Unwarranted Tendency to Occupy Passing Lanes By City/State

[brittekland]

Do drivers in your neck of woods likely to move over from highway/multi lane road's left/passing lane when faster traffic approach from behind?

Majority of drivers in Chicagoland are unlikely to move over even when faster traffics give them "hints" that they are blocking the flow. I've noticed clearly, drivers near Atlanta are pretty bad about this while the most other cities and states in between from Chicago to Atlanta are rather judicious about keeping the passing lanes open for passing. As you get closer to Chicago, NYC, DC, and most of larger metropolitan areas, it becomes obvious drivers creating bottlenecks for no other reason than pride, stubbornness or simply callousness are not phased by presence of much faster traffic being stuck behind them. Carolinas, seemed to me, were pretty good, though near metropolitan areas it took bit more nudging. Why is this? Maybe I answered my own question: "callousness".

Generally, I guess, metropolitan area drivers are more likely to do this than rural area drivers but I find certain city drivers do not necessarily do this. You notice this when you drive across America that some area drivers are more prone to do this. I don't know why that is.

Do you notice this too?

How about where you live?

[Al Bundy]

I don't see it so much around Michigan. I move over myself well ahead of time. I know my place. Sometimes I want to drive fast and other times I'm nearing an exit and want to move slower. When fast traffic moves up too fast on people, they certainly do tend to stay put and make the speeder go around. This is safer than changing lanes when they suspect the speeder may try to go around at the same time as they would be changing lanes. Accidents do happen that way. In my experience when a car pulls up real fast, they often do swerve around the slower car to "punish" them for not driving over the limit enough to suit them.

[Krouget]

I live in the MD, DC, VA area, and this is a huge issue with motorist, here.

I refer to it as "proper lane discipline", in which traffic should pass on the left, which also means traffic should generally be traveling faster in each left consecutive lane (this makes passing more consistent and predictable). It's safer and helps to reduce situations where you have rolling roadblocks, which from what I've observed, is a prime reason people tend to get aggressive about driving (frequent lane changes, tendencies to shoot gaps, merging into the same lane, etc.).

As you say, many times, it's an issue of pride, callousness, and also indifference, but the problem also exist at the state level. Some states have laws/roads where slower moving traffic is prohibited from occupying the left-most lane. In MD, however, once you're doing the speed limit, you're free to occupy most any and all lanes, as you please. I think the latter is unreasonable and doesn't show other drivers proper courtesy. Excessive speeders are to be handled by law enforcement, but otherwise, it demonstrates proper lane discipline to pass and then merge over, if you're just going to be cruising.

Of course, there are also exceptions to this, but it's a huge problem in this tri-state area and it produces unnecessary bubbles of traffic.

[Ludovic]

To me, it seems to be the most prevalent with truckers on I-95 in the Carolinas. Not only do they occupy the left lane, they occupy it for several miles before you get a chance to pass them. Of course that happens everywhere but the Carolinas seem to be the worst for it.

[Omar Little]

That rule gets thrown out in highly congested traffic areas around large metropolitan cities. People tend to move to the lane that appears to be moving the fastest regardless of which one it is.

[shunpiker]

I live in NC, and almost every morning I get stuck behind some clueless lunk in the the left lane. And they like to ride door-to-door, that is, right beside the dude in the right lane... with neither of them going faster or slower than the other! And I find it's more related to the road I'm on within the county, too. e.g US401 has the most mouth-breathing left-lane hogs in the county. But the folks on US1 tend to keep right. This may be that the part of US1 that I most-often travel is controlled-access and 401 isn't. Drivers treat 401 like a big, long, 55mph boulevard instead of the highway it is.

Anecdotally, my friend has a Ford Crown Victoria. He says that when he travels throughout the state (and the country, I presume) that drivers will move right out of the left lane and let him by. This seems to say that folks WILL get out of the way for a faster car, but only if they think it's a law enforcement officer. I read into that that when they don't move over for the faster (non-LE) car, they're just being inconsiderate.

