make me out to be some sort of left lane squatter you can hate on, when NOTHING I've posted says anything other then me keeping pace with the flow of traffic. Nothing. Give it a rest.

[liberal N proud]

167. You might want to check the laws on that...

Read the sign and check the laws in your state

Left Lane Passing Laws by State:


The most popular law follows the Uniform Vehicle Code, which says a car driving below the "normal speed of traffic" should be driven in the right-hand lane. Because it indicates "normal speed" instead of saying "speed limit" a driver going above the speed limit but slower than most traffic is still in the wrong.

The states indicated in green dictate that the left lane should be used exclusively for passing or turning left, though most of these limit enforcement to multi-lane highways. The simplest and best laws simply state drivers in the left lane must always yield to faster traffic regardless of the passing car's speed or other factors.
http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

[Atman]

193. That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Again, I'm talking about driving with the flow, the "normal speed of traffic" as the law here indicates. If the right lane is clear, I'll drive in the right lane. If the highway is clear and I happen to be in the left lane when a faster driver comes up behind me I'll move over so he can pass.

To be perfectly clear, I don't drive in the left lane all the time, just because. I'm talking about keeping with the flow of traffic. I'm not pulling into the right lane and getting stuck behind some 60mph idiot just because I'm not "supposed to" drive in the left lane. Trips back from the mountains are a perfect example; traffic is usually fairly heavy, moving at a steady speed. You NEED travel in both lanes because of the volume, but there is always somebody driving slow in the right lane...so if you stay with the group keeping up the pace in the left lane there is far less touch and go braking and need for constant lane changing.

[DesertDiamond]

145. Right on! Also on my bad list are people who get into the carpool lane and then drive 55. Argh!

[yellowcanine]

148. We call that "Nestoring" in the DC area. After some guy named Nestor who did 55 in the left lane.

And bragged about it in a LTTE to the Wash Post. All self righteous about being a one man enforcer of the speed limit. Needless to say, there were many who disagreed with him and let him know what they thought. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately for him this was before the internets.

[Silver Swan]

150. I don't drive.

And even being a passenger scares me.

Especially when my spouse, who generally drives in the right lane at 3 to 5 MPH over the speed limit catches up with a much slower car, and pulls into the left lane to pass. Unless he speeds up to 10-15 MPH over the limit, there is the danger of somebody careening in from the right between us and the car my spouse is trying to pass.

At 70-75 MPH that is terrifying. I apologize to all you speed happy dare devils, but I wish I had a big supply of Valium to take when I need to travel by car.

[El_Johns]

154. Usually the attraction of the left lane is that there isn't other traffic merging into it.

[Atman]

222. That is a key point, and one of my pet peeves.

Interstate 91 through CT is not a "limited access" highway. There are lots of exits and on ramps spaced very close together. What bothers me are the drivers who stay in the RIGHT lane, then have to brake or swerve as if they're surprised when a car tries to merge. Sometimes it just makes sense to stay to the left to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

In another thread I mentioned après ski traffic heading south from VT. It is loaded with NY and NJ drivers amongst us CT and MA drivers. Traffic gets pretty heavy on a Sunday evening, and 91 is only two lanes until you hit Springfield, MA, near the MA/CT border. If you stay in the right lane you're actually causing problems, as traffic is constantly trying to merge in. You force on-ramp traffic to stop, and then they have to try to go 0-65 in a very short distance forcing the right lane traffic to slam on brakes or try to quickly cut into to fast-moving left lane traffic. It is actually SAFER for everybody for through traffic to maintain a steady speed in the left lane instead of forcing lane changes and sudden braking by staying in the right lane just because someone thinks you're "supposed to."

[pnwmom]

158. Are you reading the other damn signs?

The ones that clearly say SPEED LIMIT : 65 miles per hour???

I bet you're selective in your sign reading . . . .

Where I live, there's a simple reason people drive in the left lane -- all the lanes are completely full, almost all of the time. If the left lane was only used for passing the other two lanes would be even more crowded.

