Lane courtesy really means: Drive faster or move over

Lane courtesy really means: Drive faster or move over

By Michael Stetz
STAFF WRITER

June 17, 2006

This month has been designated as something called “Lane Courtesy Month,” during which the nation's drivers are encouraged to be more aware of faster-moving traffic on highways and freeways and to yield to it.

(snip)

An organization called the National Motorists Association – formed decades ago to fight the now-defunct 55 mph national speed limit – is the force behind Lane Courtesy Month. The association basically wants slower drivers to move out of left-hand lanes when faster traffic approaches. Not doing so clogs up traffic, causes road rage and wastes gas, it claims.

“It's unfortunate,” said Jim Thomas, the association's California representative. “A lot of people self-righteously say, 'Hey, I'm going the speed limit and so I can drive here.' “We call them 'left-lane bandits.' ”

Slow-moving traffic forces faster-moving drivers to make dangerous moves, such as passing from the right, Thomas said. It frustrates them, leading to tailgating and one-finger salutes. It's also bad for fuel economy, because cars burn more fuel when they accelerate to pass than when they are simply cruising along, Thomas said.

(snip)

The National Motorists Association – which Lewis says has a “wild, wild West mentality” toward driving regulations – has a different take. If anything, existing speed limits are too restrictive, said Eric Skrum, the organization's communications director. Roads are built better and cars are engineered better and people are driving at speeds they feel comfortable with, even if they are over the posted limit. It's not excessive speed, but speed disparity that is the danger, Skrum said. His organization, which has chapters across the nation, wants to educate fast drivers as well as slow drivers on the rules of the road. For instance, fast drivers need to be patient and allow slower drivers the chance to yield.

(snip)


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060617/news_1n17drive.html

...the slow-moving right lane to maniacally weave through traffic.

NGU.

I love driving in the Dakotas because there isn't any traffic.

You can dawdle along in the right hand lanes all you want, with no issues, but go too slow in the left hand one and you will have someone so far up your butt, honking their horn and flashing lights at you that you'll get over quite pronto!

man given a speeding ticket for going 95 mph in the slow lane on 95. Says he was just trying
to keep up with traffic. What slow lane????? Also the faster the cars travel the more GAS they
use so this is another trick to use more oil, bolster dependency, drive up prices, it's now
summer, peak driving season, get those prices UP.

:-)

because "because cars burn more fuel when they accelerate to pass than when they are simply cruising along" at 90 mph. MY DYING ASS.
If you have ever seen these fools rush past you only to be stopped at the next light while you cruise along at the posted speed, you know what I mean.

If you want to save gas synchronize the lights.

who put those there?

You know, I sometimes get annoyed when someone is driving too slow in the left lane, but that doesn't give me the right to drive recklessly or give the "one finger salute" as this article describes. If this is the only way a person can respond to a slow driver, then perhaps there is something to that road rage story posted a week or two ago:

Road rage has a scientific name: intermittent explosive disorder
http://english.people.com.cn/200606/07/eng20060607_271664.html

BTW, I just Googled "road rage" for the first time and the stories that come up are scary as hell! Apparently we're all killing each other over this all over the country. :scared:

give me a break!

I don't mind someone doing 75+ in the left hand lane. . . but I get stuck, daily, behind someone doing under the speed limit in the left lane. That causes traffic to back up very, very quickly in NJ, and within half a mile, all three or four lanes are tooling along at 45 on the interstate. My simple rule of thumb for driving:

If you're not passing the lane to your right, you should be in it.

That's not a license for people to drive at 100 and swerve around in traffic. Of course, on the other hand, if there were no slower cars in the left hand lane, there'd be less swerving. Basically, the guy who drives at 100 (yes, I mean 100 in NJ) and cuts through traffic is an asshole. But so is the guy doing 50 in the far left of four lanes.

and since we have a nation built on suburbia, what are they to do, in many places there is
no reliable mass transit system, I see it at the grocery store where they literally get stares
of hatred for simply counting out their change. And there is no speed that is acceptable in
this world, the speed limit here in Baltimore is 25 and I drive 45 to 50 in the city limits
only to be cursed, honked, screamed at. Yet I am not driving in the Saharra, at any time,
a kid can careen off that sidewalk in front of me to catch a basketball, etc. I have it
happen to me numerous times.

shaving, reading (reading?), drinking, eating, trying to control the kids in the back seat, arranging for meeting, thinking of everything but driving.

