If those who "regard the speed limit" are obstructing traffic flow in the left lane, then they too are in the group who wishes to "break the law". Some here seem to demand everyone to hold all laws as equal, but they sure don't want to observe them that way themselves, only to complain when others pick and choose.
Respect has to be earned, not given out like candy on Halloween. If so many of the laws had a defendable foundation in logic and reality, maybe so many wouldn't disregard them. The well paid LEO and traffic "engineer" groups have created a case of epic fail when it comes to credibility.
If so many of the laws had a defendable foundation in logic and reality, maybe so many wouldn't disregard them.
On traffic laws, most seem reasonable. But, thought of one type speed limit while on the interstate yesterday.
In Northern, and Northeast Illinois, many interstates, with more than 2 lanes in a direction, and mostly with straight segments, entrances/exits not too close, have 55 speed limits. Pavements in very good condition, yet speed limit is 55.
In comparison, many 2 lane numbered highways, many having long double yellow zones, curves, dips, crests, crossroads, sideroads, farmers' driveways, farmers slowly moving large equipment, slow moving/stopping US postal vehicles, etc also have 55 speed limits.
So, how can 2 types of roads so disparate in characteristics have the same legal speed limits. Is one too high, the other too low?
>to be times of the day (morning and evening commutes) where all 3, or 4, or fill-in-the-blank lanes are going to be chock full of cars going nowhere near the speed limit
To listen to the speeders posting here, it sounds like those high traffic count times with speeds below the speed limit should part the waters to keep the left lane open for those choosing to speed above the speed limit!
The highest flow in times of higher counts, even when traffic is around the speed limit will occur with all lanes carrying traffic. Keeping the left lane open for people who feel they should speed at 15 and more above the limit because, well just because, is what some here are suggesting.
Not reasonable.
To repeat, just go with the flow and enjoy the drive. It's a lost less stress than trying to win imaginary wars in ones own mind with foes who don't exist. Sort of like the Colorado theater gunner winning his wars... :sick:
Interfere being defined as altering the direction or speed of other traffic is a great definition. You can pass at the speed limit all you want to, but dont' do it if your going to impede and interfere with traffic, wait for a big enough opening so that you aren't inconsiderate!
Certainly. But as someone else noted, it's all about give-and-take. That means it's NOT about the speeders doing all the taking and those driving at the limit doing all the giving. If someone needs to pass, they shouldn't have to wait all day if they are driving at the limit and the traffic in the left lane is driving way over the limit. Then it's a matter of finding as big a gap as possible, within a reasonable time, and getting back into the right lane as soon as is safe to do so. If someone flying along at way over the speed limit in the left lane has to slow down a bit to allow that to happen, fine--that's all part of the give-and-take in sharing the road with consideration for others.
To repeat, just go with the flow and enjoy the drive.
No, no, no, no, NO! That is just too reasonable/logical !!
Most freeways I travel on are in urban areas and except during early morning/late night hours, the left lane needs to be used as a traffic lane or the freeway would get too congested. Still, the old axiom "slower traffic keep right" applies. When traffic allows, the left lane should be for vehicles going at least the speed limit, and in light traffic for passing only. Traffic volumes make the latter a difficult proposition much of the time on urban freeways.
Also consider that there are left exits on many freeways. No one should be forced to exceed posted speed limits just because they need to get into the left lane to make an exit. Drivers who like to go above posted speeds, please keep that in mind before tailgating those folks, flashing high beams, honking etc.
Bottom line is that there are far more inconsiderate over-the-top (20 over) speeders who intimidate by tailgating and who recklessly move around the lanes than there are LLCs AND conservative drivers who go with the flow and stay at limits or only exceed limits of what cops will Give (5-10).
The intimidators many times are driving ill-handling/braking full size pickups and large suvs. These are the kinds of vehicles that really should be relegated to the right lane and the speed limits of semis. If we ever were to have variable speed limits based on tested driver ability and vehicle capability, then certainly all pickup trucks and large suvs belong at a speed limit at or slightly above semis and must always stay in right lane except to pass.
Also consider that there are left exits on many freeways.
