Driving in the left lane

[Angrboda]

Meh, I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in the states, people are under-educated about the realities of driving.


The bulk of drivers operate on shit they learned while sleeping through a 6 month class as a pimply faced teen, pseudoscience, and urban legends.

People should be required to receive regular education about road safety. (I'm probably a hypocrite here; I'll never get the wisdom of merging late into my skull.)

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

First of all, to clear up some misunderstanding, I never actually drive in the left lane on freeways. I'd like to sometimes but I don't.

I understand the safety issues of messing up the flow of traffic. What I find illogical though is what exactly the source of the "problem" is.

What you people are effectively saying is that we have a lane dedecated to law breakers. And then you call people obeying the speed limit the "problem." How about we recognize that if the people in the left lane weren't speeding in the first place then the problem wouldn't come up? I think you're getting mad at the wrong people.

[festive1]

No one going the speed limit, under the speed limit, or over the speed limit, should cruise in the left lane. It's for passing, not for driving to your destination. At least the highway driving I mainly do, is 8 lanes divided, so 4 going each direction. One has many options, but that far left lane is for the psychos with a death wish. I prefer the lane next to the far right, less mergers, tends to go at a steady pace, is rarely closed in the event of an accident, but if it is closed, you're on a glorified parking lot anyways. Though the people trying to merge into traffic that's moving at 60-65 mph, at a speed of 35... yeah, they should be shot on sight, if they don't cause a pileup first.
I had a friend who was driving on a two lane highway. The car behind her kept trying to pass (which was dangerous because it was foggy and you couldn't see the oncoming traffic). She kept speeding up so the car couldn't pass her. She was grumbling about going 5 over the speed limit, and that the other car shouldn't be trying to pass her if she was already speeding. Meanwhile, she was causing a dangerous situation trying to prevent the person from speeding... You have no control over what other motorists do. If they want to speed, let them. If they crash, hopefully they'll be far enough ahead of you for you to react. That's all you can do.

[Jackalope]

What you people are effectively saying is that we have a lane dedecated to law breakers. And then you call people obeying the speed limit the "problem." How about we recognize that if the people in the left lane weren't speeding in the first place then the problem wouldn't come up? I think you're getting mad at the wrong people.

Whether or not people are speeding is largely irrelevant to the safety issues involved.

The jackass doing 20 over what everyone else is doing is relatively more dangerous than those who are driving closer to what the mean traffic speed is. The same goes for the guy that's driving under the mean.

People naturally drive at speeds that are comfortable to them, on average, and that speed can be higher than the posted speed. As long as it's in line with the mean, it's not inherently unsafe.

Now, take those conditions, where the flow of traffic is travelling somewhat in excess of the speed limit, and put a stubborn driver who won't exceed the speed limit at all, and won't get out of the left lane. This self-appointed arbiter of highway speeds is going to have the prevailing traffic passing him on the right, which is highly dangerous. And yes, the added danger is in fact his fault, regardless of whether other drivers are exceeding the posted limit or not. He's created an unnecessary traffic hazard by failing to stay in the rightmost lane, where he belongs (due to the fact that he's passing no one).

IOW, that other drivers may be breaking the law does not excuse making yourself a traffic hazard (and being in violation of the law yourself).

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I had a friend who was driving on a two lane highway. The car behind her kept trying to pass (which was dangerous because it was foggy and you couldn't see the oncoming traffic). She kept speeding up so the car couldn't pass her. She was grumbling about going 5 over the speed limit, and that the other car shouldn't be trying to pass her if she was already speeding. Meanwhile, she was causing a dangerous situation trying to prevent the person from speeding... You have no control over what other motorists do. If they want to speed, let them. If they crash, hopefully they'll be far enough ahead of you for you to react. That's all you can do.

This. By interfering with other drivers using road-rage-esqe techniques (speeding up to prevent passing, hitting the brakes to piss off tailgaters, impeding the flow of passing lane traffic to slow down speeders, etc) one makes the road more dangerous.

Get in a lane that is travelling closest to the speed that is comfortable to you, yield to people who want to pass, and maintain safe distances.

If only there were a phrase to describe such habits.

[Aractus]

You see someone driving bad so your answer is to.... drive bad? Intentionally annoying other drivers is dangerous and irresponsible.

I generally leave a bigger gap than most people in peak hour traffic, but if someone wants to pull into my lane right in front of me, I'll generally take my time to back off (after I've beeped at them and they've had the opportunity to see how close they are to me). I never tailgate for longer than a minute - and I rarely do it, I only do it when people pull in front of me putting me into that position and forcing me to tailgate!

I also hate with a passion people giving way when they shouldn't.

[CliveStaples]

Meh, I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in the states, people are under-educated about the realities of driving.


The bulk of drivers operate on shit they learned while sleeping through a 6 month class as a pimply faced teen, pseudoscience, and urban legends.

People should be required to receive regular education about road safety. (I'm probably a hypocrite here; I'll never get the wisdom of merging late into my skull.)

Other than performing stunt driving techniques, I think you'll learn a lot more about how to drive from driving than you will from attending a class.

It's like saying, "Man, these Americans have been living in Mexico and speaking Spanish there for 10 years. If they really wanted to learn how to speak Spanish, they should take a class in it!"

Education fetishes are kinda gross.

[Great Ape]

What you people are effectively saying is that we have a lane dedecated to law breakers. And then you call people obeying the speed limit the "problem." How about we recognize that if the people in the left lane weren't speeding in the first place then the problem wouldn't come up? I think you're getting mad at the wrong people.

If everyone is traveling at 75mph and the posted speed is 65mph, who gives a shit? No one is going to stone you for going 10mph over the posted speed limit.

[Aractus]

Other than performing stunt driving techniques, I think you'll learn a lot more about how to drive from driving than you will from attending a class.

There's a lot of BS people do when they should know better, like changing lanes through intersections and giving way when the traffic should be flowing.

[CliveStaples]

There's a lot of BS people do when they should know better, like changing lanes through intersections and giving way when the traffic should be flowing.

If they're ignoring what they know to be good driving behaviors, then teaching them which driving behaviors are good isn't going to help.

[Great Ape]

Or rubbernecking at something happening on the shoulder...