[liberal N proud]

164. I have sat at the speed limit behinds some asshole in the left lane doing 5 under

You don't have to be speeding to pass vehicles!

You assume that just because I want to pass, that I am speeding!

[pnwmom]

194. I rarely see cars around here going below the speed limit in any lane,

much less the left lane -- unless it's wall to wall, bumper to bumper. And in that kind of traffic, the best use of the left lane is as an additional traffic lane.

http://www.worldofstock.com/stock-photos/the-405-freeway-at-sunset-rush-hour/TRC5002

[liberal N proud]

203. In high traffic, all lanes are used

But in open road general traffic, there is no reason to sit in the left lane when there is room in the right.

[pnwmom]

326. I agree. But we don't see much of that around here, unfortunately.

That's probably why I never see that sign.

[B Calm]

161. When you have trucks that are governed to run no faster than a certain speed

they can't help it. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes to pass another vehicle.

[liberal N proud]

163. I am not concerned about the trucks

They usually get back over as soon as they can.

USUALLY!

[B Calm]

165. Most truckers will use left lane speeders for bear bait. I always

tried my best to stay out of the left lane as much as possible.

[liberal N proud]

171. Exactly, If someone wants to go down the road, I want to let them

Makes it easier for me to push the limit just a little while they are pushing it a lot.

I will push 5 - 7 mph on clear roads and the 10+ can have the road. I will go out of my way to let them get past.

[hobbit709]

169. You must not be driving around here.

Around here they all see the word "Minimum" on the speed limit signs.

[demwing]

180. I'm confident you always stay within the speed limit

Or is it just certain morons ignoring certain signs that so pisses you off?

[liberal N proud]

182. You don't have to be speeding to pass on the freeway

Many are driving under the speed limit and sitting in the left lane.

[demwing]

189. Good, so you observe ALL traffic signs!

never drive above the posted limit, always yield, and always come to a full stop.

Good to hear

[pipoman]

190. My peeve is the self appointed

Traffic enforcers. ..the motivation and/or justification for many left lane hogs. .

[demwing]

235. No I get it

Other people breaking the rules pisses people off, but please don't tell me about the rules that I break...that's just nagging

[NuclearDem]

184. Left lane squatters really grind my gears

[liberal N proud]

185. In a sense, literally

[NCTraveler]

210. I think most people learn these simple rules at a very young age.

When going on road trips with my father, he would explain the rules of the road to me. This started as early as about 12 years old. He was a very non-aggressive driver(defensive driver), yet he would go 10 or so over on longer road trips. He was always very clear that the left lane was good for only one thing, passing.

Far too many people don't have someone like this in their life when growing up. Their parents or loved ones figure that someone else will teach them these lessons or they are not educated on these rules themselves. They don't have parents who explain the things in life that help them to be compatible members of society. To those driving slow in the left lane, those who get enraged at the slow drivers in the left lane, and those who feel anger is an appropriate emotion on the road, you have missed some very important lessons in life and should learn that not everything is about you. In the end it is a lack of education combined with extreme selfishness.

Then again, by the age of 12, my parents had taught me how to balance a checkbook and the importance of budgeting. They never left these things up to the school system or anyone else.

[liberal N proud]

225. There used to be Drivers Education classes

Where an instructor taught driving laws and practices then applied them with driving.

Now with the privatization bullshit, we have Driving Schools where the kids go and sit in an old store for six weeks watching movies about car crashes, drunk driving and wreckless teen driving then spend 6 hours behind the wheel where most of it is spent learning to drive through and back up between 5 cones. All at the lovely cost of $500 to mom and dad.

No one teaches drivers how to drive anymore unless they have that nurturing parent and you did and I was lucky enough to also. My dad had be driving everywhere once I had a permit and he was confident I could handle the vehicle. I drove from Iowa to California at 15 with dad in the passenger seat telling my what I should be doing in each situation. Open highway driving, mountain roads and city driving all in one grand trip.