Yes, that too.

If you're driving a stick shift car, you have no time or ability to eat, chat, put on your makeup - you're too busy driving.

I know a guy that is now working double shifts, he said that last week when he got home it was
dark and he burst into tears at the sight of weeds growing in his yard. There is no time,
I heard other people say that they are tired of sleeping in their cars in their driveway. There are things wrong with our country but laziness is not one of them.

That's so simple (and in keeping with The Golden Rule) and yet so effective in keeping traffic moving. The self-appointed lane marshalls cause more harm than good both in terms of the environment and simple traffic safety.

If I can shoot the people who come from 3 left lanes over to cut me off because they are so busy speeding they can't read the signs, and I end up on the shoulder barely missing the barrier. It's SAFER for ME to be in the left lane apparently this last week.

I'm in Chicagoland, we have two seasons here; winter and road construction. My daily 36 mile one way commute is an hour and a half each way. If we all went even 40mph, we all would be better off.

If you drive slow on the left-hand lane, you could get a ticket from the police for obstructing traffic.

If you're driving at 90 mph, and a high-powered BMW is coming up behind you at 140 mph, you'd better move to the right-hand lane.

If the car behind you attempts to pass, it's your obligation to slow and allow him or her to pass without incident.

Out-of-towners may not know that, and there aren't enough police officers to police several million of them driving through your state to some other destination.

The result is you have people driving slow in the left-hand lane, and that just aggravates the traffic situation in a country that decided to not develop an advanced mass transit system.

Problem is, the right lane is usually full so I can't get over and the faster car behind me shoots into that lane before I can get there.

Why am I in the left lane in the first place?

Because my exit is on the left and I can't be sure people will let me back in. I'm in Minnesota, where the unwritten rule is when you see a signal for a lane change, immediately close up any hole in front of and behind you.

I usually find it's safest and easiest to pick a lane and stay in it.

speeding is pretty much the only way to get anywhere on time. When you get stuck in traffic in Orlando... you are really, really stuck. We get jams all over the city for a million different reasons. So if you've got a clear roadway, go as fast, and as far as you can, until you reach the next clog point or it will take you three days to cross town. Five if you take Colonial straight through.

Luckily, Orlando is surrounded by highways. I live in Cocoa, and any time I need to get somewhere in Orlando I can take a highway* and get off on an exit near my destination, and avoid most of the in-town traffic. That is, when I used to be able to afford gas. But that's another rant.

*With the exception of I-4 :scared:

... is, and always has been, to leave on time. The notion that speeding is somehow the way to "save time" is utter bullshit - the perennial excuse for idiots and callow youth for whom it's always someone else's fault. Our roads and highways are shared - shared by cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles; shared by BMWs and Toyotas; shared by women and men; shared by older and younger; shared by all. The "get out of my way" arrogance is appalling.

It read to me : If I wanna break the law and speed, dammit - get out of my way and let me break the law, I am more important than you so get out of my way dammit...

and well put.

It doesn't matter how early you leave the house. The only thing that determines weather your early or late is how many traffic jams you run into between point A and point B. You run into three, you will be early, because you usually leave enough time for a five traffic jam commute. You run into five, you will get there by the skin of your teeth, but only if you are able to get out of said jams and use backroads to get around them. If you run into seven, you will be late, you cannot plan ahead for seven Orlando traffic jams, it will require you to leave for work, before your done with work the previous day. Yes we all share the roads. But unfortunately the roads in my town, are full of stupid people, and stupid people just need to get out of my way.

:silly:

dangerous moves. :eyes:

"Yeah, right officer...you see, that person doing 70 in the left lane was just too slow for me. I had to weave in and out, tailgate, and give them the finger. I was forced to."

