Posted on 02/28/2014 6:12:43 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
One of my biggest pet peeves on the road is the left-lane highway cruiser. If you’re a compulsive reader of my articles (Why would you do that to yourself?), you may remember that I have written on this very issue before.
I don’t care how fast you are going. The leftmost lane on the highway is for passing. That is basic road etiquette, but, not surprisingly, few people here in Georgia follow it. And it is frustrating.
Well the Georgia State legislature is here to save the day. They are currently enacting a bill (dubbed the Slowpoke Bill) that would make lollygagging in the left lane a misdemeanor. That’s right. All those people with their left blinker still on … going 62 in a 65 … in the left lane … pacing the car on their right … with ten cars piled up behind them … Johnny Law is coming for you.
The reaction to the bill is hilarious. Some lady (armygirl1974), who probably has no idea how bad she is at driving, responded, “What if the speed limit is 65 and I am going 65, am I supposed to move over and let someone going 90 pass[?] Give me a ticket, I dare you.” Are you supposed to move over? Yeah. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. I mean, seriously? Is that a real question? Who made you the hall monitor of safe driving speeds? I’m looking forward to seeing you on the side of the road getting ticketed for just that.
The rules are there to allow everyone the maximum opportunity to drive the way he wants. The speed limit is an arbitrary suggestion, and that’s a fact. Depending on the police officer and the stretch of road you’re on, you can go as much as 15 over the speed limit (and maybe more in some cases) without having to worry at all about a police officer pulling you over. So the more likely scenario for the Slowpoke Bill is a person going the speed limit and someone else who wants to go even ten miles an hour faster pulling up behind them. Neither driver would be ticketed for speeding, but under the Slowpoke Bill, the person in front would be ticketed for blocking up traffic.
This is not just a hypothetical example. Here in Georgia, we have a loop around the city called 285. The posted speed limit on 285 is 55 miles per hour. No one, and I mean no one, goes 55 on 285. The average speed is a little under 70. If you went 55, you would be a danger to society. If armygirl1974 decided to go 55 in the left lane to keep everyone legal, she wouldn’t be doing a public service. She would be (and probably is) a public nuisance at best. The Slowpoke Bill would see her ticketed for those shenanigans.
So … Well done, Georgia legislature! This may be one of the only times I ever congratulate you. So savor it.
Boy this thread has revealed who the bumper riders are...lol
I usually stay out of the passing lane and always get out of the way of soneone who’s driving 20 - 30 miles above the speed limit and secretly wish for there to be a state trooper just ahead...: )
I’m a Georgian and why is the Georgia legislature lowering themselves to pass some BS nannystate law about the left hand lane?
If somebody is bogarting the left hand lane ride their bummper and flash your iigts til you harrass them in the right hand lane. If all else fails pass them in the right hand lane whilst giving them the middle finger. :-)
+3
I to wonder about what they will do about the folks who fail to obey the posted speed limits.
They are just as dangerous as the slower driver, but, harder to avoid.
I never understood why folks who claim to be “Good Americans” don’t see the problem with breaking that particular law, but, it’s not ok for folks to break other laws. Even worse are Christians who speed.
It’s just wrong.
A Slow Poke Law was passed in CO a number of years back, and the problem of Liberal drivers forcing their beliefs of what speed others should drive soon disappeared.
Now it’s only the occasional die-hard Lib who causes trouble, and I can usually solve that by getting right on their bumper and flashing my brights. Haven’t needed the horn yet.
Are you sure you're on the right form? This is a site for conservatives, not liberals.
Stick to the right lane if you are in CO.
While I can't quote the law here in Colorado, you are required to move to the right lane, even if you are traveling ABOVE the posted speed and someone moves up behind you wanting to pass.
So, its my fault that people are bobbing and weaving? They have a responsibility to obey the speed limit and drive safely. Personal responsibility -- try it some time, and you'll find that its infinitely better than "legislating solutions" to your pet peeves.
"Where?"
You said it, and if memory fails I have told you how to find it. It will be in the top 5-10 results.
I don't live in Georgia, and where I am from the left lane is not reserved for passing.
