Here's a great article from the Chicagoland Daily Herald about the problems slow pokes in the left lane cause. The article quotes an ex-police cheif, now Ill state legislator who wants to curb these morons who sit in the left lane going the speed limit or less. Here's a guy that has my vote...

Targeting slowpokes who use fast lanes
By Diana Wallace Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted on December 30, 2002




It happens countless times a day on the nation's highways:

A motorist is driving the speed limit in the left-hand lane, while other drivers climb up his tail before dodging into another lane to pass on the right.

As career police officer and incoming state legislator John Millner sees it, the bigger problem is not the tailgater, but the slowpoke.

"It's just plain dangerous," said Millner, a Carol Stream Republican who will represent the 55th House District, which covers northwestern DuPage County and adjacent parts of Kane and Cook counties.

If you pass a slower driver on the right and crash, he says, "You'll be blamed for the accident, when the person creating the problem, or at least was a factor in it, is the person in the left lane going 55."

Millner, who'll retire after 16 years as Elmhurst police chief to become a state legislator, said he plans to address the slower-moving-traffic-keep-right issue in Springfield. It isn't his top priority, just "one of literally hundreds of things" that could be done to improve both safety and traffic flow.

He plans to study whether the situation could be improved through an amended law, better enforcement or, at least, a public education campaign.

Illinois does post "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs, but it's more of a guideline than a strictly enforced law, said state police spokesman Master Sgt. Lincoln Hampton. Slower drivers in the left lane might occasionally be pulled over and ticketed, but usually only if they're going under the posted minimum.

And just because a slower driver is in the left lane, that doesn't give a faster driver the license to tailgate or weave in and out of traffic at high speeds, Hampton said.

"Technically, people shouldn't be passing you if you're going the speed limit," he said. "That person's wrong for driving too slow, and the other person's wrong for passing on the right."

That may be, but the stay-to-the-right principle is one that seems to resonate with many drivers. There are several Web sites and public awareness campaigns devoted to the cause.

In Texas, a recent highway speed-limit reduction has fueled the stay-to-the-right movement, and several outfits sell "Slower Traffic Keep Right" windshield stickers - printed backward so drivers can read them from their rear-view mirrors.

The most radical view, espoused in the book "American Autobahn" by Mark Rask, is that American highways would be safer if there were no speed limits.

The book argues that the German Autobahn is a safer system, even though much of it has no speed limit. But that system works because motorists strictly obey the rule prohibiting passing on the right. If a faster car comes up behind you, you're obliged to move to the right.

The National Motorists Association, a drivers' rights group outside Madison, Wis., doesn't take that extreme a view. But it does endorse the "85th percentile" idea, an engineering principle that suggests the speed limit should be set at whatever speed 85 percent of motorists are already going, spokesman Eric Skrum said.

In other words, if the vast majority of drivers are going 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, the speed limit should be 70 mph, the theory goes.

But, again, faster speeds rely on slower traffic keeping to the right.

"When you keep slower traffic to the right, fewer people are weaving in and out of traffic and there's less tailgating," Skrum said. "The problem is, most speed limits are underposted by 10 to 15 mph."

So why do people tool along in the left lane in the first place? It's probably a combination of ignorance, apathy and arrogance, experts say.

Some drivers simply don't understand the concept, and it's not one that gets much focus in driving exams. Others just don't care, Skrum said.

"Some people, it's because they're not paying attention," he said. "For other people, it's because they're self-righteous. They think, 'I'm going to go 55 mph, and everyone else should be, too.' "

But Millner thinks that's a judgment call for police, not drivers.

"It's not your job as a motorist to control how fast other people are driving," he said.


Slowpoke: Ignorance, apathy and arrogance cause problem

 

I watched a History Channel Special on the German Autobahn last night. They interviewed Mark Rask, the author of American Autobahn. I don't think America is capable of having the no speed limit rule in majority of the metropolitan areas because traffic is just way worse than it is in Germany. And having varying speed limit and no speed limit (in rural areas) would confuse the heck out of people...

I 100% agree with making it a law to make dumbasses get out of the left lane when not passing. I hate driving down the Pennsylvania Turnpike having to tailgate someone who decides to drive slow in the left lane. It is so dangerous to pass on the right especially for majority of the unsuspecting drivers who do not pay enough attention to their surrounding traffic.

He gets my vote

 

SLOW PEOPLE SUCK!!!!

 

No- SLOW PEOPLE IN THE WRONG LANE SUCK

 

I hate assholes like that, they're all over the place in Miami. They should give them tickets for blocking the flow of traffic.

 

Exactly!

 

I only recently understood why these slow people do this. They feel safer in a lane that will only allow traffic on one side of them. I don't mind the slow drivers, as long as they give me a route to pass them on the right. I think their should be a law preventing people from driving next to each other or in a persons blind spot for more than 1/2 a mile. As long as I can go around I am cool!

