I have a RANT .

[cqaigy2]

Left lane must be for going long distances......It least that's what i was thinking when a friend of mine stopped by to pick me up in his pickup. We were doing a road trip down to Salem for a gun show and as soon as we get on the interstate, over he goes to the left lane. Hmm ok I guess cause there isn't anybody behind us. But then traffic starts piling up behind us. They have the same idea about the left lane, as there isn't anybody in the right lane, so they pile up behind us, doing just a tiny bit under the posted speed limit. I mention that the right lane is clear for him to go over and let the multitude by and he says that they can pass him on the right.

 

[CobyRupert]

Your friend is an idiot.

 

[CobyRupert]

 

[dave1949]

View attachment 401457

LOL If only.

 

[Jstpssng]

Funny thing, I was just thinking yesterday that we hadn't had a #itching session about drivers in a while... as I was sitting at a green light waiting for the lead driver to figure out that he didn't need to wait for turning traffic.
The easiest way I've found to get somebody to speed up is to signal that you are going to pass.

I found a couple of interesting things about Maine law last year...
1: It's illegal to speed up when somebody is trying to pass you. (Almost impossible to enforce, I admit.)
2: It is legal to pass on the right if the lane is clear.

 

[kennyd]

What are these people thinking ?

My theory: They "think" that with all the new automatic this-and-that in the cars now, if the lights are supposed to be on then they would come on automatically like they do when its dark. I'd bet most of them do not even know how to turn the headlights on manually if they really needed to.

It's a law here in MD also, but only as a secondary offense (meaning they can't stop you for just that) yet you still see 10% of vehicles here without the lights on. Even most of the highway banner sign say "Lights on in the Rain" when its raining, but I guess they'd have to look p from their smartphone to notice/read that.

 

[dave1949]

It's legal to pass on the right but I see two problems:
1) It doesn't work well when people are using two different sets of "personal" rules in the same space.
2) Passing left lane malingerers on their right seems to enrage many of them and they do speed up. Clearly they are control freaking sociopaths that deserve instant death, or at least have their gas pedal foot amputated. :laughing:

 

[kevin37b]

Your friend is an idiot.

I agree .

 

[Jstpssng]

You are absolutely correct Dave... or worse yet, he pulls over and straddle's both lanes.

My most favorite passing story... some place north of nowhere, headed home late one night after being gone for weeks, I had worked a half day then started driving.
Almost home, I pulled out to pass a small car. Suddenly I heard a chainsaw from someplace in the darkness... "What the heck!?!"

Then I realised that the small car had one of those megaphones on the tailpipe... the driver had stepped on the gas to try and keep me from passing. Yeah right, his little four banger against my pickup that apparently was "tuned" by a previous owner, and would hit a hundred at the drop of a hat... pfft, seeya!

 

[s219]

In addition to the left lane residents, we also have a problem here with people clogging up the rightmost lane on a 3- or 4-lane highway. The way I was taught, that rightmost lane is supposed to be for people exiting or entering the highway. Well, around here, people use it as a travel lane, often going way under the speed limit. Almost every day I commute to work, I have to practically play bumper cars to get into that right lane to exit the highway. It's ridiculous. That exit serves an Air Force base and a business park, so a lot of people use it going to work. Yet whenever I exit, I'd say at least 3-4 cars in front of me and 3-4 in back keep on going. Next exit is 2-3 miles away and not a busy exit. I am convinced these must be dopes that just get on the highway and stay in that lane for days....

 

[dave1949]

SOP in Mass. on a three lane is enter and go directly to the center lane, doesn't matter if they are doing 40 mph less then the center lane traffic, they have to get there NOW! They exit from the center lane too.

The good news is you better be going 80 to use the left lane. I-495 looks like NASCAR tryouts late in the evening. If you are willing to run with the pack, you can put away some miles in a hurry.

