# I Pit drivers that stop on Interstates **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 28, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147 "2015-01-28T20:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/21 "2015-01-29T07:25:24Z")
> [@Hayden](#): > > I pit all bad drivers, especially those who camp in the left lane even when they aren’t passing. Where I am from, the left lane is the fast lane (when it is not the carpool) and you are not expected to occupy it temporarily just for passing but can drive in it for extended periods. Nevertheless, driving slowly in it is strongly discouraged. If you are driving the speed limit, that is much too slow, and you if you wish to drive slower you should stay to the right or at least move right if traffic is behind you. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/22 "2015-01-29T07:27:03Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I did that once… A guy was tailgating me terribly. Late night, no traffic, I’m in the goddamn slow lane already, but he’s riding right up my ass. > > I slowed down. He just came closer. > > I slowed down more… He came closer yet. > > So, fuck it. I stopped. Fuck my doctor if he didn’t stop too! > > About that time, traffic began to approach from behind, so I moved on. Weird. Eventually he roared past me, two wheels in my lane, inches from a collision. > > (I don’t deny for a second I was doing something wrong. But, jeez…) Just reminds me . . . . about 10 years ago some guy was tailgating me in the left lane, BAAAD, so, just to be a smart ass (and like Trinopus, I was being wrong), I turned on my blinker and SLOOOOOOOWLY drifted into the right hand lane . . . .then the guy proceeded to try and run me off the road! I was shocked and just moved on, in hindsight, I wished I followed him just enough to get a license plate number. Of course, if some idiot is willing to run you off the road, then who knows what else they will do? I also once saw a guy try to illegally pass another car on a two lane highway via that “left hand turn” lane in the middle, and the car being passed veered left and tried to run him off the road, too! It is amazing how putting a wimp behind the wheel can make someone suddenly macho. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/23 "2015-01-29T07:52:56Z")
That’s nothing, wait till you hear about the maniacs in my story. So, I was going down the highway, mindin’ my own business, when the car in front of me starts to go real slow like. I’d like to go around him, but the traffic is not letting me, and he keeps on going slower and slower. Then I get close enough and he’s got a bumper sticker that says “if you can read this, you don’t need glasses.” I won’t deny the humor involved, but fact is, I am wearing glasses, and that’s how I was able to read it. Also, he’s driving dangerously, going slow for no reason at all, almost caused an accident, but I looked up from texting on my cell phone just in time. Eventually, I roared past him, two wheels in his lane, because he almost made me miss my exit. I had to pull all the way across every lane of traffic, and then, I still had to back up. I suppose this is what I get for camping in the left lane, but cut me some slack, I was a little tipsy at the time. So, as I’m backing up trying to find my exit again, I see my buddy pulled over in the breakdown lane. So I pulled over in the right hand lane on the interstate, and we start having a conversation. So he says thank the good lord I pulled over, because he needed a jump. So I says to him, what do I look like, triple A? And we had a good laugh, but this very visibly angry guy goes flying by at like 60+ miles per hour, almost hits my car. So that gets me angry, and I take off and start to tailgate him. Eventually he pulls over and I nearly run him off the road. You know, to teach him a lesson. I swear, these people shouldn’t be on the road! ---
**Author:** ![XRaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f14d63/32.png) [@XRaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XRaeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/24 "2015-01-29T14:10:24Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > That’s nothing, wait till you hear about the maniacs in my story. You made my day. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/25 "2015-01-29T14:19:24Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I hate those drivers who drive, in stop and go traffic, with one foot resting on the brake pedal. Their brake lights keep flashing on and off making one wonder whether they are stopping or resting their foot. Commonly called BFNFRs (Biffnerfs - brakes for no fucking reason) > > May their brakes wear out weekly. Yes! Your car will slow down all by itself if you leave ample stopping distance, and in stop and go traffic, in most places, you don’t need to drive up the other driver’s ass. Yes, if you live in LA or someplace like that it’s different, but most of us don’t live there. