Georgia drivers...

... are possibly the worst left lane hogs in the known universe. This is a thing I noticed on my Solo Nats drive last week. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of stupid stuff happening in every state, but Georgia seems to be #1 for left lane hogatude.

GA residents, what's the deal?

jg

No way man. I live in the Tacoma, WA area and have to travel to Savannah regularly for work. GA drivers are light years ahead of Washingtonians as far as keeping right is concerned.

I kind of love living here because I can always count on being able to pass on the right.

If that is true, than I truly pity you.

Do they respond to light flashing by moving or by getting defensive?

jg

No, I grew up in Atlanta and now live in Portland. Northwest drivers have to be some of the worst. Merging is bad here too, people match speed with you coming from on ramps and will merge right into you.

No. People from Illinois are. If you travel any interstate highway, and someones berking up the left lane, 90% of the time is some turd from Illinois.

Ever driven across Texas? I learned to drive in GA and each time I drive through Texas it makes me want to buy a firearm.

i'd rather drive though GA and around hotlanta any day of the week over driving though LA... when family moved to TX I got the chance to drive from FL to TX to often... things change the moment you cross in to LA and they idiot drivers only thin out after you get though Beaumont TX

JG Pasterjak wrote: If that is true, than I truly pity you. Do they respond to light flashing by moving or by getting defensive? jg

I've found that flashing the lights gets either ignored or it just pi$$es them off and they never move

as I approach (in the left lane) and they don't move over, without making a big deal over it, I just move over to the rt. lane and go on by .... no eye contact ... no SWERVE back in front of them .. nothing to bring out the road rage in them ...

now I have heard that it's illegal to pass in the right lane in some states ... but that's something I would just ignore and take my chances

My friends tend to ride the left lane. Drives me berkeleyin nuts.

I'd rather live in a small town in a semi-rural part of a state (cows five minutes from the house) with a 2.2 mile commute to work on roads with only three stoplights.....Oh, wait. I already do.

Big city commuting sucks. It doesn't matter where you are. More drivers means more drivers who are morons.

In reply to JoeyM:

Just gotta find the right shift. Before 6 am and at about 2 pm, you can get from the center of St Louis City to the suburbs in about 15 minutes by taking the highways. Just have to zig and zag around those cars. Should have hooked the gopro up in the car yesterday....

wbjones wrote: as I approach (in the left lane) and they don't move over, without making a big deal over it, I just move over to the rt. lane and go on by .... no eye contact ... no SWERVE back in front of them .. nothing to bring out the road rage in them ...

That's called being a berkeleying grown up and making wise level-headed decision while dealing with an inconsiderate person.

Swerving in front of them, flashing your lights, honking your horn, or using your washer fluid to "teach them a lesson" does nothing but make you look like an shiny happy person.

Ohio = by far the WORST drivers in the known Universe!

Native Oregonian here, born and raised in Portland and the inability for most to merge properly is a constant irritation. The left lane hogs are annoying as well, but many times they are at least going faster than the right hand traffic and once you get north of Ridgefield, WA or south of Wilsonville, OR the traffic patterns settle back into normalcy as you're away from the idiot commuters who are used to driving on the freeway during rush hour and don't know what to do when there isn't any traffic.

With that said, at least we will usually keep moving during merging and the people in the right lane will let you in without hassle. After spending a week in San Diego and trying to merge there (where they are merge crazy apparently) I discovered that not only can they not merge while moving, they also won't let you in, which leads to stupid grid lock and lots of passive aggressive vehicle posturing.

After driving through hotlanta twice (from the airport to Alpharetta and back) I have to say that it was a terrifying experience when piloting a POS GM rental with apparently only one rear drum adjusted properly on the Georgia Autobahn. Needless to say I didn't hang out in the left lane as I was getting passed like crazy while I was doing 85.