Any excuse for being a dick will do, won't it?

I noticed that too.
Total lack of personal responsibility.

"Slow-moving traffic forces faster-moving drivers to make dangerous moves, such as passing from the right,"

Garden State Parkway looking to get off on Rte 17, which is a left exit. (Yeah, lotsa left exits in Joisey, which makes the ride all the more exciting)

Only two cars on the road at that time, and the guy behind me was flashing and honking for me to get out of the way. That the exit was coming up pretty soon and I was 5mph over the limit made no difference. That it is legal to pass on the right on a restricted access road also made no difference to this clown.

So, I gradually slows to about 30, and the two of us in my car were laughing at this guy who was on the verge of having a stroke.

When I got off, he was still honking and flashing, and followed me halfway down the ramp before he realized it and backed up to the parkway.

Probably the norm for the speed demon, anyway.

I've had some similar experiences exiting I-78 East to Route 24 (another left exit). As you say, quite "exciting"...especially at night.

There's no justification for tailgating, or road rage.

In Germany, it costs a LOT of money and the testing is hardcore.

If you want a license you have to know how to drive.

Here, if you can get 80% on a test with 25 questions and drive an examiner around the block, BAM, you've got yourself a license.

Lane courtesy, or more appropriately, lane discipline is seriously lacking in the US. In spite of the opinions of other posters on this thread, how fast someone else wants to drive is NONE OF YOUR DAMNED BUSINESS. Just do what you are SUPPOSED TO DO and stay the hell to the right! I have more miles driving in the last 20 years than most will have in their lifetimes and i can tell you that way too many Americans have no damned clue as to how to properly use a multi lane, limited access highway.

Simple rules;

1) When changing lanes to pass, check your mirror to see if a faster driver will most likely be able to overtake you before you COMPLETE the maneuver. If so, let him go by and then make your lane change.
2) When you complete the pass, move back to the right as soon as it is safe to do so.
3) If you are in the left lane and there are no vehicles near you in the right lane, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG FUCKING LANE!

There are only 2 reasons to be in the left lane of the freeway. You are either passing someone or there is a left hand exit within a half mile that you need to use.

"There are only 2 reasons to be in the left lane of the freeway. You are either passing someone or there is a left hand exit within a half mile that you need to use."

the brim where I live. You can't keep a left-hand lane open for passing when all the lanes are jammed.

On a 2 lane freeway, I wanted a car in the left lane to move over and let me pass. To no avail. So I tried to pass them on the right, and suddenly they accelerated so fast that I could not pass them! The driver was an older woman and her husband was in the passenger side, most likely cheering her on. The car with the elderly pranksters kept solid pace with the car in the right, (a slow pace) so I was trapped behind them the entire length of that freeway. Unfortuately, my horn didn't work.

Those elderly people had a lot of fun at my expense.

how about all the other drivers that yielded, gave you a break so that you could hurry past.
I have seen many cars that passed me like the starship enterprise leaving earth only to see them
sit idling at the next traffic light.

they don't have traffic lights on the highway's and freeway's.

I drive completely different in city traffic. My SO finds it humorous. "How can you be so polite in the city...then drive like a bat out of hell on the freeway?"

"That's why I get on the freeway."

where they have the scanner, well if you take more than 60 seconds to drive through, your
life is in danger.

These game-playing old people deliberately trapped me. I didn't think it was funny. They sure got a kick out of it. They got me, the young whippersnapper.

Okay, maybe they were wrong, but driving is not a jousting match, or one-upping somebody,
please don't see this as a personal thing, even when the other driver makes it so,
disengage. I turned on to 32 in Maryland on a Saturday morning with a car approaching at least
10 car lengths behind me, he was so outraged that he sped up and passed me as he was doing so
he leaned out giving me the finger with his arm hanging out the window all the way to the shoulder. For what offense, asking him to share the road with 1 other car.

just for fun? Doesn't seem like it. I hope not.

