The left lane is the passing lane.

bravenrace wrote: I agree that if the car in the left lane is passing another vehicle, then the vehicle behind that car should be patient until the pass is made and the car moves back over into the a lane to the right. But flashing your lights used to be the polite way of asking someone to move over. If you do it now you get a brake check. So if a vehicle is blocking the left lane, meaning they are moving at the same speed as the vehicle to their right, I just tailgate them, because that's all most people understand.

So breaking the law and driving recklessly is the best course of action? Save your bullE36 M3 for the girls at the bar.

I was younger once - after a few good scares, you may change your tune. I did. If you're in such a hurry, leave earlier?

I also think that part (probably a small part) of the left lane lingering is caused by people who are afraid of merging...so they just hang left to avoid it.

But that brings up my other MAJOR gripe: Merging is a part of driving. The person merging ONTO the highway has the responsibility to get in line (without disrupting others, I might add). It is NOT the responsibility of the person already on the road. The BIGGEST problem I observe is the people who are ALREADY on the road hitting their brakes to slow down for merging traffic.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here. Venting to the choir, I guess.

Clem

Gaaaaahhh. Tell every one in Connecticut. Those are the most ignorant motherberkeleyers on the planet. I just drove from Hartford to PA and I'll bet I passed 400 cars on the right between Hartford and Waterbury. Maybe 5 the whole rest of the way. Yeah - I know passing on the right is the mark of an shiny happy person but berkeley that E36 M3 - It is COMMON courtesy. I give what I get. After giving the 1st 250 shiny happy people time to see and ignore me in the mirror... those last 150 got nothing but a blur in their vision for a split second that may have distracted them from their very important phone conversation. I wish I had dual 50 cals mounted on the hood to get their attention... nothing too serious.... just a little strafing.

The ONLY people who move over in the whole berkeleying state of Connecticut have plates from somewhere else.

Just so this isn't as negative as it might sound... Maine, NY and MA drivers... thank you for your courtesy.

ClemSparks wrote: I also think that part (probably a small part) of the left lane lingering is caused by people who are afraid of merging...so they just hang left to avoid it. But that brings up my other MAJOR gripe: Merging is a part of driving. The person merging ONTO the highway has the responsibility to get in line (without disrupting others, I might add). It is NOT the responsibility of the person already on the road. The BIGGEST problem I observe is the people who are ALREADY on the road hitting their brakes to slow down for merging traffic. I know I'm preaching to the choir here. Venting to the choir, I guess. Clem

I love when people merging on to the highway just camp out next to me like I'm supposed to slow down for them or soemthing, idiots.

spitfirebill wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: In MO, its the law.

Its darn near the law in all states. We had a SC State Trooper talk to us at work one day. He told us he has written tickets to people going the speed limit in the left lane if they were blocking traffic.

I want to buy this trooper a beer.

akamcfly wrote:

bravenrace wrote: I agree that if the car in the left lane is passing another vehicle, then the vehicle behind that car should be patient until the pass is made and the car moves back over into the a lane to the right. But flashing your lights used to be the polite way of asking someone to move over. If you do it now you get a brake check. So if a vehicle is blocking the left lane, meaning they are moving at the same speed as the vehicle to their right, I just tailgate them, because that's all most people understand.

So breaking the law and driving recklessly is the best course of action? Save your bullE36 M3 for the girls at the bar. I was younger once - after a few good scares, you may change your tune. I did. If you're in such a hurry, leave earlier?

Yeah, I'm young. 50 years young. I don't break laws, I don't speed and I don't drive recklessly. I ALWAYS have an escape route. I've never had an accident in all my years of driving. Don't for a minute think you know me.

ClemSparks wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: Why does everyone driving in Indiana with an Illinois liscense plate not understand that you do not camp out in the fast lane. More importantly, when you have had more than a mile's advance notice that a lane ends and you are still in it when there IS NO LANE.... you should be shot.

Fail! Traffic is proven to flow more efficiently when everyone holds their line until the clog (lane closure) and then does the zipper type thing. I do, however realize it's a tough subject. Clem

People have a hard enough time pulling in to parking spots at sonic without hitting the signs, I can't imagine your average mouth breather understanding something as "advanced" as the zipper effect.

There are so many people going under the speed limit around here you could go the speed limit and think you were breaking all kinds of laws at the rate you pass traffic.

