There’s only one rule if you’re in the left lane.
If someone is behind you, and no one is in front of you, change lanes and let them pass.
Simple as that.
And please don’t cut people off in the left lane to pass because you are going 1km/h faster than the person in front of you. Have some awareness of the vehicles around you.
Go further. If you’re not going faster than the other lanes, get out.
This only works collectively
What pisses me off is when I’m trying to go faster than the cars in front of me and there’s someone behind me right in my bumper flashing their high beams. Like bro, there’s ten fucking cars in front of me that I would gladly pass if they moved out of the way, do you really think I’ll move to let you through so there’s 11 cars in front of me?
Had a moron in a truck with a huge trailer doing that the other day, there was an opening and he tried to pass me on the right to squeeze between me and the car in front of me even though there was space for his truck only.
Let him pass, merge back behind his ass and flash him back.
Don’t want to be the guy who could get brake checked, would much rather be the guy getting a nice insurance cheque because an idiot was driving too close to me.
^our easy guide to Brake Around & Check Out
Oh, if we’re doing angry driving, then forget letting him pass. Just shift to low gear and lift then.
I am pretty good at angling my side mirrors to shine truck lights back at their driver.
If you’re gonna ride my ass when I’m safely following traffic then you’re gonna see just how capable I am of ignoring someone behind me as I cruise exactly at the speed limit.
That said, you always win by letting the angry aggressive dangerous driver past you and away from you.
Insurance checks aren’t nearly as nice as not fucking your body up because a douche can’t brake fast enough.
I was on the highway, both lanes packed, and I couldn’t even see the headlights of the person behind me they were so close to my ass. So I eased off the gas because this is an incredibly dangerous situation and moved over as soon as I could.
Suddenly this asshole who was too impatient to leave a damn foot between our cars has time to dick around, pulling in front of me and slowing way the fuck down. I wait until there is an opening, pull over, and get up to speed with the car in front of me so he can’t get in front of me. The lane is packed so they can’t get in behind me either and end up several cars behind.
I don’t know what the fuck they were hoping for, but I’m sure it wasn’t that.
I had a guy do that to me once, I held my speed and he tagged the car ahead of him trying to pull in. I slacked off and let him shoot across my lane and into the median. I went back to have a discussion with the cop when he showed up and the guy had his vehicle impounded and he got a cruiser ride.
My rule is only use it to pass. I drive the speed limit (I hate cops and don’t want to deal with them) so I rarely get in the left lane.
I hate cops and don’t want to deal with them)
I don’t think anyone likes dealing with cops lol
dark
Radical leftist morticians?
There are lots of nuances of course, but in my area that would make you suspicious to the cops.
Everyone drives 5-10 over. My general rule is to just keep up with traffic and blend in.
I live in Jacksonville Florida where everyone drives at least 10 over and have never had an issue.
Hypothetical: The next lane to the right is going appreciably slower than the left lane. Traffic is dense enough to make it very difficult to get back over if you leave the left lane to allow the person behind you to pass.
Do you still get over and allow them to pass or do you keep moving at the speed you want to but make the person behind you mad?
I’d speed up. If it’s not enough for the person behind me, I’d move over and let them pass.
Losing a few car lengths of progress isn’t worth the stress or risk of someone riding my bumper at highway speeds.
Why it be difficult for you to get back over? If you’re holding up a LINE of traffic and not just one guy, you are the issue
This is based on a situation I have found myself in. With traffic dense enough to limit distance to gain speed, it could be difficult to merge back into the left lane if it is moving significantly faster. This is more common when traffic doesn’t form a line, but it’s constant and heavy like around quitting time.
Absolutely, it comes down to your tolerance for being “that guy or not”.
I generally look at how many are behind me and also how clear it is in front. If they can take off and go their own way or they’ll get stopped 20 later. Also on whether I’m keeping up or not with the guy in front. If I’m not keeping up I either speed up or move over.
Ultimately, this stuff makes extremely little difference in your actual commute. Like less than a couple minutes ( probably less than that). It just has so little impact compared to other things. So I try and be philosophical myself and let them pass.
