Hey JC, seriously with all due respect, I just don’t get your position. I agree with you that speeding is illegal and being in the fast / left lane does not give one a get out jail free card.
OK so far?
That does not make it legal for you to violate the “keep right” law just because someone else is breaking the law. By your reasoning, we could shot speeders because they were breaking the law and we would not be in the wrong.
As far as Bricker’s comment, I don’t recall what type of law he practices. Unless he comes back here and explains why my cites are not applicable, I’m standing by them.
Please explain how your cites about speeding being illegal somehow negates failure to keep right from being illegal.
Let me lay it out socratically (if I remember it right!).
The NHTSA states that, with the exception of emergency vehicles, exceeding the speed limit is not permissible under any circumstances.
Given that the left lane is the ‘fast’ lane (a point I concede) and taking point ‘1’ into account it becomes clear that drivers travelling at the posted speed limit should be in the left lane. Or at least may reasonable expect the left lane to be travelling at the posted speed limit.
There is no reason for a person travelling the speed limit should ever have to move to the right as, of course :D, no one would ever be travelling faster than the posted speed limit.
Whether that’s safe or prudent is another question. I’m really only debating whether someone who’s travelling the speed limit in the ‘fast’ lane has a responsibility to move to the right to allow drivers exceeding the posted speed limit to pass. My answer is remains no.
I’m reading the site you quoted from the NHTSA. You quoted this:
Are you aware that this entire document you quoted is really the announcement for a study of the effectiveness of ‘rational speed limits’ and not an actual order by the NHTSA? It’s an interesting document but I don’t think it means what you think it means.
The full quote is this:
By referring to the term ‘egregious violators’ I infer that all others are still violators.
So what we have here is a study (with a start date no earlier that 7/24/01) being done to establish whether speed limit obedience can be raised by public education as to the reasons for and punishment of drivers and those who violate the limits.
In addition, they throw in this:
and
At this point we have them on record as stating that the maximum speed (for normal conditions) is the posted speed limit.
Which I believe dovetails well with my argument in point ‘1’ above that, under no circumstances is it permissible to exceed the posted speed limit. Ergo, no one has the responsibility to move out of someone’s way when being approached from behind by someone exceeding the limit.
The NHTSA does not make state vehicle laws. Some states allow speeds in excess of the speed limit if the speed is “safe”.
Your points (2) & (3) are your opinion which are not supported by the facts and in many cases are directly contradicted by state law.
Yes, I was aware of that. Perhaps the fact that a study is being done to establish “rational” speed limits is a clue that some current speed limits are not rational. Many speed limits are not set at the 85th percentile.
Your conclusion does not follow.
For example, the California code spells out the Uniform Vehicle Code on this matter in a bit more detail.
I’m tired of debating this. Other than your opinion, you have provided no evidence that the speed limit = normal speed.