I was on one of those last week in Duluth and there were some speeders in the left lane seemingly irritated that a bunch of folks were heading up the hill and had moved over a mile before the exit.
There really needs to be special licensing standards for vehicles once they hit a certain weight or set of dimensions. It is mindblowing that I can get a license in a Yaris and the next day go out and drive an H1 or a 40ft diesel pusher. Of course, I can also get an endorsement on a scooter and buy a 'busa the next day too, so I guess it all works out.
I guess it is different in the PNW...there are a handful who want to go 20+ over, but they are uncommon, not far more of them than the gigantic amount of LLCs, or average people who go a normal speed. Many of the brain fried locals here would be content to dawdle down an interstate at 45mph if they knew they'd survive. Different from say GA and FL, where huge amounts of traffic fly down the road at high speeds.
I like them, good make work project for bodyshops, and you get to be reminded that your horn works :shades:
But really, there was one near where I previously lived, and I would only use it during early or late hours. People here can't figure it out. PNW passive-aggressive driving combined with zero understanding of right of way doesn't help. Sad, as they work so well in more developed places.
Most laws have logic, but many don't - especially limits. In my area it is similar to what you describe. Random changes, or wide open roads that are posted less than low visibility or congested areas. No rhyme or reason. I guess when you can't be fired, no reason to employ it.
Keep in mind in this case, the left lane is no longer first and foremost the passing lane, but the exit lane. Hence if someone is going the limit (or max safe speed if less than the limit, as most exits have a posted speed less than the road's speed limit) in the exit lane, why is is that "in the wrong"?
This assumes the person exiting moves over to the exit lane at a reasonable distance from the exit. If they get over five miles before the exit for example, the left lane is still the passing lane at that point unless traffic volume makes that impossible.
I don't think so. If there's a left lane Interstate exit, I think you have every right to move over a mile ahead and prepare to leave the freeway (maintaining the required minimum speed) and I don't think you have to give way to a driver behind you. To veer left from the right or middle lane(s) at the last minute would be more hazardous. (example link to KS law - "preparing to make a proper left turn")
I bet getting rid of the existing left lane freeway exits is on the wish list of most highway departments.
There's another instance where you can be in the far left lane and let people to your right pass you without breaking any traffic law.
But is exiting the same as a left turn? And who here lives in KS? :shades:
When I exit and there is light traffic, I don't slow down much at all until I have left the interstate. The crowd who takes normal turns at 6mph will brake half a mile before the exit, though.
Sure, you take a right turn when you leave the Interstate on a normal right exit. You can't just lean your fintail a bit to the right and have it ease off on the ramp unless you really have your camber tweaked. :P
Ohio proposed a similar law but I can't tell if it passed.
"A bill that would raise the speed limit on Ohio interstate highways also would make it a crime to drive in the left lane unless you're passing or exiting." (onntv.com)
Don't know if this map link works, but if you look at I-35 N in Duluth (that's in Minnesota ), exit 255A dumps you left onto a short flying ramp that intersects a two lane ramp. There's a light there. I'm guessing you have 500' to prepare for the light and make a hard left after exiting the Interstate. 25 mph exit, 55 mph freeway speed limit. Good view of it at 1:31 in this YouTube.
Keep going to 1:58 and you get a good view of Coit Tower (hey, Duluth is the San Francisco of the Midwest).
I guess I see a turn as something more than 45 degrees. Around here, most exits are glorified lane changes, an alert driver can let physics do the work of slowing the car. Most are only yellow signed as well, limits suggested for the inebriated drivers of 60 year old double decker buses. Just yesterday I took a yellow signed at 40 long curving exit ramp at 60+ - no problem other than needing to use both hands o the wheel, not to steer but to remain in my seat. Fun.
Even in that linked mess, 500' should be more than enough for any sober driver to get from 55 to ~30 or even a dead stop with no panic or early braking. Anything more speaks to either the driver or vehicle, IMNSHO :shades:
Saw a few dopes on the road - Galant with a driver who shall go undescribed going about 22 in a 30 and holding up a few cars, distracted short leash family man in a Pilot who failed to signal for one turn, then veered over into the left lane without a signal, then crawled and got passed on the right (by me), then I noticed he veered back into the right lane. Holding food while driving and tending to devilspawn. Shortly after that got behind an MDX with a drone driver in a parking lot who wouldn't go above 6mph and would randomly slow down as if invisible kids were running around.
