# Inconsiderate drivers.... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 10, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320 "2002-08-10T21:17:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/21 "2002-08-13T20:57:05Z")
Yes, if the vehicle in question is in the passing lane the driver should move to the right to allow for faster traffic. There was nothing in **bizzwire** ’s post to indicate if friend does this in a passing lane. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/22 "2002-08-13T21:01:13Z")
Or some other multi-lane road, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/23 "2002-08-14T02:11:44Z")
**Riven** You’re absolutely right; I forget to mention that my friend is an absolute pussycat and not "a sick fuck who proves the point that lane blockers are the leading cause of road rage and that they do it on purpose because they like being tailgated. " The little gizmo was used as a defense of last resort when, for instance, there was no “slow lane.” In retrospect, while pretty clever, it was a potentially dangerous gambit, and not something I would recommend people should emulate. I would also suggest that you might want to throttle back on your coffee consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/24 "2002-08-14T03:17:26Z")
[quote] _Originally posted by cmosdes_ **All that is required to lane block is NOT going faster than the car on your right. It matters not how fast you go. It matters how fast you go relative to everyone else.** Okay. . .how about this scenario? You’re on a two-lane highway in the middle of blessed nowhere. There are two speed limit signs posted–55 mph for semi-trucks and 65 mph for all other traffic. Because of this, just about all the trucks are in the right lane, doing about 55 mph. You, however, do not want to go that slowly. You feel that you should be driving at (approximately) the speed limit. So you’re in the left lane, going about. . .say 67-70 mph, for argument’s sake. The person behind you, however, must be on his way to somewhere _extremely_ important, as he is tailgating you quite closely. You are conflicted–on the one hand, you really don’t want to go more than about five miles over the limit, because tickets suck, and why tempt fate. On the other hand, you know that were the trucks not so numerous on the road, your speed would place you mostly in the right lane. The right lane would be reserved for those going about 65-70 miles an hour, and the left lane would be filled with those going 75+. Which lane should you be in? The right, or the left? ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/25 "2002-08-14T15:59:00Z")
**Jeff Olsen** - Your first post said, “I fail to see how…”, and I gave you a way how. The next post said, “There was nothing in bizzwire’s post to indicate if friend does this in a passing lane.” How does one be a lane blocker on a single lane road? I would think by definition you need to have a second lane to block in order to be a lane blocker. This might just be a connotation issue, however. **Angel** - Your scenario is a bit far fetched, but I’ll give what _I_ would do. I make no claims this is what everyone should do, as other threads clearly show people love to sit in the left lane 2 mph faster than the right lane and curse people behind them that want to pass. I find it pretty unrealistic to think you would be on a road in which the trucks are going the speed limit, not to mention the fact that there are enough of them you couldn’t pass them with minimal delay. But okay… there are SO many trucks travelling the speed limit _cough_ that you can’t really get by them in due course. So this is what I would do: Move into the right lane and let the jerk behind you pass. If there are a lot of jerks, let them go. YOU WON’T LOSE ANY SIGNIFICANT TIME. Once all the 75+mph people have gone, pull back into the left lane and do 73. The cops will nail all the people that just passed you doing 75. If you had to sit in the 55mph lane for an hour, you would lose all of approximately 10 minutes vs going 65mph. That is one long line of 75mph people behind you! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/26 "2002-08-14T18:29:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmosdes \* > \*\*_Jeff Olsen_ - Your first post said, “I fail to see how…”, and I gave you a way how. > > The next post said, “There was nothing in bizzwire’s post to indicate if friend does this in a passing lane.” > > How does one be a lane blocker on a single lane road? I would think by definition you need to have a second lane to block in order to be a lane blocker.\*\* Yes, that’s the point I was trying to make originally. **Riven** evidently assumed that the friend always drove on multi-lane highways. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/27 "2002-08-14T19:27:39Z")
The posted speed limit in Griffith Park, here in LA, is 25. I take it at 35, and I am The. Slowest. Driver. in the park. Everyone else treats it as a freeway and drives at 65 mph. I, on the other hand, know that the police like to cruise through, that there is often construction and landscaping being done on the road, and that yes, there is the occasional deer. There is nowhere to pull over, really – I am _not_ pulling over in that park after the sun goes down – but even at 35 mph I have people driving up my tailpipe and swearing at me when they pass. The way I look at it, they have no right to make me risk my life just because they want to zoom through the park like it’s the 210 freeway. They can wait till another lane pops up, and pass. I will stick to doing 10 mph over the speed limit and keeping my eyes out for cops, construction workers, and wildlife. – Dragonblink, who just passed the driving test not two hours ago, and is still sometimes the “what do you mean the speed limit on these surface streets is _50_?!” young driver. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/28 "2002-08-14T19:44:24Z")
**Jeff Olsen** - Gotcha. I failed to make the connection to which post you were referring to. Looking back, it seems obvious now. Sorry about that. **Dragonblink** - I totally agree with how you are handling it. The biggest beef I have is with people that cruise the left lane. But now we are way off the OP… so I’ll say no more. If anyone wants to rant on themselves for being inconsiderate of others, have at it. If we want to talk about driving habits in general, a new thread should be started. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/29 "2002-08-15T04:56:09Z")
Great first post, **Riven**. Maybe you should hang around in one of the other forums and at least TRY to make a positive impact on the board. I try not to get pissed off at people going slowly. Hey- the first time I drove, I didn’t want to go above about 15 mph. Then again, I stayed on all the back roads. I’ve seen way too many people passing me on blind curves b/c it’s obviously physically painful for them to go the speed limit. People, people. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/30 "2002-08-15T06:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > But in this case the guy was learning to drive in his parents’ car so the car wouldn’t have all that stuff on it. There are learner plates here too. But they are magnetic, so if you’re using your parent’s car you would stick it on the back, and your parents would remove it when they’re driving. It’s mandatory to have them not only when you’re learning to drive but also for one year after you get your driving license. IMO it’s very convenient (also, the speed limit is lower for these young drivers). ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/31 "2002-08-15T23:48:39Z")
Frankly, those “learner plates” or stickers or magnets or some other equivalent don’t sound like such a bad idea to me. Absent a rash of horrific accidents directly linked to inexperienced drivers, though, I can’t see any US states adopting them anytime soon. (_To my knowledge_, no states currently use them.) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/32 "2002-08-16T14:39:33Z")
I can’t wait for school to start again. Drivers are so universally bad here in Miami it really doesn’t bother me that much any more, I tend to find it humorous. If I didn’t, I’d be dead or in jail by now. ---
**Author:** ![Jorel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jorel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/33 "2002-08-16T17:53:59Z")
Inconsiderate Driver, I have one in mind too. The lady that ran the stop sign Tuesday and slammed me and the bike about ten feet into the intersection. This is my first day back at work. I’ve got a bump on my head the size of a lemon. My elbows are bruised, my knees are skinless. One of my knees has swelled to the size of two knees. It is difficult to walk. My pinky is broken (I use that hand to SIM, fuck you very much. Did I mention I don’t have any health insurance? My bike is damaged (it is my transportation) My groceries are destroyed. Thank goodness I had purchased 22 oz. cans of Sapporo or my beer would be busted too. She did not wait for the police to arrive… I can honestly say that since the SDMB August 5th smokeout this is the only time that I have REALLY REALLY wanted to have a smoke…but I didn’t (there were none available…otherwise I might have) I guess I should look on the bright side of this, as there was another bike crash near here earlier in the day. He died though. ---
**Author:** ![Jorel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jorel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/34 "2002-08-16T17:56:55Z")
\ (Riven) This is one of the stupidest things I have ever read AND I read the Yahoo message boards! ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320/35 "2002-08-17T13:25:44Z")
jorel, perhaps they all don’t do it on purpose. the fact that they are unaware of their stupid behavior is even worse. driving is probably more dangerous than cleaning a loaded gun, and there are too many jackasses out there not even aware of their slackery. road rage probably most often begins with some clueless chump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconsiderate-drivers/123320.md?page=1)