kutulu

So there is an article on fark about Colorado troopers giving out tickets to people camping in the left lane. It inspired the typical 500+ comment flamewar. Instead of posting there, I thought it might be good to see what people here think of it all. Here are my thoughts:

First, all rules go out the window during peak traffic hours. In Phoenix, freeways like I-10 have 4 lanes plus a carpool lane. There is just too much traffic to have people leaving one lane open for the 'fast' drivers because everyone is pretty much driving as fast as they can. IMO, if you are upset about everyone else slowing you down you need to look around and get over yourself. If there is any lane that should be 'reserved' for a certain group of drivers I think it should be the far right lane.

Second, there are smaller freeways and interstates that get a pretty good amount of traffic. I-10 between Phx and Tucson is a good example. It is 2 lanes and is very busy. The speed limit is 75 and people go between 65-90. I prefer to drive between 80-85 usually. Although moving over is the 'nice' thing to do, you have to slow all the way down to whatever the slow lane is moving at and then its difficult to get back to the left lane. I try to be courtious to those that want to drive faster than myself. I'll move over when there is a nice clear spot for me but I will NOT move over and get stuck in the slow lane just so someone else can go an extra 5 mph. I also will not move over if there is a car ahead of me traveling at the same speed.

A lot of people bitch about people camping in the left lane. They say they those people drive unsafely and proceed to tailgate them. Once a person starts being a dick I will refuse to do anything to accomidate them.

What are your thoughts?

Coppertop

There are two pertinent rules of driving:

1. Slower traffic yield to faster traffic
2. Slower traffic keep right

These seem so simple, and yet are so seldomly adhered to. I think these two things need to be more emphasized in traffic school. Driving would be so much more enjoyable and safe for all if these freeway courtesies are followed. A pipedream, I know.

kutulu

That's exactly what I'm talking about. It's not that simple and it is not effective use of multiple lanes during high traffic times.

raveneye

Here in Miami, the same law is about to pass. The rationale for the law is essentially road rage. Car 1 is in the left hand lane, closely tailgated by Car 2. Driver in Car 1 is pissed off because Car 2 is tailgating, considers Car 2 an idiot and ignores it. Car 2 flicks its lights to tell Car 1 to switch lanes. Car 1 gets more pissed. Car 2 flicks lights again, Car 1 says that's it, and hits the brakes to teach Car 1 a lesson. Big accident. Everybody in the vicinity is lucky they weren't killed.

This kind of thing happens a lot here. I don't mind the new law (not that there's anything anybody can do about it). It creates a little inconvenience, but probably makes the freeway a bit safer.

meembo

These discussions lead to a more intersting discussion about the relevancy of speed limits vs. the dangers of pissing off that one asshole with a pistol under his seat. I like to think that in any direction of traffic with more than 2 lanes, it's the right thing to do to let the motorheads doing 90 mph pass in the far left lane, instead of the honking and the flashing lights and the weaving that seems to be the only alternative for the guy who MUST go 3 mph faster than everyone else. Dealing with the merge and slowing/speeding is a small price to pay to avoid the one little dude with the huge ego. Evolutionarily, those kinds of drivers pay the price somewhere down the road in an accident.

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TM875

See, this is still a connundrum to me. I typically drive in the left lane (because I typically move faster than the average mini-van), but if there's a car behind me who wants to go faster, I move over at the first oppurtune moment (that is, when I'm not going to have to shift right and slam the brakes to not hit the guy going 50 in front of me). That being said, I can't STAND people who tailgate you when there is a line of traffic in front of you. Obviously, I'm not going to move over, because there's 20 cars in front of me all going the same speed.

In other words, don't slow the left lane down. However, if the lane is crowded - and there's nothing you can do about it - then don't ride up my ass.

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Squishor

I've spent a lot of time on a car forum where this topic gets discussed to death. There are a lot of people out there screaming, "Stay Right Except to Pass!" but the fact is, I don't really see how this works in the real-life situations I find myself driving in. I have concluded that these people must be talking about different types of roads than the ones I drive on. I have no desire to hold anybody up, and appreciate it when others let me pass by, but if I stayed in the right lane I would be piddling along behind some fish delivery van at 50 mph, and I have no intention of letting that happen to me.

