Yes, my grandfather was nabbed under this very law, and it stuck. He deserved it, too. He was in a very fast car and was probably intentionally being a jerk to the driver behind him.
It is a problem in D/FW, too. With our organiically-grown highway system, left hand exits are very common. I do not believe that it is illegal unless posted, though.
And while we are angry at traffic, I hate folks who zip by all the stopped traffic at a merge, and then try to force their way in at the end. Thanks for making everyone’s day slower.
I don’t blame the drivers anymore, I blame the states. They have been free to enact proper speed limits since 1995. Some have raised their limits, but not to reflect actual traffic flow. At least back in the day, they could say that they had to post 55 instead of a real speed limit because they would lose federal highway money, but that isn’t the case today.
I just drove over 1000 miles through six states, and the whole way the prevailing speed of traffic was higher than the posted maximum limit. If the state is going to tell cops not to enforce the speed limit until 85, don’t post 70 on the highway. It is just an invitation for drastically varying speeds which will cause accidents.
I know, people will say, “But if you post 85, people will drive 95!” No, they won’t. People get this attitude from years of artificially low speed limits, and the ease at which they have been violated. I say let motorists respect the law again and do away with some of these do-goody two shoes rules on the road.
Personally, I solved my road stress by taking myself out of the game. Instead of competing for the biggest penis award anymore, I stay right and go the speed limit or lower, which actually gives the illusion of moving along at a good clip because no one is ever in front of me so I never feel like I’m being slowed down. There is a myth that if you slow down and leave a big gap in front of you, people will fill it. One hundred percent poppycock in my experience. Driving is no longer the white-knuckle stress-fest it used to be for me, and it takes me maybe 5 minutes longer to get where I’m going.
That said, just the fact that people argue so much about this shit tells me there’s a HUGE problem. The Pennsylvania governor’s “Travel Right, Pass Left” (or whatever) sign is a good start; I’ve always wondered why there weren’t more of those signs on the road. It would serve to dispell the “fast lane” myth and remind people that it’s a passing lane. Also, I firmly believe that driver’s ed should be a lot more difficult the first time around, and a refresher course should be required every 5 years to renew your license. That way everyone would at least be aware of the rules of the road, if maybe not agree on them.
I think speed limit signs should be electronic. Fifty-five (or whatever traffic analysts deem reasonable) during weekdays, higher on nights and weekends, lower in dangerous conditions (fog, heavy rain, etc), and the general tolerance should be about 5mph (instead of 10mph here, which is more than an open secret) to account for uncalibrated speedometers.
Also, people should be educated (through PSAs or my suggested driver’s ed classes or whatever) that lower speeds during rush hour will decongest traffic and get you to work faster. It sounds counterintuitive but if it were explained to people I think most would get on board.
It may not be codified into every state law because it was just understood back in the day. I’ve heard (no cite, sorry) that “travel on the right, pass on the left” goes back to Roman times. In the early days of American highways, they were all one-lane in each direction with a dotted line down the middle and you only passed on the left. Nothing changed when divided highways came along except that the risk of a head-on collision while passing went way down. I would assume it’s not law in the places where it’s not law for the same reason James Madison originally didn’t think we needed a Bill of Rights.
This is the proper way to handle it. Check with the DOT in your state and they will probably agree (I know they do in Wa state). It’s also the most logical for a variety of reasons, one of which is that you make the most use of the road, as opposed to slowing/stopping traffic earlier which can back up onto on ramps, etc.
How would this help the problem under discussion? Do you think that those who now drive 45 on the left in a 65 zone are going to go any faster if you raised the limit to 75? I just drove through Wyoming, and there are plenty of good reasons to raise the limit in places like that, but reducing the deltas between car speeds isn’t one of them.
I’ll buy that, since you are a good guy who stays right. But I can assure you, that those who leave huge spaces while driving slowly in the left lane (sometimes 10 mph in rush hour traffic) get it filled in. Leaving huge spaces in this situation is an invitation for lane changing, too much of which can disrupt traffic flow.
There are certain places in my commute where a lane change save me a lot of time, and there are always plenty of people leaving space so I can do it. But even though I benefit, it still is disruptive.
Because under the current situtation you have locals who know the “real” speed limit on the road, mixed with some out of towners who are afraid of getting a ticket and stubbornly travel at the posted speed limit.
Then, over a holiday weekend, there will be warnings of strict enforcement of the posted speed limit causing more people to go the artificial speed limit.
I think it is these differences in speed that cause the most danger, but like the OP says, a person can go 65 in the left hand lane and proudly announce that he is going the fastest speed permissibile.
It is even posted on some highways down here that the minimum speed is 40. 40 MPH! That is far more dangerous than someone doing 90 MPH, yet the law allows it.
I use the middle lane and drive speed limit or a little over. When I near the exit I want I get over early . I don’t have a lot of stress when I drive. I am just going somewhere and it is you maniacs I have to worry about because you will be cutting in at the last second. You are in such a hurry that you are willing to risk your life,insurance or vehicle to get there 2 minutes earlier.
So, why are you calling us maniacs when you admit that an easy-going, no hurry, very cautious driver like yourself also violates the posted speed limit? And wouldn’t you agree that if a laid back guy like you breaks the limit, then isn’t it crazy to say that the number posted should be the maximum allowable by law?
Xways are designed to handle speeds in excess of 100 mph. Do you think that means we should drive that fast? Your problem is state of mind, not trying to get someplace in a hurry. You risk so much to get so little.
I can’t explain all the complicated engineering aspects (though they made sense when I read them), but the simplest way to communicate the point I guess would be to tell you to get a funnel and a bunch of marbles. Pour the marbles in really fast and the funnel stops up. Pour them slowly and steadily and the “traffic” flows. I don’t think it’s a 100% perfect analogy but it gets you thinking along the right lines.
Are we talking about a situation in which there’s an exit ramp on the right hand side, which is bumper-to-bumper with cars moving at a slow speed, causing a backup in the right hand lane for a good distance before the exit? In such a situation as I’m imagining, cars attempting to merge right at the last possible moment under those circumstances merely impede yet another lane of traffic, and nothing more.