I guess you saw the traffic in that YouTube link. I made sure to get in the left lane in plenty of time for my airport runs last week so I wouldn't get boxed in by traffic and have to miss my turn. Or worse, cut someone off to get to my exit.
But yeah, I was going at least 55 in the left lane when I peeled off. And I didn't have any sympathy for anyone behind me trying to go straight at 65.
If you were going 55 and traffic was so dense that you worried about getting over in time, it sounds like one of the situations where traffic kind of overrides lane discipline - i.e. all lanes are full. So then, you did no wrong. Now if it was a very empty road with a left lane going 65 and someone got over so early and dawdled, that would be a different story. Doesn't sound like yours though.
Sounds like the real culprit is the left lane exit. There are a few around here too.
Traffic wasn't that heavy but I didn't want to hang out in the right lane too long and then have some yahoo come barreling in toward town doing 90 cutting off a safe exit for me. That's his problem not mine.
One other trouble spot is a left lane merge - there's one on I-81 in Virginia that I hit when I drive from my sister's house to Chattanooga. If traffic is heavy (and it often is weekdays with cars passing semis), rather quickly you can have merging traffic bearing down on you from the left (often a semi going the speed limit). Not really much different than a typical right lane merge, but the speeds are often higher and it's just different enough to make you wonder what the highway engineers were thinking (thinking of saving some ROW money and not putting in a flyover).
No one with any guesses about when it's okay to be in the far left lane and have people pass you on the right?
One case I can think of is when you are nearing a construction zone and the right lane is ending, with signs to merge into the left lane. Drivers who have already merged into the left lane (the only open lane up ahead) are within their rights to drive at the posted speed if they so choose (and usually the speed limit will drop as you enter the work zone). Some cars may try to zip to the head of the line in the right lane before merging, thus they would pass on the right.
Didn't think about road construction, but the situation I'm thinking of is typical in a morning or evening commute on good roads, no accidents, fine weather, etc.
Some of the idiocy seen in those videos is exactly what one can find around Seattle. Lack of lane discipline, lack of understanding of right of way, endless bad lane changes, texting while driving, blocking intersections, general slowness, and so on.
Nope this is ordinary, everyday driving (albeit in larger cities).
Imagine the speed limit is 65.
You and your wife have left your home in the 'burbs and are cruising along in the far left lane at 9 o'clock one Tuesday morning heading to a nice breakfast joint you like downtown. You're chatting away, enjoying the billboards, and only doing 62 mph.
There's no one in your lane behind you and people are passing you non-stop in the two right lanes (make it three right lanes as you get closer to town). Some of those folks are going the speed limit; others are speeding.
Yet there's no one tailgating you or having to move over a lane to get ahead of you and no one is road raging because you are dawdling along.
A Washington State link I found the other day said that if the HOV lane is crowded and there's a line of cars behind you, the cops may pull you over and "educate" you that you should move over and let the faster cars pass you, even if you were going the speed limit. "A ticket may be issued if you are impeding "normal and reasonable movement of traffic" in the lane.
The idea is to reduce the possibility of road rage.
They aren't needed - Sunday mornings are easily the best daylight hour time to drive here, but some get over and just camp there because they have 2+ occupants. It's like the LLCs dreamland, they can go as slow as they please and feel entitled.
On many weekday afternoons, HOV lanes on 405 in my city jam up as bad as the rest and offer no advantage.
In my area (Twin Cities), HOV lanes, i.e. far left lanes marked for HOV traffic, that are not reversible are open for regular traffic outside of M-F rush hours... meaning, most of the time. Then they should be treated as "the far left lane". Funny thing is, I don't see many people use them at all outside of rush hours. Must be conditioned to think of them as HOV only.