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/26 "2015-01-29T16:33:52Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Ive never ever ever seen two cars stopped in an Interstate, and Ive been driving 40-60k a year for the past 15 years; I don’t get the first example, is it possible the two cars in the left hand lane were disabled? I know you said you saw no damage, but even a mild fender bender can disable both engines . . . . that said, yeah, bad news. It was a steep downhill stretch. Just putting the car in neutral would be enough to get it to the shoulder. Only a giant fucking dipshit, too stupid to be allowed to drive, would experience a breakdown on the interstste and NOT manage to guide the car onto the shoulder before total loss of speed. remember, it was a long downhill stretch. These idiots were too stupid to be allowed to drive, and I would have pulled over, TAKEN their keys, by force if necessary, and moved the cars my damn self, if they were unwilling. Problem is, I was in a company vehicle, with a co-worker that did not approve of my plan. So I let it go. ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/27 "2015-01-29T17:49:00Z")
My commute to work is 18 minutes on a normal day and about 40 minutes on a snowy day. I’d say about once every month I’ll have a nice, clear day where it takes me 40 minutes to get to work because there are cars in every lane doing 10 under the speed limit, causing us to get caught at every light. What’s worse is that these people take about a minute to accelerate their way back up to 45mph after stopping at the light. I’m getting mad just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/28 "2015-01-29T17:51:03Z")
> [@Hayden](#): > > I pit all bad drivers, especially those who camp in the left lane even when they aren’t passing. Out here in CA, and in many other states, the left lane is NOT the “passing lane”. However, In CA, the rule is “slower traffic keep right” and you _can_ get a ticket for impeding traffic in the “fast lane” even if you are going the speed limit. In fact I think that the left lane being the “fast lane” as opposed to the “passing lane” is more common. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/29 "2015-01-29T18:27:59Z")
They deserve to be eliminated from the gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/30 "2015-01-30T06:16:49Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > It was a steep downhill stretch. Just putting the car in neutral would be enough to get it to the shoulder. Only a giant fucking dipshit, too stupid to be allowed to drive, would experience a breakdown on the interstste and NOT manage to guide the car onto the shoulder before total loss of speed. remember, it was a long downhill stretch. > > These idiots were too stupid to be allowed to drive, and I would have pulled over, TAKEN their keys, by force if necessary, and moved the cars my damn self, if they were unwilling. Problem is, I was in a company vehicle, with a co-worker that did not approve of my plan. So I let it go. Got it. Your right, thats nothing but bad news. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/31 "2015-01-30T06:33:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I also once saw a guy try to illegally pass another car on a two lane highway via that “left hand turn” lane in the middle, and the car being passed veered left and tried to run him off the road, too! I do have to admit in my younger and stupider days, when I was young and stupid, I would wait for people to do shit like that. I never physically ran someone off the road. But I would stare hard right when they passed by, and jerk my hands hard to the left, without actually touching the wheel. They would always rip the wheel and take their car off into the ditch. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/32 "2015-01-30T07:02:04Z")
Just for shits, I’ll tell another dumb story. It was in the early 1980s, and the 805 Freeway was new. One night, about two or three a.m., I was on it…and saw no traffic. Nobody. Not a car in sight. (This would NEVER happen today, any time of day or night.) So, fuck. I stopped. Hee hee hee. Stopped on the freeway. Then…I turned around and drove maybe a quarter mile the wrong way. Nobody in sight! The place was mine and mine alone! That was when I saw approaching headlights in the distance, so I U-turned and got the hell out of there. Dumb…but kinda fun! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/33 "2015-01-30T13:28:54Z")
> [@XRaeth](#): > > You made my day. Askthepizzaguy rarely disappoints, especially when he can keep his posts under 17 paragraphs. This one made me laugh a lot too, XRaeth. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/34 "2015-01-30T13:31:30Z")
Recently I’ve begun to institute a policy where if I am typing for so long that it takes me more than 30 seconds to read what I wrote (fast reader) then I just walk away from the thread without posting anything. If it takes me 30 seconds, it’ll take most folks 6 minutes, and ain’t nobody got time for that. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/35 "2015-01-30T13:52:20Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Apparently people in Michigan have no concept of the zipper merge. I was driving to northern Michigan last summer when the traffic came to a dead stop in the left lane approaching a one-lane construction zone. I figured traffic was just that heavy. > > Nope. Turned out people in the left lane were coming to a complete dead stop in order to move into the right lane with a solid two miles of perfectly usable lane in front of them. Well, that’s something new, and different. When I took Driver’s Educ, we were taught to start to merge as soon as you see the Merge signs. And that it was very rude & selfish to stay in the other lane going by people when other drivers are properly merging. In fact, that was enforced by police – I once got reprimanded and barely talked my way out of a ticket for waiting to merge until nearly the last minute. And that was only about 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/36 "2015-01-30T16:34:20Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Well, that’s something new, and different. > When I took Driver’s Educ, we were taught to start to merge as soon as you see the Merge signs. And that it was very rude & selfish to stay in the other lane going by people when other drivers are properly merging. > > In fact, that was enforced by police – I once got reprimanded and barely talked my way out of a ticket for waiting to merge until nearly the last minute. And that was only about 5 years ago. The zipper merge is really quite the point of contention. There have been many threads here about it, with people arguing forcefully from both sides, each fully believing their method was the One True Method, and often getting quite angry. How did this one point get so many drivers to believe so strongly in the wrong way? Is there no consistent driver’s ed across the country? I guess in a world where someone won’t use their blinkers because “it’s nobody else’s business knowing where she is going”, anything is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/37 "2015-01-30T16:44:39Z")
High profile [case](http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/12/18/woman-ducks-montreal-highway-sentence_n_6346034.html) here lately. > [@](#): > > MONTREAL - A widow whose husband and daughter died when their motorcycle crashed into a woman’s car as she helped ducks on a highway is satisfied with the 90-day jail term the accused received Thursday. > > Besides serving the time on weekends, Emma Czornobaj must do 240 hours of community service and is prohibited from driving for 10 years. > [@](#): > > Perreault said the accused showed a “reckless disregard for the safety of others” when she left her vehicle to tend to the ducklings. She stopped in the passing lane! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/38 "2015-01-30T19:43:36Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Apparently people in Michigan have no concept of the zipper merge. I was driving to northern Michigan last summer when the traffic came to a dead stop in the left lane approaching a one-lane construction zone. I figured traffic was just that heavy. Another thing in Michigan(though certainly not only here) is the highway off ramp. The ramp and the service street usually merge into each other at a very acute angle 30 degrees or so. The service street always has a stop sign but it is on both sides of the service road so people unfamiliar can see it right there on the right side of the off ramp lanes. They have angled louvers to point it toward the service road side, but it is still a very clear and obvious stop sign to the ramp drivers. And often the road you need to take is a right turn shortly after the merge. So you start watching the service road to make sure people are stopping(and often they don’t), and looking ahead toward the next road to time a lane change after the merge. A couple times a year I’m playing chess 4 moves ahead when I notice some no-local has come to a total stop on the off-ramp at the stop sign and have to slam the brakes. I’ve fortunately never had an accident, but I have seen some major crunches when someone didn’t notice in time. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/39 "2015-01-30T21:05:34Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Stopping is bad enough. _Backing up_ is even worse. I see less of this since everyone has GPS, but yo bitch, I know you did not learn that shit in driving school. Go to the next exit and turn around! When I took drivers ed we were particularly told never to do this. I’ve not seen this piece of idiocy. I have seen people, mostly on streets, who are not clever enough to get on the end of a long line of cars waiting to get onto the freeway stop next to one with the right signal on, asking to get in. They most never have learned about U-turns in their driving school. This happens in a few places on the freeway also. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147/40 "2015-01-30T21:08:29Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I hate those drivers who drive, in stop and go traffic, with one foot resting on the brake pedal. Their brake lights keep flashing on and off making one wonder whether they are stopping or resting their foot. Commonly called BFNFRs (Biffnerfs - brakes for no fucking reason) > > May their brakes wear out weekly. And we have the type of driver who needs 100 feet of room ahead even in bumper to bumper traffic moving at 15 mph. When someone pulls into the massive space they have left these clowns slam on the brakes to make sure their margin is retained. Not only are they annoying, they encourage all sorts of last minute maneuvers by dive bombers and the like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drivers-that-stop-on-interstates/711147.md?page=3)