Those old tricksters could be risking their health and safety, if they try that with a crazed gun owner on their tail. Who knows if they are still alive. Antics like that can get a person killed, or at least, beat up.

I usually drive on the slow side, but I was in a hurry that particular day, and I thought it was really rude for them to force me to drive their slow speed. Deliberately.

I'm a pretty nice lady, and I'm not going to hurt anyone. But I might yell and cuss, if provoked. Road rage is real. I'm sure other people have it 10 X worse that I do...people who are big and strong...people carrying a gun...

for whatever reason, and I am telling you that day I in no way preciptated that man's anger,
but I did not lock in, let it go, let them go, continue to go about driving without the
emotional lock, sometimes if you make eye contact with the wrong person, you can be
a victim of road rage, let them go, do not emotionally engage, let them go, who cares, if they
are careless drivers sooner or later they will learn the error of their ways, be grateful it
was not with you.

You sound like a reasonable person and a calm driver. I've encountered aggressive, angry people on the road too, and I try to get out of their way.

But... are you understanding that this senior couple was DELIBERATELY, PURPOSELY impeding traffic? This was not a "careless driver"! For 10 whole minutes and for several miles? Can you maybe wonder how this might make an already stressed out person want to scream and lash out in frustration?

Someday this elderly couple is going to play games with the wrong person and end up dead.

In 2001, I bought a new car and traded in my old klunker, I had the car 3 weeks when a man
smashed into my car (changing lanes w/o looking). This became a total nightmare for me
to deal with the insurance companies, the hospital, the body shop. I was so inexperienced,
the repair on my car was delayed and delayed and suddenly they were in a rush to take my
car right before Thanksgiving, this was so that the rental car could milk the car rental,
I was given an old klunker rental that had brakes that barely functioned at a premium price.
Finally, my car was done, half of it had been smashed in. Then I had to deal with going to
the hospital and the insurance companies for 4 months, and although it was not my fault,
boy, did I pay. Plus the value of my new car was zippo, I will make my last payment this
November. Later, when my insurance company who were so nasty that I dealt only with the
other drivers company, got their copy of my PIP claim, they called me up and apologized, we
didn't realize you were hurt, I thought how could you, you were too busy dumping on me.
Then, after all I find out this guy was a professional scammer, who set up accidents to
make a buck. He would have accidents and then collect under multiple policies. I let it
go, it was unfortunate but I am not walking around with my legs missing like some that
come back from Iraq. Now you were not hurt, your car was not damaged, and one thing that I
have learned is that I would rather have the fools in front of me where I can see them than
behind me where I am at their mercy.

She's right about the tailgating going on in every lane; I've been doing the speed limit in the RIGHT Lane and had idiots crawling up my ass.

That's just plain antisocial and rude.

If I'm already over the speed limit in the fast lane, how far over it do I have to BE before I'm considered NOT to be going "slow"?

I've been out on the interstates many times, and trying to complete my own passing maneuver, already 10- 15 MPH over the limit, only to find some maniac climbing up my bumper and flashing his brights. I'm not going to hit 90 for his benefit and endanger myself. Fuck him. Or her. Or I'm stuck in the left lane with no way to get out into the middle lane without doing 90 or tailgating someone else, yet this dodo is still trying to force me to drive faster than I'm prepared to. Again, Fuck him/her. I'm not going to endanger myself for their benefit.

And if I'm 5-10 MPH over in the middle lane and that's still not fast enough to suit them, they can pass me. If I'm DOING the limit in the slow lane, again, Fuck him. Or her.

My last car was a Ford Escort - It DID NOT go over 75, period. Sometimes people would come burning up behind me at 90 mph, swerving and honking. VERY ANNOYING.


But even in my slo-poke car, I was annoyed at people going 55 in the fast lane, causing a major disruption to the flow of traffic. Both kinds of drivers are a menace, IMO. If a person likes to drive slow, they should do so in the right lane. It's that simple. I used to live in Miami where the de facto speed limit on the free ways is 90. I never would have taken it upon myself to try to enforce the speed limit by driving slow in the fast lane (that's the only reason I can think of for driving that way.)

where there is more than one lane in a direction is called the "hammer lane" for a reason. it is where people "put the hammer down." slowpokes and trucks move right, pass on left, haul ass on left.

