Driving in the left lane

[Roy R. Ferguson]

Hi All:

Here’s a question I would like the group to ponder. While driving on a multilane highway or Interstate, why do so many motorists insist on occupying the left lane and traveling slower than the prevailing flow of traffic? Is this classic passive/aggressive behavior? Could it be the left lane is smoother or the cell phone reception is better? Do these drivers notice being passed on the right? Do blaring horns, obscene gestures, or thrown objects encourage them to move over? I’m just curious.

Roy

[rinselberg]

Quick reaction: My observation (not supported by statistics) is that wherever you have a multilane highway which has not been recently resurfaced, the left lane(s) are generally smoother and the right lane(s) more affected by potholes, surface cracks and such. To the extent that my observation is true, that would be part of an explanation.

[rinselberg]

Another thought: I don't see that as a "regular gripe" when I drive the freeways here between San Jose and San Francisco. Although I seldom drive in the leftmost lane on a three or four lane highway like 101 or 280. But I don't think it is all that frequent that I go past a slower car in the lane to my left. I usually drive at just about the posted speed limit of 65 (55 in some areas), or slightly below. Maybe drivers in this area are slightly more freeway savvy than in your area, as a general rule.

[icare]

Driving exclusively in the left lane is aggressive. I do it often. The left lane is smoother by far here in PA.

Staying right in heavy traffic puts you at the mercy of aggressive groups that move en-mass. That presents a problem when you want to let a car or two go by. Often there will be many others that are opportunistic and push behind rudely.

It is common for people to say that they wish others would drive like they do. I really do wish others would drive like me. In most cases, I try to be as courteous and be a "good blood cell", moving in synch with all of the other cars near me - hopefully, to the benefit of all. I move out of the way when another driver is proceeding faster than I am. The weird thing that occurs is that other drivers are often so oblivious that they don't realize when I offer them the opportunity to pass. They may slow down erratically or fail to return the favor when the traffic pattern inconveniences me.

Though I safely drive slightly faster than the posted limits, I am not inconsiderate. I believe that our cars are extensions of our own being. It is not appropriate to butt in front or dally ignorantly in disrespect of others.

Some drivers are simply ignorant of the world around them and will not take the time to understand and respect how their actions impact others on the road.

[cocoisland58]

Where I live the left lane on the freeway is not for the faint of heart. I drive in it regularly since I commute one hour to and from work. If you are not doing 87mph you will have someone right on your tail flashing his brights at you. If you want to do the speed limit which is 70mph you had better stay in the center or right lane. Those who choose to drive 70 in the left lane will, out of fear for their very lives move over quickly. If you pass them and glance over you can see it in their eyes. Michigan Nascar everyday. You get used to it.

[KStraker]

In SC it's because the people are too stupid to know that you are supposed to drive in the right lane. They think that by staying in the left lane they can pass whomever they need to without the added terror of trying to change lanes. Unfortunately that craps things up considerably for the rest of us. People in my area also do not use a turn signal for anything, even the police. Today it is rainy and very foggy. Many people are still driving around without lights on.

I had the misfortune to travel in Michigan for work. It seems that on many of your highways large trucks are confined to the right lane. That seems to lead auto drivers to believe that the left lane is for them. They don't want to get out of the left lane to let you come by.

[Fezz]

I tend to drive in the left lane on a Friday afternoon as I'm racing to get home on our early day. Most of the time its when I'm passing IDIOTS who decide to obey the speed limits! I use the yellow line as the new white line to judge how close I get to the vehicles I am spinning road tar, gravel, and rubber all over!

[DragonLensmanWV]

What about the morons that think, when the right lane closes, and you have two miles to get over, they still wait until the last second to squeeze over?:angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

[Grubendol]

LOL that’s funny!!!

he said racing home on a Friday. Here in LaLa Land, on Friday afternoons “racing is designated as moving more than 15 MPH and that isn’t possible on the freeway.

I can’t speak for other states, but here in California the left lane is no longer designated as “for passing”. Thus, they stopped teaching that etiquette rule years ago.

[obxeyeguy]

Where I live, we only have 2 main roads. One 2 lane, the other 4 lane, and they run parallel. The locals mostly stay in the left lane, the fast lane, to get from point A to point B. People here pull out of sidestreets right in front of you in the right lane because of traffic. In the summer, some marquis tell the tourists to stay right. They always manage to get in the left, drive 46, in a 50(locals do 60) while someone next to them in the right lane drives 45. PA drivers here are the worst. They sell bumper stickers here that say LAPD. Locals against pennsylvania drivers.

