RE: Driving in the left lane
December 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm
(This post was last modified: December 10, 2012 at 6:25 pm by Jackalope.)
(December 10, 2012 at 5:46 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote: 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).
(December 10, 2012 at 6:09 pm)festive1 Wrote: 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.
