I was reading - can’t remember where - a question as to why in Italy, where apparently people drive much faster than in the U.S., they don’t have a much higher fatality rate vs. the U.S. - apparently it is the same or lower. Mario Andretti was quoted and he said something like "well, because in Europe in general, it is common practice for slower drivers to always move over to the right when a faster car is coming up behind them so that faster driver can get past them. He said that because the behavior is predictable, you don’t have faster drivers moving right to get around slow cars in the fast lane, which leads to unpredictability, more accidents and more traffic fatalities.
This makes sense to me as I read it. So does anyone know if the U.S. has ever tried a “public service” campaign to get slower drivers to move over? Seems like it would be a comparatively cheap way to save lives. “This is your brain. This is your brain over in a slower lane allowing a faster driver to pass…”
This being the Straight Dope, I’d like to start out by challenging your premise.
Even if it’s true that Italy has a similar car accident fatality rate per capita than the US, does it have a similar rate per car owner? Car owners/drivers making up a lower percentage of the population in Europe than in the US… It could well be that rate is appallingly high.
I don’t know about the rest of the country, but Texas highways have many signs that say the left lane is for passing only. Most people seem to know this.
The left lane is supposed to be faster on all highways in the US, but it’s not observed as strictly here. In most European countries, it’s much harder to obtain a driver’s license than it is over here, and so European drivers are more indoctrinated with the rules. (Especially those Germans with their neato Autobahn.)
Many (if not most) states in the US have “keep right, except to pass” laws. Unfortunately, these seem to be widely flouted and not very strictly enforced.
Slower drivers are supposed to keep right, you’re not supposed to pass on the right, but nobody does that.
FWIW, the Autobahn (sp?) has fewer fatalities than the US Interstate system per vehicle mile. In Germany, it is against the law for the slower vehicles to drive in the left lane. They also have “lane discipline” something we are lacking here in the US. You get in the right lane, you stay in the right lane, unless you need to turn. You don’t stay in the right lane until the car in front of you slows down to turn, at which point you swerve into the left lane to get around them.
US drivers just don’t want to give up the “rights” they think they’re entitled to- like the right to drive in whatever lane they want, and the right to talk and eat and shave while they’re driving.
Wumpus - you could be right, which of course would change the nature of the OP.
Q.E.D. and seaworthy - you are getting more to what I intended with the OP - seaworthy, do you have a cite for your autobahn vs. U.S. stat? That would clarify Wumpus query and keep this thread on its intended path…
Based on my experience as a U.S. citizen and resident that it is more about U.S. drivers flouting “stay right” laws, signs, conventions, behaviors, etc. If that is the case, and if Europeans have a lower fatality rate in part due to Stay Right norms, why not have a public service campaign?
Although if friedo is right, and European drivers are more schooled, that could be a big factor, too - what cite is there for that? Again, not trying to get all “what’s your cite” about this - merely trying to understand…
Hey I found keeprightpassleft.net. Haven’t checked it out, just saw it while I was looking for international traffic fatality rates.
The place I heard that the autobahn has fewer fatalities was on the History Channel, Modern Marvels I think. It was one of those factoids they tell you before commercial break, but I remembered they stressed the per vehicle miles travelled part.
The US fatality rate is 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles, according to these guys.
I’m still looking for the German rate, but I did find this-
In Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa (the only states in which I have driven on highways in the last several years) there are signs on the highways instructing slower drivers to keep right. Does that count as a “campaign”?
While driving a very small car on the Autobahn in 1982, at about 100 mph, when you saw a car approaching you in your rear-view mirror at approximately 0.9 the speed of light, you damn-well learned to move over to the right lane in a hurry. It was usually a Mercedes or Audi, traveling about 125-150 mph. They ‘politely’ blinked their lights to tell you to move over and, if you didn’t, you had a car that could destroy you about a car-length from your rear bumper. You soon figured it out.
If anyone learns of a campaign to inform American drivers that flashing one’s lights at a slow-moving car in the left lane is NOT, in fact, as rude as flipping them the bird, I will donate heavily.
I’m not a light flasher just because I have so many friends who nearly have an aneurism if someone dares give them a flick of the high beams into the rear-view mirror.
The statistics I’m talking about referred to the Autobahn and the US Interstate system specifically. It wasn’t a huge difference, like .9 vs. .7, but you’d think on a road with no speed limits there would be more fatalities.
Well, in Germany, you have to take a long training class and pay a fee of a couple thousand dollars (IIRC) to obtain a license. Further, improper lane switching is a grievous offense which will get you a phat ticket if you’re caught. On the other hand, it’s perfectly kosher to speed by a cop at 130mph, as long as you pass on the left.
My impression when driving is that passing on the right would be much more dangerous than staying overly long in the left lane. I am used to German traffic where passing on the right happens very rarely (and when someone passes on the right the driver being passed is fully aware of it because he’d kept stubbornly on the left, wanting to teach the faster driver a lesson, with the other driver then getting angry and illegally passing on the right). If passing on the right on the autobahn in other circumstances were frequent I’d probably be dead several times over.
Is passing on the right actually legal in the US? In Germany it’s only legal at < 60 kph in dense traffic.
Also interesting about Germany is that they have an offense, don’t know the German for it, but it basically translates as insult, where you slapped with a ticket if you make obscene gestures or insult another driver. And traffic fines are based on your income. Apparently some wealthy driver had to pay a $20,000 speeding ticket. It’s also illegal to run out of gas on the autobahn.
I don’t know, but it happens. I did it yesterday. I was cruising in the right lane and some dork was poking along the center lane at 5MPH under the speed limit. What was I supposed to do, swing across two lanes (through his caravan of backed up cars) to pass him?
Otto (great name, btw, for this particular thread) - I know in the U.S. there are signs and stuff - but nothing that seems to try to cut through the noise and get your attention, like anti-drug or anti-DUI type campaigns.
So far, other than that incredibly stupid Saudi quote (I can only hope it isn’t true, but am resigned to the fact that it probably is) stats seem to support the basic premise I found and described in the OP.
So why doesn’t the U.S. more aggressively promote the Stay Right, Pass Left concept?!