[Stormy]

If you were driving on one of Germany's autobahn's and were caught "hanging out" in the left lane you would get a stiff fine. I would love to see that happen here in America.I believe it would help to cut down on accidents, and no doubt road rage.Afterall isn't the left lane referred to as The P-A-S-S-I-N-G L-A-N-E?And people usually WILL NOT move over if you flash your lights(I thought that this was designed to be a polite gesture)It just #isses them off, and then what do they usually do....SLOW DOWN.
People pass in the right lane all the time.I do it myself when I lose my patience.....But I ABSOLUTELY hate to pass in the right lane! It feels so unnatural!

P.S.Talking on a cell phone while driving on an autobahn is against the law too!

[Stormy]

Hi All:

Here’s a question I would like the group to ponder. While driving on a multilane highway or Interstate, why do so many motorists insist on occupying the left lane and traveling slower than the prevailing flow of traffic? Is this classic passive/aggressive behavior? Could it be the left lane is smoother or the cell phone reception is better? Do these drivers notice being passed on the right? Do blaring horns, obscene gestures, or thrown objects encourage them to move over? I’m just curious.

Roy

I have to ask,exactly what kind of THROWN OBJECTS are you referring to?Maybe I shouldn't share this but one time my husband threw a pound cake...yes a pound cake at a man that passed him on "the shoulder of the road"I know it's terrible but he said"You should have seen the look on his wife's face!"

P.S. We could probably keep this thread going forever.
P.P.S. She probably thought it was an asteroid!

[cocoisland58]

[quote=Stormy;224545] And people usually WILL NOT move over if you flash your lights(I thought that this was designed to be a polite gesture)It just #isses them off, and then what do they usually do....SLOW DOWN.
quote]

Right, that's because it is not viewed as a polite gesture at all but more of a provocation at least in Michigan where everything lately is viewed as a provocation. We're a little edgy:shiner:.

[Jubilee]

I have a tendency to stay in the left lane cause I am moving faster by 5-10 mph than the traffic on my right..

However, there are still people who feel that moving 10 mile over the speedlimit is too slow..and will honk, flashlights, and be mores so ever rude.

There are also times where I want to get OVER into the RIGHT, but I get 3 or 4 jack-@$$es that have to pass me on the right (while I have my blinker on) and then CUT ME OFF by swooping in front of me.

While I do remember from Driver's Ed talking about how those who move slower than the posted limits cause more accidents.. I don't think that it is an open invitation to move 15-30 mph ABOVE the posted limits.

Why is it that its wrong to break almost every other law.. but speed limits are somehow at our discretion? (sorry taking an ethics class right now..) How many accidents a year and unnecessary deaths are there do to excessive speeding?

Cassandra
(Who is thankful she doesnt' have to drive on the 465.. aka speedway.. everday anymore..)

[mikeh]

I think drivers who are unfamiliar with highway driving tend to stay in the left lane because they feel safer if they can see the white line at the side of the road. They also are scared s***less if they have to pass a truck.

Some times I think there should be special licensing requirement for highways.

[shanbaum]

They're just British, that's all.

[rbaker]

In most states the idea that the left lane is the passing lane is bogus these days. Some interstates actually have exit ramps on the left. In practicality its dog eat dog out there. We had a huge Republican motor home and traveled about North America for a few years when we first retired. This gave us a good education and a new perspective on driving. I now have more respect for the OTR trucker and a desire to go back to the good old days.

If you are older you will remember when the left lane was the passing lane and that unless you were actually passing thats where you drove regardless of how fast you were going. You will also recall that when you pulled into the left lane to pass a vehicle, especially a big scary truck, you flashed your headlights. When it was safe for you to pull back to the right lane the driver of the vehicle you passed flashed his headlights to let you know that it was safe for you to return to the right lane. You then flashed your brake lights to say "Thanks." (Try that today in the hood and see what happens.)

When the "me first" generation started driving things changed and we are where we are today. You just have to get used to the new "rules of the road." Thats why I am driving in whichever lane seems the safest for me. Thats why I make the fewest lane changes necessary to get from point a to point b in one piece. Thats why we fly.

Of course, you have to wonder where law enforcement is in all of this. They don't seem to give a good rats **** which lane you use as long as its not slowing them down as they patrol from one donut joint to another. They're role out there on the pavement is to be the referees and umpires.

Yawl be careful out there now . . . heah

[cocoisland58]

[quote=mikeh;224697]I think drivers who are unfamiliar with highway driving tend to stay in the left lane because they feel safer if they can see the white line at the side of the road. They also are scared s***less if they have to pass a truck.quote]

When I was a new driver I liked the right lane for that reason. Most people I believe travel in the left lane because there are fewer slowdowns.
Truck drivers are more afraid of us trust me.

