Author Topic: Driving in the left lane (Read 703 times)

Questor · « **on:** September 16, 2009, 03:12:04 PM »

Certain fanatics insist that driving in the left lane of an interstate is just for passing. Wrong! If it's busy, then why reduce the capacity of the road by 30 to 50 percent? Makes no sense at all. I say get in the left lane and keep it there as long as you're not holding up traffic.

kynardsj · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2009, 03:19:37 PM »

Left lane is for passing or turning left. Not IMO for poking along.

GRIMJIM · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2009, 03:26:21 PM »

Quote from: Questor on September 16, 2009, 03:12:04 PM

I say get in the left lane and keep it there as long as you're not holding up traffic.

That's the key phrase right there. If you are passing the trafic on the right that's fine. But if you're doing the same speed or less than the people in the right lane, move the heck out of peoples' way.

The sign says "slower traffic keep right".

I see that all the time. When I get out of the city, people know how to drive. They stay to the right unless they are passing and are very courteous. Then I get back in the city and some hispanic lady is doing five miles unser the limit in the left lane.

Hooker · « **Reply #3 on:** September 16, 2009, 03:29:38 PM »

Don't hassle me man the hammer lane is mine!!!!!!! ALL MINE BWAAHAHAHAHAHA

Pat

45-70.gov · « **Reply #4 on:** September 16, 2009, 03:53:26 PM »

people in georgia are the worst that i encounter

if you need to go faster GO FASTER

if some one is in your way get in the PASSING LANE

you can't because some dummy is already there
going the same speed as the car you want to pass

why is that dummy in the passing lane and not passing??
how much sooner will he get there being beside him rather than behind him

i drive an f359 with duals and utility box...many blind spots
many close calls trying to get in the slow lane where i belong
wemen are the worst for passing IN MY BLIND SPOT

go 200mph on the auto bon no problem
don't obstruct the passing lane
i understand it is safer than our interstates

dukkillr · « **Reply #5 on:** September 16, 2009, 04:30:39 PM »

Quote from: Questor on September 16, 2009, 03:12:04 PM

Certain fanatics insist that driving in the left lane of an interstate is just for passing. Wrong! If it's busy, then why reduce the capacity of the road by 30 to 50 percent? Makes no sense at all. I say get in the left lane and keep it there as long as you're not holding up traffic.

Outside of the city limits it became illegal to drive in the left lane in Missouri just recently.

greg916 · « **Reply #6 on:** September 16, 2009, 04:36:00 PM »

I think the far left lane should be for passing. The right lane, IMO, is the most dangerous, with all the exiting and entering. I travel a lot, If there are only 2 lanes, I stay in the right unless I am passing. 3 or more lanes, I usually stay in the second from the right, but I run the speed limit. The worst drivers , IMO, are the ones in the left lanes who think they need to be 15 or 20 mph over the limit

billy_56081 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 16, 2009, 04:36:25 PM »

In Minnesota, it was brought up to be illegal to drive in the left lane except for passing. The legislature did NOT pass this as law, but did prvide funding for signs to sugest that you should drive in the right lane except for when you are passing.

torpedoman · « **Reply #8 on:** September 16, 2009, 05:02:42 PM »

speaking of the autobahn the Germans have a thing called drive right and they mean it if your not passing you best be in the right lane or you'll receive a ticket.

no guns here · « **Reply #9 on:** September 16, 2009, 09:16:03 PM »

Gotta agree with Torpedoman...

The key to the autobahn is DRIVER TRAINING and getting the damned buses and trucks out of the left lane.

Three lanes wide.
Recommended 130 km/h but unlimited if you so choose

Right lane is for buses and trucks which are limited to 100 km/h by law.
Center lane is supposed to be for passing but in reality it is for those who are driving about 150-160 km/h or less.
Left lane is for passing and for those who want to drive faster than about 160 km/h.

