Originally Posted by Virginia Bill

Hi, Southern Boy.

In the current legislative session someone introduced a bill to outlaw flashing to overtake, but it died in committee.

While traffic density around DC has increased a lot over the past twenty years, something else is going on. A friend of mine calls it the "Virginia Box': one car is in the right lane doing about 65; another car catches up, moves into the left lane, and settles down at 65 about one car length behind the first one. Then the two of them motor happily along, oblivious to all the traffic stacking up behind them.

It's part of the local driving culture to completely ignore general traffic flow. Or maybe it's the common assumption that the left lane is just another lane, so driving there at your speed of choice, no matter what other people are doing, is fine. I've never seen a "Slower Traffic Keep Right" anywhere around D. C.

We have the third worst traffic in the country (afer LA and SF), partly because our roads are overloaded. No question about that. But we also have a self-centered, mindless driving culture.