[NCTraveler]

234. When it comes to driving, it sounds like our fathers were similar.

He took the time and gave me all of the tools needed to understand it is one of the greatest responsibilities in life. It is a situation where you have your own life and others lives in you hands. Learning proper technique and etiquette was so important to him. If you learn it young, it sticks with you. I guarantee you and I will pass it along as it was passed along to us.

I did take a driving course when I was younger. My father thought it was important even with all of the time he took with me. The course was based on fear. I don't think it was a bad thing, but it didn't teach how to drive properly as it said it would. It did reinforce the fact that every time you get in a car you are risking your life and others. I think some parents send their children to these courses thinking it will teach them what they need to know when it comes to driving. For the most part, they do not. I don't want to make that a blanket statement as I am sure there are many driving courses that are great. The one I went to wasn't "as advertised".

So much of it is actually very simple. The emotional side is the more difficult part because it is simply up to the individual. Anger has no place on the roads. Anger on the roads is lethal. Even in this thread people are posting how they respond to other motorists when they don't like how they are driving. People, it is at most a couple minutes of your life. There is no need for anger. The accident you are going to cause can be lethal, and on a more selfish note, your irresponsibility could hold me up for hours as they clean up the mess. These emotional responses on the road lead to deaths.

[liberal N proud]

264. My dad taught me to drive my car as well as anticipate what the other drivers were doing

The drivers education was part of our school and was very good with a lot of driving time as well as the laws. I learned to parallel park a Chrysler Station Wagon, very long and wide car. That is what the school used for drivers ed.

[Lost_Count]

211. Lots of "I'll be damned" and wannabe traffic enforcerers floating around...

Same sort that measure their neighbors grass to make sure they are in compliance...

[MineralMan]

214. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I-94 Westbound passes through St. Paul. In the City of St. Paul, there is a left exit that accesses both another freeway and a downtown street. Shortly after that left exit, still on I-94, drivers can merge onto I-35E Southbound, also from the left lane only. What that means is that drivers who will be using either of those two options have no choice but to merge into the left lane before reaching the exits. Careful drivers make this shift to the left lane early, due to the high traffic density on I-94 Westbound.

Signage on the freeway makes that usage clear with overhead arrows indicating the proper lane to be in to make either the Hwy 52/6th Street exit or the merge to I-35E Southbound. Despite that signage and the common knowledge about those two left lane exits, road ragers commonly zoom up behind traffic in the left lane, flash their lights, and otherwise indicate their displeasure, by tailgating an hand gestures directed at drivers in the left lane who are not moving to the right to let them by.

In that stretch of I-94, there are a total of four lanes for traffic. In that stretch, the left lane is for drivers who will be taking the left exit or merging onto I-35E Southbound. The lane to the right of the left lane is the appropriate lane for those continuing on I-94 Westbound. And yet, angry drivers who think the left lane is always the GO FAST lane appear to believe that everyone should move to the right. They are incorrect.

Further, in Minnesota, traffic laws REQUIRE drivers to move to the left, if safely possible, when emergency vehicles or road crews are on the right shoulder. This also causes some to become angry, when drivers using the right lane shift to the left to obey the law.

It's not always as simple as some seem to indicate.

[liberal N proud]

219. Left exits and merges are an exception

And the Keep Right does not apply in those situations.

But on the open road outside the metro areas, there is no reason to sit in the left lane.

[MineralMan]

224. Yes, they are, but still there are people

who refuse to understand that, and insist on believing that the left lane is for the fastest moving traffic, even in that location. I use both of those left exists frequently, and have been the recipient of many headlight flashes, tailgaters, and middle-finger wavers. It seems that not everyone understands fully.

On the open road, I'm a right-laner, since I generally drive at the speed limit. I do pass, when it is safe to do so, however, in the left lane. Occasionally, someone doing 20 mph over the speed limit does overtake me during a passing of several slower moving vehicles. I can't help in those cases.