I can cruise at about 140-150 km/h and NEVER have to worry about a slow truck or bus pulling in front of me. They have to stay right. Slow cars KNOW they have to stay right. Fast cars know they can stay left and cruise. Polizei WILL pull you over for driving too slow in the left lanes. If you aren't passing and are creating a hazard of any kind you can get pulled over for riding in the left lanes.

Switching back to US driving when I come back is a pain. All of a sudden you have trucks everywhere, driving stupid speeds, grandma in the left lane. Speed demons in the right. People cutting across four lanes of traffic to go fast. American driving sucks once you have seen how easy it is to go fast safely.

I frequently drive over 200 km/h. That's somewhere around 120 m/h. Get in the left lane and cruise and watch the rear-view because pretty soon some big MB, Audi or Porsche is going to blow me off the road if I'm not careful. A few months back I hit 240 km trying to see if I could keep up with a big MB but all that did was waste gas since even at 240 he was pulling away handily. Must have had something to do with that AMG decal on the back of his car...

I love the autobahn... too bad it's slowly getting shut down a few kilometers at a time. Less and less places to drive fast. Most is speed limited. Speed cameras everywhere. That part sucks but still... slow right, fast left, trucks and buses on the right out of the way.

NGH

williamlayton · « **Reply #10 on:** September 17, 2009, 01:56:15 AM »

Hummmm---I don't like to drive in groups. I don't like too ease past 18 wheelers. I like to drive gaps.
If passing a trucker, I do it as quickly as possible---I have seen the effect of parts coming off these dudes---hang the speed limit.
I drive what the traffic drives---but in the gap. If it is 70 then I drive 70 or 80 if that is the way traffic is flowing.
Blessings

Questor · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2009, 02:01:12 AM »

WilliamLayton:

That's the way I drive too. Away from the "wolf packs".

Nothing against 18 wheelers, the drivers are generally the most competent on the road, but I too avoid them because I've seen too many of those high pressure tires blow spectacularly.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #12 on:** September 17, 2009, 02:06:07 AM »

Don't know about any other stated but here the mix used to make the right lane is stronger ( support more weight and use ) than the left lane reason to require its use more . Now due to the lack of repair due to the depression the right lane looks like a tank trap and the left lane is the only option to save tires from pot holes and damage .

guzzijohn · « **Reply #13 on:** September 17, 2009, 03:31:02 AM »

I have always thought the left lane as a passing lane only. Recently Kansas made it law. I just love it when on I-70 in Western Kansas and there is a car in the left lane "passing" a car in the right lane but apparently with their cruise control on set about a quarter of a mile an hour faster than the car they are passing taking five minutes to pass. I agree with William that it is best to pass semis quickly especially when I am on the motorcycle.
GuzziJohn

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #14 on:** September 17, 2009, 05:50:22 AM »

what do ya'll do when both lanes are full for 50 miles ?

Oldtimer · « **Reply #15 on:** September 17, 2009, 06:02:13 AM »

One of the things that impressed me about France was the way they took their driving so seriously. My cousin Andre is a professional trucker and about the maddest I saw him was when he spotted someone eating and driving at the same time. On a four-hour drive to Paris, he only cut on the radio long enough to hear about the weather up ahead. He knew what time the broadcast came on, and did not listen a minute longer than he had to to hear the report. I also liked the way new drivers, both private and commercial had their vehicles marked so you could tell in less than a second if you were near a new driver and also what speed they could travel. The upshot is that their work zones make you slow down all the way to 110kph. That's about 70mph.

Old Fart · « **Reply #16 on:** September 17, 2009, 06:04:58 AM »

There's some interstate hi-way in Oklahoma that will beat you to pieces in the left lane.
The earth in cent OK. shifts quite a bit in the summer and then there's all the earthquakes.
Yeah I said earthqukes, most are so minor you never feel them, but they are there.
They laid concrete hi-ways about 15 years ago and they've shifted all over the place.
They re-surfaced them, grind to top off, but it seems like the inside lane is still bad.
Clunkyity, clunkity, clunkity, makes you sea sick........

