Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here: what't the big deal with going the speed limit in the left lane? I learned how to drive in a place where there isn't really any concept of "passing lanes." Is driving fast/passing in the left lane safer for everyone? It just seems to strange to me.

Have you read this whole thread? Do that and watch the YouTube video someone linked. All will be explained to you.

If you are following the speed limit (or the speed of traffic), why do you need to pass other cars? I just don't understand the whole point of passing except in rural areas where maybe you want to pass a very slow truck on a 2-lane road. Why do you need to pass in an built-up area?

If you don’t understand that some cars may want to go faster than other cars on a highway with multiple lanes I’m not sure you should be driving at all. And definitely not in any left lane anywhere.

We don't yet have self-driving cars, so no car wants to go faster than any other car anywhere. Some drivers certainly want to go faster than other drivers. Some of those drivers want to go faster than the law allows.

Not PP, but people can pass another car for any number of reasons:

- The road is clear ahead of them, with no congestion, so I speed up to give distance, then slow down to drive without as much congestion
- They have too much physical damage and they are risky to drive behind
- They brake too much
- They swerve in lanes as if they are distracted on their phone
- They don't keep a steady pace of driving (speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down)
- They have a bumper sticker that annoys me

or

I have wanted to go faster than them. Maybe there is an urgent matter I am attending to, I am trying to make it to the hospital before a loved one passes away. Maybe I am late to pickup from pre-school, and I am willing to risk a ticket for going a little faster than normal. Who knows any reason why someone goes faster than another?

Why does it matter to you?

What matters is that you read the road, use good sense, and follow the rules of the road.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here: what't the big deal with going the speed limit in the left lane? I learned how to drive in a place where there isn't really any concept of "passing lanes." Is driving fast/passing in the left lane safer for everyone? It just seems to strange to me.

Have you read this whole thread? Do that and watch the YouTube video someone linked. All will be explained to you.

If you are following the speed limit (or the speed of traffic), why do you need to pass other cars? I just don't understand the whole point of passing except in rural areas where maybe you want to pass a very slow truck on a 2-lane road. Why do you need to pass in an built-up area?

If you don’t understand that some cars may want to go faster than other cars on a highway with multiple lanes I’m not sure you should be driving at all. And definitely not in any left lane anywhere.

We don't yet have self-driving cars, so no car wants to go faster than any other car anywhere. Some drivers certainly want to go faster than other drivers. Some of those drivers want to go faster than the law allows.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here: what't the big deal with going the speed limit in the left lane? I learned how to drive in a place where there isn't really any concept of "passing lanes." Is driving fast/passing in the left lane safer for everyone? It just seems to strange to me.

Have you read this whole thread? Do that and watch the YouTube video someone linked. All will be explained to you.

If you are following the speed limit (or the speed of traffic), why do you need to pass other cars? I just don't understand the whole point of passing except in rural areas where maybe you want to pass a very slow truck on a 2-lane road. Why do you need to pass in an built-up area?

If you don’t understand that some cars may want to go faster than other cars on a highway with multiple lanes I’m not sure you should be driving at all. And definitely not in any left lane anywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here: what't the big deal with going the speed limit in the left lane? I learned how to drive in a place where there isn't really any concept of "passing lanes." Is driving fast/passing in the left lane safer for everyone? It just seems to strange to me.

Have you read this whole thread? Do that and watch the YouTube video someone linked. All will be explained to you.

If you are following the speed limit (or the speed of traffic), why do you need to pass other cars? I just don't understand the whole point of passing except in rural areas where maybe you want to pass a very slow truck on a 2-lane road. Why do you need to pass in an built-up area?

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here: what't the big deal with going the speed limit in the left lane? I learned how to drive in a place where there isn't really any concept of "passing lanes." Is driving fast/passing in the left lane safer for everyone? It just seems to strange to me.

Have you read this whole thread? Do that and watch the YouTube video someone linked. All will be explained to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Driving in the DC area on the freeways makes my blood boil.