[FatBuddy]

229. interstates that pass through downtown areas

are a different matter altogether.

you are correct, it isn't always simple, but it can be very easy: rural interstate configurations are different than urban ones, you drive accordingly to your surroundings.

[MineralMan]

236. Of course they are different, which was my point.

Drivers, however, often still believe that the left lane is only for the fastest traffic, as I also indicated in my reply.

[FatBuddy]

237. sucks

but there isn't much one can do about it with left lane exits.

they probably date to the beginning of the interstate highway construction after ww2. maybe early 50s.

i've often wondered if engineers back then just automatically assumed that people would be courteous to each other when they designed those.

[badtoworse]

223. South Florida is the worst for that.

My friends down there complain about the cue-tip heads doing 50 in the left lane driving a big Lincoln or Caddy.

[liberal N proud]

227. And they all have their left turn signal on

Seen it!

[badtoworse]

231. I forgot that!

[intheflow]

232. They think they are the traffic police.

"If I'm going the speed limit, I'll force everyone else to do it, too." Completely oblivious to the fact they're making the roads more unsafe by doing it since the speeders now weave in and out of the right-hand lanes.

True story: I know someone who was ticketed for going the speed limit in the fast lane because he was impeding traffic flow during rush hour by "excessive riding in the left lane."

[Gidney N Cloyd]

261. We need to find the cop that wrote that ticket and nominate him for a medal.

Just once I'd love to see a cop around here do that.

[treestar]

239. Probably knowing they have to be in that lane in order to

be in the right place to get on the next roadway.

On a plain straight freeway, it would not make sense to do that. In cities where you have to be in a certain lane to get your connection it might explain it.

[liberal N proud]

268. You will find the squatters in the left lane 100 miles from any left exit

Let's see, I am driving from Cleveland to Chicago so if I get in the left lane when I leave Cleveland, I will be able to get in my exit 300+ miles later.

Lame excuse if that is what they are thinking.

[WilliamPitt]

242. Ah, DU.

A zillion-post flame war over driving in the left lane.

My faith in the essential madness of this place is restored.

[liberal N proud]

269. You never know what will fire the place up.

[Vashta Nerada]

243. If they're going the speed limit, there's nothing you should be pissed about.

[Lizzie Poppet]

247. Except maybe that they're breaking the law.

At least they are here in Oregon (and many other states)...

[Vashta Nerada]

251. Going over the speed limit is breaking the law.

No matter what state you're in.

[Lizzie Poppet]

253. Of course. But that in no way alters the fact that so is failing to yield.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

262. I'll bet somewhere between post #1 and #242 that argument's been dealt with already.

[jeff47]

263. And?

Why exactly do you want to break the law in order to prevent other people from breaking the law?

[liberal N proud]

272. See post 181

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4270058

[liberal N proud]

271. Understand why keeping right will help reduce traffic congestion.

Here is another thought experiment to help you see why keeping right will reduce traffic congestion. Imagine there is a slow green car passing an even slower blue car. A red car is behind the green car and wants to go faster. The red car can go faster when one of two things happens: either the green car moves into the right lane or the red car moves into the right lane. As it turns out the green car can move into the right lane sooner than the red car can. In the animation below there are two cases. In the first case the green car stays in the left lane and the red car has to move to the right lane. In the second case the green car moves to the right lane as soon as it is safe to do so, allowing the red car to resume his normal speed sooner. This results in the red car getting to his destination sooner, spending less time on the highway. Please reread the section on how milliseconds add up to gridlock.





http://www.slowertraffickeepright.com/

[OxQQme]

244. Can't find the link

A couple of months ago I came across a link to a dash cam video of a state trooper red lighting a "lane boulder", moving her over to a stop on the shoulder.
Then he turned off the red light and left her there.
I wish I could find the whole vid to post here.
This is a portion found by googling 'left lane squatters':

[Glassunion]

246. I've seen the video you are talking about.

I loved it.

