Posted on 08/09/2004 12:25:49 PM PDT by Dog Gone
Two weeks ago I wrote that my traffic pet peeve is slow drivers using the left lane of a freeway and refusing to move over to let others pass.
This comment generated a flurry of e-mails and phone calls, with about a third of respondents agreeing that police should focus on ticketing these lane hogs who disrupt the normal flow of traffic, not speeders. The majority was critical, however, contending I was encouraging dangerous driving.
David Woerner of Houston called me "arrogant" for asking slower motorists to clear my path.
"If I am in the left lane and going 5 or 10 mph over the limit already, what right do you have to demand the lane?" he asked. "You have no more right to get there faster than me, as long as I drive the speed limit."
Several inquired about what the law says in this area.
My right to pass you in the left lane, even if I'm exceeding the posted limit, comes from § 545.051 of the Texas Transportation Code. The law requires that all drivers "moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles at the time and place under the existing conditions shall drive in the right-hand lane."
So if you're doing the speed limit in the left lane and a line of cars is behind you waiting to pass, you are not only being rude, you are breaking the law.
Remember the saying: "Two wrongs don't make a right?" It's not your job to enforce the speed limits, which are kept below the normal speed of traffic because of poorly conceived environmental rules and the government's greedy desire to collect revenue from fines. Also, freeways are designed for very fast speeds; the design speed is usually higher than the legal limit.
Someone trying to obstruct traffic is creating a greater danger than a driver going faster than the artificially set limit.
"Thank you for finally pointing out the dangerous situation created by left-hand hogs, and the resulting impact on freeway capacity and mobility," wrote Andy Slavin of The Woodlands. "This has truly become an epidemic situation in the city."
I endorse a libertarian approach to traffic enforcement: If you haven't hit something, what have you done wrong?
Handing someone an expensive citation for nothing more than driving the freeway's design speed represents government money-grabbing at its worst and has nothing to do with promoting safety.
Robert Flanary of Houston endorses my call for higher speed limits on freeways or the elimination thereof, such as on Germany's Autobahn system.
"Lowering the freeway speeds in some Texas cities a few years back is not what's going to help reduce pollution," he wrote, "since bottled-up traffic causes more smog than the people doing 70-plus."
Although some respondents spoke out in favor of issuing more tickets to those of us who decline to obey speed limits, they declined to obey the "slower traffic keep right" law.
"If I'm proceeding down the left-hand lane at the speed limit or maybe slightly over, I shouldn't be a problem except to those who refuse to obey the speed limits, " wrote James Exum of Houston.
Folks, let's show some courtesy out there. If a right-hand lane is free, I always drive in it. The left lane is for passing only, unless the freeway is gridlocked. Go the speed you are comfortable with and allow others moving faster to safely go by.
Timely article for me. I just got back for a lunchbreak trip to the courthouse to pay for a speeding ticket.
Bump...And what makes it worse is when that person in the left lane that will not move over is on a CELL PHONE... !!!
I very much dislike left-lane hogs. I prefer to call them "speed limit Joes"
My pet peeve is freeway drivers turning onto an exit lane, driving down the unobstructed lane as far as they can, then ducking back into one of the crowded regular lanes at the last moment. Self-centered a**holes.
Don't get me started...
Pennsylvania has a 2 mile "cruising" limit for left lane drivers but it isn't enforced.
Now you've done it!
Hah! I was just thinking of that! There's absolutely no reason to be in the left lane if the right/middle lane is empty or going the same speed as you are.
Judging from my observations, there must be an exception to this law that allows you to drive in the left hand lane at 10 miles under the speed limit if you have a cell phone mashed to your ear.
So if you're doing the speed limit in the left lane and a line of cars is behind you waiting to pass, you are not only being rude, you are breaking the law.
Yes, but your description of the situation does not match the description the other person described. If you are going 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit, in the left lane (because the people in the right lane are driving at or below the speed limit), and there are people behind you that want to pass and drive 15 to 20 miles (or more) over the speed limit, then the operative phrase in the statute ("moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles at the time and place under the existing conditions...") does not apply.
that aggravates me, as well as left lane slow pokes.
Ok, all traffic irritates me.lol
Judging from my observations, there must be an exception to this law that allows you to drive in the left hand lane at 10 miles under the speed limit if you have a cell phone mashed to your ear.
Another pet peeve is moronic semi-truck drivers who tailgate cars that are travelling at or above the speed limit.
and a "Its Bush's Fault" bumper sticker and a "caution Baby on Board" window sticker.
And here's another one for you...people who stay in the left lane always, and refuse to allow anyone who is driving in the right lane to get into the left lane to pass a slower vehicle.
My pet peeve is when traffic is backed up for 5 miles, and when you get to the point of origin of the traffic jam, its because of an accident -- on the other side of the damn highway that people feel obligated to slow down and gawk at!
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