 

[bcp]

Virginia:
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-804

Whenever any roadway has been divided into clearly marked lanes for traffic, drivers of vehicles shall obey the following:

1. Any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions existing, shall be driven in the lane nearest the right edge or right curb of the highway when such lane is available for travel except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or where right lanes are reserved for slow-moving traffic as permitted in this section;

In addition to the left lane residents, we also have a problem here with people clogging up the rightmost lane on a 3- or 4-lane highway. The way I was taught, that rightmost lane is supposed to be for people exiting or entering the highway. Well, around here, people use it as a travel lane, often going way under the speed limit. ....

 

[dave1949]

Virginia:
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-804

Whenever any roadway has been divided into clearly marked lanes for traffic, drivers of vehicles shall obey the following:

1. Any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions existing, shall be driven in the lane nearest the right edge or right curb of the highway when such lane is available for travel except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or where right lanes are reserved for slow-moving traffic as permitted in this section;

You ever hear of anyone getting cited for not following that rule? Most states have such rules but I don't see them enforced.

 

[Pixguy]

... I-495 looks like NASCAR tryouts late in the evening. If you are willing to run with the pack, you can put away some miles in a hurry.

Been there, done that.

 

[Jstpssng]

I haven't done a lot of driving in Mass. One thing it seems though is that if you put on your blinker, they will let you change lanes. Unlike here, where the driver will speed up to block you... or travel for miles in the left lane just in your blind spot, only speeding up when you overtake a slower vehicle.

 

[dave1949]

I haven't done a lot of driving in Mass. One thing it seems though is that if you put on your blinker, they will let you change lanes. Unlike here, where the driver will speed up to block you... or travel for miles in the left lane just in your blind spot, only speeding up when you overtake a slower vehicle.

I experience that a lot on the road about everywhere. In heavy traffic people are going to be all around and there are few escape paths, but on the open road they are needlessly taking away a defensive driving escape path, which I hate. A lot of drivers do not hold consistent speeds and there is no logic to when they will speed up or slow down. Running on cruise control, I have passed and been passed by the same driver several times in a 10 mile stretch.

It's very difficult for traffic to flow smoothly with those people on the road. They get next to a truck and slow down for several miles with traffic building behind them, then they speed up and pull into the right lane and keep going faster than they have been for the past 10 miles. By then the truck needs to pass someone and whips into an already full lane of traffic that had high hopes of actually getting somewhere. :laughing:

Anyone who runs next to a semi for miles, probably not in one the trucks better visual areas either, is not thinking clearly. If anything goes wrong you know who's going to get the Darwin Award.

 

[Baby Grand]

I had a driver's ed teacher who told us something that has proven remarkably true. He said that many drivers "hitch" themselves to the car in front of them and then switch their brain off, letting the driver in front do all the thinking for them as they essentially go to sleep with their eyes open. He warned us to separate the attachment, if possible, or sufferer the consequences.

 

[Bird]

Running on cruise control, I have passed and been passed by the same driver several times in a 10 mile stretch.

That does not happen in this part of the country.:laughing: I probably use the cruise control more than anyone you know, and if I set the cruise control on the speed limit, they all pass me; I'm unlikely to pass anyone.:laughing:

 

[dave1949]

That does not happen in this part of the country.:laughing: I probably use the cruise control more than anyone you know, and if I set the cruise control on the speed limit, they all pass me; I'm unlikely to pass anyone.:laughing:

Who said anything about speed limits? I'm pretty sure I my average speed is below the speed limit. :laughing:

You are correct though, the least stressful and safest driving is done at 2-3 mph below a highway's speed limit.

 

[aczlan]

You are correct though, the least stressful and safest driving is done at 2-3 mph below a highway's speed limit.

Thats a good way to get run over around here... Its worse if you get down near NYC/NJ (where traffic does 75-90MPH on the Long Island Expressway which is posted at 55MPH, but if you do less than 70 in the left lane, you will get run off the road)


Aaron Z