[liberal N proud]

284. Here you go

[Glassunion]

289. I love the NJ State Police sometimes!

This is a section of I80 heading west from I287.

4 Mother F&%$ing lanes, and they have to hang out all the way to the left, with not a thing in front of them. What a maroon.

In NJ, they upped the fine to $300 for cruising in the left lane, along with 2 points on your license recently. I love it.

[liberal N proud]

294. $300 - I wish more states would do that

[fishwax]

245. I know pitbulls, breastfeeding, and the olive garden are far more popular, but

this has always been among my favorite DU flamewar topics

[truebrit71]

248. I was behind one the other day that had a "Get off my tail" sign on the bumper...

...as they were doing 50 in a 55 zone...Perhaps if they did the speed limit that would be less of an issue...

[stopbush]

250. The left lane is typically less bumpy than the right lane,

probably because it gets less truck traffic.

Ergo, people drive in the left lane, even when they're crawling along.

[liberal N proud]

267. That is fine if there isn't any traffic or people don't have to pass on the right

Passing on the right is dangerous.

[Butterbean]

256. That's fine. Just don't ride my ass in the right lane, like I am expected

to move out of the way for you because you want to speed like a demon from hell down the interstate. Nothing pisses ME off more than when I'm in the right lane, and the left lane is clear and free, but some asshole flies up on my ass and rides it because he feels entitled and like I should move over for HIM. Nope. I'm old and crabby and way beyond that bullshit. You ride my ass, I guarantee one thing: I will slow down.

[liberal N proud]

265. That would be stupid to ride someones ass in the right lane

That is what the left lane is for, to get around the vehicles in the left lane. Where are you supposed to go in you are already in the right lane?

[Butterbean]

273. I know, right? It happens to me ALL the time, drives me NUTS.

I have to take straight interstate to get to and from work, and inevitably, some doofus will positively FLY up on my butt on the 4 lane highway, with me going 74 in a 65, in the 3rd lane, as in the next to slowest one. The two left lanes are WIDE open. What does he do? Rides my butt, rides my butt, rides my butt, then gets all pissed off an passes on the right. IT MAKES NO SENSE. People are idiots. It happens to me all. the. freaking. time. I have no idea what the hell their problem is. I will only ride in the far left lane if I'm going to ride with a "wolf pack" and go like...90. LOL.

[liberal N proud]

275. Sounds like drivers in the Gary Indiana/Chicago area

They fly from one side to the other.

I think city driving is nuts sometimes, no one seems to apply any rules or courtesy.

[Butterbean]

281. I never thought of that, but I think you are onto something there.

I notice it rarely happens to me when I'm driving big interstates on long stretches in between cities when we travel out of town, only when I'm on the interstate in town. Huh.

[Sheldon Cooper]

279. You want THEM to obey a sign, so YOU can be free to disobey another?

That's what you're saying? Seems pretty self-centered to me.

[liberal N proud]

280. So many post here justifying breaking one law to stop other from breaking one

Nothing in my original post said anything about breaking any speeding laws. You can drive 65 in a 65 zone and run into left lane squatters. Maybe we should focus on the problem and not try to blame it on something else?

Beside who made them speed enforcers?

[Sheldon Cooper]

283. I'm not justifying anything.

And come on, who's kidding who? You know this is all about speeding, we all know that. But continue on with the rolling smiley thing, if it's working for you.

[Atman]

293. Good idea, why don't you start?

"Maybe we should focus on the problem and not try to blame it on something else?"

[liberal N proud]

299. Think I am wrong?

Check this out!

[Atman]

329. What does this have to do with anything I've posted?

Good luck, Mr. Trooper, trying to get to me in the middle of a pack of 100 cars because you think I AM THE ONE GUY holding up Liberal N Proud! Couldn't be any of the other 100 cars all traveling the same speed, who don't want to pull over into the right lane only to be trapped behind granny for the next twenty miles just so Liberal N Proud can advance ONE CAR LENGTH yet still be stuck in the same queue.