Had two similar situations today while on I-94 in Wisconsin. I was in the right lane at the 65 limit. First case, a black A3 comes down the entrance ramp, faster than I am going, until it is even with my car. At this point they could either maintain their speed and zip in ahead of me, or reduce speed a tad and slip in behind me (clear back there). They chose the former. No problem. After doing that, they slowed down to below the limit, and the distance between our cars closed--but not an unsafe gap. Then they hit the brakes, for no apparent reason. Luckily the left lane was clear and I darted over there to go around them. I'm still going the limit. As I pass them, I give them a Look. They honk at me! I get ahead of them, about to cut back to the right lane. Then they blast past me, in the right lane, at about 20 over the limit and keep going at that speed down the road until I lose sight of them.
Maybe 30 minutes later, similar thing happens with a white Enclave. Same choice: they can pop in ahead of me, or slide in behind me. They do neither. They slow down to match my speed and honk at me, as if I am supposed to make their driving decisions for them. So I do: I floor the car so they can slide in behind me.
Had two similar situations today while on I-94 in Wisconsin. I was in the right lane at the 65 limit. First case, a black A3 comes down the entrance ramp, faster than I am going, until it is even with my car.
Was the left lane clear in either of these situations? If so, it would have been a good idea to move left to give the merging drivers some room.
There was plenty of clearance ahead of me and behind me, very easy for each vehicle entering the highway to pick one of those options... as the A3 did. Can't for the life of me figure out why the Enclave slowed to match my speed rather than keep going and cut in ahead of me. Or they could slow down a bit more and enter behind my car.
In cases where it could be a tight squeeze, e.g. I am behind the merging car but will likely catch up to it once they enter the highway, I move over if I possibly can.
Anyway, when I am cruising along at the speed limit, I try to stay out of the left lane unless necessary.
In some areas in the Puget Sound area, HOV lanes are free between 7pm-5am, but in many others they are not. I like those times when they are open - most seem unable to read the signs so nobody but a few mullti passenger cars are using them - sometimes for miles, it can be kind of like my own private lane :shades:
I'm lucky - I miss most of the morning mayhem. Work mornings, I go east & the mayhem goes west. Getting off work, the crush has long since passed. A six mile drive, and about 4 different ways to get there if one or more is bolloxed up.
I agree with you. I have the same situation happen to me (without the honking!) where someone who is supposed to be merging into my lane expects me to be the one to adjust the speed. Now if there's a lot of traffic trying to merge and the left lane is clear, then I'll move over to help out. But not when it's only a few cars.
Plus the times when I do move over to help the mergers, then I sometimes get stuck in the left lane with one of those mergers right behind me and I'm not able to go back to the right lane because it's full. Now I'm the one "at fault" for driving slow in the left lane when I'm trying to help out the mergers.
And it's actually safer to have one car maintain a constant speed and have the other car adjust their speed. If you have both trying to adjust slower or faster, you end up with the same situation where you're trying to pass someone and they move left with you and then you move one way with them, and pretty soon your dancing until one person just stops moving.
It's the merger's responsibility to yield to existing traffic. I help out when I can, of course, but traffic already on the freeway has no obligation to do so, and occasionally, it's nearly impossible.
Apparently accelerating on on-ramps prior to merging is becoming a lost art.
Today I saw a woman on 405 going about 45, applying lipstick as she drove. White first gen Prius. At least she was in the right lane, but even the local slowpokes were passing her.
Plus the times when I do move over to help the mergers, then I sometimes get stuck in the left lane with one of those mergers right behind me and I'm not able to go back to the right lane because it's full.
Something kind of similarly frustrating happens if you have to follow a semi on a ramp to an interstate with a car on your bumper. If you stay close to semi, he of course will merge into right lane, and with left lane having line of cars, the car behind you gets a slot in the left lane and you get stuck behind the semi for a while. Unless, you allow a long gap between you and the semi to have more room to merge in right and have a crack at a slot in the left.
Have not been to Chicago in a while. They used to have a traffic light soon after you got on an interstate ramp. If each car obeyed it, it would meter traffic down the ramp and to merge on interstate right lane.
It's the merger's responsibility to yield to existing traffic. I help out when I can, of course, but traffic already on the freeway has no obligation to do so, and occasionally, it's nearly impossible.