If this one "courtesy" were practiced (using the left lane as the passing lane only), it would go miles in reducing road rage.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

I don't see it so much around Michigan. I move over myself well ahead of time. I know my place. Sometimes I want to drive fast and other times I'm nearing an exit and want to move slower. When fast traffic moves up too fast on people, they certainly do tend to stay put and make the speeder go around. This is safer than changing lanes when they suspect the speeder may try to go around at the same time as they would be changing lanes. Accidents do happen that way. In my experience when a car pulls up real fast, they often do swerve around the slower car to "punish" them for not driving over the limit enough to suit them.

Yes, I see your point. But not all fast drivers, including myself, try to scare slow drivers. I give plenty of room for slower drivers to safely change to slower lane. To me, it's all about getting through as smoothly as possible without getting erratic and into ugly situations. I do not like to drive zigzagging around like a jackass but sometimes situations calls for that kind of maneuver in order to lose the unwilling, rock in the middle of the road, drivers; many of these drivers show no inkling whatsoever to even budge. And not every time faster traffic can pass to the right. I'm a fast driver who takes what's there. But when a slow driver in the passing lane matches the speed of slow lane traffic they entirely create an unbreakable block for miles. When two cars back to back do this, the blockage impedes a whole group of folks, often causing mile(s) long congestions that's impossible to get through.

BTW staying in the fast/passing lane when faster traffic is behind you it is illegal by law as multi lane roads were created precisely to solve the type of bottle necks that inevitably occurs. When drivers refuse to use the passing lanes in the way they were originally intended, that causes problems/frustration/irritation that gets ugly, causes road rage and becomes dangerous. It is just the nature's normal variation that some likes to walk fast and some don't.

In everyday reality people lives through every imaginable scenarios and unexpected incidents, eg even perhaps taking someone with serious injury to hospitals to or about to have a baby and... everything else under the sun imaginable. The multi lane roads are exactly designed to alleviate the kind of bottlenecks.

I think it becomes, often, about, pride and unwarranted spirit of competition when none were intended by folks just trying to get to from point A to point B in a hurry for any one of unfathomable reasons life throws at them. Of course, it goes without saying there are plenty of speeders simply speeding and hotdogging just for the sake of being stupid assholes.

[aceplace57]

The Rules do change in heavy traffic. You have to stay in the correct lane in order to merge onto the correct roads. We have at least two major Intersections on interstates that merge from the left lanes. If you are in the right hand lane then you just screwed yourself. You have to drive ten miles to an exit and double back.

Also its just not practical to constantly shift from the left lane to the right when traffic is heavy. The left lanes become just another driving lane.

When traffic is light then I do move to the right for faster traffic.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

The Rules do change in heavy traffic. You have to stay in the correct lane in order to merge onto the correct roads. We have at least two major Intersections on interstates that merge from the left lanes. If you are in the right hand lane then you just screwed yourself. You have to drive ten miles to an exit and double back.

Also its just not practical to constantly shift from the left lane to the right when traffic is heavy. The left lanes become just another driving lane.

Yes, that's an exception, in city traffic, particularly when congested.

[DrDeth]

Here in CA, there’s no such thing on most freeways or highways. Yes, the furthest left lane is the “fast lane” and yes, “slower traffic should move right”, but there are damn few actual passing lanes where all a driver is allowed to do is pass.

[John DiFool]

Originally Posted by brittekland

I've noticed clearly, drivers near Atlanta are pretty bad about this <snip>

I've noticed this too.

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by DrDeth

Here in CA, there’s no such thing on most freeways or highways. Yes, the furthest left lane is the “fast lane” and yes, “slower traffic should move right”, but there are damn few actual passing lanes where all a driver is allowed to do is pass.

I've only been in CA once but oddly enough I didn't experience a true situation of left-hand-lane hogging once. What I did experience is truckers who waited until the last second possible to occupy the left-hand-lane, forcing me to slam on my brakes as they passed the other truck. I think they're just jealous that they are allowed to go 10mph slower than cars and so take it out on everyone else. What's weird is that invariably, the trucks did pass and move over quite quickly.

Once or twice, it may have been a coincidence and not enough sample size. But it happened at least 3 times just driving though CA!

