# What do you do about people blocking the passing lane? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476 "2011-02-15T18:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/241 "2011-02-17T19:01:53Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Czarcasm, not once has DtC said he stays in the left lane. In fact, he has gone out of his way to say he doesn’t do it. Over and over and over again. God. If you want to argue with his dense stubbornness that nears insanity at least read his posts. The only thing I am arguing about is his claim of ignorance of the laws of his state as regards to driving in the right lane. My point concerns his supposed knowledge, not his supposed actions. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/242 "2011-02-17T19:09:28Z")
> [@NCDane](#): > > I now realize that you equate driving illegal driving habits with “efficiency”. But you have said that you routinely drive above the speed limit yourself (as indeed do some 85% of drivers on typical US highways under good conditions). So you’re both breaking the law and condemning others for the same: “My version of speeding is sane and sensible - but anyone overtaking me is a dangerous moron who deserves to be messed with.” Now I’m sure this isn’t hypocrisy - but it does look like a rather good facsimile. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/243 "2011-02-17T19:13:24Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Exception number 3 is for freeways that have at least 3 lanes going in one direction. Does the 94 crosstown have fewer than 3 lanes? I doubt it. Plus I specifically stated in my original post that I was referring to rural freeways with low traffic. The scenario changes a lot when I’m on my way to Dallas with cars spaced out on average several hundred feet versus being in Dallas with cars within a few feet of each other going various speeds between 0 and 20 MPH. > > I’m going to guess that this is referring to urban freeway driving because it’s pretty obvious in the situation I mentioned. Just wanted to point out that **Diogenes** hasn’t bothered to respond to this post. Hum, wonder why? Obviously the situation changes when you’re dealing with busy rush-hour traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/244 "2011-02-17T19:44:59Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > I’ve already provided evidence (even if circumstantial) that blocking the left lane is more dangerous than speeding without rebuttal. If you want to claim otherwise, you need to show it. From the [Insurance Institute](http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/speed_limits.html): _" Is speeding a safety problem? Yes. Speeding is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes, killing more than 1,000 Americans every month. In 2008, speeding was a factor in 31 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths, killing 11,674 people. Based on a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes, in 2008 speed was a contributing factor in about 16 percent of property-damage only crashes and 19 percent of crashes involving injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the economic cost of speed-related crashes is more than $40 billion each year."_ Did you present evidence that going/passing too slowly poses a comparable risk to a driver? Must have missed it. Being an inconsiderate driver and contributing to road rage incidents logically would be a factor heightening one’s risk (whether being a “passing lane hog” or speeding and getting into incidents with such people. Logic (and facts) also strongly suggest that speeding in general puts you more at risk than going too slowly. By the way, a factor in those property-damage and injury crashes cited by the Insurance Institute is following too closely/tailgating. In the vast majority of cases, the tailgater is the one who is cited for a rear-end collision and/or pays for repairs. Just another reason to back off. ---
**Author:** ![NCDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@NCDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NCDane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/245 "2011-02-17T19:46:05Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I don’t think it matters how I talk to you because I think you are such a self absorbed pratt that it doesn’t matter. > > And one thing I can absolutely and irrefutably assure you of - an angry driver is, ceteris paribus, way more dangerous than a non angry driver. > > Anybody that deliberately behaves on the road in a manner calcualted to piss others off is a menace. They make the road more dangerous for all of us. “Ceteris pabis” eh? Sorry, but you do not have what you need to make a prima facie case, and I am not sure the a posteriori requirements for your case are availbable, your excursion into pop psychology being none such. I see no reason a priori to assume that heightened emotion must make someone a poorer driver. It might even make one a better driver. You have along way to go before you can be considered a memeber of the company of reasonable people. Step One is to devote your criticism, all of it, to people who break the law, rather than those who abide by the law. > [@bengangmo](#): > > And by the way…I wasn’t talking about ANY criminal act, I was talking about speeding, uless you think that because I am allowed to drink in a bar, my six year old should also be allowed to drink, and that because I am allowed to fuck my wife I should also be allowed to fuck a three year old. By the way you must justify your inconsistency with a bit more reasoning than “this is OK, but that is not OK”. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/246 "2011-02-17T19:54:48Z")
Here are Dio’s points. First person to successfully refute all of them wins the thread. [ul] [li]There is no rule regarding the left lane being for passing.[/li][li]Driving above the speed limit is not acceptable, as it is against the law, no matter what.[/li][li]Even as a matter of courtesy, those annoyed by drivers impeding the flow of traffic in the left lane have no ground to be annoyed because[/li][li] **ALL** people who wish to pass in the right lane are speeding, which is illegal, and therefore wrong.