Of course it's the merger's responsibility to yield. But helping out by moving left IF YOU CAN is certainly the considerate thing to do. And then there are the real gems that will stay in the right lane, with the left lane wide open, and actively try to run a merger out of road.
Apparently accelerating on on-ramps prior to merging is becoming a lost art.
A lot of folks around Louisville seem to want to hit the merge point at about 45-50mph (on NON-cloverleaf ramps), which is a pain on a 65mph roadway...and a bigger pain when I am behind because that's about where my Volvo's slushbox will upshift to 5th, leaving me at 1500rpm and off-boost.
In the situation backy described, I would have done the same thing he did. There was no reason to do anything else because no conflict existed until the merging vehicle created one. His speed and position was known.
Generally, the only time I move over for merging traffic is when the vehicle is of a size/shape where it needs extra room or it cannot possibly match highway speeds by the time the merge occurs. I do sometimes adjust my speed to allow for a larger gap depending on congestion just so the merger feels comfortable entering the space. Basically, rather than a single following distance, I gently double that distance to assume entry of the merger between me and the car ahead of me, thereby preventing the need for me to create the space in a less gradual manner.
And then there are the real gems that will stay in the right lane, with the left lane wide open, and actively try to run a merger out of road.
This is the funniest thing. As a merger, I don't have any problem getting onto the road - never have, regardless of where I choose to merge or the traffic involved, because at some point my lane is their lane: They become one.
So, when the lanes are two, I make my choice: behind or ahead, depending on our relative locations vs. speeds when the choice is made. Once I make that choice, I stick to it. When the lanes merge, so do I. The funny thing is when the driver to the left, who is well behind me on the road, decides that they really want to be in front. Their 55-60 speed suddenly becomes 65-70. It is as though the driver wants to force me into hitting the brakes at he last moment rather than be able to smoothly merge.
The problem is, I love to disappoint those sorts of people. The lanes merge, so do I, and *GASP*.... what do you know?! I'm in front. Then comes the fun part. :P
If they wanted to go 65-70, that's fine with me, but if that were the case, they'd be long by me come the time to merge and I could have picked my speed to ensure they did so. Instead, they basically wanted to create conflict where none existed. Maybe they just need that extra rush of emotions to liven up the commute? :confuse:
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
Same here. I've seen that three or four times in the last few weeks. I've taken to driving up next to them and laying on the horn if they're having a hard time staying in one lane.....
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
I honk at yappers too. When I am on foot and someone is yapping or texting with the window down, I have a knack for hurling an insult in their direction, usually "hang up and drive (enter insult here)" :shades:
I can believe it. It's not a car that attracts those who like to concentrate on driving.
I'd really like to see local yapping/texting laws enforced, and given some teeth. That would mean also enforcing the laws in downtown Bellevue so the criminals in their new CLs and Maseratis would be held accountable too.
Roundabouts work wonders, and work reliably and efficiently given even a minimum competence for driving and remembering the rules of the road.
Arizona has them, Sedona has many. It works great there.
If Roundabouts get incompetent drivers off the road (because hopefullly their accidents are severe enough to disable their vehicle), then I say that's a good thing for us competent drivers. However, the celebration only lasts for a few hours, as the incompetent will probably rent a car, but at least for an hour or two, the roads are free of 1 or 2 incompetents.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Another part of the problem is insufficient on-ramps - too short for sufficient acceleration, especially for some of the junk on the road these days.
I call foul here. Even some of the slowest cars can get up to speed if you floor the accelerator (which is what your supposed to do if you drive something slow, and are getting onto a short ramp up).
The problem is drivers who would rather save a drop of fuel to risk their lives and cause accidents, congestion, and traffic behind them. Also, sheer incompetent drivers who don't understand how to push the accelerator down past the 1/4 throttle position is an issue.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Comments
Respect has to be earned, not given out like candy on Halloween. If so many of the laws had a defendable foundation in logic and reality, maybe so many wouldn't disregard them. The well paid LEO and traffic "engineer" groups have created a case of epic fail when it comes to credibility.
On traffic laws, most seem reasonable. But, thought of one type speed limit while on the interstate yesterday.