I’ve noticed (and this is very dependent on the area youre driving in) that sometimes if you want to move back over into the left lane you can use your blinker to signal and MAYBE someone in that lane is aware enough and theyll let you in. Again this really depends on your area and whether the drivers in that area actually respond to turn signals or not.
That would also require having no one to the right.
ah yes, the rules of breaking the rules
It’s because it’s not the fast lane, it’s the passing lane. I would suggest everyone needs to stop calling it that and maybe there is a tiny tiny hope people will start realizing it’s true purpose. To some people the speed limit is fast…
Those people are still objectively wrong though. If you’re not moving faster than other cars get the fuck out of the left lane.
I would reword this perhaps, I would say to give it a more nuanced perspective that you shouldn’t be in the left lane if you aren’t passing and by preventing others from passing you are creating a hazard
I mean if you aren’t moving faster than the other cars then you’re clearly not passing them. So it still fits it’s just a less nice way of saying that.
It’s not less nice, it’s less accurate.
How? If you’re not moving faster then you’re not passing. So if you’re in what’s called the “passing lane” and you’re not moving faster than a car to your right then you’re not passing. It fits either way. Even if you call it the fast lane it’s still the same concept. “If you’re not moving faster get out of the fast lane” is just as accurate as “If you’re not passing get out of the passing lane”
Shouldn’t you call it the “faster lane” then?
I was more disputing the “less nice” thing, I don’t see how calling it the fast lane is “meaner” than calling it the passing lane. But objectively it is less accurate to the purpose of the lane. I do definitely really care about this though, it’s a globally critical distinction lol
Yeah but there’s some plausible deniability when it’s called the “fast lane” because some will think “oh I’m already going as fast as the law says I can (or faster), therefore I don’t need to worry about those people going even faster than that because that’s illegal”.
Calling it the passing lane would throw away that argument because the speed and legality of that speed no longer matter: it’s all about going faster than those on the right so they can be passed, not how fast one should be legally able to go.
there are times when you want to match speed with the people beside you because of road hazards or the like but if you’re in the lane without the intent to pass that’s the problem. also speed is a little vague, I thought to define it in terms of intent to pass rather than going faster than traffic because I know tradition for the left lane is about 30% faster than the speed limit which I feel is also a hazard.
a small distinction but in my opinion an important one when talking about a situation like this
I don’t understand the drivers in the US for that.
For me I was taught that the only lane that you are driving in is the right lane. That’s it! All the other lanes are for overtaking, so if you go on another lane you are supposed to move back to the right just after, even if you have to change lanes again 5s later, even if you are driving above the speed limit.
I’m pissed at people staying in the middle of the highway even though they have space on their right.
Most EU countries have road rules that say no weaving, so if you must change lanes again 5 sec later, you shouldn’t jump in the gap.
It’s inefficient with fuel and creates more potentially dangerous situations.
Yeah but we’re not talking about weaving, we’re talking about those selfish bastards that hog the overtaking lane because they’re turning left some time in the next 27,000,000 years.
those laws dont generally equate overtaking with weaving though
I live in european country where in road rules there are no overtaking lanes. What am I doing wrong?
That depends on the road and state law. You learned a partial truth.
I’ll take that over people in the left lane matching pace with people in the right lane causing an impassable wall that blocks all traffic.
My favourite is when I’m driving the limit, start to overtake someone driving less, and they match speed as I get next to them.
I particularly enjoy this concept when there is only one lane.
Going faster than the speed limit is the most dumbass thing you can do, because you’re endangering yourself and others only to be stuck behind a truck in about a minute.
And going at, or lawd forbid below, the speed limit isn’t better, because it takes only about a minute for the next dumbass to arrive and start tailgating you.Speed limits are set on a bunch of criteria and often below safe driving speed. They take in account things like rain and such.
On a nice dry day. Most roads are 100% safe for 5-10 above. Even being conservative.
There is no such thing as “100% safe”. Any amount you go faster makes it more dangerous. And as such, there is just absolutely no reason to do so, if you’re going to be stuck behind a truck anyways…
True, but then every road should have a ten mile hr speed limit.
