Keep It Right

[Guest]

Isn't it better to face dudes like this than to pull over?

[rvwnsd]

Drive in Chicago area, and you could be passing on the right 89 times a day. After moving to Chicago, I actually thought they taught them in driver's training to go as quickly as possible to the left lane, stay there regardless of how many people are behind you, and then when you need to exit, act like you own the road and proceed to the right. Urg!

 

It was so prevalent, they actually passed a law about 10 years ago where you could be ticketed and fined for left-lane-lollygagging. However, I never saw a car pulled over for that.

Take the CTA.

[+ azdr0710]

apparently, drivers' ed in high schools is now nearly extinct??....when I was in HS (late 70s), it was a very popular course....I wonder if its eradication has something to do with driver quality today?....

 

I've only noticed this left-lane camping phenom in the last five or ten years.....does anybody notice that, too?.....maybe it only has to do with increased traffic in those years.....

 

some states like mine have the lame "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs (who wants to admit they're slow?).....I prefer the much-firmer "Keep Right Except To Pass" signs I see in some states

 

 

 

as always, the comments are great here:

 

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/279815-Yes-Indeed-left-lane-is-only-for-passing!

[+ glennnn]

Then there's the flip side. You're on a 70mph, two lane highway. The right lane is filled with trucks going about 65. You're in the left lane keeping pace with heavy traffic doing 80+, and some asshole is riding your bumper- literally 4 feet from your bumper- because he wants to do 90. You pull into the right lane, he guns past you with a dirty look, and tailgates the next car ahead. Ad infinitum! Makes you want to hit your brakes and let him rear end you, but reason prevails.... barely!

[mike carey]

Left lane hogs on German autobahns tend to get flashing headlights and car horns from faster traffic behind them.

Wikipedia-Common practice and most law on United States highways is that the left lane is reserved for passing and faster moving traffic, and that traffic using the left lane must yield to traffic wishing to overtake.

Here, the keep left* unless overtaking law applies only when the speed limit is above 80km/h, and you often see signs telling you keep left, and specifying the fine for failing to do so.

 

*I had to concentrate and mentally exchange left and right for right and left as I read this for it to make sense. Well, all right it wasn't that difficult. Unsurprisingly, in countries like Australia where traffic drives on the left of the road, the left lane is the lane for slower traffic.

[jawjateck]

when you need to exit, act like you own the road and proceed to the right. Urg!

 

The Atlanta downtown connector (2 north/south interstates merge and run together for a few miles) has up to 8 lanes. Holy hell breaks loose when one of the left laners suddenly realizes he has to exit in a quarter mile. The dumb ass puts hundreds of lives at risk by his maneuver and causes a braking cascade that piles up for a mile behind him.

[bigvalboy]

I've always believed that most Americans are liked spoiled little children when it comes to driving. Everyone should be required to take a class in high speed driving and maneuvering before getting on the road.

 

AND...if you don't have the brains or courtesy to stay out of the left lane unless you are passing or it is absolutely necessary, then stay off the road. and take Uber...And yes, this extends to two lane highways also..We may not have Autobahns, but we have some wonderful highways that are mini-replicas, and they could be enjoyed, if more Americans would use their brain. (End of rant. No emails please)

 

Stay out of the left lane unless you are passing....

 

 

Just for fun...FYI. He was doing around 165 mph and got passed.

 

 

[MikeyGMin]

I had a friend who did this without the slightest hint of smugness or passive-aggression. He expressed a preference for the left lane, kind of like people who prefer window seats or aisle seats on airplanes. No amount of discussion would sway him from his position that it was his right to drive in the lane where he felt the most comfortable.

 

To be honest, this more accurately describes my brother-in-law's attitude. (He just isn't my favorite brother-in-law. )

 

I actually prefer to drive in the left lane and myself, but I am always going faster than the right lane. I will also pull into the right lane no matter how fast I'm going if there is someone behind me. I kind of like those people because I figure they will get the attention of the police instead of me!

[+ ArVaGuy]

One annoying practice that drives me insane are drivers who have been at a lower speed in the right lane but then speed up when you move over to pass them. As you pull over and begin overtaking them they FINALLY kick into gear and speed up thus closing the clearance between vehicles. You have to accelerate even more to get around these bastards.

[Hornplatz]

Ain't that the truth. I've watched LA drivers virtually turn right from the left lane across 4-6 lanes of traffic after the Exit 1/2 Mile sign like that's the way you're supposed to drive. But yes, the far right lane is often the faster lane and with the exception of exit and merge traffic, you can virtually fly.

 

Utah put yellow highlighter on the top of their "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs:

http://cdn.deseretnews.com/images/article/firstheroimage/1076154/1076154.jpg

I considered a series of signs to be carried by the annoyed driver that he can flash as he passes on the right:

 

"Your driver's license is NOT A TITLE DEED to the Left Lane."

 

"Slower traffic keep right" IS NOT a comment on your intelligence."

 

"IT'S NOT THAT YOU CAN SEE BETTER, IT'S WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LEFT MOST CAR."

 

"Keep Left to Get Passed by ME!"

 

"California is so LEFT in it's thinking that 40% of all drivers drive in the Left Lane Exclusively."

 

Great signs - especially #2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hornplatz]

Then there's the flip side. You're on a 70mph, two lane highway. The right lane is filled with trucks going about 65. You're in the left lane keeping pace with heavy traffic doing 80+, and some asshole is riding your bumper- literally 4 feet from your bumper- because he wants to do 90. You pull into the right lane, he guns past you with a dirty look, and tailgates the next car ahead. Ad infinitum! Makes you want to hit your brakes and let him rear end you, but reason prevails.... barely!