 

another related pet peeve: on twisty 2 lane roads with blind spots, some jack@$$ will do under the speed limit. when you get to a passing zone, they start to do 15 over the limit making it a total gamble that you'll get around them before the next blind corner. maybe it's because there seem to be more of them around here, (twisty roads and SUVs), but it always seems to be a freaking land yacht like an Expedition or a Navigator doing it.

 

Around here more than half the time if you come up fast on someone in the left lane they won't move over to let ya past.

 

It's really a two sided problem. The left lane driver shouldn't be a slowpoke, but the tailgater has no inherent right to be an asshole about it.

My feelings exactly (from the article above):
What do I do? I try to stay on the right if at all possible. But, if I am going 10 - 15 MPH over the speed limit in the left (because the right-hand laners are going 10 MPH below) I do get annoyed when someone comes up behind me and wants to do 100 MPH and gets aggressive with their tailgating.

I don't want to be an asshole either, but just because you want to (excessively) speed doesn't mean that I have to as well.

What do I do if I'm the one that wants to pass a slow person in the left lane? I calmly wait until the opportunity to pass (or they pull over). There's no reason for road rage.

Oh, and these issues really only apply to two lane/side highways. The multi (6-8) lane/side highways that are in urban areas have different rules. Slower traffic should still be on the right side, but the reality of the passing rules are different because of traffic flow, merges, and exchanges.

 

Yeah, but there *are* limits on the Autobahn in areas with a greater traffic density (i.e. metropolitan areas). I live around Chicago, and people routinely go 75-85mph in the 55 zones. I was on the Autobahn many years ago (sadly, as a passenger) and I remember seeing speed signs of 120km/h in heavier areas, which is about 72mph. However, I have family that lives downstate, and lemme tell you....I-55 is one boring stretch of road filled with a whole lotta nothing. Being able to go faster would be a blessing.

If the concept of varying speed limits, a condition we normally see in town driving, is too confusing for people, then they shouldn't be using the highway. Period. There are other roads one can take.

The thing about the Autobahn is that everyone understands the concept of left=fast, right=slower, people use their signals when changing lanes, even when that lane change takes about 1.5 seconds or less and they know what it means when someone is flashing their headlights at you from 500' behind you. Personally, I'd love to see no rural speed limits, but the first step in that direction is teaching and enforcing the rule about slower traffic keeping right.

 

We need something like this here in CA.

 

I would vote for him.

 

duplicate

 

duplicate

 

And that would be completely unlawful in Kansas (and most states).

 

THESE PEOPLE REALLY DONT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY GREW UP IN A SOCIETY THAT WAS ALOT SLOWER THEN. THINGS HAVE SPED UP ALOT AND PEOPLE ARNT WILLING TO ACCEPT THE CHANGES....................... MOVE THE FUCK OVER..

AND TO ALL YOU OUT THERE..KEEP FLYIN LOW

 

The average idiot who does 50 in the left lane really does believe they are helping out imho. They are also the ones who'll get on their cell and try to get you arrested for harassing them. F them, they get what they deserve.

 

According to the written laws, Those who drive the speed limit in the left lane are perfectly legal. On the other hand, those who tail gate, pass-on the right, see-saw like jerks are absolutely commiting illegal acts

So go figure...

But really, it makes sense in light traffic, please stick to the middle lane...

 

They have completed a 2 year project upgrading a major traffic snafu in Bflo area w/in last 2 weeks. It added a third lane in both directions near a major interchange. Now no one seems to know that lane is there so when I am going/coming there is a lane wide open w/ no one in it and a TON of idiots doing 40-50 in the left two lanes. Just as long as it remains this way I could care less. But it just goes to show these people don't have a clue as to the basic rule: drive right, pass left. 'nuff said.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN bruthas and sistas..hahaha

 

Actually, prior to the early 70s, there were higher, and in some cases no speed limits on the higways. The 55MPH speed limit was enacted in order to save fuel during the "oil crisis" of the time. So really, many of today's slowpokes just might have learned to drive when things moved faster on the roads.

There's nothing illegal about going the speed limit in the left lane, but it is just plain rude if you're there to make a point. Here around Chicago, people get pulled over for that, since they're a hazard to traffic flow. When everyone, including police, drive 10-20MPH over the 55MPH limit, some do-gooder in the left lane going the limit is a hazard to navigation.

Fact is, the safest speed at which to travel is the speed of all the other cars on the road. Whether that speed is 30 or 80 doesn't matter. If you or our car is unable or unwilling to do that, you're on the wrong road.