It strikes me as a more liberal mindset to think that the road is one’s personal speedway and anyone who is obeying the speed limit but NOT obeying your personal and unknown concept of what the “correct” speed is should get out of your way.
You’re breaking the law, remaining purposely ignorant and rude, all the while imposing your beliefs on others.
How Liberal of you.
I see you are not breaking the law in your state. Depending on how many Liberals like you there are, it may be necessary to pass one.
I believe what I’m trying to say is that driving conservatively is better than driving without consideration and thinking that the highway belongs to you and you alone are allowed to determine what is safe or not. There are many types of drivers and some just go slower than others. If you get behind one you just gotta be patient an wait for an opportunity to get around them. Safely. Ask any state trooper or highway patrol what is the biggest cause of fatal accidents - speed and reckless driving. It is personal to me - I had a friend and half his family killed by a reckless driver.
And yes I’m on the right forum - been around almost 15 years.
A Hui Hou!!
It isn't that. Studies have shown it's speed differentials, which is one of the dangers posed by slow pokes.
you alone are allowed to determine what is safe or not.
I didn't pass the slow poke laws, they were passed because many people determined that the danger posed by slow pokes was much greater than the danger of others driving fast.
The reason that more and more states are passing these laws is because too many people are being killed by slow pokes.
Yes it is you making the passing lane dangerous and trying to impose yourself on people by using your car, that is why states and nations have had to figure out ways to deal with neurotics like you, who use their car to make up for emotional deficiencies.
As far as your personal attack, that you can’t find the proof for, it doesn’t surprise me that you keep claiming that it is just a google away, but that you can’t find it, it still doesn’t justify your cussing anyway.
Boy this thread has revealed who the bumper riders are.
It sure has. I understand how lanes work. I travel as far to the right as possible (the Freeways I commute on are as wide as 6 lanes in some places).
What I don't do is move over so some impatient asshole can move up one car length and start riding the next bumper in line.
I have actually been flashed driving in the right-most lane going 70 in a 65. Where the F do they want me to go?
If you remove your ego and emotional problems from your driving, you would know what the cops and highway patrol know, it is about traffic flow, just as a rainy day is different from a clear day.
As post 22 points out, you are wrong to continually use speeding versus non-speeding, the dangerous drivers who are determined to block off the passing lane do it regardless of what speed is required that day to accomplish their desires, it is something internal to them, as your posts reveal, it is a sick personality.
Read the thread and you can see the personal connection to frustrating mass traffic, and expressing their neurosis with their cars, that the oddball individuals are revealing, there is no reason for them to be so passionate about simply being told to not block the passing lane, yet look at how angry they are about losing that outlet for dealing with their inadequate internal lives.
As one (too charitable) traffic cop said.
“”This applies here, in day light and night time. People wont budge. I’ve recently started stopping for it and everyone and I mean everyone I stop, seems to have no idea the differences in the lanes. Even after explaining it, some still don’t understand. Our driving laws and licensing laws absolutely suck. We do need to be more like the German way of doing things.””
... it is a sick personality.
After reading your posts on this thread, I'm goingt to defer to your obvious expertise...
....and hope we never meet on the road.
Why would we “meet” on the road, just what is going through you guys heads when you are on a freeway?
You have to learn to not turn blocking traffic into a personal expression of revenge, or imposing order, or whatever is going through your head when you decide to disrupt mass traffic for thousands of faceless strangers and families and delivery people, and travelers.
Actually the reason the laws are being passed is to make the freeways safer by stopping these dangerous drivers from wreaking havoc with traffic flow, since the strange individuals causing the problem are incapable of controlling their impulse to block off traffic.
Watch them when you see one, they see the havoc they are causing, they hear the horns, see the other drivers trying to get around them, but look at how the weirdos stare straight ahead and pretend they don’t see anything.
It causes danger in the slower lanes as the faster flow of traffic has to mix with the slower lanes looking for avenues to bypass the weirdo.
Look at their responses on this thread, they want to punish people, it doesn’t even occur to them that we use that lane only for passing, instead they describe everyone as speeders, trouble makers, or people who don’t wake up early enough, or people that they don’t like (strangers?), not a one of them acknowledges that the passing lane should not be used for just cruising along.
It is all about taking a pound of flesh rather than just observing good driving.
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