When I try to envision "stay right except to pass" I get a mental picture of a road where the right lane is impossibly clogged up with cars, and where those cars are jumping in and out of the left lane like pogo sticks as they pass each car in front of them and then merge back over. How could this possibly be considered safe?

Pretty much I figure when I get in the left lane and stay there, I am passing. I'm passing every car in the right lane as I go by, and I see no need to join them unless it's to move over for some speed racer who wants to go faster than me.

Willravel

I usually use the fast lane, because I enjoy driving at the speed limit or slightly above (but still safe). I happen upon slow people all the time. What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?! I don't worry about it. No, they aren't following the law (see Coppertop's post), but I am not here to enforce it. I never tailgate, I never flash my highbeams, I never honk. I turn on my left turn signal for 4 or 5 blinks (something I picked up in Germany). If they don't get it, I just slow down. I also don't pass on the right. That's asking for trouble.

If I was a police officer, I would pull people over all the time for being a nuscence in the fast lane. Whether you think the fast lane is necessary or not, it is there. Slower traffic legally must bear right. If I'm on 101 and someone is going 65 in the left lane, I know they are breaking the law, and possilby leading to strokes behind them as far as the eye can see. It's inconsiderate. Not everyone on the highway goes 80. Some people are old, asian, or possilby blind. Heh..Sorry. If you're going to go slow, go to the right lane. Most people slow in the right lane to adjust for the offramps anyway.

RallyEX

I live in a much less populated area that many of you (SE Ohio), so less of this probably applies to me. I was born and raised here, yet I find that a lot of Ohio drivers are morons and camp out in the left lane.

The majority of the problem, I've found, is that even with oncoming (and much faster moving) traffic coming from the rear in the left lane, the standard imbecile ohio driver will dart out into the left lane and go 64MPH to pass someone going 63MPH.

This causes me to get a case of road rage frequently, even though the highways near me are much less congested than more metropolitan areas.

f6twister

The number of people who call me (at work) to complain about someone tailgating them or flashing their lights is unbelievable. The first thing most of us ask is, "what lane are you in"? The usual answer is left. We tell the person calling to move to the right lane. Oddly enough, the tailgater drives past and the situation is resolved. We have even had a few people express their astonishment that the issue was so easily resolved. This isn't to say that I agree with tailgating and flashing your lights at someone because they won't drive the 30+ miles an hour over the speed limit as some people like to do.

All most people need is to relax, take a deep breath and let traffic flow.

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Zeraph

I agree with the original poster (and also happen to live in phoenix) but what is with the flashing lights? To me flashing has always meant as a friendly warning of something, like leaving your drink on the top, having your brights on, or warning of an upcoming speed trap. And honking has always been "get out of the way" or "wake up" to me basically. Ugh and what's worse is when people start flashing you when its like 2 lanes and bumper to bumper. WTF am I supposed to do? Fly out of the way?

jwoody

Sit back, slow down, relax and sing my favourite driving song.

http://www.cybertrucker.co.uk/convoy.mp3

On my drive home from work there's a stretch of winding road that snakes uphill for about 3-4 miles. You can see all the way back down from the top. My record is something close to a 50 car 'convoy' by the time I hit the gridlocked traffic at the top.

c172g

How I've waited for this thread!

If you look at the report from the Colorado troopers, I believe they said that 90% of the people that they ticketed were unaware of the "left to pass, drive right" rule of the road. I know I wasn't taught it when I started driving, but my dad (who put on a lot of miles) made sure I understood.

I used to put on a ton of expressway miles and still drive the Michigan interstate regularly. Our speed limit is 70, I drive 80. For the most part, I camp in the left lane but am very aware of traffic coming up on me. I get the hell out of the way long before they would ever need to hit their brakes. It's common courtesy in my opinion.

When the roads are congested the rules go out the window. Sit in line with everyone else & creep along. However, when their is room to do so, move over. That's the idea of an expressway. If it was acceptable for everyone to go the same speed, dictated by the slowest guy on the road, there wouldn't be any need for multiple lanes except to reduce congestion.

If I'm next to a string of five or six cars (me in the left lane) and a car comes up on me, I speed up five or ten miles an hour, get out of their way & let them by.

My other major bitch is people who don't use cruise & can't seem to keep their foot in the same position. I set my cruise on 80, and most vehicles these days on flat roads can hold it within 2-3 mph. Joe dumbass goes 75 in front of me, when I pull out to pass he bumps it up to 85. After I settle back in behind him, it's back to 75. That pisses me off worse thant the slow left lane drivers!