 

You are so right with your last sentence. I've been in this situation several times over the years. At times when being tail-gated I slowed down and put on

my right turn signal to get out of the left lane. When I finally get out of it the tail-gater does pass he's definitely pissed that he had to slow down a bit before

I let him pass. That was really passive-aggressive of me and should not have done that but I, too, was pissed being tail-gated.

 

Another comment - there were many times when I was passed by a speeder that after 5 or 10 miles down the road that speeder is still not that far ahead of

me - passing didn't gain them much. Driving used to be very enjoyable when I began driving back in the 50s. Now, it is quite unpleasant because it is so fast

and there are so many aggressive/rude bastards on the road spoiling it. That makes me sound like an old grouch but that's life.

[gallahadesquire]

Left lane hogs on German autobahns tend to get flashing headlights and car horns from faster traffic behind them.

 

Here, the keep left* unless overtaking law applies only when the speed limit is above 80km/h, and you often see signs telling you keep left, and specifying the fine for failing to do so.

 

*I had to concentrate and mentally exchange left and right for right and left as I read this for it to make sense. Well, all right it wasn't that difficult. Unsurprisingly, in countries like Australia where traffic drives on the left of the road, the left lane is the lane for slower traffic.

 

I remember the first time I tried driving on the left in the UK. Since everyone in Massachusetts is a left-lane driver, I remember thinking how perfectly natural it was.

[gallahadesquire]

From Koyanisqaatsi:

[Hornplatz]

From Koyanisqaatsi:

 

I don't know where these roads are but I definitely to NOT want to ever be on them or any like them.

[mike carey]

I drive frequently between Canberra, Sydney and my home town [300-400km] (and Melbourne [700 km] a couple of times a year). I can do almost all of it on four lane divided highways (two lanes each way, to be clear), but there are alternative two-lane road routes I can take for variety (something that makes driving more enjoyable, at least to me). The speed limit on the four lane roads is 110km/h but I sit on 102, using cruise control which, in my car is very precise. People who are controlling their speed manually pass me and I pass them back as they speed up and slow down for no apparent reason. I don't accelerate to pass people, and I really don't care if I slow others down while I'm doing so, but I will go straight back into the left lane (that would be right lane in the US) once I've passed them. I rarely have to brake for traffic.

[+ glennnn]

Perfectly nice Dr. Jekylls can become Mr. Hyde on the highway. I had a normal college roommate I wouldn't ride with due to his histrionics and dangerous, aggressive behavior behind the wheel. I wonder what the psychology of the transformation is. For Dan, driving was a war to be won, battle by battle.

[N13]

Driving in Europe, where the vast majority of drivers generally do move to the right when a faster car is coming up in the left lane, and there is one slow car that will not pull out of the left lane we assume it is an American with the "God Given Right To Drive in the Left Lane". Nine out of ten times we are right.

 

To me it is just another manifestation of the total lack of courtesy or selfishness that is permeating our society. Manners should be taught at home and in the schools - but are not anymore. The cel phone has only added to this total disregard for the comfort of others!

[+ honcho]

Don't ya love it when a trucker fluctuating between 58 and 62 is passing another truck doing 60ish. That drama can play out for 2 very long miles. Ugh.......

 

I've had to deal with that driving between San Francisco and Los Angeles. If you're going to be driving for 6 or 7 hours, then chilling out for 5 minutes or so while the behemoths do their dance isn't that bad . . .

[Guest]

...I sit on 102, using cruise control which, in my car is very precise. People who are controlling their speed manually pass me and I pass them back as they speed up and slow down for no apparent reason. I don't accelerate to pass people, and I really don't care if I slow others down while I'm doing so...

 

Yegads! You back up traffic because you're too lazy to hit the accelerator for a few seconds then hit the "resume" button when you're ready to go back on cruise control? You, sir, get the Grand Passive-Aggressive Award!

http://www.chowbey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/awards4.jpg

 

[escortrod]

Yegads! You back up traffic because you're too lazy to hit the accelerator for a few seconds then hit the "resume" button when you're ready to go back on cruise control? You, sir, get the Grand Passive-Aggressive Award!

http://www.chowbey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/awards4.jpg

With most cruise control systems it's only necessary to resume after braking or pressing the clutch (if applicable). Accelerating tends to leave the cruise control setting intact.

[Guest]

With most cruise control systems it's only necessary to resume after braking or pressing the clutch (if applicable). Accelerating tends to leave the cruise control setting intact.

Wow. So he didn't even have to press resume. (That shows you how often I use my cruise control). Such consideration for the other drivers on the road....

[bigvalboy]

For the life of me, I just don't understand the reasoning behind cruise control.

[+ azdr0710]

nobody commented that this was @geminibear who started the thread.....a rare appearance.....glad he's here

[escortrod]

For the life of me, I just don't understand the reasoning behind cruise control.

It's convenient, in many cars it's a useful tool to stay within the speed limit (or within a reasonable margin thereof), and with active cruise control systems becoming more common there are safety benefits. I've been driving a lot of different rental cars lately. This can easily mess with speed perception (different degrees of NVH, etc) and so for highway driving cruise control has been helpful.

 

Edit: also, while traditional cruise control has been detrimental to fuel economy, newer systems have the potential to improve it too (e.g. BMW's cruise control can disengage their automatic transmissions when travelling downhill to allow coasting, etc).

[bigvalboy]

It's convenient, in many cars it's a useful tool to stay within the speed limit .

 

Thank you escortrod...but I was being facetious.

 

I don't usually stay within the speed limit.