Having driven from Northern California to Portland more than once, it is always amazing when you cross the state line into Oregon. I-5 drops to two lanes and speeds drop from 90 to 70 or so.

wbjones wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: If that is true, than I truly pity you. Do they respond to light flashing by moving or by getting defensive? jg

I've found that flashing the lights gets either ignored or it just pi$$es them off and they never move as I approach (in the left lane) and they don't move over, without making a big deal over it, I just move over to the rt. lane and go on by .... no eye contact ... no SWERVE back in front of them .. nothing to bring out the road rage in them ... now I have heard that it's illegal to pass in the right lane in some states ... but that's something I would just ignore and take my chances

I find that frequently if I don't give someone a flash, they realize they need to move over right about the time I start to go right as well, causing this weird mid-highway slalom as we try and out-polite each other.

So I give one flash, and if they're still oblivious, i just casually go right and go about my business.

The thing is, I don't really even drive that fast. I go the limit or maybe 5 over in most cases. So the creeps I come up on in the left lane are usually going the limit or UNDER. It's like they just get on the highway and go as far left as they can because the right side is scary.

jg

turboswede wrote: The left lane hogs are annoying as well, but many times they are at least going faster than the right hand traffic

I realize that most of the people on here think that a "left lane" hog of this type has no more right to live than some child molester ...

but as long as the car in front of me is actually passing someone I've got zero problems with them ...

I would hope that they would move right after they complete the pass ... but I also realize that (assuming they're actually aware I'm behind them) they think they can't get back in the left lane to continue passing the rt. lane slowpokes ...

so I just wait 'til there's a clear rt. lane or they move over

As pissed as I am every time I drive through Atlanta, the rest of the state seems generally "GTFO" friendly. Having lived in Florida half my life, I was amazed at how people got the concept up here vs. down there...like the whole berkeleying state "down there." BUT, in many hundreds of thousands of miles cracked off on the highway, WISCONSIN and OHIO tags are the out of state ones I most frequently see jamming the hammer lane.

poopshovel wrote: As pissed as I am every time I drive through Atlanta, the rest of the state seems generally "GTFO" friendly.

I took a temp job working in south GA one year in the Tifton-Sparks area. I was amazed that everybody down there waves as the meet you on the road.

Left lane deadbeats is a USA thing. Don't even bother to sort out who is the worst offender its the whole damn country.

I always wondered what would happen if you ever took one of these drivers over to Germany and with no instructions put them on the autobahn? Would they re-open the gas chambers or would that be to humane?

Speaking of Germany, the mandate to move right also applies to the middle lane when on a three lane highway...if it is dead quiet, you move all the way over so that you don't impede the middle lane drivers. Mea Culpa and I have learned my lesson.

NOHOME wrote: Left lane deadbeats is a USA thing. Don't even bother to sort out who is the worst offender its the whole damn country. I always wondered what would happen if you ever took one of these drivers over to Germany and with no instructions put them on the autobahn? Would they re-open the gas chambers or would that be to humane? Speaking of Germany, the mandate to move right also applies to the middle lane when on a three lane highway...if it is dead quiet, you move all the way over so that you don't impede the middle lane drivers. Mea Culpa and I have learned my lesson.

My buddy Tommy laments on this frequently. Not only do you not jam up the hammer lane, you stay in the far right lane unless it's necessary to pass. Politzei will apparently light your berkeleying dumb ass up otherwise.

My personal opinion: Slow drivers cause wrecks. Not fast drivers. If there was a GENUINE concern for safety on the part of law enforcement, they'd be lighting people up for being in the incorrect lane and not signaling twice as often as writing speeding tickets.

Trouble is, 99% of the time I see a cop on the way too or from work, he's doing the speed limit in the fast lane, and never signaling.

I drive the speed limit, in the right lane. The occasional move for a merging car.

I've found my commute to be much less stressful this way. It was really fun when I still had the 5.0.

By me there's no concept of correct lane usage or lane hogging. On a multi-lane highway, you just cruise in whatever lane you feel like, and most drivers like to "buddy up" next to another car in the other lane, often going below the limit.

I think there is a rule about which lanes to use on the books somewhere but nobody follows it.

I have found, in Texas, it's a "free-for-all" on the highways. There is no such thing as the "slow lane" or "passing lane". They seem to do all. Semi's in the left lane, motorcycles and crazy people doing 90 in the right lane. It is weak to say it's organized madness. It's just madness!

Unless you have driven in Boston and vicinity you have no frame of reference to declare any place to have "The Worst Drivers."

Seems GA is on the left lane for passing law States.