Sourdough · « **Reply #17 on:** September 17, 2009, 06:16:55 AM »

I see everyday traffic coming from Fairbanks, two SUVs traveling traveling side by side 5 mph under the speed limit. Some people think just because they are driving as fast as they feel anyone else should be driving that they have the right to be in the left lane. They are going to make a left hand exit 15 miles up the highway anyway, and changing lanes is dangerous.

When I was a young Airman and got to California, the CHP gave us a briefing and told us that we needed to drive with the flow of traffic. The left lane was for passing, and to stay out of it unless we were passing, then get back right. And merging traffic coming in from the right off an entrance ramp had the right of way to yield to them as well. Driving in California was so easy, far better than driving in Tennessee at the time, with 10 times the traffic. The CHP Officer also told us the fastest way to get a ticket was to drive in the left lane and let a CHP Officer see you. Did not matter whether anyone was behind you or not. Drive in the left lane get a ticket period.

gypsyman · « **Reply #18 on:** September 17, 2009, 06:26:19 AM »

After 23 years of driving to gun shows, from Springfield,Ma., to Dallas,Tx., Duluth,Mn. to Atlanta,Ga., bar none, worst drivers are from Michigan. Will get 4-7 cars in the left lane, usually going 10-15 mph over the speed limit, somebody in the center of the pack, changes lane to the right, gets up to 90-95 or more, pass's everbody on the right, and then gets back in the left lane. I've seen the results of what happens when 2 cars try that. I will not stop, now that I have a cell phone, will not call for assistance. If A-hole's want to drive like idiots, let them get their own help. I'll stay in the right hand lane, do the limit, either 65 or 70, whatever it is, and watch the demolition derby from behind. gypsyman

no guns here · « **Reply #19 on:** September 18, 2009, 02:29:47 AM »

Heck yeah Old Fart...

Grab a piece of 44 from Lawton to OKC... That rythmic thumping of the concrete will dang near hypnotize you if it doesn't bust your shocks. Left lane bad??? Try the truck lane on the right. Roughest highway to drive on for about 4 states in any direction. I drive the left lane if at all possible there just to avoid the damage on the right lanes. Of course it helps that traffic is really lite AND the speed limit is 75. Put the cruise on 80 and go... Pert near as fast as the speed limit here in Germany. 130 km is about 83 I think...

NGH

rak55 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 18, 2009, 02:45:56 AM »

the truckers always on the road and always in the way !!!!! I'm in the land of 2 lane highways with gillions of cars with 1 mistake your on a parking lot til the cops can get it going again and they get to travel on the shoulders.

Questor · « **Reply #21 on:** September 18, 2009, 02:52:25 AM »

Generally, 18-wheeler truckers are superb drivers.

rak55 · « **Reply #22 on:** September 18, 2009, 04:10:09 AM »

yeah I had one the other night in the middle lane which is for left turns only trying to pass me when I was at 65mph in a 55mph zone, yeah guess they are good drivers alright, always on the road and always in the way. some are maniacs.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #23 on:** September 18, 2009, 02:35:52 PM »

Quote from: SHOOTALL on September 17, 2009, 05:50:22 AM

what do ya'll do when both lanes are full for 50 miles ?

talk about A-holes in the left lane

==========================================================
when i am bored
i get right up to a slow car in the left lane
refuse to pass.........leave him room to go to the right lane of corse
then speed up when others try to pass him on the wrong side
some times i acan get a dozen angry people backed up this way
i often get saluted and they indicate that I AM NUMBER ONE

eventually a slower car in the proper lane ruins my fun
but many as they pass me let me know I AM NUMBER ONE

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #24 on:** September 28, 2009, 09:03:55 AM »

now that's fantastic !