It's impossible to enjoy driving these days.

[Autobahn88]

I just feel that if there is someone on my bumper while I am in the left lane I will scoot over to the right and let him/her pass. It is not up to me to police how fast they are going nor is it smart. They could be some lunatic or generally have an emergency. No skin of my back to let them go.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
I just feel that if there is someone on my bumper while I am in the left lane I will scoot over to the right and let him/her pass. It is not up to me to police how fast they are going nor is it smart. They could be some lunatic or generally have an emergency. No skin of my back to let them go.

AMEN! Somebody gets it!

 

[GMBoy]

I just got back from a mini vacation towing my RV. So I'm stuck behind a tractor trailer in the right lane. I wait my turn, pull out to pass and off I go gathering steam and I work up to about 80mph and getting going good then BAM! this idiot just pulls over in front of me to pass but not going my speed. Now since we're going uphill and I worked soooo hard to build my steam I just drift onto his bumper (he came right over on me so I would never be able to stop in time) so he finally sees this huge rig behind him than he figures he better move over and does. Idiot!

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
I just feel that if there is someone on my bumper while I am in the left lane I will scoot over to the right and let him/her pass. It is not up to me to police how fast they are going nor is it smart. They could be some lunatic or generally have an emergency. No skin of my back to let them go.

AMEN! Somebody gets it!


+9.9 X 10^?

I think too many people have learned driving in a "herd" mentality. Get in line and ..well, sit there.

I don't see what's so difficult in expecting from yourself what you expect from others.

Everyone needs a 3 series BMW somewhere in their driving history coupled with the will to drive well. Any comparably responsive vehicle will work. Then you can ..maybe..take driving seriously.

My take is that if I'm "in the way" of someone driving faster, regardless of my advancing on the lane next to me, AND I have opportunity to "get out of the way" ..I do. I can get back in the lane when they pass.

To do otherwise makes me a rolling barricade and all others are subject to my determination of when I feel that I've reached the front of the line.

Now beyond a certain traffic density this may not be practical, but at that point I think that I'm the one who should alter my behavior to keep up the pace since I'm hogging available opportunity in precious real estate that others can capitalize on.

If I'm in the way, I don't deserve to be there. I need to move to the slower lane or suit up for being with the big boys and move.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan

My take is that if I'm "in the way" of someone driving faster, regardless of my advancing on the lane next to me, AND I have opportunity to "get out of the way" ..I do. I can get back in the lane when they pass.

To do otherwise makes me a rolling barricade and all others are subject to my determination of when I feel that I've reached the front of the line.

Now beyond a certain traffic density this may not be practical, but at that point I think that I'm the one who should alter my behavior to keep up the pace since I'm hogging available opportunity in precious real estate that others can capitalize on.

If I'm in the way, I don't deserve to be there. I need to move to the slower lane or suit up for being with the big boys and move.


My sentiments exactly. If you want to enforce the speed limit become a LEO.

 

[grampi]

Loogie

What is your reason for driving in the left lane if lanes to your right are open? I see people doing this quite often and I just don't understand the logic behind it. I don't see what's so difficult about following the "keep right except to pass" rule.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Loogie

What is your reason for driving in the left lane if lanes to your right are open? I see people doing this quite often and I just don't understand the logic behind it. I don't see what's so difficult about following the "keep right except to pass" rule.


I agree with this...Just last night I had to swing around several cars who were poking along in the left lane...I noticed the car that did it after me [on one of the times] was so annoyed he pulled smack in front of the slow poke in the left almost causing a chain reaction accident.

There should be a law in every state that the left lane is for passing only.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Loogie

What is your reason for driving in the left lane if lanes to your right are open? I see people doing this quite often and I just don't understand the logic behind it. I don't see what's so difficult about following the "keep right except to pass" rule.

Evidently, he feels he can drive in any lane he wants, at any time, and he thinks it is up to the rest of us to show him why he shouldn't.

Or, he actually does understand the "keep right except to pass" rule, doesn't care to follow it for some reason, and wants to show everyone how awesome he is by defying it openly.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: grampi
Loogie

What is your reason for driving in the left lane if lanes to your right are open? I see people doing this quite often and I just don't understand the logic behind it. I don't see what's so difficult about following the "keep right except to pass" rule.

Evidently, he feels he can drive in any lane he wants, at any time, and he thinks it is up to the rest of us to show him why he shouldn't.

Or, he actually does understand the "keep right except to pass" rule, doesn't care to follow it for some reason, and wants to show everyone how awesome he is by defying it openly.


