People who cruise in the passing lane

[MisterOJ]

Also anecdotally, in Kentucky there is a (fairly) new law where if you are travelling on a four-lane road and a cop has a motorist pulled over on the shoulder - you are compelled to move over from the slow lane to the fast lane when you drive past them. If not, you get a ticket that apparently requires you to show up to court and cannot be pre-paid.

I found this out the hard way a couple years back.

[Insomnium]

Need/want.

I'd disagree. Filing under the issue of safety. Shaving several hours off a trip, especially if said person is to become drowsy in that additional time.

Furthermore, distancing yourself from erratic drivers and a cluster fuck. And if you haven't driven behind a retiree with Florida license plates, whose speed varies from 70 - 95, please go ahead and experience this joyful situation.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Insomnium,

Wearing a full brim hat? They inevitably, in my experience, drive 10 mph slower than traffic.

[Fragile Bird]

Also anecdotally, in Kentucky there is a (fairly) new law where if you are travelling on a four-lane road and a cop has a motorist pulled over on the shoulder - you are compelled to move over from the slow lane to the fast lane when you drive past them. If not, you get a ticket that apparently requires you to show up to court and cannot be pre-paid.

I found this out the hard way a couple years back.

This law has also been passed in Ontario. The sad fact is that emergency workers and police officers keep getting killed by idiots who drift into the shoulder or simply don't pay attention. The husband of a friend of mind had stopped to help at a serious accident at the side of the highway and such an idiot came barrelling down on them and smashed into the vehicles at the side of the road. He ended up with broken ribs and collar bone, and other injuries, didn't work for three years, all totally unnecessary. Of course, 99% of people slow down and move over in such situations, but there's always that 1% that don't.

Back to the OP - OJ, I drive faster than the speed limit on the highway quite often, in the passing lane, but I move over when faster cars come up behind me. First of all, it's a matter of courtesy, secondly, if they want to risk a ticket it's on them, thirdly, there are some mighty aggressive drivers out there and I don't need them sitting behind me one car length away at highway speeds. The limit here is 100 km., 60 mph, but demerit points are not handed out until you drive 20 km over the speed limit (72 mph), so a lot of people drive at 110 or 115 and never get bothered by the police. If you want to do more than that, go ahead. They seize your car and suspend your license if you drive faster than 50 km over the posted limit, ie over 90 on the major highways (the limit is 80 km on secondary highways).

[MisterOJ]

Back to the OP - OJ, I drive faster than the speed limit on the highway quite often, in the passing lane, but I move over when faster cars come up behind me. First of all, it's a matter of courtesy, secondly, if they want to risk a ticket it's on them, thirdly, there are some mighty aggressive drivers out there and I don't need them sitting behind me one car length away at highway speeds. The limit here is 100 km., 60 mph, but demerit points are not handed out until you drive 20 km over the speed limit (72 mph), so a lot of people drive at 110 or 115 and never get bothered by the police. If you want to do more than that, go ahead. They seize your car and suspend your license if you drive faster than 50 km over the posted limit, ie over 90 on the major highways (the limit is 80 km on secondary highways).

Just to clarify, if I am in the left hand lane and a faster car comes up behind me and there is no one coming up anytime soon in the right lane, I will move over and let them on by.

But, if there is a car in the right hand lane and I am not in the act of passing, but will be soon, I stay in the left lane. Basically, if I think I will have to apply my breaks because of slower traffic in the right lane to let some speeder pass me, I don't do it. But, if I can easily move over into the right lane and then back without having to break, then I do it.

YMMV, but I find this perfectly reasonable. Although in the past I have gotten some dirty looks from fast drivers. But that's more on them, IMO.

[Insomnium]

Insomnium,

Wearing a full brim hat? They inevitably, in my experience, drive 10 mph slower than traffic.

There are those too. :) But on my drive to Charleston, recently, I left a driver behind me, and completely out of view. Several minutes later, they're zipping past me, and then cutting into my lane. I figured I'd avoid them taking another nap and jolting awake? So, I sped away and removed myself from this unpredictable person.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Insomnium,

Are you in SC?

[fuseprime]

I think a big reason as to why people don't pass in the passing lane is because a lot of people think the left lane is called the fast lane.