What is your fucking problem?

[Swede Atlanta]

295. I have some sympathy here but not a lot.....

Here in Atlanta even if you are in the far right lane they are driving 65-70 and on your tail.

There are speed limits and those limits are, for better or worse, intended to reflect a reasonable, safe driving speed under normal conditions.

If someone is going 50 in the far left lane when the post speed limit is 65, I agree. But "slower" traffic needs to be understood as traffic that is moving below the posted speed limit, not at the speed you want them to be going.

In my mind if the speed limit is 65 and you are in the far left lane going 65 then there is no need to you to move over as you are not "slower" traffic. You are traffic that is driving at the maximum allowed speed limit.

[BobUp]

296. 2000 miles?

you must be a trucker. I can relate.

[liberal N proud]

300. No I am not a trucker but I understand what they go though

I drive so as not to be a problem for truckers or other drivers for that matter.

[BobUp]

305. I used to

drive a 18, and later went onto expedited, cargo van,, and have driven 2K a week and more, and I thought you were a trucker. I could post cities I've been through where drivers seem to have their heads, you know where, but I don't want to end up being a pinata again here. But you probably know where some of the cities are yourself. Right off the top of my thoughts is the city of Milwaukee. If you've been through there, you know it.

[liberal N proud]

306. It has been a long time but yes

I think they get some of their driving skills from Chicago.

[BobUp]

310. Not sure

but I learned how to drive in the show me state, later experience in the military, and driving trucks later in life, about 45 years driving experience. I thought Chicago drivers showed both extremes, some of the best and some of the worst, nothing in between.

[liberal N proud]

312. Having driven though through Chicago many times

You sure notice the bad crazy ones.

The Tri-State Thruway can be insane but unless there is congestion or an accident, you can sure make time through there.

[BobUp]

316. $250.00

later, yes, I made time, for awhile, then he got me.

65 in a 55, alongside another going 65, I tried to plead my case with the trooper, but he told me he wasn't clocking the other, just me.

So, I pleaded guilty, plea bargain, went to school, paid the fine, and kept clean for 12 months, no points assessed and no insurance rate hike, it turned out okay. I dislike toll roads, especially the Oklahoma Turnpike. Enormous tolls and the road is a glorified cow path.

[Sancho]

297. haha, come to Florida this time of year!!!

I think that when I retire, I'll move up North, get in the left lane, and drive slow...and don't get me started on rolling road blocks.

[liberal N proud]

301. I did that for several years

I spent several new years in Florida over the last decade. I know what you mean.

[Initech]

303. It's equally as bad as people who don't yield on yield on left hand turn signals.

[liberal N proud]

304. Agreed

[rhett o rick]

307. I drove approx 1,000 miles in Great Britain and never once had a problem with squatters.

There of course the squatters would be in the right lane.

In Germany if there is any room in the right lane you are expected to be there. They turn their lights on when they venture into the left lane to indicate they are passing.

I was on a tour bus in Germany and he hardly ever slowed down on the freeway. He would drive his assigned speed limit, which was lower than cars, and when he came up behind a slower car in the right lane, and I me right behind, he would signal and pull into the left lane. If there were cars there, they get out of the way. It's expected and you can anticipate it. Immediately, and I mean immediately when there is a cars length, he would pull back into the right lane. It all worked so much better than the USofA.

As bad as hogging the left lane are the idiots that hog the center land of a three lane road. They will be almost bumper to bumper making it difficult to get back and forth across the freeway. It's mostly older people that dont want to be bothered by on ramp traffic.

[liberal N proud]

308. Europeans are far more considerate behind the wheel than Americans

Americans become monsters when they get in the car.

Americans are self righteous.