A valid question, and an answer that makes sense. I would add that I suspect that a lot of these left lane cruisers are classic passive-aggressive personalities. Frustrated in other areas of life, and unable to resolve that frustration, they seek activities that give them the feeling of exerting power and authority over others. There is no logical reason for hanging out in the left lane when the right lane(s) are equally or better accessible. Passive-aggressive behavior is my favored theory.

 

[d00df00d]

You might be right. I don't want to go on talking too long about Loogie and seeming to put words in his mouth, but I just want to say something that I've said before in another thread:

I used to BE one of those people. I would drive along in the left lane at whatever faster-than-the-limit speed I felt was right, regardless of anyone else on the road. I did it because the left lane was where I felt comfortable for some reason; maybe because all the other cars were to my right, which means I always had at least half a car between them and me. If someone rode my bumper or flashed high beams at me, trying to go faster than me, I even took it upon myself to brake-check them and block them if they changed lanes to pass me, because I felt that I was going as fast as a person should go, and anyone trying to go faster was a danger.

Eventually I realized a few things:

1. Every single one of those acts created dangerous and stressful situations that could be avoided entirely if I just took 5 seconds to swallow the pride I should never have had in the first place.
2. If someone is driving much faster than me, I want them in front of me so that they get caught in the speed traps instead of me.
3. I pay taxes for emergency services. If there is an emergency vehicle (marked or unmarked) in the left lane, I do not want to get in their way. In fact, I want the left lane to be as clear and free as possible.

Coincidentally, it was around that time that I stopped hogging the left lane and acting like a vigilante traffic cop. Go figure.

 

[ekpolk]

There may also be another "macho" or "Type-A personality" issue in play as well. Notice how many people refer to the left lane as 'the fast lane". The implication of that incorrect description of the left lane is, of course, that the right lane must be the slow lane. In my view, anyway, except perhaps for overcrowded urban stretches of the Interstate system, there simply is no such thing as a "slow lane" anymore.

I have long wondered whether this wrong-headed view of the highway lane structure contributes to some (certainly not all) Type-A, macho, testosterone-soaked guys staking out the left lane, as if it's their own territory because cruising in the "slow lane" is simply inconsistent with their overinflated views of themselves.

There, I'm done playing shrink for today (I think...).

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk

I have long wondered whether this wrong-headed view of the highway lane structure contributes to some (certainly not all) Type-A, macho, testosterone-soaked guys staking out the left lane, as if it's their own territory because cruising in the "slow lane" is simply inconsistent with their overinflated views of themselves.


On the other hand, they could simply be brain-dead morons...

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
...

On the other hand, they could simply be brain-dead morons...


Oh, make no mistake about it -- there are plenty of them too.

 

[sciphi]

The only time I'll hang out in the left lane is when my path of travel is to the left, and the lanes to my right are marked "Exit" for another road. IMO, I'm in the right-most travel lane for my direction. The lanes to the right are exiting, so the traffic there shouldn't be steamed when I'm obeying the speed limit in that rightmost through-travel lane. Of course, the bullies and lane-cutters will be.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
The only time I'll hang out in the left lane is when my path of travel is to the left, and the lanes to my right are marked "Exit" for another road. IMO, I'm in the right-most travel lane for my direction. The lanes to the right are exiting, so the traffic there shouldn't be steamed when I'm obeying the speed limit in that rightmost through-travel lane. Of course, the bullies and lane-cutters will be.


A perfect illustration of the idea that common sense should always play a role. In my "mental map" of places that I drive, locally and out of my daily driving area, there are about a half-dozen LEFT exits I can think of off the top of my head. When one encounters non-standard conditions, we should ALL be reasonable and ADAPT to the conditions. Nobody NEEDS to make a pass on the left when a bunch of traffic is trying to negotiate a left-side exit. A perfect example is where the Florida Turnpike cuts off from I-75 South in Mid-Florida. At virtually all times, a zillion or so vacation drivers will be trying to make the left exit whilst heading for Disney, etc. At the same time, all the time, there's a steady flow of speeding Q-tips and other assorted whatevers headed for Tampa. Almost every time I negotiate this stretch, I observe tailgating, light-flashing, and so forth, as some retired Dermatologist from Chicago, headed for Tampa in his Mercedes tries to run a Disney-bound family in their Odyssey off the road because they're slowing down in the left lane. Hey man, grow some stones and take that left exit at 85!

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
There may also be another "macho" or "Type-A personality" issue in play as well. Notice how many people refer to the left lane as 'the fast lane". The implication of that incorrect description of the left lane is, of course, that the right lane must be the slow lane. In my view, anyway, except perhaps for overcrowded urban stretches of the Interstate system, there simply is no such thing as a "slow lane" anymore.


