What if I need to make a left turn in half a mile? If I wait until the last minute I can’t get over.
It’s bumper to bumper traffic in every single lane. Are we all supposed to further crowd the right lane to keep this left lane free? All lanes are packed during rush hour. That’s insane. It’s also dangerous to have one lane so unbelievably crowded that it goes 20 below speed limit and then a left lane going over speed limit. That’s how accidents happen I absolutely think the left lane should be clear on a highway. |
Are you all even in the DC area? You talk about vehicles approaching and you should move into the right lane. Umm both lanes are crowded, no one is approaching because there’s someone behind you constantly. You can’t get into the right lane because there’s no free spots there either. Just congestion all around. Sorry that someone wants to go 55 in the 45 zone, but ALL of us would like to be able to go the speed limit too. It’s just not possible with the level of congestion. |
Like the two prior posts, I feel like this law was written for other parts of the state. If I'm on a multi-lane road, it's either the beltway, inside the beltway or within 10 miles of the beltway. When I'm on the road, it's with hundreds of my friends and neighbors so there is no orderly sorting of drivers according to speed/lane. We have left lane entrances and exits or just plain left turns so there's lots of reasons why a slower driver might be over there. |
Obviously this isn't applicable during rush hour. But many people drive outside of rush hours times and many of them do just sit in the left lane. Either ignorantly or prickishly.
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Huh? That is normal driving. |
The PP is talking about something different, the aggressive drivers who are happy to go 90 in the far right lane or any lane to pass all the traffic if they see a car-shaped opening. They are the only drivers worse than the oblivious morons camped out in the left lane. Good for Virginia. I would love it if every jurisdiction enforced the standard of keeping the left lane of a 3 or more lane road for passing only. And to the PP who brought up left-lane exits, that’s an obvious exception and red herring. No cop will pull over someone going the speed limit or less in the far left lane within a mile or two of a left exit. |
+1 |
As a counter example in the real world locally, there are LEFT only exits on the beltway. For example, from 495 inner loop in Tysons to VA-267 / Dulles Access Highway, there ONLY is a LEFT lane exit. Complain to VDOT if you want that changed, btw. |
So then the only time you'd be in the left lane is if someone in the right lane was going below the speed limit... Since that happens so rarely, you all should be in the right lane 95% of the time. |
+1 |
+1 This is the proper way to drive. PP complaining about this sounds like a left lane camper. |
Is there like a bat-signal that goes out for people like you to chime in whenever the topic of driving like an a-hole by staying in the left lane comes up? Because here you are…. First response. |
My neighbor, whose family we hang out with often (and have become friends with), has been a Fairfax County Police Officer for roughly 20 years. I asked about this because I travel the GW parkway daily and see this a lot.
He told me that he, and every officer he works with, would only enforce such a (left lane) law if the person in the left lane was going AT/BELOW the speed limit on a very busy road and not making any effort to move over when there was clearly a chance to do so safely. I asked what if I am going 65mph (on a 55 mph road) and someone doing 75+ comes up and was riding my bumper. He said never in a million years would he pull someone over in that situation, but that the safe thing to do would be to get over when possible. This basically confirmed what I had assumed. But this is just what he shared, and he obviously wasn't 'speaking for' all of the county police force. |
Thanks for doing this and reporting back! |
So listen to police advice and stay right, pass left. |