[rhett o rick]

311. That's a good point. Another possible reason is that IMO European drivers are more daring.

Older Americans like to get in the left lane because they dont like dealing with on ramps. I am not sure but I think more older Americans drive.

But the self-righteousness is a problem. Some think that if they are going the speed limit, they can stay in the left lane.

[liberal N proud]

313. As many in this thread argue

They think that they are justified to be in the left lane as long as they are driving the speed limit.

[rhett o rick]

315. Without enforcement, things arent about to change. nm

[SomethingFishy]

318. George Carlin on driving:

"You ever notice when you are driving that anyone going slower than you is an asshole and anyone going faster than you is a MANIAC!"

[liberal N proud]

321. There sure are a lot of assholes on the roads

And a few maniacs. I try to avoid the assholes and just get out of the way of the maniacs and hope I don't see either again.

[Snarkoleptic]

328. What I find irritating is when someone is poking along in the left lane, spots me approaching,

and then speeds up after getting over into the right lane. Sure showed me a thing or two!

[Atman]

331. Tacking this on to the end. Vermont.

I frequently drive to Vermont from my home in Connecticut. In the winter, nearly every weekend. We joke about slow traffic. If you get jammed up, it is a virtual gaurantee that the first car in line is a Subaru (the official car of Vermont) with Vermont plates. The locals seem to live to drive 5mph below the speed limit on the mountain access roads, just as a "fuck you" to the tourists who pay all their bills.

I'm not kidding...tourists pay virtually all of Vermont's bills. Even if you're making cheese and maple syrup, who are you selling it too? Tourists. Run a country store? Tourists. Yet, drive any road in Vermont and you'll be stuck behind a Subaru going 30 mph. And the driver is laughing and telling his goats to quiet down and lay low.

[ozone_man]

334. Really?

I'm a Subaru driving Vermonter, but in my experience, we drive what the road is safe to drive at, keeping in mind speed traps, which may not be obvious to flatlanders. Use cruise control. It's a great winter car, but just like any other when there's icy roads, like right now.

In my experience, it's more the Vermonter with the old pickup truck going 25 in a 30mph zone. And they make me mad!

[Atman]

341. Really.

There are hot spots...Grafton, for instance. The cops are ALWAYS there. You get a ticket for 3 mph over the 35mph limit. I know all the speed traps. I'm talking about the locals who know they have twelve cars behind them and deliberately drive below the speed limit. We pay your taxes, yet you hate on us. Even having grown up in a tourist town myself, I don't get it.

[pnwmom]

373. Is this post a joke, too? n/t

[Atman]

374. We spend a lot of time in Vermont.

We were swimming in a quarry one day, a pretty well known area but still off the beaten path. We parked by the side of the road and hiked in. An old dude on an ATV rode up and told us all to get lost. He said it wasn't his land, but it didn't matter...he just hated all us damned out-of-staters coming up to his state acting like we own the place. We were swimming, not acting like we owned the place. We had lunch in town, we patronized local businesses, we put money into the local economy, but this guy was infuriated at our very presence in "his" state. I get that vibe from the drivers who block the two-lane roads to the mountains.

We always stop at the local businesses; the little coffee shop in Jamaica, or the country store in Grafton, wherever. I truly love Vermont. But for a state with so little industry or sources of income, it is surprising how nasty some of the locals can be. Of course, they always love to see us at the mountains. Those people know who is buttering their bread!

[pnwmom]

376. I used to love going to Vermont, when I lived on the east coast.

I suspect traffic is a lot worse there now, just like it is everywhere. But I really don't think most drivers who are slower are doing it to annoy other people. Lots of them are just older people who haven't adjusted to more cars on the road, and everybody going faster.

[liberal N proud]

335. Once and awhile one of those Subaru escapes and can be seen roaming the left lane of an. Iowa or

Georgia freeway. You can spot them miles away.

[JVS]

346. The speed limit isn't a minimum.

[pnwmom]

356. It seems awfully narcissistic to claim that the Vermont locals are driving more slowly

than the tourists from places like NYC and Boston because they're saying FU to the tourists. Probably they're just used to the slower paced life of Vermont.