It's been said before, but anyone who drives slower than you is traditionally an asshole, those driving faster care crazed idiots! Take notice next time you drive on the expressway with someone, it's almost always the case!

JustJess

A friend's dad used to say "Try to never make anyone else brake". That seems to be a pretty good rule to abide by, and if you're doing that, you're prob'ly decently considerate.
For myself... I speed, but not more than 10-15 over the speed limit. I'll move over when I have a chance, but no, I'm not going to move when it would mean slamming on my brakes. As for the absolute dickwad motherfuckers who think it's okay to bright and honk, nothing makes me crazier. I'll let them go by, and then I speed up and leave my brights on for a few minutes just to make myself feel better.
I'd like to be able to take a few deep breaths, I really would, but that isn't easy when all I want to do is get physically violent with them. *sigh* This is why I hate driving in the NYC area - always lots of traffic, always lots of assholes, and I used to *enjoy* driving!! *sigh*

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viejo gringo

I'm sure they don't have any "rules of the road" in Mexico---they get on our side of the border and stay in that left lane, no matter what. I have even seen a cop car pull up behind one and turn his red light on, to get the guy to pull over and quit blocking traffic...

of coarse we have the other extreme...the first sign they see is
"slower traffic keep to right"...for those that can read english, this means to them WAY over on the right...and since we have good paved shoulders, they cross the solid white line and drive on the shoulder....until they hit a pedestrion or pile into the back of a parked car....

it is like a chinese firedrill..

MSD

It works well here on 95. The right lane moves 5mph, the middle 6, and the left lane 7. All three grind to a halt when someone in the left realizes that he can't fit his 25-foot-long SUV through the 8 inches that other drivers have left between their bumpers, and slowly inches right until it ceases to become a matter of courtesy for the middle lane driver and becomes a matter of accident avoidance. The jerkoff then repeats this fo rthe right land, and then pulls into the shoulder and reverses a few hundred feet to the exit he missed (not to say that this is typical of all SUV drivers, I've seen every kind of car do it, but the SUV's are biggest and disrupt the most when they do.) I try to do my part to do my part to keep traffic moving by not tailgating, keeping left until about two miles before my exit, and then moving right as the opportunity presents itself, and signaling well ahead of times, and changing lanes ASAP when I see "Lane Closed" construction signs.


I also make people angry by slowing to 45mph for construction zones when workers are walking on the shoulder with nothing shielding them from traffic. Sure, I lose a bit of time, but people have a lower chance of dying when I'm not speeding by them at 85mph (about how fast I go in the left lane on uncongested roads with little to no speed enforcement.)

StephenSa

In Texas it is illegal to impede the flow of traffic. Even if you are going the speed limit and the person behind you is flying at one hundred twenty if you don't move to the right to let them by you are in the wrong. Sure the person might just be a dangerous jerk or they might have their daughter in the back seat bleeding to death and they're trying to reach a hospital. Beyond that sort of thing its just common courtesy to move to the right. When you are all boxed in and can't move over sure, it makes no sense but when you can just speed up or slow down a little to move over you being a bit of an ass if you just sit in the passing lane. I generally drive pretty fast and keep a keen awareness of other drivers. If someone comes up on me I just get over, who am I to slow them up? I think some people just become preoccupied while driving and don't even realize they've got a line of cars behind them. It pays to pay attention. Don't just ride behind the wheel, drive. Now if I could just get the police to ticket people for no signal use....

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Cynthetiq

NJ the left (number 1 lane) is for passing only. It's posted all over the place.

Seems to work, and I've seen people pulled over for just cruising on the left lane and NOT speeding.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Janey

I echo the sentiment with respect to common sense. keep right except to pass. Of course, sometimes you get those people who think that your fast isn't fast enough for them, and will tailgate you until you pull over. But instead of getting raged at that, think about it: they have caught up to you, and will sit there behind you until youpull over at the next opportunity. At which point they will pass, but they will not slow down or back off, because of the need to regain their passing speed.

So your job is to pull to the right at the first opportunity, their job is to be patient about it, and overtake once it is safe for all. Nothing to get worked up about if all play their parts right.

An interesting observation: the most polite driving habits that I have seen are in 1) Alberta and 2) Norhtern Ontario, where drivers actually pull over onto the paved shoulder to allow you to pass, if you begin to overtake them. EVEN IF THEY ARE IN THE RIGHT LANE!

