I don’t drive on multi lane interstates often. I know in the 2 lane interstates the left is for passing and the right is for regular traffic and entering/exiting.
So if you have 4 or 5 lanes of traffic in each direction, is there a well known protocol on what each lane is for that I’m not aware of? Is the far left lane for passing, or is it for people who are going to be driving on the interstate for a while and want to avoid all the traffic on the right 2 lanes (where everyone is merging, exiting and entering the interstate). I’ve treated it like the latter, if I’m going to be driving a while on a 5 lane interstate I stay in the far left or the 2nd far left lane to avoid all the merging in the right 2 lanes.
Basically my mentality was the further left you were the longer you were driving until you hit your exit, and pretty much any lane was a passing lane (I see people passing in almost all lanes). Do other people do it different? I’ve never seen any lanes that really struck me as the passing lane.
Not that I am aware of, other than, “If you’re passed on the right, then you’re too far to the left.” Presumably, the farther left you are, the faster you should be going.
Legally, farthest left lane is for passing; move out of it once you’re done passing the vehicle(s). Illinois’ Rules of the Road PDF, bottom of page 25 - exceptions are that no one is behind you when you’re in the left lane, congestion/road conditions/etc. make it impractical, that kind of thing.
From what I’ve seen in practical terms, right lane is for entering/exiting/going slow as fuck, and middle lanes are “cruising speed” drivers and those who drive slow as fuck but are scared to deal with traffic merging from the onramps. Left lane is for passing fast or not going as fast as you think and failing to pass, such that people start passing you on the right.
That is probably a better description of what I do. I usually stay in the middle when I am driving a few miles, and 2nd to left lane if driving further than that. I think of the right 2 lanes as entering/exiting lanes with a lot of merging that I want to avoid until necessary, the 3rd and 4th as cruising with far less merging the further left you go and the furthest left as a passing/cruising lane.
Laws vary state by state, however I tend to stay to the right or center lane unless I am passing. I also try to maintain 3-4 car lengths between myself and the vehicle in front of me, though if traffic is heavy, people jump in front of me until the gap is gone. sigh I would welcome interstate limited access roads with autodrive cars that would force a separation of vehicles for safety.
In Ohio, on three-lane interstates, the unofficial rule seems to be that most people drive in the middle lane, with the left lane for overtaking and the right lane for entering and leaving the interstate. (I lived in Ohio for about 12 years.)
This has been my experience on US Interstates: you drive through in the middle, pass on the left, and let entering and exiting traffic deal with the right.
Officially, i don’t know the answer, but this is how i see it done and it makes the most sense.
My perspective is that the right lane has too many speed changes (people getting on/off the freeway) for comfortable cruising. Also, i need to stay out of those folks’ way, too. The leftmost lane should remain open for passing (whether i need to be passed or i want to make a pass). Any lanes between those 2 are for use as-needed.
However, in the utopian world that sometimes breezes through my mind, i think back to the Frogger game and picture vehicle velocities increasing in each lane as you move left.
ETA: Please… don’t just cruise in the leftmost lane. Let’s all just try to work together and get-along out there.
If you aren’t going faster than the traffic in the lane to your right, you need to move to the right. I always thought this was universally understood until I moved to Wisconsin. People here will just park their asses in whatever lane they feel like and block up traffic for miles. Throws me into a murderous rage. It’s amazing, every time I drive home to New York. NY, PA, OH, IN, IL - no problem. WI, traffic is all backed up because some asshole is towing his boat in the left hand lane, while thirty cars are backed up behind him. <huff> <huff> I need to go lie down in a quiet place…
In some areas, if you’re in the right lane and there’s an emergency vehicle/cop pulling someone over/whatever on the side of the road, it’s required that you shift left until you pass it.
Slow drivers’ avoidance of the right lane sometimes means that it’s wide open and often becomes the passing lane for those of us not going fast enough for the lefterly lanes.
If people actually got up to the speed limit before entering the highway, I think many would be more willing to keep right and out of the way.
OP, it depends on how fast you are going with respect to cruising in the far left lane. Only if you are driving faster than the overwhelming majority of the traffic (so that very few want to pass you) should you cruise in that lane.
Pass on the left…but, there is always someone else to pass somewhere down the road. So stay in the left but move right when someone comes up behind you.
Interesting. I’ve always liked Wisconsin for its lane discipline. In fact, it was in Wisconsin that I learned cars are supposed to stick to the right except for passing when, on a family trip going through Wisconsin up to the Yoop, I asked my dad why all the cars were in the right lane on the highway, when the left lane was open. I find Illinois lane discipline to be terrible in comparison.
That said, the biggest factor to me seems to be how far you are away from an urban center. The farther you’re away, the more likely people will show lane discipline.
If you are not actively passing (looking at you, Lanzy) another vehicle, move one lane to the right
Repeat step 1 until:
a. you are one lane to the left of another vehicle that you are actively passing (another look at Lanzy), or
b. there are no more lanes to your right
On a freeway of 4 or more lanes AND frequent exits, the rightmost lane may be reserved for merging/exiting traffic.
When I am KOtW, the above will be enforced under penalty of really bad stuff!
Relating to this, I’m noticing a new trend : I’ll be driving in the middle lane on a three lane highway, generally around five over the speed limit, and someone comes up behind me and flashes his lights indicating that I should move over for him to pass me. I’d never seen this type of behavior before, but it seems to be getting more common. Don’t know if anyone else has experienced it, but I find it really obnoxious. I could see if I was toodling along going slowly in the far left passing lane, and I of course move over for 18 wheel trucks for whom the middle lane is the passing lane, but this is crazy.
Anyway, my latest sign that this worlds goin’ to hell in a handbasket!
My husband is a native Illinoisian, while I was born and raised in Wisconsin; we live in the Chicago suburbs. He’s made the same observation, that Wisconsinites know how to deal with being in the appropriate lane. I also agree with his observation that ‘my people’ cannot merge worth a damn.
Depends on the state. In NJ it seemed to be keep right except to pass, and I even once saw a state trooper pull someone over who was dawdling in the fast lane.
In California all travel lanes are independent, further complicated by carpool lanes. Cars in middle lanes often pass cars to their left, since at certain points the carpool lane and fast lane get clogged up more than middle lanes.
People are somewhat more likely to keep right on these roads during the fifteen minutes or so a day they’re not jammed.