 

The best is when you pass them...then THEY look at you like YOU'RE the asshole:angry:

 

A few years back, I met my friend in Italy. He had his family's brand new Hyundai Sonata V6. Granted, it wasn't a Porche, but it moved. We drove through Italy and into Germany. We drove on the Autobahn averaging around 110-120mph. It was amazing to see that each car we approached in the left lane that was going slower automatically moved right. We never once had to hit the brakes. It really is a different driving experience there. I'll never forget it.

BTW, I HATE slow drivers in the left lane. Most of those I run into are stubborn angry old men or minivans

 

The worst is when theyre already going slow, and you go down a VERY small hill that isnt steep at all and they ride the brake all the way down it, and then when they go to brake at a stoplight they brake REALLY hard when it isnt necessary. Some people just dont deserve to be able to drive at all.

 

I'm pretty sure those of us in FL have a lock on the complaints against those in the left lane (or on the highway in general). We have the tourists AND the gray-hairs. Most of them are of the opinion that its your problem....they're in no hurry.

Try driving I-95 down to FL anytime after Thanksgiving. You come up on a huge jam just to find one motor home going 56mph passing another at 55 mph. God forbid they take it off cruise control.

And about the left lane losers not breaking any laws by camping out in the passing lane............I figure it's not illegal to flip someone the bird but nor is it acceptable behavior for the most part.

 

The difference out there is that they actually know HOW TO DRIVE!! I was watching an Autobahn special on Speed Channel and they were saying that it costs $2500 US to get a drivers license out there and the test isn't easy. Here we give a license to any idiot which is why we'll never have the speed limits removed.

I agree that on roads outside of populated areas the limits should be raised to 70mph or so. They did this in NY about 4 years ago.... any highway at least 50 miles outside a metro area has speed limits of 65mph. Still not good enough... but better I guess.....

 

I'm just gonna get me some police strobes and turn them on. I talk to a local cop he said it's only 80 dollar ticket. Unless the cop is a real a$$ he try to bust you for impursanating a cop(that's what your doing).

Mr.T

 

What's even worse-the morons that I see every day that don't pull over to the right for emergency vehicles. These "drivers" should be ticketed and fined big time

It does seem that in the US we give a drivers license to any breathing body. I'm all for tougher testing for the drivers exam a'la Germany.

BTW-I'm I the only one who gets stuck behind Buick LeSabre being driven by Pa Kettle with the driving cap on going -10 below the limit? Seriously, next time you see a Buick Le Sabre going well below the speed limit, 8 out of 10 times it's a living fossil with a driving cap.

 

We have a running joke around here when we see some old fossil with a hat driving 20 mph below the speed limit. The "Man with the Hat" is also well known for weaving, no-signaling, complete lack of blind zone awareness (watch for drifting lane changes), and other "out to lunch" behavior...

"The Old Man with the Hat" is in all kinds of vehicles around here...

 

Yep... :angry:

I believe they are "phantoms" sent from the lower regions of hell.>;]

 

...and give you 10 reasons why you are a moron if you drive in the right lane like you are suppose to. FOR THE RECORD: I hate left lane bandits, too. But most of them don't have a choice. Driving is by habit and not because someone is trying to block you or waste your time or slow you down. Get over it, it's not about you. There's a million cars on the road...nobody cares about YOU. Everytime I drive in the right lane:

1.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because YOU don't know how to enter the freeway ramp and merge correctly. Either YOU gun it and try to push me over to the left lane where I shouldn't be or YOU jump in at 25 mph and I have to brake just to give YOU 15 minutes to speed up to 55mph. Never mind, I'm driving in the left lane.

2.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because YOU don't want to drop in behind me when you want to get off the freeway. Instead you fly by on the left and then jerk in at the last minute...almost clipping my bumper. Or if you do get in the right lane behind me, you don't want to slow down for the next 1/2 mile till you get to the exit; instead you tailgate me, pushing, pushing, pushing till you exit and I'm stressed at nearly every exit with people like you pushing, pushing, pushing. Screw it, I'll drive in the left lane and you can exit at 90mph all you want.

3.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because YOU don't know how to change lanes when passing me. Instead of approaching a slow moving target, signaling (left), and then merge left while still 100 yards still from my bumper, YOU come right up to my back trunk lid at 95mph, jam on the brakes, no turn signal (I don't know if you see me or not), yank your car to the left lane, pass, and then almost clip my front bumper getting back over. Fu*k it, I'll drive in the left lane and hopefully someone else will come up behind me and keep my rear protected from you for the next 21 miles.

4.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because YOU don't know how to pass. Passing is a less than 1 minute maneuver. It's shouldn't take 20 minutes and 20 miles for you to go around me. If I'm doing 55mph, you can't do 56 or 57. Either match my speed (at a safe distance) or move on. Since YOU don't know how to get around me, you get everyone else on the road agitated and they come for me in the right lane trying to force me to speed up, because I look like "I" have the faster car. Dammit I'm just gonna drive in the left lane and fall asleep.