In a large urban area, and every interstate highway I've ever driven on, the left lane is typically the faster moving lane, and faster drivers typically use the left lane. Now, you always get some bonehead that thinks the left lane is his own personal driving lane regardless of how slow he's going and how much traffic they are holding back. Most drives treat the left lane on a multi-lane highway as the faster moving lane, and the right lane as the slower moving lane.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

The governor in Florida a few years back [at the time Jeb Bush] refused to sign a bill to keep the left lane for passing only as their was so many complaints...The bulk of the idiots down here do not even move over for the police...I do see the FHP and other agencies put on their overheads when they are behind them and try to get them to move over...Most times it works but not always...A few idiots pulled over on the left shoulder thinking they were being stopped but were surprised when the cops just kept on going.

The governor we have now [Charlie Crist] signs a red light camera bill to make everything nice and legal but does absoultely nothing to stop texting and talking while driving...He is not getting my vote.

Driving from Miami to NYC I see the clowns poking along in the left lane in every state...South Florida is the worst of worst when it comes to that.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: ekpolk
There may also be another "macho" or "Type-A personality" issue in play as well. Notice how many people refer to the left lane as 'the fast lane". The implication of that incorrect description of the left lane is, of course, that the right lane must be the slow lane. In my view, anyway, except perhaps for overcrowded urban stretches of the Interstate system, there simply is no such thing as a "slow lane" anymore.


In a large urban area, and every interstate highway I've ever driven on, the left lane is typically the faster moving lane, and faster drivers typically use the left lane. Now, you always get some bonehead that thinks the left lane is his own personal driving lane regardless of how slow he's going and how much traffic they are holding back. Most drives treat the left lane on a multi-lane highway as the faster moving lane, and the right lane as the slower moving lane.

I have been driving since 1976, and have pretty well figured out that generally, traffic on the left moves faster than traffic on the left. That's as it should be, but without respect for the primacy of the keep right except to pass rule, you'll get frustrating gridlock instead of orderly flow. Now, in urban settings, traffic saturation will often dictate use of ALL lanes for travel. In that case, sure, faster traffic will and generally be to the left, and traveling there. Consistent with safety, drivers should still make a reasonable effort to faster traffic to move by on the left.

 

[occupant]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk

The optimuim limit is 70mph. Modern cars are capable of these speeds and still be safe.
Quote:



OK, just read in the local news speeding driver hits another driver. Another driver killed by someone disobeying the law. Don't tell me speed doesn't kill. Maybe you'd like to inform the deceased family that speed doesn't kill. I do not have the stats, only need to read the news on a daily basis.


OK, I will say it openly and directly -- speed does NOT kill. Human misjudgments are what kills people, not "speed". The sad truth is that you've bought into a catchy slogan, which is little more than that. It's true enough that when some idiot is running down a wet interstate at 90 on bald tires, and he kills someone, it's easy to say "speed kills". But speed didn't kill, the driver's horrible, criminal decision to select a speed that was unsafe is what actually killed.

And consider the flip side -- every year, a sad multitude of people are killed in very low speed accidents. A child gets backed over in a driveway. A mid-speed crash starts a fire that burns up a car's occupant. And so on. Shall we start a "slow kills" campaign too?

So no sir, speed does not kill. Bad judgment by humans does. Sloganism is a nice way of propagandizing the public to do one thing or another, but at the end of the day, it obscures the truth. Maybe the closest thing to the "speed kills" slogan that matches the truth would be, "driving at any speed, fast or slow, that doesn't match the conditions, kills". Sure, from an ad man's perspective, it's a poor "slogan," but it's much closer to the truth than "speed kills".


jcwit, are you trying to say that we are all...

UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED

...because then I would have to ask you and Mr. Nader to leave the thread...

In all seriousness, I will drive as safely as possible with my limited capacity when in my Gran Torino. That means yes, I will not exceed 55mph or so but I will move over when safe. And when not safe, well, just be considerate and you won't be scrambling through your car for a towel or something.

Now that I have this $225 Cutlass Ciera to use as a beater until I can replace the engine in the land yacht, I can easily go 70mph in that. I could go faster, but why? It doesn't save enough time to be worth it. In fact I may find myself at 65mph simply because it's easier to hold the very lightly-sprung gas pedal at that speed than at 70mph where the car wants to creep up in speed. Without working cruise control and with a car that CAN drive safely over 55mph, I have to do whatever is necessary.

 

[SteveSRT8]

most municipalities do not even follow the law when setting speed limits!

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q2/feeding_the_machine_sandbagging_on_speed_limits-feature

So what now?