# How fast do you drive on the highway? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804 "2009-11-16T18:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/41 "2009-11-17T07:34:39Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > No. But it doesn’t hurt me to _not_ either. Plus it gives me the enjoyment of pissing you off. 🙂 It might: letting a bunch of frustrated drivers pile up behind you looking for opportunities to pass is not a very safe driving practice. Not to mention, in some places (like [Washington State](http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427)) that kind of stunt can get you a ticket: it’s actually unlawful to drive substantially below the speed limit without moving over to allow vehicles accumulating behind you to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/42 "2009-11-17T08:06:35Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > No. But it doesn’t hurt me to _not_ either. Plus it gives me the enjoyment of pissing you off. 🙂 Remember all those assholes recklessly swooping in and out of lanes all around you? That’s your fault. Pay attention to the traffic you are blocking and get the fuck out of the left lane. Everything, _everything_ works better when people move right except to pass. If some dickhead wants to go 110, it’s safer for you and him and all the rest of us if you just get out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/43 "2009-11-17T08:32:04Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Don’t they leave on time? . So I guess you’ve never been late? had traffic slow you down, been in a rush to get somewhere, had a puncture or just simply had something unexpected to go wrong because you have precognition and perfect foresight? Been lost, made a wrong turn, rushing to pick up somebody because they arrived earlier than expected? There’s not enough roll eyes for your attitude… ---
**Author:** ![Peg\_Leg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Peg\_Leg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg_Leg)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/44 "2009-11-17T08:32:20Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > It might: letting a bunch of frustrated drivers pile up behind you looking for opportunities to pass is not a very safe driving practice. Not to mention, in some places (like [Washington State](http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.427)) that kind of stunt can get you a ticket: it’s actually unlawful to drive substantially below the speed limit without moving over to allow vehicles accumulating behind you to pass. That statute applies to a two lane highway, not the ‘fast lane’ on an Interstate. Further, I’m unwilling to believe that a police officer will pull you over for driving slightly less than the maximum speed limit, so please point me to a case where that has happened. There’s a difference between going 20mph and 58mph in a 60mph zone. [Quote=Discipline] Remember all those assholes recklessly swooping in and out of lanes all around you? That’s your fault. Pay attention to the traffic you are blocking and get the fuck out of the left lane. Everything, everything works better when people move right except to pass. If some dickhead wants to go 110, it’s safer for you and him and all the rest of us if you just get out of the way. [/quote] Nope, not my fault. I’m not the one making a conscious decision to swerve in and out of traffic because I want to go faster than the posted speed. That’s their fault. And maybe everything would be nice if everyone stayed in the right lane except to pass. Except that’s not realistic. Where I live we have exits on both the right and left, cars merging into traffic, construction, lanes with potholes, people that drive _really_ slow, etc. I’ll move over when it’s convenient and safe, but forgive me if I don’t do so at your pace. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/45 "2009-11-17T08:40:14Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > That statute applies to a two lane highway, not the ‘fast lane’ on an Interstate. Further, I’m unwilling to believe that a police officer will pull you over for driving slightly less than the maximum speed limit, so please point me to a case where that has happened. There’s a difference between going 20mph and 58mph in a 60mph zone. > > Nope, not my fault. I’m not the one making a conscious decision to swerve in and out of traffic because I want to go faster than the posted speed. That’s their fault. > > And maybe everything would be nice if everyone stayed in the right lane except to pass. Except that’s not realistic. Where I live we have exits on both the right and left, cars merging into traffic, construction, lanes with potholes, people that drive _really_ slow, etc. > > I’ll move over when it’s convenient and safe, but forgive me if I don’t do so at your pace. Much as I pit the areshole that swerves in and out for his behaviour, I also pit the entitled pratt that thinks his father owns the road and he’s perfectly free to hold up the rest of the world and slow them down to his “convenient” pace. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/46 "2009-11-17T16:27:32Z")
+5 for me, although I will go faster on long trips on certain roads (I-5 in the Central Valley, I-80 in the Sierra). I also tend not to care how other people drive. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/47 "2009-11-17T17:22:29Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > Nope, not my fault. I’m not the one making a conscious decision to swerve in and out of traffic because I want to go faster than the posted speed. That’s their fault. When you know it’s totally predictable that complete strangers are going to do Y when you do X, and you choose to do X anyway, you share in the culpability for them doing Y. Yeah, they’re at fault too, but so are you. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/48 "2009-11-17T17:39:33Z")
Where there is a posted limit, I don’t as a rule drive faster than slightly less than 10 km/h over it. However, and this is why I chose the last option on the poll, there are no posted limits on the Autobahn between cities. I am conscientious about following the rule that you only pass on the left, and only drive as far left as you need to to pass someone if there are more than two lanes, but I am often the person in the far left lane sailing (safely) past people as I drive 160-170 km/h (or about 100 mph). The Autobahn _rocks._ ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/49 "2009-11-17T17:44:21Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Much as I pit the areshole that swerves in and out for his behaviour, I also pit the entitled pratt that thinks his father owns the road and he’s perfectly free to hold up the rest of the world and slow them down to his “convenient” pace. Apparently, deliberately driving slow around fast drivers is safer than getting out of the way or speeding up to match the flow of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/50 "2009-11-17T17:59:04Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > That statute applies to a two lane highway, not the ‘fast lane’ on an Interstate. Further, I’m unwilling to believe that a police officer will pull you over for driving slightly less than the maximum speed limit, so please point me to a case where that has happened. There’s a difference between going 20mph and 58mph in a 60mph zone. Well, in Washington it applies to the fast lane on the interstate as well. [RCW 46.61.100(2)](http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.100). It’s only permissible to drive in the left lane if you’re passing, driving faster than the flow of traffic, making room for merging traffic, or exiting the road. Driving below the limit in the left lane is definitely a no-no. As for an actual application of RCW 46.61.427, I don’t know. Traffic citations don’t generally make it into the newspaper, so I couldn’t give you an example. Naturally, though, they’re not going to cite you for going 2 mph below the limit. But the statute says “less than the normal flow of traffic,” so I don’t doubt that if you were doing 50 mph in a 55 zone where even the state patrol prefer to do 60, a patrolman might very well pull you over, _especially_ if he’s pissed off after being stuck behind you for a couple of miles. 😛 Either way it’s dangerously stupid to deliberately create an unsafe situation just because you want to frustrate the drivers behind you. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/51 "2009-11-17T17:59:39Z")
> [@Peg\_Leg](#): > > That statute applies to a two lane highway, not the ‘fast lane’ on an Interstate. Further, I’m unwilling to believe that a police officer will pull you over for driving slightly less than the maximum speed limit, so please point me to a case where that has happened. There’s a difference between going 20mph and 58mph in a 60mph zone. On a related note, Illinois requires you to [stay out of the left lane on a highway with more than one lane](http://www.sos.state.il.us/publications/rules_of_the_road/rr_chap04.html#lane_usage) unless you are actively passing, or unless other issues make that impossible: > [@](#): > > When driving on an interstate highway or full access controlled freeway, a person may not drive in the left lane, except when passing another vehicle. Exceptions include when no other vehicle is directly behind the vehicle being driven in the left lane, when traffic conditions/congestion make it impractical to drive in the right lane, when weather conditions make it necessary to use the left lane, when there is an obstruction or hazard in the right lane, or when the driver is changing lanes to yield to emergency or construction vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804/52 "2009-11-17T18:03:11Z")
On the motorways in Britain (speed limit 70 mph) I tend to do 80-90. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-you-drive-on-the-highway/517804.md?page=2)