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Artificial Traffic

9K views 40 replies 27 participants last post by  Automojo 
#1 ·
Is caused by left lane whores, which can be male or female.

Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- There is a place for people who enjoy soaking in the beautiful colors of fall and all the other amazing scenes of nature as they drive down the open highway.

It's called the right lane.

If you're sightseeing or rubbernecking in the left, get your butt over.

Why is that rule so freakin' hard to follow?

As drivers, we do a lot of things that irritate each other.

We signal but never turn.

We turn but don't signal.

We forget who is supposed to go next at a four-way stop sign.

But nothing comes close to the level of irritation that comes from being stuck behind someone doing 55 in a 65 in the far left lane. Drive the speed you want, but why infringe on the rights of those in a hurry? To me, that's giving the rest of us on the road the finger in the most passive aggressive -- "Who me?"-- way possible. In fact, I would much rather have someone pull up beside me, roll down their window and flip me the bird as they go driving by than be trapped behind this vehicular anarchist.
The rest of the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/01/opinion/granderson-right-lane/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2
 
#8 ·
Ah, one of these threads again.

To throw in my two cents, I totally share the hate for left lane campers and continually hope that their engines suffer a fiery death, but these threads never amount to anything more than a circle-jerk with others coming in for some totally EPIC trolling.
 
#10 ·
If you want to see how a real highway should function go drive in Germany.

- It's illegal to use the left lane unless you're passing (this also includes traffic jams, which I'll get to)
- If there's an accident and no Police/Ambulance at the scene you're legally obligated to stop and assist the person(s) involved until help arrives
- During a traffic jam no one is allowed to occupy the left lane, as this lane will be used for emergency response
- It is illegal to stop on the autobahn unless it's an emergency or a traffic jam. Having your car break down or running out of gas are not acceptable reasons to stop and may result in massive fines and a 6 month license suspension (they figure your car shouldn't be in the conditions to break down if you're on the highway).
 
#17 · (Edited)
I drive on highways everyday to get to work. I completely agree with this article. I ****ing hate it when people ride in the left lane and don't let others pass them. It drives me insane. Each week I see the same drivers going slow in the left lane, and most of the time, I can get around them because most of my trip involves driving through a less congested highway, then once I keep driving south, I hit more drivers and it gets more complicated to get around them. :mad:

I used to be one of those people who would get on the ass of the other person, honk my horn to get them over then speed away in accomplishment. But since I drive so much, (I put 60K on my 09 jetta when I bought it with 17K within 1 year, I know not alot compared to others), I realized that I was putting my vehicle thru too much break wear and I was loosing gas mileage. (stop n go)

So if I see an opening around someone in the left lane, I go for it like a cheetah, so I can go on my way. :thumbup:
 
#20 · (Edited)
No you don't. They are well within the rules to travel slower than the speed limit as they see fit (in absence of a minimum posted speed).

If they're travelling slower than the right lane traffic they're in the wrong but that says nothing about it being your right to go faster them.
 
#21 ·
"Slow traffic move right" which means, if i'm going 1,000 miles per hour, get the **** out of my way. It's not "Slow traffic move right if you feel like it, or if the oncoming car is going below the speed limit"

Either way, In the event of a camper, I prefer to make a scene: I flash, honk, finger, and cutoff all of them. Maybe those zombies will finally get the hint.
 
#32 · (Edited)
I'm not a slow driver.

But I'm sorry u mad bro. You're going to be the one to end up in a ditch because you're flipping a **** about something completely not worth the effort.
 
#33 ·
You never know why someone is in a hurry. Why make it your business to hinder someone who just wants to get where they need to be. Move out of the way, and let them pass. It's that simple.
 
#35 ·
There's far too much traffic in SoCal to allow the left lane for passing only.
Fortunately, the Prius hyper-milers hold up the carpool lane, leaving the fast lane for everyone else.

Driving below the posted speed limit in the fast lane (assuming weather and traffic conditions are normal) should be a capital crime.

Tailgating, however, should also be punishable by death, as should failure to use signal and cutting off other drivers. In fact, drivers should die for breaking traffic laws. (except me, of course)

:wave:
 
#37 ·
On pretty much all 3 lane or more highways I've been on, the left most lane is "supposed" to be regarded as the passing lane. This completely voids Robstr's comments. The left lane should be used to pass the car in the middle or right lane and then you return to the lane once it is clear. Traveling in the left lane is actually illegal in these cases.
 
#38 ·
The state of Washington has this law that states : "always use the right lane unless to pass"

Yet nobody seems to enforce it so the guy saving the planet in his Prius hangs out in the left lane doing 50 in a 60mph zone. :facepalm:

It's downright dangerous.
 
#39 ·
WA also has "illegal to detain 5 or more cars" on a two lane road. Ie... if you're backing up traffic because, who cares why, you are required by law to pull over and let traffic pass before re-entering the lane of travel.

I stopped flashing beams and getting upset at left lane campers when one tried to brake check me and nearly ran a car off the road in the center lane. I laughed my ass off, because I was in no danger, but felt bad that by aggravating a crappy driver;

1) they would assumedly think I was an idiot and learn nothing, other than disdain for sporty hatchbacks
2) there's a great potential for an idiot driver to do something, well, idiotic and put many people in danger

I still flash the fogs though. :snowcool:
 
#41 ·
That's great that the cop put that driver in his/her place, but that cop should have given that driver a ticket to get full kudos.

It's a shame that cops/the system only gives tickets for speeding (or not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign). That's the way it is here in California at least.

A driver can fail to signal for a lane change or cut people off or clog the pass lane, and the cops won't do a thing. But heaven forbid if you're just going around 15 mph over the speed limit!

I believe that "speeding" is safer than "slowing" or cutting people off. In part, because if you're speeding (within reason), you're not getting in anyone else's way, and you're likely an engaged driver. The other violations involve getting in the way of other drivers, and they are signs of not paying attention and/or not caring.

- - -

To those who believe that driving at the speed limit gives them the right to park in the pass lane: following the rules still means you must be in the right lane.

The "slower traffic to the right" rule supersedes the speed limit rule. Besides, it's against the rules to take the law into your own hands. You're not a cop.

- - -

In reality, a rule that is not enforced ceases to be a rule. If the posted speed limit was the actual speed limit, then the cops should be pulling people over for going 1 mph over, but they don't. Ergo, someone is only speeding if it's fast enough to get the cops' attention. That's unfortunate, because the law should be objective and not simply based on a cop's whim or revenue quota.

Again, the point is for those left-lane leeches: it's not for you to determine if others are "speeding" and then try to slow them down. You're only supposed to use the left lane for passing, and, when in the left lane, move to the right to make way for faster traffic.

But, it goes both ways: Unfortunately, since the pass lane rule is not enforced, it's lost most of its rule status, too. Morally, though, left-lane leeches are still very much in the wrong.

- - -

In my experience, 15 mph over gets you a ticket nowadays here in California, and you're most susceptible when you're the only car on the road, i.e., the time when it's the safest to drive fast. So most speeding tickets really aren't about safety; they're about stealing money from us.

If the government truly believed that speeding was a safety issue, they would have speed limiters installed in all cars. After all, they force car makers to do lots of things to our cars. By the government's twisted logic, why not speed limiters too? The answer is that they see more money from speeding tickets and get more of a power kick out of fleecing us than from adding those further regulations to car makers.
 
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