In Northern, and Northeast Illinois, many interstates, with more than 2 lanes in a direction, and mostly with straight segments, entrances/exits not too close, have 55 speed limits. Pavements in very good condition, yet speed limit is 55.
In comparison, many 2 lane numbered highways, many having long double yellow zones, curves, dips, crests, crossroads, sideroads, farmers' driveways, farmers slowly moving large equipment, slow moving/stopping US postal vehicles, etc also have 55 speed limits.
So, how can 2 types of roads so disparate in characteristics have the same legal speed limits. Is one too high, the other too low?
People enter them without paying attention to other cars and some people are too timid.
In Long Beach CA, for many years, they have had a miserable "Traffic Circle". About six major streets merge there and they have a lot of accidents.
I guess these seem to be all the rage now.
To listen to the speeders posting here, it sounds like those high traffic count times with speeds below the speed limit should part the waters to keep the left lane open for those choosing to speed above the speed limit!
The highest flow in times of higher counts, even when traffic is around the speed limit will occur with all lanes carrying traffic. Keeping the left lane open for people who feel they should speed at 15 and more above the limit because, well just because, is what some here are suggesting.
Not reasonable.
To repeat, just go with the flow and enjoy the drive. It's a lost less stress than trying to win imaginary wars in ones own mind with foes who don't exist. Sort of like the Colorado theater gunner winning his wars... :sick:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Certainly. But as someone else noted, it's all about give-and-take. That means it's NOT about the speeders doing all the taking and those driving at the limit doing all the giving. If someone needs to pass, they shouldn't have to wait all day if they are driving at the limit and the traffic in the left lane is driving way over the limit. Then it's a matter of finding as big a gap as possible, within a reasonable time, and getting back into the right lane as soon as is safe to do so. If someone flying along at way over the speed limit in the left lane has to slow down a bit to allow that to happen, fine--that's all part of the give-and-take in sharing the road with consideration for others.
No, no, no, no, NO! That is just too reasonable/logical !!
Most freeways I travel on are in urban areas and except during early morning/late night hours, the left lane needs to be used as a traffic lane or the freeway would get too congested. Still, the old axiom "slower traffic keep right" applies. When traffic allows, the left lane should be for vehicles going at least the speed limit, and in light traffic for passing only. Traffic volumes make the latter a difficult proposition much of the time on urban freeways.
Also consider that there are left exits on many freeways. No one should be forced to exceed posted speed limits just because they need to get into the left lane to make an exit. Drivers who like to go above posted speeds, please keep that in mind before tailgating those folks, flashing high beams, honking etc.
The intimidators many times are driving ill-handling/braking full size pickups and large suvs. These are the kinds of vehicles that really should be relegated to the right lane and the speed limits of semis. If we ever were to have variable speed limits based on tested driver ability and vehicle capability, then certainly all pickup trucks and large suvs belong at a speed limit at or slightly above semis and must always stay in right lane except to pass.
I was on one of those last week in Duluth and there were some speeders in the left lane seemingly irritated that a bunch of folks were heading up the hill and had moved over a mile before the exit.
I guess it is different in the PNW...there are a handful who want to go 20+ over, but they are uncommon, not far more of them than the gigantic amount of LLCs, or average people who go a normal speed. Many of the brain fried locals here would be content to dawdle down an interstate at 45mph if they knew they'd survive. Different from say GA and FL, where huge amounts of traffic fly down the road at high speeds.
But really, there was one near where I previously lived, and I would only use it during early or late hours. People here can't figure it out. PNW passive-aggressive driving combined with zero understanding of right of way doesn't help. Sad, as they work so well in more developed places.
In other words, even if there was a left lane exit, you still have to be travelling at a rate faster than those to the right of you.
If you were, then the speeders can suck it.
If you weren't, then you were in the wrong.
This assumes the person exiting moves over to the exit lane at a reasonable distance from the exit. If they get over five miles before the exit for example, the left lane is still the passing lane at that point unless traffic volume makes that impossible.
I bet getting rid of the existing left lane freeway exits is on the wish list of most highway departments.
There's another instance where you can be in the far left lane and let people to your right pass you without breaking any traffic law.
Care to guess?