Honourable mention goes to Montreal drivers who, contrary to popular belief, seem to live by a code, whereby yes, they may be crazy drivers, but they accept that with an almost Gallic live and let live sentiment, and rarely have I seen a case of road rage there. No one finger salutes or yelling or chasing. Just a devil may care attitude...

By the way, the first post in this thread had me thinking that some tree-huggers in Colorado were actually pitching tents on the highway! very misleading coloquialism employed there...

Gilda

Where I drive most of the time, I'll cruise in the middle lane (of three) at about the speed limit +5, except to pass. When I need to pass, I'll pull into the left lane, pass, and then get back into the middle lane when it is safe to do so. While I'm in that left lane, however, I'll frequently get some jerk zooming up on my bumper and flashing at me. I have the right to get over there to pass, and I'll get back in the middle lane when I can do so safely, meaning leaving a safe distance between me and the car I just passed. Many of the tailgaters don't seem to understand the simple concept of following at a safe distance. As I pass the car on my right, and wait to put a safe distance between us to move right, the jerk behind me will often dart into the tiny gap between me and the car on our right, following me too closely to get to it, and pulling far too closely in front of the car on our right, and pass me on the right. I'll get honked at or the middle finger on occasion. I ignore it.

On rare occasion, I'll get three or four cars going through the small gap that opens up before it's safe for me to move right, resulting in a situation where I'm stuck in the left lane as a series of weeavers pull up close, dart into the right lane, and pass me, all of them close behind the one in front of them.

I have the right to pass in the left lane, and I'm not doing anything wrong by doing that and then waiting for a safe distance before changing back. However, granting for the sake of argument that I am passsing too slowly, or waiting too long to get back in the middle lane, this never justifies tailgating, cutting, pulling closely in front of other drivers, and weaving without using the turn signal.

I wonder if those who are screaming at me for driving safely, according to the law, causing them a minor inconvenience, I wonder if they recognize the hypocrisy in their actions, or just never learned the basic kindergarten rule that another's perceived misbehavior does not justify their own (also known as "Two wrongs don't make a right").

I agree that it never helps to get angry at other drivers, regardless of their behavior. However, I disagree with one part of this. Tailgating is never justified. Everyone, regardless of how fast they want to drive, should follow at a safe distance. Until it's safe to pass. Tailgaiting doesn't help anyone maintain or regain passing speed. You can go just as fast following at a safe distance as you can on someone's bumper, and you have the advantage of being able to stop in time in case of an emergency.

A while back, I had an epiphany regarding inconsiderate drivers, tailgaters, light jumpers and runners, people who make right turns while I'm trying to make a U turn, people camping in the left lane or passing on the right, etc. It's not personal. They're not out to get me, they're just driving by their own set of rules rather than the actual rules of the road. It's like the weather; I can't control it, it won't change if I get mad, so I deal with each situation as it happens stay safe, and don't worry abuout it. My job is to get from point A to point B safely first, and quickly second, avoiding conflict with other cars in the process. Anything that is going to get in the way of that--like confronting other drivers unnecessarily--is useless

Janey

With respect to tailgating, Gilda, I agree with you 100%. Just stating it as I see it. I think that the distance maintained should be analogous to that distance that people keep between you and them at an ATM line up. Politely, and safely respectable.

Unfortunately, cars give people the anonymity to behave rudely.

liquidlight

He's right, that simple or not by argument these are the rules that you should follow. I once heard a state trooper (I live in Utah) make a comment that I found to be very relevant "It is not your job to enforce the law." Therefore is somebody wants to be going faster than you get the hell out of the way. If you can't move over, speed up, you're in the left lane use it!! Otherwise regardless of your intention you're making yourself the catalyst in an increasingly unsafe situation where you're becoming hostile, making the person behind you violent, and often times you're paying so much attention to the jackass behind you that you have no idea what's going on in front of you. I don't get aggravated when I know that the cars in front of me have nowhere to go, high traffic is always going to be there, what pisses me off is that a very mojor portion of the high traffic started out as a single inconsiderate asshole that would follow these rules and created a ripple effect that takes hours to dissipate. Look at the one idiot slowing down to look at the cop with a car pulled over "rubbernecking" because he slowed down now everybody behind him has to compensate, initiating the chain reaction that turns into traffic jams. Quite often around here the accident isn't even impeding traffic!