[Yllaria]

Originally Posted by DrDeth

Here in CA, there’s no such thing on most freeways or highways. Yes, the furthest left lane is the “fast lane” and yes, “slower traffic should move right”, but there are damn few actual passing lanes where all a driver is allowed to do is pass.

This is true. I grew up in southern California and never even heard a left lane referred to as a passing lane until I got married and moved to Ohio. There my (ex-) husband had fits that I would stay in a left lane as long as no one was driving faster than I was. I was supposed to keep weaving in and out of the left lane to pass people, which just seemed pointless.

Now I'm back in California, but in the northern central valley. The folks driving I-5 regularly are pretty good about moving over for faster traffic, at least between the cities. Maybe less so when things are getting close to congested.

[ReticulatingSplines]

When I was driving through rural Indiana/Illinois, people were conspicuously more likely to move over to the right lane when I was approaching behind them. It was very nice.

In the DC area, however, nobody moves. Ever. Even people going UNDER the limit in the left lane never move.

[thelabdude]

My feeling is that if somebody wants to drive faster than me, I am best off having them pass me on the left. I seldom give anybody a chance to pass me on the right.

I have decided that in all but the heaviest traffic, the best thing is to pass right with as little drama as possible. If I suddenly disappear from here, you will know I explained to the cop that stopped me for passing on the right that is isn't my job to inforce the keep right laws.

It happens all too often. It only takes a few to make a congested mess.

[Rachellelogram]

How many lanes are we talking about? I've noticed that people in the Chicago suburbs are loath to get over, but the road I commute on every day is only a 4-lane local road (2 lanes each way). And it's a very busy road--fucking jampacked, tbh. If everyone passed then got over to the right, there'd be a constant neverending flow of passing then getting over and braking (and, subsequently, fender benders). On a 4+ lane highway (like the toll road), I notice that slower traffic tends to keep right and get out of the way of faster traffic without a problem. But on smaller congested roads (of which there are FAR too many for such a busy area--yay for suburbs), the same rules don't apply.

The left lane tends to travel faster than the right, but only because the route I travel lacks dedicated right turn lanes at most intersections (but does have dedicated left turn lanes). So people have to turn right from the main right lane. It sucks.

[Rachellelogram]

Correction since I missed the edit window: toll roads which are 8+ lanes (4 each way). Stupid terminology.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

I've only been in CA once but oddly enough I didn't experience a true situation of left-hand-lane hogging once. What I did experience is truckers who waited until the last second possible to occupy the left-hand-lane, forcing me to slam on my brakes as they passed the other truck. I think they're just jealous that they are allowed to go 10mph slower than cars and so take it out on everyone else. What's weird is that invariably, the trucks did pass and move over quite quickly.

Once or twice, it may have been a coincidence and not enough sample size. But it happened at least 3 times just driving though CA!

Og gawd yes! Except that sometimes on a two lane hwy they pass like a glacier.

[Voyager]

When I lived in NJ people were pretty good about keeping right. I even saw a cop pull over a slow left lane driver once. In the Bay Area all bets are off. I've noticed that the left lane is often the slowest lane during commute time. On freeways, anyhow, all lanes are travel lanes and there is no passing on the right offense.
I think a big reason the left lane is so slow is that people push in and out of the car pool lane quite aggressively, and force those in the left non-carpool lane to brake.

Trucks are not allowed in the left lane, so that is no problem, but lots like to clog up the middle lane.

[Kimmy_Gibbler]

I'm surprised by the OP's observation. While no place is perfect, my sense is that I've experienced this the least in Central Illinois, only slightly more in Chicago, and actuely problematic in the South (Tennessee, Georgia, and North Florida).

Perhaps it helps, although not in the OP's estimation, that Illinois law reserves the left lane for passing only.

[John Mace]

When I lived in MA, you really couldn't get by with driving in the fast lane if you were blocking traffic. Out here in CA, everyone thinks he has a "right" to be in whatever lane he wants and drive whatever speed he wants. Some will actually get annoyed if you suggest they move over when they are going under the speed limit in the left lane on a 3-lane freeway. I still can't get used to that after living our here for > 25 years.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by Kimmy_Gibbler

Perhaps it helps, although not in the OP's estimation, that Illinois law reserves the left lane for passing only.