When I exit and there is light traffic, I don't slow down much at all until I have left the interstate. The crowd who takes normal turns at 6mph will brake half a mile before the exit, though.
Ohio proposed a similar law but I can't tell if it passed.
"A bill that would raise the speed limit on Ohio interstate highways also would make it a crime to drive in the left lane unless you're passing or exiting." (onntv.com)
Don't know if this map link works, but if you look at I-35 N in Duluth (that's in Minnesota
Keep going to 1:58 and you get a good view of Coit Tower (hey, Duluth is the San Francisco of the Midwest).
Even in that linked mess, 500' should be more than enough for any sober driver to get from 55 to ~30 or even a dead stop with no panic or early braking. Anything more speaks to either the driver or vehicle, IMNSHO :shades:
Saw a few dopes on the road - Galant with a driver who shall go undescribed going about 22 in a 30 and holding up a few cars, distracted short leash family man in a Pilot who failed to signal for one turn, then veered over into the left lane without a signal, then crawled and got passed on the right (by me), then I noticed he veered back into the right lane. Holding food while driving and tending to devilspawn. Shortly after that got behind an MDX with a drone driver in a parking lot who wouldn't go above 6mph and would randomly slow down as if invisible kids were running around.
But yeah, I was going at least 55 in the left lane when I peeled off. And I didn't have any sympathy for anyone behind me trying to go straight at 65.
Sounds like the real culprit is the left lane exit. There are a few around here too.
One other trouble spot is a left lane merge - there's one on I-81 in Virginia that I hit when I drive from my sister's house to Chattanooga. If traffic is heavy (and it often is weekdays with cars passing semis), rather quickly you can have merging traffic bearing down on you from the left (often a semi going the speed limit). Not really much different than a typical right lane merge, but the speeds are often higher and it's just different enough to make you wonder what the highway engineers were thinking (thinking of saving some ROW money and not putting in a flyover).
No one with any guesses about when it's okay to be in the far left lane and have people pass you on the right?
Some of the idiocy seen in those videos is exactly what one can find around Seattle. Lack of lane discipline, lack of understanding of right of way, endless bad lane changes, texting while driving, blocking intersections, general slowness, and so on.
Imagine the speed limit is 65.
You and your wife have left your home in the 'burbs and are cruising along in the far left lane at 9 o'clock one Tuesday morning heading to a nice breakfast joint you like downtown. You're chatting away, enjoying the billboards, and only doing 62 mph.
There's no one in your lane behind you and people are passing you non-stop in the two right lanes (make it three right lanes as you get closer to town). Some of those folks are going the speed limit; others are speeding.
Yet there's no one tailgating you or having to move over a lane to get ahead of you and no one is road raging because you are dawdling along.
Got it... carpool lane!
A Washington State link I found the other day said that if the HOV lane is crowded and there's a line of cars behind you, the cops may pull you over and "educate" you that you should move over and let the faster cars pass you, even if you were going the speed limit. "A ticket may be issued if you are impeding "normal and reasonable movement of traffic" in the lane.
The idea is to reduce the possibility of road rage.
Head out on a Sunday morning to see simps who can't grasp that idea.
From the link: "although a ticket may be issued if you are impeding "normal and reasonable movement of traffic"...
Oh I wish more of those tickets would be issued.
Failing that, give me a Manhattan. :P
On many weekday afternoons, HOV lanes on 405 in my city jam up as bad as the rest and offer no advantage.
Maybe 30 minutes later, similar thing happens with a white Enclave. Same choice: they can pop in ahead of me, or slide in behind me. They do neither. They slow down to match my speed and honk at me, as if I am supposed to make their driving decisions for them. So I do: I floor the car so they can slide in behind me.
Was the left lane clear in either of these situations? If so, it would have been a good idea to move left to give the merging drivers some room.
In cases where it could be a tight squeeze, e.g. I am behind the merging car but will likely catch up to it once they enter the highway, I move over if I possibly can.
Anyway, when I am cruising along at the speed limit, I try to stay out of the left lane unless necessary.
Plus the times when I do move over to help the mergers, then I sometimes get stuck in the left lane with one of those mergers right behind me and I'm not able to go back to the right lane because it's full. Now I'm the one "at fault" for driving slow in the left lane when I'm trying to help out the mergers.