The absolute FACT is if the government says it is safe to drive 45 at night in a light rain. The road is for 55 driving on a sunny day.
I never mentioned trucks or traffic. That’s not what we are talking about, but since you brought it up. Most traffic studies actually show it is safer for everyone to be going the same speed. I e. If traffic is going 65 and you’re going 55, you’re making the road less safe not more.
55 diacocamburgers per whole eagle you consider safe?! 60 km/h already guaranees pedestrian deaths and no driver reaction will be enough to prevent them.
…how do you know that? I thought roads, in north America at least, were set on the 85 percentile rule. Measure how fast people are going on a street and set the speed limit to the car at the 85 percentile, rounded.
This sounds like “common wisdom” to justify speeding. And even then, you would never know when the road you are on actually has a correct speed limit and you’re endangering everyone. A 5 - 10 mph increase is a lot more dangerous than one may think, because the energy in the system increases quadratic and the reaction time remains constant, it’s even dangerous at 5-10 kmh.
NOT SINGLE ROAD in this country is set by “how fast people drive” that is without a doubt the stupidest thing heard in a long time.
Speed limits are set by civil engineers using a whole host of scientific data, local ordinances, state laws, and FHA rules.
I wish I could send this to my ex (a certified civil engineer) she’d die laughing.
Speed limits are set by civil engineers using a whole host of scientific data, local ordinances, state laws, and FHA rules.
You’re vastly overestimating the sophistication involved in speed limit setting. Look up the concept of 85th percentile speed for more information.
As a caveat, this doesn’t apply to every country, but it certainly appears to for the U.S, given that multiple DOTs list it as the “common method for setting speed limits”.
Well I wouldn’t know, but I saw this video, which says this is how it is described in “Confessions of a recovering engineer” by Charles Marohn, former professional engineer. If you or your ex find any fault with what Charles wrote or what NJB got wrong in adapting part of the book into his video, let me know.
It is better to not be stuck between a truck and a tailgating asshole. So it would better to drive at or below the speed limit in your scenario.
You have to compensate by having a good margin in front of you as you cannot instantly break when you need to.
Strictly talking about safe speed in relation to other traffic, and no mention of road conditions or other factors, I had it explained to me once that speed limits are safe speeds when you’re the only one on the road. When there’s one other car, the safest speed is the exact same speed as the other car. You will never hit that car if you’re both going the same speed (This also implies/requires safe stopping distances because you slow down with them). That’s really the heart of it, whatever minimizes possible interactions with other vehicles keeps you safe. It sounds like a duh statement but its where the conversation should be based around - relative speed not actual speed. Once it’s more than just you and another car, the safest speed is the average flow of traffic across all lanes. If it’s rush hour and the locals are ALL doing 10-over (it definitely happens), you are being unsafe if you are driving the speed limit in ANY lane specifically because every single car on that highway passes you and each passing is an opportunity for an accident. If/when you have to pass in traffic, always try to pass vehicles no faster than 5mph faster than the other vehicle, any faster and you are the definition of ‘he came out of nowhere’. That works in the other direction too - if you aren’t comfortable with speeding along with the whole highway, try not to be going less than 5mph under the average speed, posted speed limit be damned.
If you get in the left lane and exactly mimic the speed of the car to the right, blocking people who want to pass, I get extremely angry. You should not be allowed to drive.
I hate when I move to overtake someone and when I switch to the left lane they speed up. Like, go that speed from the start or let me pass
When people are talking about this, they’re just talking about highways (expressways in other countries I think), right? On the streets I usually get into the left lane if I need to turn left next regardless of my speed.
Absolutely
Surface streets that rule goes out the window unless there’s a median and no turning at all, and even then good luck policing that when people can turn left at intersections
That’s the secret ingredient
Many people think the left lane is the passing lane, but actually this depends on the details of the road. So they road rage through ignorance.
Routinely drive through NM, AZ, CA, OR, UT, NV, ID and WA and I’ve always seen, left lane for passing. Slower traffic keep right.
This is pretty cute and dry. If you can, move over. WA state has it written that any road with 2 or more lanes travelling in the same direction and left lane is for passing.
Some drive through ignorance.
Surely make you lose your mind
