Huh? If you look past the drunken sarcasm in my post, you will notice that I never said one way or the other how I drive. I tend to go about 75mph. If I want to pass someone, I move to the left, pass, and move back to the right. Since I’m the one taking the action of passing, it is my responsibility to move around the slower car, then return to the right lane in case someone wants to pass me. It’s called common courtesy. I share the road, and I don’t try to enforce what my idea of a safe speed is.
I would suggest you go back and read all the posts here. This question is answered many times.
The funny thing about this thread is that if you had only posted the first half of your OP, I would be in complete agreement with you. Your original scenario (people being dicks when they have to wait for someone to complete a pass) is something that gets my goat as well. It’s just your refusal to get out of the left lane that we don’t agree with.
Why should I get out of the left lane when, literally, 98% of the people on the road are going slower than me? (After a 3 hour midnight trip, about 10-12 cars pass me and about 2 of those cars get stuck for a second while I pass a car that is going between 70-83mph, and about 30% of those cars flash their brights and honk when I don’t get over, and about 3% of those cars do some really immature things for lengths of time… By the way, is this scenario worth calling someone ignorant over?) And the few people who do wish I would get out of the left lane were breaking the law to a greater extent than I, much closer to the “reckless driving” threshold, which I believe is 30mph over. If I am as ignorant as you make me out to be on this issue, then please make a short list of answers to this question of why these 10-12 cars can’t just pass me on the right.
And as for why I elected myself as decider on what MPH is reasonable, to be precise, I go 84mph. Does anyone mean to tell me that going 80mph is reasonable, but going 84 with light traffic is not? Maybe we should start a poll?!
Also, in many states the cutoff for the next increment in speeding fines is 14mph over. Don’t fool yourselves, 84mph in a 70mph zone is reasonable in light traffic, albeit at the edge of most peoples’ ideas of “reasonable”. (Heck, driving an SUV 80 is more dangerous than driving a Corvette 90mph, but that’s off subject) Some of you just don’t like me to assume myself as decider, that’s all. Let’s make this objective and unemotional. Let’s just put it this way and get off it: Driving 84 doesn’t make me any less of a model citizen than anyone else. However, total disrespect for the speed limit (95mph+) is quite disrespectful to all of us on the road and I’ll be damned if I care that these people have to pass me on the right… GOD FORBID I should do this!
Geez, I am not making friends with this thread, am I?! I just sort of feel strongly about this when people like this dumb Suburban stayed in front of me for 20 minutes pinning me in going 65 mph.
Perhaps the person driving the Suburban felt that people who break the speed limit are reckless and he’ll be damned if he cares that you have to pass him on the right. Once you allowed (in your posts) that an ordinary citizen has the right to control other driver’s speeds, you have no right to complain about others doing the same thing.
On the contrary, I want people to drive whatever speed they want, I just believe that they need to pass on the right rather than me get over for him, like he’s privelaged or something. I’m minding my own friggin’ business going fast in the fast lane, his desire of wanting to go faster than me can be acheived within his own convenient control, so he needs to simply apply about .3 lb./ft. of torque to the steering wheel, turn his head 2 degrees to look in the side-view mirror and apply 4 pounds of force to his gas pedal and get on with his life. Don’t bother me when there is a lane open, I’m not bullfighting here!
I’m sure once I communicate my feelings well enough (If that will ever happen here), you will agree with me. It’s just a matter of seeing eye-to-eye on a message board being harder than in real life. And it’s not like I am asking someone to do something that I don’t do… I do it and I prefer it this way, it’s more convenient for the guy in front of me who doesn’t feel like switching lanes for my speeding ass!
It’s so easy to do this, rather than genuinely consider the others’ ideas, isn’t it Ill Logik? Please, stop wasting bandwidth with non-contributive posts and tell me why it’s ignorant.
What makes passing on the right more dangerous than passing on the left? There is inherant danger in passing anybody. There is danger simply getting on the highway. What the heck does it matter what side of the car I am passing you on? I keep hearing about a blindspot of sorts? I have never noticed a bigger blindspot on the right side of my car than the left… that’s why you have the oddly-shaped mirror on the right side of your car, right?
I wish you could convince me too. I use logic fairly well, gimme some!
The problem with this rule is: How long do you wait to merge back into the right lane or how far ahead of the overtaken car do you drive before merging back into the right lane? Since there is no way to set a standard, then it was a very dumb law to make in the first place. It has probably caused many accidents actually. The best way to do it is make a fast lane and a slow lane. If someone wants to drive slow in the fast lane, or not merge after overtaking, then there should not be some outside rule making the situation more complex and uncertain. In a perfect world there would be no rule and everyone would do the OBVIOUS thing and pass them on the right. Please, I would really like to know where my logic went wrong with this statement, because I do not want to be contributing ignorance to this sacred board, seriously.
I think you’re confused as to what the problem is, exactly. It’s not that you’re breaking the law by going 85; people do it, big deal. And it’s not that the guy behind you is breaking the “pass on right is OK” rule. It’s that you’re breaking the “slower traffic keep right” rule, which takes precedence.