How fast before you're not slow?

And the only people who call the left lane the "hammer lane" are speed demons. The rest of us, and the police, call it the "passing lane".

if you are not keeping pace with the flow of traffic (in crowded conditions) you pose a safety hazard.

if you are on a two lane and 15 cars are backed up behind you . . .

you're going too slow.

light volume, multi-lane:

stay right, no problem.

I still have a problem though with the "speed demons".

as do many rural folks in neighboring states. Its the big city imports that seem to be the problem. I suspect that the courtesy comes from years of farmers/ranchers driving slow to inspect a fence, a crop, or being in farm equipment moving between fields. Maybe they just live in a slower "time zone"...

I don't know why this is... what I do know is I drive a lot in this state and generally speaking when I approach someone on a rural highway (like a 2 lane) moving faster than them, they will move over to the shoulder and let me pass. I wave out the back window to say thanks and carry on. Everybody has a pleasent day.

But as you get closer to the large cities something, the "self-important", the "courtesy", the "awareness" factor or whatever seems to go way down. Whatever the reason, people need to understand one basic driving rule....

SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT.

It doesn't get much simpler than that.

MZr7

it is not uncommon for people to veer off onto the spacious shoulders for fast moving traffic on two lane highways.

it's just courtesy.

"I Brake For Tailgaters"

While slow drivers do irritate me sometimes, the ultra-aggressive drivers really anger me. I think they too need a lesson in courtesy.

And if no passing is allowed on a road, you'd be wise to pull over and let the maniac pass you.

if you are moving slower than the flow of traffic, you pose a safety risk.

I was heading home from work and all of a sudden a black Dodge Magnum comes out of the right lane and into the left lane (where I was cruising about 62-63 in a 55 and about to overtake a slower pickup in the right lane).

Well, this black Dodge gets right on my ass. I slow down and pace the pick up. I'll speed up and get over if I see someone coming up but for jerks like this, nope, you're gonna be camping off my bumper as long as I can help it.

After a mile or so, flashing blue and red lights come on from the car. I slow down a bit more and get over and he goes blowing by me in the left lane. I get back over and pass the pickup (getting up to 70-75 in the process) but the Dodge is still out accelerating me and eventually gets caught up behind slower traffic ahead so he was obviously not on a run.

Fucking prick hung up on his power tripping.

i guess you don't get the irony. just seconds earlier, YOU were the fucking prick hung up on a power trip when you decided to SLOW DOWN and pace yourself off a vehicle in the slow lane just to piss off a faster driver.

Or perhaps you misread my entire post.

Not for going faster. If you are not passing, you stay in the middle or right lane. I don't care what speed. On I-35, no trucks are allowed in the left lane either, which helps too.

then there's no law stating keep right except to pass.

The worst place I've found for left-lane bandits? I-5 heading from Portland to Seattle (or I-75 north in Cincinnati - due to some left-lane exits)

"Stay right except to pass" signs everywhere, then poeple who stay in the left lane piss me off.

somebody, then you deserve the one finger salute.

If the road widens and the sign says, 'slower traffic stay right' and you are driving slowly in the left lane while faster drivers are behind you, then you deserve the one finger salute.

If you are talking on your cell phone and driving poorly, you deserve a honk, the one finger salute, and a few expletives.

Really just follow the Golden Rule and you will never have a problem!

A lot of nerve, there.

(Hey, I always stick to the right lane unless I'm passing. I've noticed the tendency to do this varies by state -- in some states, all lanes are equal.)

..........but if we're in heavy traffic, and there are 10 cars ahead of me in the left lane, I'm going to tell you to fuck-off if you start flashing lights and honking horns......unless of course, you have one of those backward "Ambulance" signs on the front of your car.

It happens all the time on in-town Chicago highways. Some asshole who thinks he is an ambulance and EVERYONE in front of him, in heavy traffic, needs to yield.