[/li][li]There may or may not be a rule regarding left-lane passing, which there isn’t, but if there were, nobody enforces it, therefore, it is acceptable to refuse merge to the right when others attempt to pass.[/li][/ul] Go! ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/247 "2011-02-17T19:55:19Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > From the [Insurance Institute](http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/speed_limits.html): > > _" Is speeding a safety problem? > Yes. Speeding is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes, killing more than 1,000 Americans every month. In 2008, speeding was a factor in 31 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths, killing 11,674 people. Based on a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes, in 2008 speed was a contributing factor in about 16 percent of property-damage only crashes and 19 percent of crashes involving injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the economic cost of speed-related crashes is more than $40 billion each year."_ I’m left wondering how they proved that the drivers wouldn’t have died if they weren’t speeding. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/248 "2011-02-17T19:56:47Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > So you’re both breaking the law and condemning others for the same: “My version of speeding is sane and sensible - but anyone overtaking me is a dangerous moron who deserves to be messed with.” Or as George Carlin put it, “have you ever noticed how anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a _maniac_?” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/249 "2011-02-17T19:58:59Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Yes, the idea of “passing lane only” is only for some states, not all > [@Telemark](#): > > Because the law in most places is that you stay right except to pass. If you are not passing, you stay right > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Most of the rest say you have to stay right if you’re slower than the “normal speed” of traffic. > [@Nadir](#): > > So unless you are denying that, regardless of the specific law being called into play or not, the practice of cruising in the left lane AT ANY SPEED below traffic approaching from the rear is stupid, you shall hereby invoke another of my favorite RW’isms: “You can’t fix Stupid.” “Left lane is for passing only” is neither in principal or in practice the same as “Give way to faster traffic in the left lane.” The first rule requires you to stay in the right lane unless you’re passing. The second rule allows you to stay in the left lane so long as you move over when someone wants to pass you. ---
**Author:** ![NCDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@NCDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NCDane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/250 "2011-02-17T20:00:32Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > But you have said that you routinely drive above the speed limit yourself (as indeed do some 85% of drivers on typical US highways under good conditions). > > So you’re both breaking the law and condemning others for the same: “My version of speeding is sane and sensible - but anyone overtaking me is a dangerous moron who deserves to be messed with.” > > Now I’m sure this isn’t hypocrisy - but it does look like a rather good facsimile. You now present an entirely different case. Before I was supposed to be hypocritical because of not wanting to be delayed to the same extent I was delaying others. I have effectively rebutted that charge. Your present case is sound, and I admit to being guilty of a minor hypocrisy, one having no practical effect on our discussion here. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/251 "2011-02-17T20:00:44Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Here are Dio’s points. First person to successfully refute all of them wins the thread. > > [ul] > [li]There is no rule regarding the left lane being for passing.[/li][li]Driving above the speed limit is not acceptable, as it is against the law, no matter what.[/li][li]Even as a matter of courtesy, those annoyed by drivers impeding the flow of traffic in the left lane have no ground to be annoyed because[/li][li] **ALL** people who wish to pass in the right lane are speeding, which is illegal, and therefore wrong.[/li][li]There may or may not be a rule regarding left-lane passing, which there isn’t, but if there were, nobody enforces it, therefore, it is acceptable to refuse merge to the right when others attempt to pass.[/li][/ul] > > Go! No. Let’s just get on with the thread, o.k.? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/252 "2011-02-17T20:46:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Balthisar](#): > > > > Does anyone have a link to the number of states where the law indicates that you must respect the instructions on signs? > > > > For example, in Michigan, one must obey signs. So although we’re a state where the law doesn’t indicate that you must get out of the left lane, you do have to observe signs indicating that slower traffic must keep to the right. And we have such signs. > > Here’s a hint-When you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state to get your license, do they hand you a booklet of regulations, or a booklet of suggestions? See, when you quote out of context, that’s almost as bad as editing someone’s quote. Is what I’m asking really too subtle, and being interpreted as “gee, do I have to obey the signs”? Michigan is _not_ one of the six states mentioned as having a keep-right law on the books. But we have signs indicating such. I see such signs in a _lot_ of states (many more than six!) as a travel the highways. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/253 "2011-02-17T20:58:07Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > See, when you quote out of context, that’s almost as bad as editing someone’s quote. Is what I’m asking really too subtle, and being interpreted as “gee, do I have to obey the signs”? > > Michigan is _not_ one of the six states mentioned as having a keep-right law on the books. But we have signs indicating such. I see such signs in a _lot_ of states (many more than six!) as a travel the highways. I apologize for taking your post the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![NCDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@NCDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NCDane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/254 "2011-02-17T22:15:46Z")
> [@NCDane](#): > > You have along way to go before you can be considered a memeber of > the company of reasonable people. Step One is to devote your criticism, > all of it, to people who break the law, rather than those who abide by the law. I guess I should point out to an inconsistency before someone else does. I have noted previoulsy that I usually drive 5-9mph over the limit, with the average speed being much closer tp 5mph. That does make me a violator. It does not diminish the point I am trying to get across about people who drive at a much faster speed than me, by implication faster on average than my maximum. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/255 "2011-02-17T22:28:48Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Nevertheless, no matter how strict you are about it, there are more than six states that specifically say the left lane is for passing only. Not only that, but even in states that don’t specifically say so, by direct statute or by signage, there is still the matter of driving culture, which of course varies from place to place but has at least a strong tendency toward left-passing in most American states. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/256 "2011-02-17T22:31:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Here’s a hint-When you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state to get your license, do they hand you a booklet of regulations, or a booklet of suggestions? Depends on the jurisdiction. Where I am (Ontario), the booklet (on-line now as well) has both. For example: [Ministry of Transportation | ontario.ca](http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section2.9.2.shtml) “Once on the freeway, a safe driver travels at a steady speed, looking forward and anticipating what’s going to happen on the road ahead. Traffic should keep to the right, using the left lanes for passing.” [Ministry of Transportation | ontario.ca](http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section2.7.6.shtml) “Most passing is done on the left. You may pass on the right on multi-lane or one-way roads and when overtaking a streetcar or a left-turning vehicle.” “Passing on the right can be more dangerous than passing on the left. If you are driving in the passing lane with a slower vehicle in front of you, wait for the vehicle to move to the right. Do not suddenly change lanes and pass on the right; the driver in front may realize you want to pass and move to the right at the same time you do.” A good example up here of the difference between a sign that is a regulation as opposed to a sign that is a suggestion is speed signs. If it is a white sign with black lettering (a typical road’s speed limit sign), the speed is the maximum permitted under law. If it is a yellow sign with black lettering (commonly found on tight bends), the speed is the suggested maximum safe speed. Both types of signs are discussed in the Ministry of Transportation’s booklet. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/257 "2011-02-17T22:33:13Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > “Left lane is for passing only” is neither in principal or in practice the same as “Give way to faster traffic in the left lane.” > > The first rule requires you to stay in the right lane unless you’re passing. The second rule allows you to stay in the left lane so long as you move over when someone wants to pass you. Other than for a lone car cruising in the left lane of an uncrowded road, how would these principles differ in practice? ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Luongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chris\_Luongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chris_Luongo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/258 "2011-02-17T22:38:03Z")
Aren’t we in the IMHO section? I’m glad everyone is citing laws and regulations, but I’ll give my opinion: In almost any method of getting from point A to B, you’ll find that different people tend to move at various rates of speed, but people seem to be polite and try to work together. For example, if a couple is out for a slow romantic walk in the woods, they usually move aside when a jogger happens by. After all, they weren’t in a hurry anyway. Why can’t the roads be the same? I don’t care why you want to drive slowly----maybe your car isn’t very good, maybe you’re enjoying the scenery, maybe you just don’t want to get caught in a highway revenue trap----that’s all fine and well, but you could at least be considerate enough to stay out of others’ way. And life’s full of arbitrary conventions that make life easier for everyone. We know which direction clocks are supposed to turn, which faucet is for the hot water, and which way to move the switch to turn the lights on. Even where pass-on-the-left isn’t a law, it’s certainly a convention, and a good one at that. Therefore, even if a left-lane hog isn’t in violation of the law, he sure is in violation of common courtesy. He’s no more right than the couple holding hands walking down the center of the jogging path. Wherever it’s not illegal to impede the left lane, the law should be changed, and rigorously enforced. Furthermore, for some reason we as a society have decided to spend altogether too much time in our cars, overcrowding our highways more than they were ever meant to be. That makes it ever more important to be considerate and not impede the free flow of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/259 "2011-02-17T22:39:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I apologize for taking your post the wrong way. N.p. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476/260 "2011-02-17T23:06:23Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Other than for a lone car cruising in the left lane of an uncrowded road, how would these principles differ in practice? You’re kidding, right? They’re exactly the opposite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-about-people-blocking-the-passing-lane/571476.md?page=14)