You keep saying that it’s no big deal for the guy to just move over to the right hand lane. But you keep avoiding the question: why is it such a big deal for you to move to the right hand lane and let him pass? It sounds like you’re the one who’s acting like he’s privileged. If you’re just “cruising along, minding your own business,” why don’t you just get the hell over? The only “reason” is that you’ve decided that 85 is the fastest anybody should be driving on that road, therefore you get the left-most lane.
This is true, but I only do this when there is no traffic. If there were traffic, or a car next to me, then I would definately get into the slow lane, because the second the guy came up behind me, his 90+ speed dictated who should be in what lane. But, when there is no traffic, the whole “fast lane/slow lane” rule is nonsense and does not apply, or shouldn’t/need not apply, I should say.
There is a way to set a standard, and they mention this when you take your driving test. It’s recommended six car lengths. It’s not a dumb law, it’s how things work.
No. There is a slow lane and a fast lane. In the United states, the slow lanes are the ones to your right. The fast lanes are the ones to your left. They are not delineated by actual speed, but relative speed – in other words, what you consider “fast enough” and “slow enough” is irrelevant; it’s whether or not you’re driving faster or slower than the other cars on the road.
Passing on the right is not the “OBVIOUS” thing to do, because of the above rule. The rule is neither complex nor uncertain. If someone wants to drive slow in the fast lane or not merge after passing to let someone else pass him, then that is covered in the above rule, and it’s known as “that person is being a dick.”
In the case you describe, that dick would be you, because you’re the one driving “slow in the fast lane.”
“But 85mph isn’t driving slow!” you protest. Not to you, maybe, but it is to the guy behind you driving 90.
Keep in mind, one of the reasons I feel this way is because of this annoying scenario. When I drive in the passenger seat with others, it happens and kills me: You are going about 80. You are passing on the left and merging back into the right, over and over. And every time you do, someone gets next to you so that you cannot pass on the left and you have to slow way down every two seconds.
Now, if you just keep your speed and drive in the left lane, then the burden falls onto the guy behind me wanting to go faster so that he has to pass me on the right and then pass the next car on the left. My feeling, and the way I think it should be, is that if you want to speed and break the law, you have to work for it and not bother everyone else in the process. I am very content with this rule applying to me as well.
See, this above established rule creates a headache for the people obeying the law. I think it’s not fair, so I drive the way it should be. If I’m being a dick only to people breaking the law, I am ok with that! And I am also ok with people being a dick to my speeding ass… fair is the way it should be and the system favors law breakers. Not cool in my book.
Fuel, do you seriously think driving 85 mph is safe? Do you really consider lane-changing to be “simple”? Do you not know that lane-changing is one of the most dangerous things you do while driving (second only to going through intersections), and should be approached with enormous respect and caution?
Not to attack you personally, but your attitude towards driving sounds like you think it’s just a game, and that you are somehow entitled to your right to drive. Driving is the most dangerous thing we all do everyday; I do everything I can possibly do to reduce the dangers while I’m driving, because I don’t want to die behind the wheel from my or someone else’s lack of attention or skill. If driving on the right and passing on the left increases my odds of making it home alive every day, why would I not do that? Why would we all not do that?
If it’s safer for me to change lanes while looking in my rear views than it is for the guy behind me to change lanes around something right in front of him, then I’ll be damned!
Mr. Llamas (sp?), realize that I asked questions as well in my OP. Consider yourself a sort of jackass for pointing that out. You thought you were clever, but it just didn’t turn out that way did it? That’s alright, I forgive you my son. Now go and sin no more!
But if someone is coming up behind you, then there is traffic, by definition. And that means that it’s up to you to get out of the way.
When you try to argue on the issue of legality, you make no sense because you reserve to yourself the right to determine when something illegal is acceptable and when it’s not.
And when you try to argue on the issue of logic and reason, you make no sense because you constantly refuse to concede that your own behaviour might be just as illogical and dangerous as that of the people you criticise.
It’s “my way on the highway,” with no exceptions, seems to be only rule you live by. This is not the mark of a good driver, despite your claims to the contrary.
Therefore, by your own definition, if you want to speed, you should have to work for it. Working for it may involve slowing down on occasion, moving into the right lane to allow someone to pass, and so on. Also, you should not bother everyone else in the process. Quite obviously, your are not quite content to this rule applying to you as well.
You asked on the first page how people know when it is safe to return to the right lane after passing. I was taught to wait until I could see both headlights of the passed car before returning to the right lane. Hope this helps.
Bottom Line: I feel like the absence of action for me staying in the lane I want to is good because the speeder behind me wants to “do something”. That “something” is speed and pass me, so naturally he needs to take the action to do so, regardless of legality, however good or bad the law is, because the simplicity of the situation makes it easy for him to take his action.
When no other car is around: I’m sitting there in my half-trance at 1 in the morning with the cruise control on contemplating life and whatever else and this dude comes up on me at 100 mph passing and probably weaving in and out all over the place, the least he could do is just get in the next lane and continue on with his driving rampage.
When I just passed a car and “Dude” is waiting for me to get over: I am still in my trance and he is obviously wide awake weaving, and I show no sign of getting over… he needs to just take action (change lanes) so he can take action (speed like a maniac).
That’s where I am coming from. I guess it’s a done deal, I am ignorant. I’ll go now.