I also think respective states with laws on the books addressing the passing lane should post warnings on electronic DoT signs that are commonplace on main highways in order to inform errant drivers they are breaking the law (run on sentence, I know).

[naz]

I know from my own experience that when I used to spend a inordinate amount of time in the left lane, it was because I was always passing someone. I.e., I was usually driving 20-25 mph above the limit and faster than most everyone else on the road, so it seemed like I was a left lane sitter, but I was literally just passing a whole lot of cars at a stretch. This was in my younger days. If the road was empty, I would stay in the middle lane.

Nowadays, I don't speed as much and I spend much less time in the left lane than I used to, but occasionally, I'll have to pass several cars, not just one or two, and I'll be in the left lane for a while. But not like the old days.

[Guy Kilmore]

Need/want.

Most States have laws that require motorists to give way to emergency vehicles. I get the idea in theory; in practice, however, it seems bunk. The drivers who want slow drivers to stay right don't ever get out of the passing lane unless a slowpoke is blocking the way. The passing lane is never free of congestion anywhere I have lived from rural Vermont to metropolitan Washington DC.

It is fine that you think it is bunk, but that is one of the reasons the law exists. (Getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle can be dangerous, the less moving parts the better) Just as you think it is bunk about people complaining about someone going the speed limit in the left handed lane. (And yes, never free of congestion, but it is about making, in a practical way, as less congestion as possible.)

[Insomnium]

Insomnium,

Are you in SC?

No, I'm from upstate New York. Was visiting for some pleasurable beach experiences and a taste of the low country. :) Was a great time, and I'd surely come again.

[Balefont]

This is my general driving strategy. That means on stretches of 95, I am driving around 80-85 mph. Does anyone really need to drive 90 mph or faster in non-emergency situations?

In RI, the speed limit for 95 is 65 for the southern half and 55 for most of the northern half. It's a fucking crawl so going 70-75 feels normal and safe but in actuality it can mean you're going up to 20 over and that's bullshit.

[The Monkey]

Wait, it's legal in other countries to pass other cars in the cruise (right) lane? Why even bother assigning different roles to the two lanes if you're allowed to behave in the exact same way in both of them?

[Seli]

Over here (in the Netherlands, no idea about the rest of the continent), you are obliged to keep as much to the right as possible. As such hanging around in the passing lane(s) can get one ticketed.

Passing to the right is also forbidden (with some exceptions). Regardless of the number of lanes.

Another nice development in these last decades is (time limited) prohibition of trucks passing eachother. Since they are hard limited attempts to pass tend to take ages and hold up all other traffic, even if there are more than 2 lanes available.

[kungtotte]

I don't understand how you can get a ticket for driving the speed limit in the passing lane. "Sir, you need to stay right so other motorists can break the law." Err, ok?

In lots of places there are laws that explicitly forbid you to hinder other motorists. If you are not actively passing someone in the passing lane and there is a car behind you, you are hindering them. Why should you be allowed to break the law (where applicable) by hindering them but they have to obey the law by not speeding?

I would love to see the studies that show left lane cruisers and slow drivers make things less safe.

Very few things with regards to traffic is more or less safe than any other thing. There's just too many variables to everything.

With regards to speed though, the real problem is the difference in speed. Going 100 miles per hour on a deserted multi-lane highway in the middle of the night is much less risky/dangerous than going 55 miles per hour on a congested highway where surrounding traffic is creeping along at 40. But the reverse is also true. Going 25 where the speedlimit is 65 is fine when you're all alone on the road, but if you're going 50 when everybody else is going 65 and there's a ton of traffic then that's when you have a higher risk of an accident.

That being said, most people fucking suck at driving. It can get bad here in Europe sometimes but in the US it's absolutely mental (in NJ and PA at least). It needs to be way more difficult to get a driver's license.

ETA

Here in Sweden it's legal to pass on the right if:

• The speedlimit is 70 KPH or less, or
  

• The right lane is designated as a turning lane with a different destination than the middle/left lane(s)
  

[Darth Visenya]

I don't see the need for speed limits at all on well built bits of Motorway/Freeway.

[Maltaran]

I don't see the need for speed limits at all on well built bits of Motorway/Freeway.

The Germans agree with you.