You guys are crazy. I've found that even in very busy traffic, I can get in the left lane and use my cruise control. It works best if I set it 5 mph under the speed limit. That way I don't have to worry about catching anyone and having to turn the cruise off. Hey, I paid for cruise control, so I have the right to use it. If that's not convenient for the hundreds of other drivers trying to use the same highway that's not my fault. They should have taken that into account when they built the road. More lanes or something. All that matters is me and what I want to do, and I want to use the cruise. It makes it a lot easier when I'm talking on the phone and type the name of a band into my Pandora app. I have a lot going on. It helps if I don't have to concentrate on "driving" so much.

bravenrace wrote: I agree that if the car in the left lane is passing another vehicle, then the vehicle behind that car should be patient until the pass is made and the car moves back over into the a lane to the right. But flashing your lights used to be the polite way of asking someone to move over. If you do it now you get a brake check. So if a vehicle is blocking the left lane, meaning they are moving at the same speed as the vehicle to their right, I just tailgate them, because that's all most people understand.

The problem with this is when you have someone that decides to pass multiple vehicles going maybe 1-2mph slower than they are going.

These vehicles can be spaced more than far enough apart that they could move over, the train of cars piled up behind them could get by, and they could move back in to the left lane to continue their tortoise like pass before they would even have to slow down. But they don't, they just continue on taking MILES to complete their pass of 2-3 cars.

I miss driving in Western Europe, they treat the left lane like it's sacred over there. :(

E36 M3 is berkleying infuriating.

bravenrace wrote: I ALWAYS have an escape route.

Teaching my 15 year old about this now. I had an accident when I was 17. Wasn't my fault. In the same situation today I wouldn't have had the accident at all. Never been involved in another.

My son finds it hard to believe that I actually think about all the stuff I tell him I do when I'm driving. He thinks I'm just making it up. When you really explain the hundred little things you do to avoid being in the position for an accident to happen it really is hard to believe. Guess you just pick it up after years of watching idiot drivers and learning to protect yourself as best you can. I bet if everyone on this forum was on the same highway going to the same place, it would be a good bit safer trip than the average commute.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: You guys are crazy. I've found that even in very busy traffic, I can get in the left lane and use my cruise control. It works best if I set it 5 mph under the speed limit. That way I don't have to worry about catching anyone and having to turn the cruise off. Hey, I paid for cruise control, so I have the right to use it. If that's not convenient for the hundreds of other drivers trying to use the same highway that's not my fault. They should have taken that into account when they built the road. More lanes or something. All that matters is me and what I want to do, and I want to use the cruise. It makes it a lot easier when I'm talking on the phone and type the name of a band into my Pandora app. I have a lot going on. It helps if I don't have to concentrate on "driving" so much.

I'm calming down now as the Hop Wallop eases into my bloodstream. That was good for a chuckle.

The mindset in the D.C. area is ...Ican't be in the slow lane...I'm not slow ! Then every douche loads up the left lanes and guess what, there are so many cars you can't even make the speed limit.

So if I shoot up the right lane while you're clogging up the left, DON"T WHINE ABOUT IT !!

fast_eddie_72 wrote:

bravenrace wrote: I ALWAYS have an escape route.

Teaching my 15 year old about this now. I had an accident when I was 17. Wasn't my fault. In the same situation today I wouldn't have had the accident at all. Never been involved in another. My son finds it hard to believe that I actually think about all the stuff I tell him I do when I'm driving. He thinks I'm just making it up. When you really explain the hundred little things you do to avoid being in the position for an accident to happen it really is hard to believe. Guess you just pick it up after years of watching idiot drivers and learning to protect yourself as best you can. I bet if everyone on this forum was on the same highway going to the same place, it would be a good bit safer trip than the average commute.

And we'd all be going 100+

Of course I firmly believe that hours and hours of track time will make anyone a better driver. Ever since my wife started getting in to the hobby a while back I've noticed her off track driving has improved immensely.

Up here the magic # is 53 miles an hour on any highway, no matter what.

On the divided 65mph roads, go 53. In whichever lane you end up in. The ones doing this in the right lane are a minor annoyance. I mean we're talking more than 10mph under the limit, but whatever, there's always the left lane to pass them in. The same people doing it in the left lane piss me off to no end. In any case, unless they're doubled up, they get passed.

On the "normal" 55mph sections, they go 53. So I pass them, but at least they're close to the speed limit, so I'm not really annoyed the first time I pass them.

Then you hit the towns. You know where the local cops live and probably aren't doing much so there's a good chance they're waiting for speeders... 30-40mph speed limits depending on the town. So I slow down. Blam! There they go by me at...you guessed it 53 mph. They get busted hitting the edges of towns right in front of me often enough to illustrate that blasting through the towns is stupid. No way am I going to try to keep up through said towns.

But sure enough, as soon as I get out of town and the speed limit comes back up I'm right behind them again. When I have to pass the same jackass 3-4 (or more times) because I don't want to get a ticket blasting through some podunk town, but still want to do a reasonable speed when not in town, it starts to wear on my nerves.

e_pie wrote: .