Only if driver's know the law (I often think state of IL should put up billboard signs to remain drivers (right... ). I know it won't help; it's the attitude. I've never seen or heard of this law ever being enforced.

I don't know... anywhere from O'Hare area towards downtown on either Kennedy or Ike, I almost never see any driver moving over to let faster traffics go by.

Drivers on 294 north of O'Hare all the way to Wisconsin boarder are pretty bad in my observation... they will intentionally speed up like some maniac to block you out only to slow down again, like saying, "How dare you". 90 west of O'Hare is another one that many drivers protect their position as if it's their god given right to not lose their spot.

[The Surb]

Originally Posted by brittekland

Only if driver's know the law (I often think state of IL should put up billboard signs to remain drivers (right... ).

Colorado has signs. Dumbasses still can't get the fuck over. I almost miss those FIP's . At least they know (for the most part) how to drive in snow.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by The Surb

Colorado has signs. Dumbasses still can't get the fuck over. I almost miss those FIP's . At least they know (for the most part) how to drive in snow.

I'm the best driver in the whole wide world.

[The Surb]

Originally Posted by brittekland

I'm the best driver in the whole wide world.

So that makes me number two

[NurseCarmen]

Originally Posted by The Surb

So that makes me number two

You drive like #2?

[The Surb]

Originally Posted by NurseCarmen

You drive like #2?

I have been told that, yes.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by The Surb

I have been told that, yes.

Ouch.

[excavating (for a mind)]

One of the issues I have seen debated on nearly every message board I have ever read...

My take is that on city streets, there is no "passing lane" or "slow lane" on multi-lane roads, every lane is equal, you are supposed to drive as fast as is practical without exceeding the speed limit.

On "urban highways", it is typically the same deal. I'm not talking interstate or limited-access highways, but highways that run through the city. They are the same as any other city street, with stop lights, driveways, and pedestrian crossings, so a "passing lane" doesn't make sense, they are just multiple lanes of traffic.

On "urban interstate highways", it is a bit different. However, if traffic is so heavy so you can't practically obey the "2-second rule" (allow at least two seconds between you and the car in front of you), then they behave more like city streets in that there is no "passing lane". By definition, the traffic is so heavy that you can't really pass and the most likely reason people are going slow is not because they don't want to go faster, but that they can't because of the traffic. Remember, also, on "urban interstate highways" you are more likely to run across people who don't know which exit they want, or have to deal with exits on the left. Regardless, if you're not going more than 10-15 miles, it really doesn't make much difference if you are going 50 or 70, particularly if there is traffic, so, why not just relax and get there when you get there.

Now, yes, it is annoying when someone is in the leftmost lane and going less than the posted speed limit. But, it doesn't take more than a mile or so until they either move over or you can get around them, so it really doesn't make a lot of difference. Frankly, I find it much more annoying to have someone ride your tail because they want to go 3 mph faster than you are going. It isn't NASCAR, the guy in front doesn't win.

OK, I feel better...

excavating (for a mind)

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by excavating (for a mind)

One of the issues I have seen debated on nearly every message board I have ever read...

My take is that on city streets, there is no "passing lane" or "slow lane" on multi-lane roads, every lane is equal, you are supposed to drive as fast as is practical without exceeding the speed limit.

On "urban highways", it is typically the same deal. I'm not talking interstate or limited-access highways, but highways that run through the city. They are the same as any other city street, with stop lights, driveways, and pedestrian crossings, so a "passing lane" doesn't make sense, they are just multiple lanes of traffic.

On "urban interstate highways", it is a bit different. However, if traffic is so heavy so you can't practically obey the "2-second rule" (allow at least two seconds between you and the car in front of you), then they behave more like city streets in that there is no "passing lane". By definition, the traffic is so heavy that you can't really pass and the most likely reason people are going slow is not because they don't want to go faster, but that they can't because of the traffic. Remember, also, on "urban interstate highways" you are more likely to run across people who don't know which exit they want, or have to deal with exits on the left. Regardless, if you're not going more than 10-15 miles, it really doesn't make much difference if you are going 50 or 70, particularly if there is traffic, so, why not just relax and get there when you get there.

