I was born and raised in Southern California. Of course I learned to drive there. In California there are ‘fast lanes’. The ‘fast lane’ is the Number One lane (the leftmost, save for the HOV lane). If someone is coming up behind me and I don’t need to be in the fast lane, I move over to the right. This may surprise some, but in my experience most other people do the same for me. I don’t know if it’s courtesy, ‘I’ll do for you and you’ll do for me later’ (quid pro quo, as it were), fear of road rage, or what; but unless traffic is packed it seems to be the norm – in my experience anyway.
In Washington I’ve noticed that many people tend to drive 5 mph under the speed limit. Whether they’re slow or doing the speed limit (I haven’t noticed much speeding up here – the place seems to be crawling with cops – except for Canadians, who seem to drive very slow or very fast but not normally at the speed limit), people don’t seem to like to move over for faster traffic. Why is that, I wonder? Do they not notice? Are they not looking behind them? Did someone appoint them Pace Car? (FWIW, it seems worse in Oregon. I call Oregon ‘Driver’s Purgatory’.)
Anyway, I’ve lived here since 2003 except for the ten months prior to March, and it occurred to me that I’ve never heard the phrase ‘fast lane’ up here. Do people up here say ‘fast lane’ and I’ve just missed it? How about where you live?
It’s certainly the ‘fast lane’ in Britain. Everyone calls it that, and even the official terminology is ‘overtaking lane’. This heirarchy of lanes is completely standard across Europe. And whether it’s an unrestricted Autobahn, an every-man-for-himself Autostrada, or simply a crowded but still fast M25, it works fine.
I hate the American lack of ‘lane discipline’ (driving instructor language). Not just because it seems to cause unnecessary delays, braking and bunching of traffic, but also because it seems to betray a lack of awareness of other traffic on the part of the cars involved. And to me, such a lack of awareness has the potential to be dangerous.
I like the German term for it, for when it’s two trucks side by side: Elefantenrennen, ‘elephant race’.
I notice this a lot. Of course, I’m not in Washington, but Ohio. Especially in towns that are semi-crowded. When I drive on US 32, 33, 23, or 52 out of town, they are normally great roads to be on. People seem to follow the idea of “keep to right except to pass” without the signs. Unfortunately I live in a town that has a 4 lane running east-west, and one running north-south. People ride side-by-side all the way through, just under the speed limit, or they slow the “fast lane” down and the other lane is the one to be in. I noticed this a lot when I was in high school and went into Lancaster, and I think I found one reason for it. My mother drove into Lancaster, Ohio a lot - it isn’t a huge town, but it is fairly well-sized, there is a good bit of traffic, and two lanes each direction + turn lanes. I rode with her one day and she got in the left-hand lane outside of town, followed it most of the way through driving 5 under, then turned left right before the other edge of town. I asked her why, and she told me - she is horrible at switching lanes, and that was how she got into her last accident. Of course, some people are horrible at this, some are just people who dislike it, but they seem to not notice the problems it causes because they are too worried about their personal thoughts on the issue…
There is no “fast lane” in San Jose (or San Diego, for that matter). People go fast in every lane, whichever one has a space big enough for them to jam into. Today, the fast lane was the shoulder of a freeway on ramp. This guy buzzzed past me on the right, practically in the dirt. I guess he needed to in front of me, even though the traffic ahead was at a standstill. Vroom, Vroom, jackass!
Most other places the far left lane is “brain on cruise control” lane. I’m told that in Germany one pulls up behind such people and puts on one’s left turn blinker, signaling “I’d pass you the left lane if I had another left lane.”
I’ve always thought of the left lane as the fast lane. I’ve lived here many times in my life. Although, I was born here, I didn’t learn to drive here, but in Missouri. Hubby learned to drive here, and he too, considers the left the fast or through lane.
I haven’t noticed what you describe here in the Seattle area. When we go to Sequim, the drivers seem less aware, but the mean age is higher. Not sure if that’s a factor, but I suspect.
Oregon, well, that’s different, on so many levels.
In PA (and I thought most places), it’s not a courtesy…it’s the law. You can get tickets for driving in the left lane when not passing. The reasons I have for not yielding to another driver are: 1) I’m going faster than the right lane and will get stuck if I move over 2) I hate the guy behind me cuz he was a jerk a mile back. 3) I’m not paying attention to my rear-view mirror (hey, it happens to everyone).
Admittedly I get my traffic reports from KPLU. But I’ve heard some on the morning TV news as well. I’ve not heard anyone call it the ‘fast lane’ since I’ve been here. Weird.
I wish they’d pass a few out, then. In my neck of the roads there’s a road–Route 309–where the left lane is generally viewed as just another lane. Pick the one you like best, doesn’t matter whether you’re passing or not. Man, I hate that.