Somehow in NJ they manage to have a similar level of traffic, but manage to keep right and pass left and have higher average speeds. TBH driving the length of the NJTP is a cakewalk compared to just getting to Fredericksburg

I’m the PP who drive 400 miles every other weekend. You’re correct that highways in NJ are SO MUCH BETTER at this. But when they aren’t, 8-9 times out of 10 it’s someone with Virginia plates who’s in the left lane gumming things up.

EXACTLY. True on all points.

I don't understand why people down here just don't get this basic driving etiquette. It doesn't have anything to do with who is speeding or not. Just move over after you are done passing.

+ 2, I am from NoVa and I completely agree with this. I hate how most of NoVa drivers operate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Driving in the DC area on the freeways makes my blood boil.

Somehow in NJ they manage to have a similar level of traffic, but manage to keep right and pass left and have higher average speeds. TBH driving the length of the NJTP is a cakewalk compared to just getting to Fredericksburg

I’m the PP who drive 400 miles every other weekend. You’re correct that highways in NJ are SO MUCH BETTER at this. But when they aren’t, 8-9 times out of 10 it’s someone with Virginia plates who’s in the left lane gumming things up.

EXACTLY. True on all points.

I don't understand why people down here just don't get this basic driving etiquette. It doesn't have anything to do with who is speeding or not. Just move over after you are done passing.

AND USE YOUR DAMN SIGNALS

The critical factor to think about here is respecting the FLOW OF TRAFFIC. Many variables account for why a strict 55 MPH is not the SOLE factor to driving safely. For example, different odometer readings, increasing quantity of cars on the road making it harder to keep a certain flow (imagine 2 people walking around your kitchen table vs. 10). Good driving assesses the environment, and supports everyone driving safely. This may require going 10 miles above the posted speed limit, or 10 miles below. But never wavering from the posted speed limit is just as dangerous, because it takes away the ability to drive defensively.

Let's take a hypotheical example. 10 cars are on a 4 lane road, all going exactly 55 MPH with the legal amount of distance between them. Suddenly, there is a huge tire flat in the middle of the road. What do you do? Speed up, or slow down? Usually, the safest thing to do is try to pass the object cautiously, passing where there is not as much congestion, and speeding up once you do that might give more distance for moving cars, and allow more reaction time for others to navigate too. This assumes all of the factors that are rarely present though: all 10 drivers doing the same speed, following ALL laws - not distracted, not following too close or going too fast or too slow.

In reallity, how you respond on the road to a situation like this depends on the ENVIRONMENT. Is there a safe shoulder for other drivers behind you? Are you being tailgated by an 80mph speed demon? If you slow down, and move left/right, will it cause a nother car behind you to brake suddenly and also react in a way that you can't measure?

The speed limit is there not as a singular law for driving. It is just as important to follow the laws that protect other drivers, broken down cars on the side of the road, etc. Also, there are so many laws (eg. not crossing a BOLDED line), YIELDING vs STOPPING when merging, etc. that when people only follow a few laws it creates a huge shit show on the roads.

It's frustrating. The best you can do is drive defensively, to protect yourself and others, that may *sometimes* require speeding up or slowing down to pass, allow distance, account for driving conditions, etc.

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Anonymous wrote:

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But there people who are going to drive “more than 15 mph over the speed limit.” There just are. Why do you want them behind you and then going around you unsafely? Why not just stay more to the right and stay away from them? Why do you need to be in the left lane at all, unless exiting, when you think that someone driving 70 in a 55 should be ticketed?

Well, you might be driving the speed limit, trying to pass somebody who is driving more slowly than the speed limit.

In that case, pass quickly and then get back over. You don’t get to spend the next ten miles in the left lane just because you passed someone once.

Basically this law is for people who want to drive faster than the speed limit in the left lane.

No, it’s a law to help people who don’t understand the very basic driving etiquette of “stay right, pass left”. Some dummies don’t get it so they had to pass a law to help them figure it out.

But if somebody is driving along at the speed limit in the left lane, and you're behind them in the left lane driving along at or below the speed limit (right? because otherwise you'd be breaking the law), why do you care?

Once you have finished passing the person in the right lane, move back over to the right lane. Don't be an a$$ and sit in the left lane for any reason.