Now, yes, it is annoying when someone is in the leftmost lane and going less than the posted speed limit. But, it doesn't take more than a mile or so until they either move over or you can get around them, so it really doesn't make a lot of difference. Frankly, I find it much more annoying to have someone ride your tail because they want to go 3 mph faster than you are going. It isn't NASCAR, the guy in front doesn't win.

OK, I feel better...

excavating (for a mind)

This is what some slow drivers mumble to themselves in an attempt legitimize themselves slowing the world down refusing to move out of the way.

Whether it is 1 MPH or 10 MPH, getting impeded by some self appointed slow poke preacher staying in a passing/fast lane impeding someone, eg, from getting to his or hers dying mother on death bed, is asinine and pathetic to say the least. Get off the hot pan if you can't handle the heat. Do the world a favor and get in the appropriate lane and drive at your own comfortable pace in peace. Why so much extra curricular mind fucking when everyone is trying to get from point A to point B?? If you don't want to drive fast, get off the fast lane!! What's so humiliating and upsetting about that? Miles of open road in front of you and you enjoy frustrating the hell out of people trying to get by you... arggg.... Let the world go; it is okay.

[highrollinwooded]

I live here in the northwoods of the U.P., and it happens ALL THE TIME! While we don't have a huge traffic problem by any means, it is soooo irritating! Actually, my husband got pulled over for it a few weeks ago (just a warning), but I was glad! When you have someone on your ass in the left lane, that is a HUGE hint to move the hell over! Why do some people NOT understand this simple concept???????

[brittekland]

I mean, as much as I pass slow drivers, I move out of the way if there's someone behind me traveling faster than I am. It's not about comparing size of sex organs. It is just a civil thing to do. Go to a seminary school if you want to preach instead of insisting on doing that in the middle of freeway.

[sparky!]

Originally Posted by brittekland

This is what some slow drivers mumble to themselves in an attempt legitimize themselves slowing the world down refusing to move out of the way.

Whether it is 1 MPH or 10 MPH, getting impeded by some self appointed slow poke preacher staying in a passing/fast lane impeding someone, eg, from getting to his or hers dying mother on death bed, is asinine and pathetic to say the least. Get off the hot pan if you can't handle the heat. Do the world a favor and get in the appropriate lane and drive at your own comfortable pace in peace. Why so much extra curricular mind fucking when everyone is trying to get from point A to point B?? If you don't want to drive fast, get off the fast lane!! What's so humiliating and upsetting about that? Miles of open road in front of you and you enjoy frustrating the hell out of people trying to get by you... arggg.... Let the world go; it is okay.

Amen, brother!

[Daylate]

Some months ago I was watching a TV reporter interview a State Trooper and this subject came up. The trooper stated that in 2009, the last year for which he had the stats, there were almost 10,000 tickets written for left lane camping. Said that the State Patrol most emphatically did not want the general public taking it upon themselves to enforce the speed laws.

This was, BTW, in Washington State.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by Daylate

Some months ago I was watching a TV reporter interview a State Trooper and this subject came up. The trooper stated that in 2009, the last year for which he had the stats, there were almost 10,000 tickets written for left lane camping. Said that the State Patrol most emphatically did not want the general public taking it upon themselves to enforce the speed laws.

This was, BTW, in Washington State.

I see IL State Troopers themselves get stuck behind this people (the oblivious kind) having to pass them on the right all the time... but never saw them pull any over.

[shiftless]

Originally Posted by ReticulatingSplines

In the DC area, however, nobody moves. Ever. Even people going UNDER the limit in the left lane never move.

It's not that the folks in the DC area are rude, it's just that they are in the middle of an important conference call and didn't notice that they were in the left lane. They are driving slowly for safety. Everybody knows you should drive slowly when you talk on the phone so you don't have to worry about running into anything. 50 MPH in the left lane of the beltway means you rarely have to worry about overtaking anyone. Cruise control set to 50, laptop open on the passenger seat, Blackberry in hand = ready for that all important call about where to eat lunch today.

[Jackmannii]

Alternate poll on tendency of speeding drivers (i.e. going 80 mph or better on interstates) to swoop down on anyone slower than them who's using the passing lane to pass other drivers and who does not immediately get out of their way regardless of whether there's space on the right to do so - tailgating, flashing lights and otherwise being a nuisance and road hazard, by city/state:

Pretty much all of them.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by brittekland

This is what some slow drivers mumble to themselves in an attempt legitimize themselves slowing the world down refusing to move out of the way.

Whether it is 1 MPH or 10 MPH, getting impeded by some self appointed slow poke preacher staying in a passing/fast lane impeding someone, eg, from getting to his or hers dying mother on death bed, is asinine and pathetic to say the least. Get off the hot pan if you can't handle the heat. Do the world a favor and get in the appropriate lane and drive at your own comfortable pace in peace. Why so much extra curricular mind fucking when everyone is trying to get from point A to point B?? If you don't want to drive fast, get off the fast lane!! What's so humiliating and upsetting about that? Miles of open road in front of you and you enjoy frustrating the hell out of people trying to get by you... arggg.... Let the world go; it is okay.

Where do you get the idea that any thought at all goes into it? Why can't they be like most drivers, and just think they are driving at a reasonable speed in the lane they are in, and the idea of anyone else's goals doesn't even enter their thoughts? I can't imagine most people think of being able to drive in the fast lane as something special--they just feel the slow lane is too slow.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by BigT

Where do you get the idea that any thought at all goes into it? Why can't they be like most drivers, and just think they are driving at a reasonable speed in the lane they are in, and the idea of anyone else's goals doesn't even enter their thoughts? I can't imagine most people think of being able to drive in the fast lane as something special--they just feel the slow lane is too slow.

I would like to think one is driving a heavy large metal box at high rates of speed along other ginormous heavy metal boxes, at least some thought went into having the presence of mind as to where and how they are driving... as well as awareness of their surroundings... but then there are a pull spectrum of varieties like all things, I'd assume. You know from the tone of my post and how far down from my OP and number of my replies, I was venting, no? Of course I don't know what, if anything at all, goes through their head.

Some stays camped in the fast lane even when a State Trooper is inches away from their bumper totally oblivious. I don't think that's an excuse, do you?

Originally Posted by brittekland

I see IL State Troopers themselves get stuck behind this people (the oblivious kind) having to pass them on the right all the time... but never saw them pull any over.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by Jackmannii

Pretty much all of them.

You haven't seen my awesome driving then.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by excavating (for a mind)

On "urban interstate highways", it is a bit different. However, if traffic is so heavy so you can't practically obey the "2-second rule" (allow at least two seconds between you and the car in front of you), then they behave more like city streets in that there is no "passing lane". By definition, the traffic is so heavy that you can't really pass and the most likely reason people are going slow is not because they don't want to go faster, but that they can't because of the traffic. Remember, also, on "urban interstate highways" you are more likely to run across people who don't know which exit they want, or have to deal with exits on the left. Regardless, if you're not going more than 10-15 miles, it really doesn't make much difference if you are going 50 or 70, particularly if there is traffic, so, why not just relax and get there when you get there.

There is a big difference between someone going 10 mph below the speed limit because all the cars in his lane are doing so, and someone going 10 mph below the speed limit with 5 car lengths in front of him and everyone else in the lane doing the speed limit. You can tell by the large number of cars forced to pass this idiot on the right.
Urban interstates, especially during rush hour, are mostly driven by people who know exactly where they are going - though some of them seem to like to move into an exit lane at the last possible second. We don't have left exits, so that isn't an issue. Though I hate to admit that anything in LA is better than in the Bay Area, when I've been in heavy traffic there everyone moves along at a good pace, there is little lane changing, and things are less stressful than here. I admit that being two inches from the car in front of me and the car behind me is two inches from me is not stressful to me.

Now, yes, it is annoying when someone is in the leftmost lane and going less than the posted speed limit. But, it doesn't take more than a mile or so until they either move over or you can get around them, so it really doesn't make a lot of difference. Frankly, I find it much more annoying to have someone ride your tail because they want to go 3 mph faster than you are going. It isn't NASCAR, the guy in front doesn't win.