5.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because driving in the right lane is downright dangerous. Every since the car speed limit has been raised and the truck speed limit has been left lowered, trucks can't get into the fast lane to pass. Trucks spend a lot of time on my butt waiting for fast drivers like YOU who don't want to left trucks in (to pass), YOU flash your lights when trucks try to get over, YOU honk your horn. I don't like "killer" trucks on my tail forget it, I'll just drive in the left lane and let the trucks have the right lane.

6.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) on a regular roadway because YOU don't stop before making a right on red. YOU just pull out in front of me, don't speed up...when you approach the intersection with the I'll guess I'll stop only if I must attitude, I just don't want to get into an accident. I'll just drive in the left lane until YOU decide to stop first, then look and then go.....instead of the other way around.

7.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because in the city it just doesn't make sense. YOU right turn into the 7-11 at 1.5mph causing me to almost get hit from the rear, YOU won't signal your right turn and I continually have to swerve left or brake hard to avoid YOUR bad driving and sudden movements, YOU turn right into the parking lot and stop in the entrance, so the next five cars behind you (including me) have to stop while YOU are looking around and thinking about where you want to go next, YOU right turn into a business sooooo sloooooow that people waiting to come out of that same business feel that they should go ahead and come out into the flow of traffic (one in, one out) so I have to deal with them. In your 2-door sedan YOU swing out wide left before you turn right like an 18-wheeler, how annoying is that? :angry: I'll just mind my own business....in the left lane.

8.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because YOU have no respect for me driving 55mph minding my own business. YOU have some nerve flying by me at 115mph. It's downright scary. Around that corner I though you were going to lose control. You came out of nowhere. Driving in the left lane is not going to solve the problem but at least I'm not going to get the scare of my life (because I believe most people will not do 115mph in the right lane).

9.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) because there's too many slow pokes in that lane. Gheez, some people think they can do 35mph on the freeway. I'd get killed in that [right] lane. No I'll do 55-60mph in the left lane instead and take my chances there.

10.I can't drive at a nice steady safe pace (in the right lane) in the city because too many people swing open their car doors or come out partially into the street or just plain stop as though it's a [stop or go] lane. On the freeway, there are so many cars broken down in the breakdown lane, they've been sitting there tagged for weeks. Too dangerous in the right lane, I'll just drive in the left lane where it's less likely I have to deal with non-moving targets.

Let's solve the main problem which is poor driving skills. The left lane stuff will correct itself.

Sorry for the long post.

 

It is pretty simple for me...

2 lanes HW or otherwise... I stick to the left lane.. thank GOD my CLS loves to cruise at 75-85 MPH!
3+ lanes HW... in light traffic, the middle lane (safer for cops, otherwise, left lane as usual.

 

I agree 100%.

Driving a car is a privilege, not an inherent right. People should have to earn that privilege instead of just getting it by passing a simplistic driving test.

When I exchanged my CA license for a PA license it was that - an exchange. Did I have to take a test? No. Do I have to know PA driving rules to get a PA license? No. It was convenient, but too easy. Now I know why these PA drivers are some of the suckiest in the nation.

I'm all for enforcing the privilege of driving and citing people for stupidity. There would be a lot less drivers on the road...or at least the cities/municipalities would be really rich.

 

A couple of years ago Car And Driver posted the top 10 worst things to do in a car, #1 was driving and wearing a hat, and i don't mean a baseball hat either.

 

And I do hate those who speed match me and stay in my shadow... i.e. the the blind zones!

 

I must have driven through around 25 - 30 states till now and the best experience I have had with people NOT driving slow on the left lane on the highway has been in Kentucky. There are postings all along the highway asking motorists to stay to the right unless they are passing and WOW people do honour it.

 

People do that shit here in the mountains too! It pisses me off!




On the subject at hand however... Here in CO, police will actually target people driving in the left lane consistently and not passing peole. They will ticket you if you do so. They are cracking down on it.

Regarding the remark earlier about "perfectly legal to drive in the left lane if you are going the speed limit": That is incorrect in this state. If caught, you WILL get a ticket, it is in fact ILLEGAL here.

 

We have the same thing going on in CA too... seems like a pandemic problem.

When I was commuting to/from work, I could tell you with near 80% accuracy what lane to be in to get from A to B in the fastest, most efficient manner. And 9 out of 10 times, that meant jumping into the right lane to pass all the slow-bodies in the left lane.

I have a 3 simple rules to measure my driving:

1) Stay in the right lane
2) Use the left/middle lanes to pass
3) If in the left lane, look right. If travelling faster than traffic, continue on. If travelling slower or equal to traffic, merge back into the right lane.

 

yesss