My last point is that not every car is the same, for instance most of my driving career I've driven smaller cars and more powerful sedans for my commute, but I'm now driving a large pickup and there are remarkable differences. I avoid the left lane in the truck because it doesn't have the power/speed to accelerate and stop quickly, I also leave more space in front of me than I usually would because the truck is damned heavy and takes a little longer. Regardless of the vehicle that you're in you should be aware of it's capabilities and drive accordingly, the flip side being that there is no excuse for people in modern cars to be merging on the freeway down a 1/2 mile onramp at 30 miles an hour! We'd all be a lot better off if almost all of us just paid a little bit more attention to what's going on around us. Like StephenSa said, don't just ride behind the wheel, drive.

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Cynthetiq

not really, because people walking and talking on cellphones are equally rude and inconsiderate... maybe they are even the same people.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

tres

This is exactly how I got my SIG. This is something that will NEVER be solved....

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mr_camo

i prefer to bitch about people camping in the RIGHT lane but i'm from Australia :P

love your sig tres to!

kurty[B]

Just to clarify how the left lane law is spelled out so no one is confused.

It ONLY pertains to two lane highways NOT within city limits. So, the 4-5 lanes in Denver, nothing applies except for maybe the (55mph minimum speed in left lane). Or, as soon as you get within Pueblo city limits, once again, nothing applies. This law is for when travelling between town to town, and some person is cruising along in the fast lane doing 5 under the speed limit, and forcing people to get stuck behind the semi truck their NOT passing.

kutulu

Speaking of semi trucks, I think they should all be restricted to the right lane at all times.

dougiefresh

I'm with mr camo, I was expected an argument about how Euros driving on the left side of the road are better off.

Viejo Gringo: You make a good point about Mexicans driving in the States. Being in San Diego, I know a few Mexican citizens who venture up here. When I give them shit about how they drive loco in Mexico and like grandmoms in San Diego, I always get the same response: They are nervous about being pulled over and feel like a natural target with their Baja Ca. plates. Not that they feel targeted, but, they feel like I do with my California plates when I drove through states like Texas

Cynthetiq

hmmm I just recalled this decal...

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Martian

Basic rules that I follow are:

Always keep right unless passing
Do not tailgate
Let the unsafe drivers pass you whenever possible

I have reasons for all three.

First off, keeping right is common sense. If somebody does want to go faster than me, they have the option to do so. That doesn't leave me in the unsafe position of being tailgated or having some dickwad flashing at me and distracting me.

However, I do drive fast (generally 125-130 on the 401, where the limit is 100), so sometimes it's not feasible. If I tried to stay right, I'd be weaving between two or three lanes in order to maintain speed. This is why there are multi-lane roads.. you use the passing lane to pass. If there are two passing lanes, it's because the passing lane occasionally gets congested enough that another is necessary. So in moderate traffic, yeah.. I do stay in the left line. In light traffic, however, I will always be as far right as I can safely get.

It also makes sense to do it that way, because it's a lot harder to miss an exit.

Second rule : Always give yourself time to react. 'Nuff said.

Third rule is a bit trickier. The basic premise is based on the theory that you have far more control over the space in front of you than you do the space to the sides or behind you. I was taught this years ago, when I first learned to drive. Therefore, if you have a driver who you suspect is unsafe, it makes sense to keep them in front of you where you can keep an eye on them and react as necessary.

I never use cruise control, because I feel that it disconnects me from driving; I don't feel that I pay as much attention when I let the computer control my speed. However, I did take the time to learn how to manipulate the pedals and maintain speed. It surprises me constantly how many people didn't.

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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Reese

Slower Traffic means those going UNDER the speed limit. The speed limit is a LIMIT, not a suggestion and those driving over that limit have no right to bitch about those driving the limit and especially about those driving over the limit but still not as fast as you. I'm not here to argue that the current speed limits are fine the way the are because frankly I believe we can drive faster on some roads without a noticable increase in accidents although there are some good arguements for keeping the limits as is.