[DragonLensmanWV]

I have a tendency to stay in the left lane cause I am moving faster by 5-10 mph than the traffic on my right..

However, there are still people who feel that moving 10 mile over the speedlimit is too slow..and will honk, flashlights, and be mores so ever rude.

There are also times where I want to get OVER into the RIGHT, but I get 3 or 4 jack-@$$es that have to pass me on the right (while I have my blinker on) and then CUT ME OFF by swooping in front of me.

While I do remember from Driver's Ed talking about how those who move slower than the posted limits cause more accidents.. I don't think that it is an open invitation to move 15-30 mph ABOVE the posted limits.

Why is it that its wrong to break almost every other law.. but speed limits are somehow at our discretion? (sorry taking an ethics class right now..) How many accidents a year and unnecessary deaths are there do to excessive speeding?

Cassandra
(Who is thankful she doesnt' have to drive on the 465.. aka speedway.. everday anymore..)

I have many miles logged on the speedway for not being a resident. My wife had relatives all over Indy, from Post Road on the East to a road I cant remember just north of the airport, to others in Brownsburg. So I got to drive every time we went anywhere. Once we were at about the 12:00 position on the belt, we got passed by a pickup truck hauling someone's bedroom from a to b, and the mattress was kinda loosely tucked in the back and flopping in the wind. A few minutes later we got passed by a large contingent of bikers. A few minutes later we come on the scene where the mattress flew out of the pickup into the bikers. There were pieces of motorcycles everywhere, guys lying in the median everywhere, and one lone biker speeding off to, ahem, restrain the pickup's driver. Turned out one of the bikers died as a result.

Now we just drive it from where 74 comes in at 4:00 on the dial to where 70 exits on the west on our way to Champaign, IL where our daughter lives.

[k12311997]

Of course, you have to wonder where law enforcement is in all of this. They don't seem to give a good rats **** which lane you use as long as its not slowing them down as they patrol from one donut joint to another. They're role out there on the pavement is to be the referees and umpires.

Yawl be careful out there now . . . heah

I have a friend who some ******** policeman gave a ticket for driving in the right lane on the turnpike (I was in the car this is not a second hand story.) according to said policeman the right lane is not a travel lane and exists only for passing. I think he was just po'd that my friend managed to slow down enough to avoid a ticket before the radar hit.

[DragonLensmanWV]

I have a friend who some ******** policeman gave a ticket for driving in the right lane on the turnpike (I was in the car this is not a second hand story.) according to said policeman the right lane is not a travel lane and exists only for passing. I think he was just po'd that my friend managed to slow down enough to avoid a ticket before the radar hit.

That's the PA cops for ya. In 1964 my mom was driving my brother, sister and myself back from the NY World's Fair. We were on the turnpike when the Jaguar (with PA plates) zooms by us and disappears in the distance. Woop! Woop! Cop pulls us over, gives mom a ticket for going 85 in a 55. We protest about the Jaguar. He says that we were the only car coming out of the radar area and he knew it was us because we were passing someone at the time.:drop: This was a fully loaded 1962 Rambler American station wagon with a 195.6 straight six, 1/2 barrel carb and a pushbutton transmission. It would not go 85 mph, which I was later to find out when it became the car I learned to drive in. Sheesh - 6 1/2 turns lock to lock on the steering, would not beat any other car out there in a drag race, I know because I tried many times. Almost beat a VW and a Semi once though.
She still had to pay as the judge agreed that it was us passing someone and being the only one on the road simultaneously.

[RGC_man]

They're just British, that's all.

Aye. Here you are expected to stay in the left lane and move right to overtake, with undertaking not allowed. That's the theory anyway. It works in as much as people at different speeds tend to find their natural home. Doesn't stop those truck drivers driving slowly side by side up a hill.

[DocInChina]

In SC it's because the people are too stupid to know that you are supposed to drive in the right lane. They think that by staying in the left lane they can pass whomever they need to without the added terror of trying to change lanes. Unfortunately that craps things up considerably for the rest of us. People in my area also do not use a turn signal for anything, even the police. Today it is rainy and very foggy. Many people are still driving around without lights on.

I had the misfortune to travel in Michigan for work. It seems that on many of your highways large trucks are confined to the right lane. That seems to lead auto drivers to believe that the left lane is for them. They don't want to get out of the left lane to let you come by.

For a moment I thought you were in China except the trucks drive in the left lane too. Additionally drivers pull out into traffic without looking, change lanes without looking, change lanes when a car is in front of them but then fail to pass the car they changed lanes to in theory pass.

I best stop here, my blood pressure is rising just relating my daily life in China.