Why do you assume it's all about you? Maybe you should get over yourself. That way you'll have a better time in Vermont while you're spending your money there.

[Atman]

359. Relax.

I forgot about the DU Humor Police. Did you miss the word "joke" right at the beginning of my post?

[pnwmom]

372. Then maybe don't say, "I'm not kidding" when you are kidding.

[Atman]

375. That was the second paragraph.

And I wasn't kidding. What other "industry" does Vermont have other than tourists? Shipping, maybe? Cheese and syrup? As I stated, I grew up in a tourist town (Cocoa Beach). Yes, the tourist were a PITA, but we always made them feel welcome. It paid the rent and kept the cash registers spinning.

[Silent3]

358. Quite often around here, the entire right lane is going slow, for miles.

It's a combination of slow drivers who want to be slow drivers, and tailgating assholes who refuse to use the passing lane and somehow think they'll just pressure everyone to go faster for them in the right lane.

When conditions are like this, everyone in the left lane is passing, but they are never done passing. It's fine to say you're supposed to get back into the right lane when you're done passing, but that moment seldom or never comes. You aren't passing a single car, you're passing a long, even effectively endless, line of cars.

If I'm already at or above the speed limit in the left lane, I don't have much respect for people who can't be satisfied with the speed that most of the left lane is going, who come along, tailgating one car after another, as if everyone is supposed to go even faster to accommodate them, or as if they expect (to the extent they're thinking this through at all, actually bothering to consider what their need for speed requires) one car after another after another keep merging back into the slow left lane to clear the way for them.

[Atman]

360. Bingo.

I think you described it better than I did. "Endless passing." But then you people like liberal_n_proud who actually do think everyone should move over -- and get themselves blocked in with the slow drivers -- just so he can drive 5 mph faster and then tailgate the next guy until he pulls over, too.

[Th1onein]

351. Sounds like you've got an incipient case of road rage.

NO place is worth getting there faster if you have a wreck. Calm down. People aren't perfect.

[liberal N proud]

361. How is rant about assholes road rage?

Are you a psychologist?

[Th1onein]

371. Do you know what the word "incipient" means?

My bachelor's is in psychology, as a matter of fact.

[99Forever]

365. On my list of issues in my life...

... this makes it, but just barely. There's are just too many really bad things happening that have a REAL adverse affect on people to spend much energy worrying about this kind of thing.

Running so late that you "have" to speed to get there on time? Try leaving a little earlier, takes the stress away of trying to control what others do.

[tritsofme]

367. Pretty simple, anyone going less than 80 in the left lane should face summary execution.

Have we covered that yet?

[klook]

381. Good application for drones

in the minds of many road-ragers, no doubt.

My question is, what's next on the DU Fight Club calendar? Maybe we can argue about salad dressing for a while...I can't remember seeing that before.

"Ranch? Fucking RANCH?!?1?! Have you ever even TASTED balsamic??!1?1!" etc.

[A HERETIC I AM]

386. A Hooters thread any day now. n/t

[CTyankee]

385. I never get in the left lane unless I absolutely MUST pass someone, which is rare...

The left lane scares me. People there seem to feel invincible. I want to keep a safe distance from THEM. They are the worst to face, IMO. Clueless, uncaring (even about their own safety) and, in some cases, just stupid.

I am happy to give them wide berth and say "Have a great life!"

[MannyGoldstein]

377. Autobahn rules, rule

Left lane should *only* be for passing.

[liberal N proud]

380. Exactly!

You don't screw around on the Autobahn, they will run you off the road if the cops don't get you first. All these self-righteous drivers trying to justify lane squatting because those who are trying to pass are speeding is absurd.

[Phlem]

383. OMG.

I thought I was the only one that felt like this. They can fucking cause traffic accidents!
Thank you!



-p