What I'm mainly getting from this thread is an indication that the majority of American motorways are only two-lane. Ours are usually three-lane, so I generally drive in the middle or inside lane, either way there's space on the outside for people to overtake. If I'm in the outside lane at all, it's because I'm overtaking. IIRC undertaking here is not technically illegal, but could be classed as careless or dangerous driving depending on how it's done.

[Darth Visenya]

The Germans agree with you.

What I'm mainly getting from this thread is an indication that the majority of American motorways are only two-lane. Ours are usually three-lane, so I generally drive in the middle or inside lane, either way there's space on the outside for people to overtake. If I'm in the outside lane at all, it's because I'm overtaking. IIRC undertaking here is not technically illegal, but could be classed as careless or dangerous driving depending on how it's done.

I can't comment on the US as a whole but I've driven in Southern California and a lot were 3 lane+.

In the UK nearly everyone seems to ignore the 70 MPH limit to some degree, but then there is a huge amount of people who seem to sit in the middle and outside lanes doing under the limit causing a huge queue of people driving 2 feet from each others rear bumpers getting angry.

I've driven in Germany and found the driving attitude refreshing on unlimited stretches of Autobahn, people overtake then promptly move out of the overtaking lane, in fact most other European Countries I've driven in seem to adopt this attitude, it's just the UK that seems to suffer badly with lane hoggers.

I've travelled at 160 MPH in Germany and it wasn't unsafe at all, if the quality of roads are there then people should be allowed to travel at these speeds.

I didn't know undertaking in the UK wasn't technically illegal, I had always assumed it was but it's something people turn a blind eye to, providing it wasn't dangerous or stupid.

[lokisnow]

I assume we're talking about 'passing lane' in the eastcoast/midwest sense where such a lane might exist?

Because in LA, every lane is a passing lane. If Lane 1 isn't a a carpool lane, Lane 1 (lanes are numbered from the inside of the freeway to the outside) is technically and informally the fast lane, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily moving any faster or usable for passing (lane changers and and tapping brakes are responsible for over 90% of traffic congestion/slowing). Lane 6 might by moving at a jerky 20 mph oscillating with a full stop and relatively fast speeds due to entrance and exit ramps, Lane 5 at 18, Lane 4 at 15, Lane 3 at 15, Lane 2 at 18 and Lane 1 at 20. In general the middle lanes are the slowest because they're absorbing lane changes (resulting in more brake taps) from both sides. Lane 1 usually moves faster because there's only one direction that lane changes can come from. But sometimes Lane 1 is the slowest because people get into Lane 1, see they have 100-200 feet between them and the next car and respond by viciously accelerating up to 65 and braking hard for the final 20-50 feet slowing down to 20, or more likely slowing down to less than the speed of traffic (10mph) or even coming to a complete stop, even if the car in front of them is moving, the acceleration behavior results in traffic slowing for the entire lane as it cascades behind the guy accelerating hard and the behavior is repeated by most of the people in the lane. Sometimes Lane 1 moves slower than the middle lanes because the people most inclined to drive in Lane 1 are the people most inclined to accelerate hard and brake hard, which are the driving behaviors most likely to increase traffic congestion and lower the overall speed of traffic. The proper behavior, if you merge into lane 1 and see you have 100-200 feet between you and the next car is to accelerate gently and maybe even coast into a matching speed behind the car at a relatively close distance without even having to brake, letting friction do the work of slowing you down just enough.

But if you're on a normal freeway with just a 1 2 and 3 lane and driving hundreds of miles between cities, then yeah, the idiots cruising in the 1 lane should have something dire happen to them.

But an even worse punishment should be reserved for people who get on the freeway, aggressively lane change across six lanes to the 1 lane, drive for 2-3 miles accelerating and braking hard at every possible moment, then get to the next or second exit and then aggressively lane change back across six lanes to the exit ramp, probably not even making it to the exit lane, but also cutting across the triangular caution zone to enter the exit ramp late at the last second, missing an accident by inches. If you're only going to be on the freeway for a couple miles, just stay in the outer lanes!

[Seli]

I don't see the need for speed limits at all on well built bits of Motorway/Freeway.

Depends a bit on the number of ramps, since speed differences and people switching lanes are most dangerous there. And there is the issue of increased noise at high speeds.