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.
O, and like I said: Good luck trying to assert in a court that 100 MPH is the "normal" speed for a 65 MPH highway.
Just don't do any Petty Picks and you'll be fine.
Maybe no formal obligation, but a little common courtesy and a better-defined sense of self-preservation might help you out a little bit. Where I come from, the people who set themselves up as junior G-man left-hand lane anti-speeder patrols are usually driving mid-'80s Saab 900s or Volvo 240 wagons with "Think Locally, Act Globally" or "Imagine if the Air Force had to have a bake sale to pay for a B-1 bomber" bumper stickers on them.
If you're not passing anyone, and you're in traffic, there's no reason whatsoever to be in the passing (left) lane.
Which is more dangerous: a courteous driver who, even if he is driving over the limit, lets faster drivers pass on the left, OR
a self-appointed 'citizen traffic cop' who disruts the flow of traffic in some 'lane-owning' exercise, which pisses people off?
The CHP do that sometimes here. Last year I was on the 405, near Mulholland and I noticed a CHP car weaving back and forth over the lanes. He was doing a traffic break, trying to slow down the traffic because there was already a jam about 5 miles south of us
I can sympathize with that, and I drive fast. There are some people out there who are just plain nuts though, and being I good driver I try to keep out of their lanes and their way.
The all time craziest though is the George Washington parkway. The thing was built back in the 30's or something as a scenic byway for tourists to stop along and take pictures! Nowadays forget the pictures and tourist driving - if you aren't going about 60 you get mowed over by the commuter traffic.
No one has a right to force others to move over and have to slow down, just because they want to go even faster.
I've been known to take my foot off the gas and coast down 5 or 10 mph to give a tailgaiting driver the hint to back off and either change lanes if he wants to pass or at least keep off my bumper.
I see what you mean. The bad paragraphing is my fault. Below is the corrected passage.
§ 545.051. DRIVING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY.
(a) An operator on a roadway of sufficient width shall drive on the right half of the roadway, unless:
(1) the operator is passing another vehicle;
(2) an obstruction necessitates moving the vehicle left of the center of the roadway and the operator yields the right-of-way to a vehicle that:(A) is moving in the proper direction on the unobstructed portion of the roadway; and
(B) is an immediate hazard;(3) the operator is on a roadway divided into three marked lanes for traffic; or
(4) the operator is on a roadway restricted to one-way traffic.
(b) An operator of a vehicle on a roadway 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 available for vehicles, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless the operator is:
(1) passing another vehicle; or
(2) preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(c) An operator on a roadway having four or more lanes for moving vehicles and providing for two-way movement of vehicles may not drive left of the center line of the roadway except:
(1) as authorized by an official traffic-control device designating a specified lane to the left side of the center of the roadway for use by a vehicle not otherwise permitted to use the lane;
(2) under the conditions described by Subsection (a)(2); or
(3) in crossing the center line to make a left turn into or out of an alley, private road, or driveway.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
"I'm goin' down/in a blaze of glooorryyy..."
"Ohio is horrible for these left lane creepers."
Funny you should mention that. Whenever we come up on somebody in the fast lane that refuses to move over my husband always says "must be from Ohio". TN will also give you a ticket for going too slow in the slow lane but it's not enforced much.
Besides all the ones mentioned, one other peeve of mine is people that don't like to be passed. They can running 60 in the slow lane when I come up behind them but as soon as I move over to pass they speed up. If I slow down to get back behind them, they slow down. If I try to go faster to get by I run into another problem. My GMC Sierra shuts off at 90 as do a lot of vehicles. If I do manage to get by them they tailgate me for a while before giving it up. It's like they think I-75 is a race track.
Hear hear. As one who's had to bury a couple friends and one family member because of idiots insisting on acting out their "right" to speed, I concur completely. Heck, I once sent one of these idiots into the wall...I was doing 75 in a 65 and the idiot came up on my like I was standing still. With four lanes of empty freeway for him to pass me on the right, he instead chose to ride up on my back bumper while flashing his headlights. My reaction? My foot "slipped" off the gas and onto the brake. He was so close and so intent on making me mad that he panicked when the brakelights came on, locked up his brakes, and clipped the wall as he spun to a stop. In my book, he deserved no pity.
And for future reference: California has no "Keep Left" law, and does not designate a passing lane for any highway with two or more lanes travelling in the same direction (unless specifically posted otherwise). All lanes of all highways in this state are "traffic lanes" and can be utilized by any vehicle travelling at any speed. Passing on the right IS LEGAL on (again) any highway with two or more lanes travelling in your direction unless otherwise posted.
You're probably right, but that is a problem with law enforcement. Sadly many cops all over the nation are terribly ignorant of the laws they are supposed to be enforcing. Not to long ago Virginia expanded its handgun preemption statutes to cover the liberal cities that have tried to restrict carry. Virginia is an open carry state, so pretty soon some law abiding citizens started carrying their holstered guns into the formerly restricted areas. Then the cops started arresting them, only to find out that the law had changed. Several local PD's there now have egg all over their faces.
In CA, that's never the case. With the advent of carpool lanes (brought to you by the same geniuses that determined Drive 55 was safe and prudent), the left lane will be filled with those driving the speed limit and the right lanes will be going faster. Especially up hills.
Somewhat OT, but a couple years ago I was driving in Maryland.
I see a cop come up on a multilane high way so I get over one lane to the right and let him pass me.
He comes up behind someone doing the speed limit in the middle lane. I can tell this because I've matched my speed to theirs once the cop passed me.
The cop does this for a moment or two and then slowly but surely starts to get closer and closer to the guy until he is almost on top of him. The guy then speeds up a few mph so the cop won't hit him.
Lights come on and he pulls the guy over.
I honestly hope the cop saw something suspicious and was looking for an excuse to pull him over for something rather more serious then going 5 mph over the speed limit...but it was the 30th of the month...so I rather doubt it.
"Heck, I once sent one of these idiots into the wall..."
While I reserve the right to pass in the left lane, whatever my speed is, this goes too far. I would never willingly endanger another driver on the road. That's just plain wrong.
Yes, the guy should have passed you on the right on that empty freeway, but if the freeway's empty, there's little reason to be running in the left lane on a 4-laner in the first place. Lots safer to travel in one of the middle lanes, where there's no barrier on either side.
Insisting on your rights is OK, as long as you endanger nobody unnecessarily. What you did was wrong.
I do that, particularly if I'm in the right lane and going the speed limit. Sometimes it takes these clowns a looooong time to decide to change lanes and pass me. There have been a couple of times when the tailgater STILL wasn't bright enough to pass, so I moved to the left, and let them pass me on the right before moving back to the right lane.
Absolutely right.
State highway enforcement should randomly have days to enforce one specific law on that day. Obstructing traffic being one of them.
Here in california, if you stack more than 5 cars behind you and the road in front is clear, you are obstructing traffic.
What I hate, is when I am merging in (already up to speed), and the car some distance away (behind me) in the right-hand lane decides he's going to speed up to try and get past me before I make it fully into the lane.
LOL! I don't think anything beats Mexico though. There is some crazy stuff on those roads down there. I've seen everything from go-karts to jerryrigged amalgamations of about 3 different VW models into one running on supposed "highways" down there. The trashed out clunker dragging a bumper is normal by comparison.
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