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DJ Happy

This reminds me of when my wife was driving in the left lane and some guy behind her was flashing his lights at her. She was getting pissed off at him, until I told her that she should really only be in that lane if she was overtaking (she wasn't). Then she got pissed off at me and said she'd never heard that rule before in her life, she passed her test first time and had never heard anything so ridiculous before. About 5 minutes later she was pulled over by a traffic policeman who asked her why she was cruising in the left lane when she wasn't overtaking and then proceeded to give her a lecture about how the left lane was for overtaking only.

I felt really bad for her, but I also couldn't help feeling just a teensy bit smug too.

highthief

It works well in Britain - there the right hand lane is the fast lane, and no one camps out there. People use it to pass or drive very fast, and even though their highways are smaller than typical north american routes, the traffic went quickly throughout our time there.

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Nimetic

I agree with Kutulu.

If somebody hoons up behind me and gets real close - then sorry, I'm going for max safety, which for me means

1) keep moving in a straight line
2) gradually slow down

It's not really that I want to cause trouble. When I was a new driver I'd speed up (sometimes). Problem is that I'd end up doing 20-30km/h above the limit with a semi 2 metres behind me.

Gilda

I'll use cruise control on long trips; it's just a lot more convenient and doesn't result in any loss of control.

How on earth could someone actually drive if they don't know how to manipulate the pedals to maintain speed? More gas, you go faster, less gas, you go slower. If you don't understand that, you shouldn't be on the road.

I assume you must mean something else, but I have no idea what.

Gilda

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ratbastid

You know who totally follows that rule? Canadians. Politest drivers I've ever seen. I watched trucks pull right OFF a two-lane mountain road to let us pass. Remarkable.

I'm with most everyone--I drive somewhat faster than the general flow of traffic most of the time. I'm not aggressive about it, but I do tend to spend most of my time in the left lane. At the same time, I'm vigilant about watching behind me (as a result of being rear-ended early in my driving career), and I ALWAYS know what's happening behind me. If somebody's coming on strong and I'm in the left lane, I'll scootch over at the first convenient opportunity. If I'm the guy coming on strong, I very much appreciate the same courtesy, though I no longer expect it.

pan6467

I agree. I drive on (the always under construction) I-77 everyday and I go faster than the limit (about 5-10mph), so I stay in the left lane to pass slower traffic. If I have someone coming up behind me and it will not slow me down to move over then I will otherwise..... tough shit and you get on my ass, I'll go the speed of the guy in the right lane just to piss you off. But if you back off the second I can, I'll be more than happy to let you go by.

But overall, as long as I am shown respect I will show it. Back off give me time to move over with out slowing down and I'll move over.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Sgoilear

I actually spend very little time in the left lane as I can go the speed limit in the right hand lane. I actually find that going about 2 or 3 miles under the speed limit in the right hand lane makes driving a whole left stressful. Everyone who's in a hurry can get past me to the left and at worst they'll arrive at their destination 10 minutes before me.

That being said on two lane highways (like Colorado has) go left to pass and get back right. Someone camping in the left lane at the speed limit isn't doing anything too bad. The real dangers are the people who decide to tailgate them.

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percy

I drive only in the right lane except to pass but something that irritates me even more are the people who believe those to the right have the right of way. They don't. For example if I'm driving down the highway and someone is merging onto that highway, as a courtesey and only if it is safe to do so, I'll change lanes so they can get on.

I don't see why people fly out of the right lane, endangering the people already in the left lane to let someone onto the highway going 15 mph. The onus is on the driver merging to get up to speed and safely into traffic, not for everyone else to make concessions to that driver.

And I know because I was involved in an accident right where people get onto the highway. The guy in front of me braked hard to let stupid onto the highway (stupid doing 15 mph) I rear ended the guy in front, the guy behind me rear ended me and on for about 3 more cars. I went to court to claim damages and won. The cop who was at the scene mentioned not only was the driver in front of me at fault for yielding to someone who didn't have the right of way but went on saying that 90% of all highway accidents happen at on ramps to highways because both people on the existing roadway as well as those merging onto the roadway think those merging have the right of way.

I actually think the only time someone to the right has the right of way is when it is marked as such or when 2 or 3 vehicles end up at an intersection at the same time, the car furthest to the right has the right of way..

pan6467

I agree with that to a point, but if you are clear and have the left lane open you should have to merge over. I say this as someone who almost wrecked because an asshole semi chose to play games as I sped up to merge he started barreling then when I slowed down to let him pass so I could merge over he slowed way down. I ended up hitting a construction barrel (they were doing shoulder work).

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"