I also hate when a car in a smaller line of cars decides that going 45 MPH is unacceptable–he had 45.2 MPH in mind–so he gets in the passing lane, in front of me just as I zip up doing 60. It can take another 15 minutes before he passes the line of cars, depending upon conditions, how tightly the line is bunched, etc. It feels like being stuck behind a Zamboni. I suppose that technically he’s passing, but if it takes you a full 2 or 3 minutes to PASS ONE CAR, I’d suggest that “passing” in this instance is an exceedingly subtle distinction.
I do a good bit of driving long distances, for example, 3+ hours to Connecticut a couple of times a month. I really hate it when I’m stuck behind someone who’s not in a hurry. Get in the right lane, PUH-LEEZ! I’m begging you. Anyway, where I drive, it is NOT a courtesy consistently extended, take it from me.
My experience in Southern CA is exactly the opposite. I can count on one hand the number of people who have moved to the right to let me by over many years of driving there. It’s far and away the worst area I’ve ever driven in, including downtown Boston.
I learned the “stay to the right except to pass” rule and still do that but the drivers here all seem to feel that the first thing they should do is get as far to the left as they can, then slow down and make a call.
Ahh the grey area. Situation: I see some slower traffic on the right up ahead, I pull out to pass them. Some jackass comes charging up out of nowhere behind me right before I reach to slow cars. Should I stay in the left lane, holding up Mr. Jackass, or switch to the right and get stuck behind the Slowskis as a huge line of cars follows Jackass as he blows past me? And if I speed up to get out of the way of Jackass, what do I say to the cop who then lights me up for going 15 MPH over the limit (when absent Jackass and the Slowskis I’d be doing only 5 over normally)? The cop didn’t notice (or care) that Joe T. Jackass (T is for “tailgating”) was 5 inches from my bumper and doesn’t buy my explanation as to why I temporarily was speeding.
In other words hard and fast rules cannot possibly apply to every situation out there; I’m sometimes having to make split second decisions like this. Yes I certainly do think ahead to try to avoid them, but sometimes you’re fucked no matter what you do. The above situation happened several times during my vacation last year (absent any dumb cops thankfully).
I’m from New Jersey, and I’ve absolutely seen this behavior in the Seattle area. (Even more fun, I get to do the 520 commute every day.) IMO it’s a combination of passive-aggressiveness and general cluelessness.
Heck, I used to think that the local drivers couldn’t deal with a hill and a curve simultaneously. Until I realized that they couldn’t deal with a hill or a curve individually.
And then I realized that oftentimes they couldn’t deal with the straight, flat bits of road either. (I mean, c’mon, people, all you have to do on 520 is stay in your lane and not run into the vehicle in front of you. It’s not that complicated.)
On 880 it seems the left lane is the slow lane, and the middle lane is usually faster. Why the people stuck in the left lane going more slowly than the right every single day don’t figure this out is beyond me.
I live in the East Bay (that is, east of the San Francisco Bay) and a large part of my commute is on a state highway that has just two lanes in each direction. It absolutely flabbergasts me the number of people who will drive in the passing lane at the exact same speed as the traffic in the right lane.
I’ve had cars pull right out in front of me (necessitating emergency braking), even though there is a mile of empty lane behind me, just so that they can pass the car ahead of them (in the right lane) that is travelling about .01mph too slow for them.
There are also a whole lot of people who seem to have no problem with going 20mph slower than I want to go as long as I’m behind them, but if I try to pass them on the right (since they won’t move over to allow me to pass correctly) they suddenly feel the need to race.
The idea of the left being the ‘fast’ or ‘passing’ lane on the huge freeways around here is ludicrous. The only times I ever have occasion to drive them they are bumper-to-bumper and nobody is going fast.
The left lane becomes a slow lane around here on some roads because trucks are prohibited in that lane. Those who are real Nervous Nellies around trucks (and some truckers can be real assholes) get in the left lane to take 'em out of the equation. But there’s still enough “proper” slower drivers in the right lane, that the middle can become the quicker lane. That’s my theory.
Rich, I am also pissed at the phenomenon, a common one, of the nitwit who clogs up the left lane for 15 miles while you try to get past him, only to speed up when he detects that you are passing him. Dude, if you were going 75 in the first place, I wouldn’t be passing you!
Long time ago I was on a short road trip with my cousin. There was no other traffic around, and she was firmly planted in the passing lane.
I guess it really doesn’t matter, but I have always, always been taught that unless your passing someone, or moving over as a courtesy for those entering the highway, your butt stays in the right lane.
I gently corrected her. She got mad at me. :shrug: Years later she apologized and now agrees that you should stay in the right lane.
Same in the UK, but some treat it as the “fast as you can lane”, so even if you’re overtaking someone at the legal limit, they come up behind you and tail gate or flash lights :rolleyes:
It’s like that in SoCal. The freeways aren’t always jammed, and people go as fast as they feel they can get away with. Southbound on the 405 in the mornings if you were doing 70 you’d better be in the No. 2 lane. But IME people mostly moved over for overtaking traffic. (Mostly.)
I used to flash my lights to pass when I had the Porsche. I got out of the habit in the Cherokee, as I don’t drive it as fast.
