Posted on 12/10/2008 8:53:48 AM PST by Smogger
In these days of longer commutes and simmering tempers, nothing seems to set off already-testy motorists like the left-lane camper -- the guy or gal who drives in the passing lane and bars faster drivers from easily passing. Web sites have cropped up to educate other drivers, or to vent. There's a (somewhat painful) YouTube song called "Keep Right."
Even bigwigs get frustrated. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, weary of having his limo slowed down by such left-lane pokies, ordered an aide to have the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission install signs a few years ago reading "Keep Right, Pass Left. It's the Law."
And now some states are cracking down on left-lane campers, both to keep traffic moving and to tamp down the road rage that goes from zero-to-60 faster than ever before.
That's not just a pretext. Last year, a driver was arrested on Interstate 79 outside Pittsburgh after allegedly brandishing a semiautomatic pistol at a driver who was on his tail.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.moneycentral.msn.com ...
Then move your @ss over
This is not complicated
>>I don’t think anyone is arguing you should move over for somebody speeding.<<
Actually, a lot of us are. Blocking a speeder is dangerous. Period. It is also against the law in many (if not most) states.
I do confess to being that person who would go 75 in the left lane and refuse to move over for somebody who shot up behind me clearly going 85.
I do so now, but at the time, that was my attitude.....I was going five over, and I don’t have a reason to move for somebody going 85.
But, I decided eventually it was worth it to move over since I get annoyed by those going 55 in the left lane. How can I be hypocritical just because someone is going well over the limit...I am not the cop.
Back in the 50’s (even today in some routes)Texas drivers always pulled to the shoulder to let cars approaching from behind pass.
My Dad was a professional driver and he taught us driving courtesy, and aways keep right except to pass (those were the days when there were no interstates). I still cannot drive in the left lane, except when the right lane is just to rough to stay in, even then I keep right for all cars and trucks going way over the speed limit (many I see later in an accident)
At nearly 75, my best solution is to leave early so I do not have to speed, and to travel at the lesser travel hours!
Indiana has as long as I can remember has had signs that read “Keep Right Except to Pass” I like that much better than the “Slow Traffic keep Right” most people do not think they are going slow!
My prayer is: Most drivers would leave a few minutes earlier on short trips (and earlier on long trips)Drive the speed limit, and enjoy the drive, live better and longer!
So true, and you know that road that led them here.....
Yeah, it bothers me too... kind of like holding the door for someone who just brushes past you as if you were wearing a doorman’s uniform.
>>If I am already doing 70, dont expect me to pull over when the speed limit is 65<<
I do. So does the law in my state.
That is, unless you are actually passing someone.
It is actually common courtesy.
There is an entire article somewhere (I will have to look) that discusses why people don’t obey the speed limit. In a nutshell it’s because people know that it’s completely arbitrary, used to generate revenue, and has nothing whatsoever to do with safety. Once people understand this disconnect they stop obeying.
Who says conservatives “love the letter of the law?” Only folks that don’t live in a nanny state like Califonria or New York.
If a person is going the speed limit, are they loitering?
If a person is going faster than the speed limit at a constant speed are they lane loitering?
seems some of this is more about allowing people who drive faster than 15 mph over the limit free access to cause high speed accidents.
I am constantly amazed how someone flashing their headlights on a vehicle just because the vehicle ahead is moving at a lesser rate than they are. Speed is irrelivant. Slow than you is a slow poke. Faster than you is a maniac.
People going slowly in front of me are “slow sob’s” and people passing me are crazy bastards.
I always give the truck drivers a pass - gears and loads are different on the trucks - they need to get somewhere too.
If one can’t grab the left lane they lose their power up a hill and make the right lane worse....I’ll let a truck out to the left - they always move back over when through.
Listen to a CB...truck drivers hate us 4 wheelers...
>>You can’t legally be impeding traffic if you’re going the maximum allowable speed. Actually, yes you can. I’ve seen bottlenecks caused by traffic nanny’s in the passing lane. Many here do not understand how speed limits actually work. Here in Seattle it is common to be going 65 (and sometimes more) with the flow of traffic and one of those cars is a State Patrolman.
Traffic flow is king. If you are impeding it (or any driver for that matter) via your speed in the passing lane, you are violating the law in many states.
And speed is not even the issue. Maybe this is easier for us black and white thinkers to understand. When a law discusses one driver impeding another, it is all about relative speed. Actual speed does not even enter into the equation.
>>and those who swing into the far lane while turning through an intersection,...<<
That is actually legal in many states.
Trucks aren’t supposed to go over 75 on that stretch of highway - yet they will pass, uphill, knowing they are going to have a slew of cars blocked for miles. I give truckers a lot of respect as well, and try to be aware of their needs on the highway - a good defensive driver should - but blocking a major highway in a hilly area is stupid on their part.
Another Texas oddity is the night speed limit.
Does any Texan here actually follow that rule?
I didn’t know there existed such a thing until I moved here. Doesn’t bother me too much after a couple months, but goodness......they almost think you are incapable of driving at night, so they make the speed limit slower.
My dream is to drive on the freeway with a hummer and big bumper guards and, as I come up on cars camped out in the passing lane, flash my lights. If they don’t pull over, ram them off the road.
One after the other. All day long.
You said — “If I am already doing 70, dont expect me to pull over when the speed limit is 65”
Well, I certainly will, because I don’t want a long line of cars behind me getting ready to run up my rear end.... LOL...
And it does happen a lot, that way, too. So, I just get used to “getting out of the way” for those who want to go much faster than the speed limit.
—
The problem is that you just don’t want someone ramming you in the rear end, just because they were too close and you had to quickly slow down (for example, someone pulls into the left lane just as you’re about ready to go past them). And if you do slam on your brakes, then “bam” — he’s hit you. So, not wanting to have body repairs and not wanting to delay whatever driving trip that I’m on — I try to avoid situations that can cause accidents to happen, even if it’s the other guy that causes the accident...
>>Usually somebody is speeding. slow it down.<<
Speeding is a relative term. In some states, 51 in a 50 will get you a ticket. In others, 59 in a 50 won’t. The laws are not as cast in concrete as many would have you believe.
I live in a state where it is NORMAL to see the cops going right along with a flow of traffic more than five mph over the limit.
I would really love to see the limits all increased by ten mph and then strictly enforced, but that is not the world we live in...
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