And it's actually safer to have one car maintain a constant speed and have the other car adjust their speed. If you have both trying to adjust slower or faster, you end up with the same situation where you're trying to pass someone and they move left with you and then you move one way with them, and pretty soon your dancing until one person just stops moving.
Apparently accelerating on on-ramps prior to merging is becoming a lost art.
Something kind of similarly frustrating happens if you have to follow a semi on a ramp to an interstate with a car on your bumper. If you stay close to semi, he of course will merge into right lane, and with left lane having line of cars, the car behind you gets a slot in the left lane and you get stuck behind the semi for a while. Unless, you allow a long gap between you and the semi to have more room to merge in right and have a crack at a slot in the left.
Have not been to Chicago in a while. They used to have a traffic light soon after you got on an interstate ramp. If each car obeyed it, it would meter traffic down the ramp and to merge on interstate right lane.
Of course it's the merger's responsibility to yield. But helping out by moving left IF YOU CAN is certainly the considerate thing to do. And then there are the real gems that will stay in the right lane, with the left lane wide open, and actively try to run a merger out of road.
Apparently accelerating on on-ramps prior to merging is becoming a lost art.
A lot of folks around Louisville seem to want to hit the merge point at about 45-50mph (on NON-cloverleaf ramps), which is a pain on a 65mph roadway...and a bigger pain when I am behind because that's about where my Volvo's slushbox will upshift to 5th, leaving me at 1500rpm and off-boost.
The texters bother me the most. That should be a felony!
Generally, the only time I move over for merging traffic is when the vehicle is of a size/shape where it needs extra room or it cannot possibly match highway speeds by the time the merge occurs. I do sometimes adjust my speed to allow for a larger gap depending on congestion just so the merger feels comfortable entering the space. Basically, rather than a single following distance, I gently double that distance to assume entry of the merger between me and the car ahead of me, thereby preventing the need for me to create the space in a less gradual manner.
And then there are the real gems that will stay in the right lane, with the left lane wide open, and actively try to run a merger out of road.
This is the funniest thing. As a merger, I don't have any problem getting onto the road - never have, regardless of where I choose to merge or the traffic involved, because at some point my lane is their lane: They become one.
So, when the lanes are two, I make my choice: behind or ahead, depending on our relative locations vs. speeds when the choice is made. Once I make that choice, I stick to it. When the lanes merge, so do I. The funny thing is when the driver to the left, who is well behind me on the road, decides that they really want to be in front. Their 55-60 speed suddenly becomes 65-70. It is as though the driver wants to force me into hitting the brakes at he last moment rather than be able to smoothly merge.
The problem is, I love to disappoint those sorts of people. The lanes merge, so do I, and *GASP*.... what do you know?! I'm in front. Then comes the fun part. :P
If they wanted to go 65-70, that's fine with me, but if that were the case, they'd be long by me come the time to merge and I could have picked my speed to ensure they did so. Instead, they basically wanted to create conflict where none existed. Maybe they just need that extra rush of emotions to liven up the commute? :confuse:
I'd really like to see local yapping/texting laws enforced, and given some teeth. That would mean also enforcing the laws in downtown Bellevue so the criminals in their new CLs and Maseratis would be held accountable too.
Roundabouts work wonders, and work reliably and efficiently given even a minimum competence for driving and remembering the rules of the road.
Arizona has them, Sedona has many. It works great there.
If Roundabouts get incompetent drivers off the road (because hopefullly their accidents are severe enough to disable their vehicle), then I say that's a good thing for us competent drivers. However, the celebration only lasts for a few hours, as the incompetent will probably rent a car, but at least for an hour or two, the roads are free of 1 or 2 incompetents.
I call foul here. Even some of the slowest cars can get up to speed if you floor the accelerator (which is what your supposed to do if you drive something slow, and are getting onto a short ramp up).
The problem is drivers who would rather save a drop of fuel to risk their lives and cause accidents, congestion, and traffic behind them. Also, sheer incompetent drivers who don't understand how to push the accelerator down past the 1/4 throttle position is an issue.