I mean, seriously. All this whining on here about "reckless drivers" and blah, blah, blah. I mean, why don't you just get over in the right hand lane and let other people do what they need to do? Why do you have insist on pissing people off by driving slow in the left lane? It's a passing lane. Every freakin' beginning driver's manual on the planet says quite clearly that you pass on the left.

Seriously. If you aren't passing, get over. Same goes for busy escalators, moving sidewalks, etc. It's just being courteous. To intentionally prohibit people from passing for your own selfish reasons is just rude.

and those who are too impatient to wait a second or two for me to move to the right lane.

... first place.

Getting out of the way is a poor 2nd-best to not being in the way in the first place.

That said, I hate tailgaiters too. On the other hand, I LOVE slamming my brakes on when I'm being tailgated...


EDIT: Typo.

I'll be on the left. When someone comes up behind my car that is driving faster than me, I will scoot over so they can pass. More than on one occasion did I almost lose the side of my car when the driver behind me was too impatient to wait a few seconds for me to scoot over.

At times there are some idiots out there who think everyone should give way to them.

And I will NEVER slam my breaks on a tailgater. It's dangerous and irresponsible driving. Retaliation for someone else's bad driving is just wrong.

I dare you to do that to a semi truck that comes closer to your car than you like. You'll find out how much that retaliation will cost you. My husband is a truck driver and he'd tell you that kind of driving will not just cost you your life, but others as well.

... BEFORE one inconveniences the oncomer - thus avoiding the entire situation.

It's all about being proactive.

who think the roads belong to them.

And slamming on your brakes because you don't like how close a car is to you is not being proactive...it's being stupid.

... you even said that...

Ah - I get it - you just wanna focus on that part that you think you have the best shot at.

Coolness.

:)

And you're right...easy target :hi:

The speed limits in most areas are appropriate exactly as they are. Any higher and it would be significantly more dangerous, IMO.

However, not all drivers obey the speed limit, and it's natural to exceed it by 5 or 10 mph at times. And there is no bigger asshole than the guy who decides he is going to personally enforce the speed limit by driving in the fast lane at 55 mph, causing people to slam on their breaks behind him, creating higher risk of accidents.

If you are in the left lane, and cars are whizzing by on your right, you are GOING TOO SLOW. MOVE THE HELL OVER OR SPEED UP.

highway patrolman? I was driving back from the mountains on the interstate the other day there was a huge backup of cars going 5-10 mph slower than the speed limit. There must have been 20+ cars in both lanes all because this "lady" was in the left lane pacing another car. Totally clueless to the chaos behind her or just didn't care. This went on for over 20 miles! It was only when the car in the right lane exited that people could get around her on the right. I'm sure there were lots of honks, one finger salutes, etc as the cars passed her and I'll admit to mouthing a couple of bad words when I went by. Didn't matter. She was chatting with her travel mate totally oblivious to her surroundings.

People need to be just as aware of what's behind them as what's in front. Unfortunately most have no idea what those shiny pieces of glass are for. If you're in the left lane and someone is coming up behind you, no matter what your speed is, move over and let them pass. Very simple and so effective at combating road rage and keeping traffic flowing.

you aren't passing, move the freak over.
Dang. Driver's Ed 101.

If I'm doing the speed limit in the right-hand lane and someone comes roaring up behind me and starts riding my bumper, they should either pass me and get it over with or back the fuck off. That's why the left-hand lane is called the passing lane, dammit!

we have so many divisive issue that we battle over. we drove a lot the last couple days. came up on a car going well under speed limit out in the middle of nowhere. i say, they are old. hubby relaxes and says yep. waits for safety then passes and we get on with life.

he doesnt speed. i do.

so what.

i dont like to ride bumper, it is rude, and dangerous, i dont

i have assholes that feel it is some battle and refuse to allow me to pass.

i have some that come up on bumper and doesnt allow me the time to move to the right lane.

i think of the other driver and myself. probably why i don't get in accidents

i dont need to battle with either

why has this society, us.... become sooooo intolerant of everything and everyone