And we'd all be going 100+

Of course I firmly believe that hours and hours of track time will make anyone a better driver. Ever since my wife started getting in to the hobby a while back I've noticed her off track driving has improved immensely.

100 MPH - safely!

My kid has been driving for like four weeks. After autocross school last Saturday and an event on Sunday, his driving improved noticeably. He even realized it. In his case, mostly just being more comfortable working the car, but all the same. Driving on the highway for him was a little overwhelming. After autocrossing, it's like a walk in the park.

As long as we're complaining, I think it's annoying when people drive the same speed everywhere. I'll work for 10 minutes to get past some A hole in the left lane going 73 in the 75 zone. Then we hit a 65 zone and he wizzes past me still at 73 - still in the left lane and I have to do it all over again when the limit changes back to 75. Grrr.

We could have 500 lanes on every highway and everyone would grab their own lane and drag race to the exit to see who can get the hole shot, it's human nature.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: As long as we're complaining, I think it's annoying when people drive the same speed everywhere. I'll work for 10 minutes to get past some A hole in the left lane going 73 in the 75 zone. Then we hit a 65 zone and he wizzes past me still at 73 - still in the left lane and I have to do it all over again when the limit changes back to 75. Grrr.

Yep. As noted above up here it's 53mph at all times.

bravenrace wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

bravenrace wrote: Somewhat related to this is the curious action of someone in a slow or non-moving lane putting their vehicle half in one lane and half in another to attempt to block cars from using the lane that is clear but maybe ending at some point where they will have to merge into the slow moving lane. I got news for you people that do that. They would not have put a lane there unless they wanted people to use it! It's not my fault you didn't and I did!

No, if all the shiny happy people in the world would MERGE into traffic before then, they wouldn't have to come to a roaring stop while making the lane that WAS moving come to a STOP to let you in, because you were too good get in line 100 yards ago.

That's what i used to think until a friend convinced me otherwise. The problem isn't people using the lane that's ending, it's the people in the other lane that won't let that lane merge smoothly. Cars in the lane that's ending have to merge into the other lane at some point, but to leave that lane entirely empty just makes the traffic jam longer. The DOT wouldn't spend the time and money to put a lane in that we weren't supposed to use. I've seen a particular lane like that in downtown Akron that was almost empty until a police car pulled out of the stopped lane and drove down the open one. Again, you and anyone else can decide not to use a legitimate lane, but don't try to block me from using it or we will have problems.

In this state, it's illegal to do what you do. It's called failure to merge and is a ticketable offense. Basically, if you see the sign that says "lane ends" and do not merge as soon as possible, and continue to pass cars up and get ahead, you can get a ticket.

People that pull that E36 M3 piss me off to no end.

EastCoastMojo wrote: We could have 500 lanes on every highway and everyone would grab their own lane and drag race to the exit to see who can get the hole shot, it's human nature.

Other than the practical considerations (size, cost, the pileup at the exits) that would be sweet.

Bobzilla wrote: In this state, it's illegal to do what you do. It's called failure to merge and is a ticketable offense. Basically, if you see the sign that says "lane ends" and do not merge as soon as possible, and continue to pass cars up and get ahead, you can get a ticket. People that pull that E36 M3 piss me off to no end.

Very much depends on the state. And how stuff is setup based on the laws of said state. It's been repeatedly proven that late merging is the generally the best solution fore everyone involved when everybody plays nice. The problem is people are dicks. Some states "solve" this by making late merging illegal. Some "solve" it by making being a dick to the "later" mergers illegal. The problem is there's no real solution to drivers being dicks.

16vCorey wrote: There's a 6 lane "Expressway" through the center of town,

Can you explain to me why Vincennes and Princeton have a real expressway (with exits and everything!) and yet Evansville and Henderson do not?

bravenrace wrote: I don't break laws......and I don't drive recklessly.

But you tailgate - which is reckless and against the law.

I don't know anybody who doesn't think they're a better driver than most people. They can't all be right. If they were, this thread wouldn't exist.

Maybe your reckless criminal behavior is part of the problem. So far it's been a pretty E36 M3ty solution...

keethrax wrote:

fast_eddie_72 wrote: As long as we're complaining, I think it's annoying when people drive the same speed everywhere. I'll work for 10 minutes to get past some A hole in the left lane going 73 in the 75 zone. Then we hit a 65 zone and he wizzes past me still at 73 - still in the left lane and I have to do it all over again when the limit changes back to 75. Grrr.

Yep. As noted above up here it's 53mph at all times.

My stepmother does 45 mph, whether she is on the interstate or in the Target parking lot. She wrecks a lot.