I used to commute on a bridge across the Bay, several miles long with no entrances or exits. You could easily see how people driving slowly in the left lane caused congestion, and the clog vanished past them. I would suspect that the accident rate on these roads is a function of the number of lane changes, because each is relatively risky. When someone has to pull from the left lane to a middle lane in traffic, typically those behind in the middle lane slow down, which causes a chain reaction of slowing.
Driving below the average speed in the left is selfish and obnoxious. If someone feels they must go slowly, they are welcome to the right lane.

[Sailboat]

Originally Posted by brittekland

As you get closer to Chicago, NYC, DC, and most of larger metropolitan areas, it becomes obvious drivers creating bottlenecks for no other reason than pride, stubbornness or simply callousness are not phased by presence of much faster traffic being stuck behind them. Carolinas, seemed to me, were pretty good, though near metropolitan areas it took bit more nudging. Why is this? Maybe I answered my own question: "callousness".

General observation: traveling long distances cross-country, I have observed drivers in rural areas behaving politely and with forethought, and drivers in urban areas behaving selfishly and nastily with each other. The kicker: I've seen the same drivers I've been beside for hours suddenly change their behavior as we move from rural to the approaches to urban congestion.

My conclusion: it's not that rural drivers are better or nicer, it's that (like rats in overpopulation experiments) our psychology changes with perceived crowding.

Specific nitpick:

Originally Posted by brittekland

are not phased by presence of much faster traffic being stuck behind them

They're not "fazed." Unless your talking about synchronizing waves of traffic or something, "phased" isn't the word you're looking for.

[brittekland]

Originally Posted by Sailboat

Specific nitpick:



They're not "fazed." Unless your talking about synchronizing waves of traffic or something, "phased" isn't the word you're looking for.

Danke. Moi, embarrassed.

Can you follow my posts around and correct me coz I do that a lot, I think...

[Napier]

I'm not that good about this problem - if I get thinking about something interesting, I'll toodle along in the left lane. My mind just wanders.

I have done this a couple of times in Bavaria, and the response is amazing. People will come up from behind at high speed, follow one meter behind me, and hold the horn down until I am out of their way. Then they will rocket by, silently shouting in their glassy cocoon. It's startling enough to help me overcome this tendency for a few days.

[brittekland]

Deep thoughts.

[Ludovic]

Don't faze me, bro!

[The Surb]

Originally Posted by brittekland

Ouch.

Yeah, I know. But at least I'm not a FIP!*





*not saying you are, just saying I'm not

[DrDeth]

Here in CA we do have one problem that drives me loco. You have a two lane country road, one lane each way, no passing. Winding and a tad slow at times. But there’s plenty of turnouts. Some dudes- esp trucks and dudes in SUVs don’t seem to know what a turn-out is for, despite many signs reminding them. The proper etiquette is to close a BIT, without tailgating too much, then flash highbeams. Again, this does not seem to deliver a clue.

[enipla]

Same thing in the mountains of Colorado. I believe the law is that if there are 5 or more cars behind you, you must pull over to let them pass.

[mnemosyne]

Up here in Québec, on open highways without congestion, people are pretty good about driving on the right unless passing - it's expected and correct behaviour to move back and forth between lanes if you are driving faster and want to pass someone. Of course, it's acceptable to pass more than one car at a time, but if you hit a stretch where there's no one in front of you for a while, you're expected to move over. I do believe you can get ticketed if you don't, but I don't know anyone who has.

This behaviour changes in Ontario - they are left-lane-drivers and it annoys the hell out of me. Even one of my best friends does it, and I'm constantly teasing her about it, but she won't change. It gets worse when there's a third lane...all the slow idiots settle in the middle lane and people pass on both the left and right. It's rather dangerous.

The difference is such that, often, when I come up behind someone just camping out in the left lane, they turn out to be from Ontario more often than not (or I just notice it more... I haven't actually counted, but I'm going to use confirmation bias as fact hehe).

I don't recall what the tendencies were out East - I don't recall encountering enough cars to have noticed a pattern.