Ticketed for driving slow in the left lane

[Deere Dude]

A question for you. If on a four laner, two each way, and you have your cruise on for 5 over or so and you are closing on the car in front at a pretty good pace, and you a line of cars is bearing down on you from your faster left lane, do you make the jump to pass at the same speed you are traveling and hod up the faster people on the left, or shut it down until the long line passes you. I have a tendency to jump out there and maybe kick it up a couple MPH.

 

[RoyJackson]

A question for you. If on a four laner, two each way, and you have your cruise on for 5 over or so and you are closing on the car in front at a pretty good pace, and you a line of cars is bearing down on you from your faster left lane, do you make the jump to pass at the same speed you are traveling and hod up the faster people on the left, or shut it down until the long line passes you. I have a tendency to jump out there and maybe kick it up a couple MPH.

If adequate room, I'll pass. I rarely speed up to accomodate those other drivers as I'm already going over the limit...thus breaking the speed limit laws.
If not adequate room to pass, I'll slow down (in the right lane) to ensure a safe distance from the vehicle in front of me.

 

[rtimgray]

Roy's answer is exactly the same as mine, and I think that it bothers some other folks. My view is that I'm already speeding (to the limit that I think I'm okay), I'm in the left lane to pass someone going slower than me in right lane. Just because there is some traffic behind me that wants to go faster still is of no consequence to me. Again, my rationale is that I have witnessed entire lines of traffic get pulled over in speed traps, and I'm not going to risk getting a ticket just because somebody wants to go 10 mph over the limit instead of five.

Now, if I were not already exceeding the speed limit (if for whatever reason, I'm running 65, passing someone going 60 in a 70 mph zone, and simply am not paying attention), and notice a line a traffic behind me, I will speed up to my "okay over the limit" speed, then yield as quickly as I can.

Good luck and take care.

 

[daugen]

Roy's answer is exactly the same as mine, and I think that it bothers some other folks.

there seems to be a feeling of "entitlement" that if one is in the left lane, passing properly, that everyone
should simply get out of my way. This is not the autobahn...as much as I would like that, and if someone is overtaking by at least a few mph
we should be patient and let them get around. But this is not a world of patient people for sure, and when I look over and see ten cars one car length between them at 65+, all thinking that if they can tailgate the person in front of them, that somehow that will "push" the offending first car out of the lane. I use to be in that lane. And come home frazzled from "competing" in the left lane.

I've faced this situation a bunch of times pulling my small boat. I'll come up behind a Prius, one that isn't going twenty over..., and they are happily doing exactly the speed limit in the right lane watching their economy digits constantly praising them for going so slow. Ahem.
So I pull out with my boat, and I never, ever pull that boat over 65. Maybe at the top of the pass, but otherwise I'm pulling at the speed limit, or if on the interstate, a little slower. On a six lane, usually not a problem. But on a four lane, if I look back and see a semi making time in that lane, maybe I have a right to pull into that lane, but I'm a safe driver with a sense of self preservation, so I'll stay put until the fast movers get by. And if I hold one of you up, well, tough. Sorry. Like the combine driver, not much I can do. And when you give me the middle finger going by, well, just have a nice day and you just aren't going to ruin mine.

I do think we should all overtake by at least 3-5mph. And if we can't, for whatever reason, we should probably think twice and look twice before pulling into the left lane. So if your cruise is set and you are just inching by, well, maybe put your foot in it a little, get on by, and then watch
the over coffee'd fast movers fly by on your left. I've just found I simply don't get where I'm going all that much slower if I stay out of the left lane. I used to live there. No more. and when I get in the left lane, I'm there to visit, not to dawdle.

Some people don't care how fast you are driving. Eighty? They want to go ninety...
Ninety? They want to rotate and lift off...

As an insurance guy and volunteer fireman, I have seen the blood of my clients all over their cars.
Teenagers with sucking chest wounds that are gasping for life in front of me, and one I will never forget simply
stopped breathing in front of me. All I could think of was his parents and his waste of a future.
my wife's car now has ten airbags. I want twelve...

I love to drive, and when the trailer isn't on the truck or car, enjoy taking every exit or on ramp.
I hope to get a small motorhome and tour the West, which I've never done.
Something tells me when I get out of the East, driving and driving manners will improve a bit.
I think...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The ticket was dismissed as no law was broken.

 

[2458n]

It was mentioned here that the schools never covered it. Drivers ed is no longer offered in some Ohio schools.

 

[seymojo536]

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" George Carlin

 

[sld]

When I was a teenager I got pulled over for doing 55 (yeah, back then) in the left lane. Being the hot head that I was, I argued back that if I am doing the speed limit, who is legally going to pass me? After a heated debate, the officer let me go without a ticket.

Recently, I was gradually passing a big line of cars / trucks in the interstate, doing at 78-79 in a 75. Cop pulls in behind me, no lights or anything. I could tell he wanted by real bad so I sped up to about 90 to let him pass and he just kept going.

I personally think cruise control is the source of many left lane problems. If you are going to pass, you better speedup some and get it over with. This crap about passing at .5 mph faster, using cruise control, than the rh lane is maddening.

 

[strum456]

After reading some 8 pages of posts, it is evident that most agree that people going below the speed limit in the fast lane are irritating to drivers and impede traffic. I agree completely.

However, I believe there is one group of drivers that are a MUCH bigger problem: The race car drivers - the ones that always act like they are on an oval track. They draft you if they can't pass, as soon as there is an opening, they swerve around and draft the next person. I see this on the highway all the time, even in bad road conditions. What these people don't seem to understand is that THEY CANNOT GO ANY FASTER THAN THE NATURAL FLOW OF TRAFFIC WITHOUT ENDANGERING EVERYONE INCLUDING THEMSELVES.

When driving on the 4 lane in my car, I generally travel in the fast lane in traffic areas for 2 reasons.

1. I don't want to interfere with people trying to merge.
2. I generally drive about 5-10mph over the speed limit.

I cannot stand all the race car drivers that fly up on my bumper and flash their lights, swerve, gas ,brake, and whatever else just to get one car ahead. Why are so many people unable to see the big picture? If people aren't trying to merge and I am not passing someone, I gladly move out of the way for anyone that wants to blow by at 30 MPH over the limit. I just don't see the point in even moving out of the way when there is NOWHERE TO GO.

 

[Danno1]

When I was a teenager I got pulled over for doing 55 (yeah, back then) in the left lane. Being the hot head that I was, I argued back that if I am doing the speed limit, who is legally going to pass me? After a heated debate, the officer let me go without a ticket.

I've always thought the same thing. Only I never had to debate it with a cop!

Recently, I was gradually passing a big line of cars / trucks in the interstate, doing at 78-79 in a 75. Cop pulls in behind me, no lights or anything. I could tell he wanted by real bad so I sped up to about 90 to let him pass and he just kept going.

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That happens ALL THE TIME around here. And if you're not paying attention to your rear view mirror, you'll get a short whoop on the siren. I've seen that almost cause accidents as people look up and see this cop glued to their rear bumper. Then they nearly cause an accident trying to change lanes so quickly. And sometimes even cutting off traffic in the next lane over.


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