@maporsche,
Too many left lane drivers think that u owe them a duty to speed
above the legal limit and that u must willingly take the chance
of speed traps, to keep THEM happy. Too ofen, there will be
a left lane fairly well filled with flowing traffic and a jerk behind u
wants to use his lights or horn to knock every one of those cars over
so that he can exceed the speed limit.
I don ' t feel called upon to facilitate his need for speed.
David
@OmSigDAVID,
I agree Dave. I will not exceed 5 mph above the speed limit for any reason. These jack-asses think THAT is too slow for the left lane.
I think that I should be able to speed if I want to, but that someone else behind me should not ask me to speed. Vice versa for me behind someone going the limit.
I also think that if it's safe to get over, you should get out of the left lane and allow the faster traffic to pass.
@Bella Dea,
Bella Dea wrote:
I think that I should be able to speed if I want to,
but that someone else behind me should not ask me to speed.
Vice versa for me behind someone going the limit.
I also think that if it's safe to get over, you should get out
of the left lane and allow the faster traffic to pass.
MOSTLY, I agree with u,
but still, its within
MY discretion as to whether I will
get out of their way into another lane; its
NOT an obligation
that left lane drivers
OWE to speed maniacs.
If its a 2 lane road, I may not wanna expose myself to all
the entering traffic from the right lane.
I have a
RIGHT to be in the left lane -- its a PUBLIC ROAD: my road,
and I have
no duty to exceed the speed limit.
David
I always treat the left lane as a passing lane. If I'm going the limit or five miles over and the rest of traffic is slightly slower, I'll stay in the left lane long enough to pass them, then pull back over. The only time I wouldn't do that is if there is traffic merging on the right constantly that would require that I move in and out of the left lane for every on ramp.
If I'm at five miles over and passing someone, the person that just ran up on me can wait.
I'm pretty lenient with that rule if it is a semi.
@Mame,
IMO, much of the world has forgotten that driving a car is just a method to get from point A to point B.
Check you egos when you click your seatbelt on.
@OmSigDAVID,
OmSigDAVID wrote:
but still, its within MY discretion as to whether I will
get out of their way into another lane; its NOT an obligation
that left lane drivers OWE to speed maniacs.
In Texas, there actually
is an obligation to get out of the way. "Slower traffic keep right" is the law, here, and you can get a ticket for obstructing traffic in the faster lanes.
People who obsess about their speed are needlessly endangering all of us. Over a distance of hundreds and hundreds of miles, higher speeds may make a difference--but even with no obstructions from heavy traffic or construction, it will only make a difference of a few minutes over hundreds of miles. On shorter distances, such as the morning commute, it won't make any appreciable difference at all, especially if one has to get off the expressway to use city streets. You can lose any notional time advantage you gained sitting at the first traffic light.
I used to drive through a particular part of Columbus, Ohio so often that i had the traffic lights timed. If you accelerated from Philippi Road to just five miles over the speed limit, and then dropped back to the limit, you would make every traffic light from there to Sylvan Avenue (a distance of about three miles). Repeating the procedure, you'd hit every traffic light from there to Central Avenue, this time a distance of between four and five miles. Driving significantly faster than the posted speed limit would do you no good, and in fact would stop you at just about every light. Driving like a maniac on I70 or I71 to get there would still leave you on a city street, and at the mercy of the timing of the traffic lights.
About the only time you might make a difference would be driving through west Texas, at night, with light traffic. Then, between San Antonio and Los Angeles, you might pick up an hour at the most. In just about any other situation, you just endanger others to no purpose.
@DrewDad,
Is slower traffic relative though? If there's a guy going 90 in a 65, is everyone supposed to yield to them? Isn't it the guy going 90 who's causing the problem, not the people in the left lane going 70 passing people in the middle lane going 60?
@maporsche,
Since "faster" and "slower" indicate relative speeds, then yes, "slower" traffic is relative.
The point of the law is not to provide everyone with the same rights as an ambulance, and only and idiot would advocate such. Don't be a pedantic fool.
@DrewDad,
I don't think I was being a pedantic fool...if you read the article, and the links that the article makes to some left lane blog....these people think that they should be able to fly by going 90mph in the left lane, and they are pissed when people are only going 70 in a 65, passing people in the middle lane, or avoiding on ramp mergers.
I'm curious if you think your TX law means that if I'm going 5mph over the limit, I should consider myself slower traffic to someone going 25mph over the limit and yield the right of way to them.
@maporsche,
If there is not slower traffic in the lane to your right, then you are required to yield.
The way cops implement the law in Austin is that if people are passing you on the right, then you should have yielded.
If I understand this accurately,
in Texas, if I am going 80 mph in the left lane,
driver behind me approaches at 90 mph,
posted speed limit is 65 mph, the law requires me to move right.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace