Are you willing to admit your driving faults?
Asked by
OpryLeigh (
25310
)
January 18th, 2014
This is inspired by a recent question about rear ending another car. I notice on Fluther and in real life that drivers (myself included) are very quick to criticise other people’s driving abilities but rarely acknowledge our own.
Personally, I often go into autopilot when driving and snap out of it not remembering the past 5 or 10 minutes.
Your turn!
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120 Answers
I have poor peripheral vision, as well as dyscalculia – which affects my ability to distinguish left from right, as well as accurately judge distance.
As a result, I am an exceptionally cautious driver. I never drive faster than the speed limit. I drive most often in the center lane, in order to avoid sudden stops and people merging from acceleration lanes. I make every effort to not drive after dark or on wet roads if at all possible.
My biggest issue when driving is that I cannot parallel park with any kind of skill. I’d rather pay for a garage spot and walk an extra block than park on the street in front of my destination.
Oh yes – am well aware of them. I used to say I would give up driving by the time I was 65 but that will not be an option.
@Seek_Kolinahr you sound like me on the parking issue. Even in pull-in spaces, I would rather go for one in the middle of several empty spaces than choose a space between two cars. I do often exceed the speed limit but only by a few mph; in general I’m fairly cautious. I do sometimes follow too close when I’m behind someone going below the speed limit, like doing 45 in a 55 zone. But really, I’m an excellent driver.
I have zoned out before too, on the way home from uni for example which I drive every day during semester, so luckily I know the route well.
Also I feel like I actually don’t have the best spatial awareness and depth perception (I’m not very good at ball sports) so I think I’m just really really lucky that some (not many though) close calls haven’t been any closer. I have terrible luck with electronics and computers etc so I think it must balance out.
I think I’m pretty rough on the clutch and gears, too. I have very short legs and even when my seat is all the way forward so I’m driving like a t-rex with my arms all bent up to steer I can only just push the clutch in so sometimes I might not do it quite all the way and I think that’s probably bad right? And I am probably too fast at changing gears anyway.
Perfect driving record here but sometimes I speed. I can’t own a car with more power than a 4cyl, too tempting lol
I like to go fast, and I get impatient with people who don’t stay to the right. I understand their reasons for not staying to the right, such as Seek mentions above; but by not following the rules of the road, traffic becomes even less predictable because people will then tailgate to pressure people to move right! or pass on the right.
I fear I’ve become one of those older drivers cursed for their slowness and over-cautiousness by young drivers—you know, the ones on their phones and in a constant rush to stay ahead of everyone else. I find myself increasingly fearful both on the highway and in parking lots, which does make me slow and over-cautious.
On a long highway, going 72 in the fast lane, I refuse to move into a slower lane for faster cars behind me. They flash their lights, I ignore them.
I figure they have steering wheels too.
Perhaps I will admit them to myself, rarely out loud—if at all, to my husband.
You sound like me @hearkat . Ahhh Jersey drivers :P
@Pachy I think everyone should be a bit scared in parking lots. It’s almost as if as soon as a car enters a parking lot the driver forgets all the rules of driving and madness ensues.Just be thankful you don’t have to enter a college parking lot 5 times a week. lol
Strengths: I always use my turn signals, go with the flow of traffic, merge aggressively, pull over for motorcycles and slower traffic.
Weaknesses: Lack of full attention at times, known to bend the rules, like not coming to a complete stop at stop signs/intersections, making U turns if no other traffic is around, can’t parallel park worth a damn and have issues backing into objects on occasion. lol
I always joke that I will die in one of my blonde moments, “Oooh, look at the beautiful tree…” as I sail over a cliff.
I also scare people on my windy rural roads that I know like the back of my hand.
I’m a great mountain driver but hate big city driving. San Francisco and L.A. terrify me. haha
@Coloma “I’m a great mountain driver but hate big city driving. San Francisco and L.A. terrify me. ” Likewise. I avoid driving in cities at all cost. It’s kinda funny, one of my friends is always super cautious and hesitant when driving around. Recently I had her pick me up from JFK airport and thought to myself it’s going to be a hell of a ride near NYC. Yea she drives perfectly fine in the city, aggressively even, yet in the middle of nowhere with no traffic she’s constantly afraid of the roads :P
@Seek_Kolinahr I am also a bad parallel!
I really struggle with city driving. I get flustered and sweaty and struggle with decision making even when I know the city fairly well.
I haven’t driven in almost a year now. But I wasn’t really good at it anyway.
I can never pay attention to where I have to go. I always get sidetracked by something. It’s not that I don’t look in front of me, it’s just that I never make the right turns. I was on the highway once and missed my exit. Then I missed the next closest exit. Then I missed the third closest exit. It was one of the few times I’ve been on the highway, and that was my biggest problem.
Also, stepping on the gas (and the brakes) causes me anxiety because I hate the idea of wasting gas, so I drive slow, accelerate slowly, and I frequently treat stop signs more like liberal yield signs. It’s a good thing for both everyone else and myself that I don’t hold any car keys anymore haha.
I’m an excellent driver. I only admit my faults when I’m hanging in the air by the seatbelt and shoulder harness and I’m looking down at the roadway. And yeah, that’s happened. Screwing around sometimes bites you in the ass. :)
I have to add that I do not follow- the 3-second rule.
I learned a lot about parking by watching them move cars around the showroom when I worked in a car dealership years ago. I had a random stranger at the supermarket compliment my parking just yesterday! I backed-in between two big trucks. I saw her look at me funny when I started the maneuver, so I thought one of the trucks was hers; but as I was finishing, she walked past and said, “Nice parking!” while nodding emphatically.
@Adirondackwannabe – I’ve been upside-down, but it wasn’t my fault.
I am not as tolerant as I should be with idiot drivers.
You all should go to You Tube and watch car and truck crashes ,maybe it will teach us all to pay more attention to driving,and increase the safety of everyone getting home safely.
Admit my driving faults?
Why should I have to admit something that I demonstrate clearly every day?
Like a lot of things driving is influenced by personality type/brain functions. Sensor/judgers are all about attention to detail and intuitive/perceiving types are more easily distracted, scattered.
Seriously, brain stack function is huge in how we all operate behind the wheel and otherwise.
I can no longer parallel park. Used to be a champ but the skill has left me.
I speed, though rarely more than 7 mph over the limit on a highway, and rarely more than 2 or 3 over in anything under 45 mph.
I get impatient with people who have obvious poor driving skills. If they have an alternative, I really with they would use it. I won’t tailgate or flip them off, but I can feel the impatience rising in me.
I’m not good about checking my mirrors regularly. I use them before passing or merging or changing lanes, but not like I should throughout the drive. My driver’s education teacher pointed this out in 1982 and he’s still right. I have to make a conscious effort to do this.
I sing along to whatever track is playing, proper fucking loud, that’s all I got.
@tedibear Actually, thinking about it, I don’t think I check my mirrors enough either.
@SQUEEKY2 Maybe, by admitting our driving faults, it will make us think and act on them. So, what should you be trying to change about yours? Unless you’re deliberately tailgating slow drivers or overtaking on dangerous roads, I don’t think being intolerant of idiots is a problem.
I suppose that my one fault is that I drive a little lower than the posted speed limit in bad weather or road conditions. I need to learn to drive the speed limit, or even higher when the weather is bad like most drivers that I encounter do. Maybe I can avoid the tailgating, horn blowing and yelling that I recieve for taking my time in bad weather.
I’m being sarcastic, but also truthful from my driving experiences.
I’m a speeder. What can I say?
Sorry; no faults to admit . First, I never go more than 5mph over the speed limit. I’m determined not to get a ticket. Secondly, I use my blinkers when nobody is anywhere around.
@Aster do you always look over your shoulder to check your blind spot? Do you come to a complete stop at stop signs? Do you ALWAYS DIM YOUR HEADLIGHTS TO ON COMING TRAFFIC?
Yes to all except the stop sign question. I usually stop completely but not always. Thanks; I forgot about that.
I get really upset when people are going slow (or the speed limit) in the left lane. Around here, you better be going 80 or more in the left lane. If people are in the left lane and not going 80, and someone is coming up behind them, it really pisses me off when they don’t change into another lane.
Geez, all these people upset at others following the speed limit, like it’s the law or something.
You can do the speed limit, just not in the left lane. If you do the speed limit in the left lane, you will have people cutting you off from the right and you’ll actually be in danger. That’s around here, not sure about elsewhere in the country.
@jca I agree. Even if I’m going over the speed limit in the left lane and a car comes from behind that is going faster, I move over. It’s just safer for everyone involved.
I call it “dropping a hint.” When a car comes behind you and “drops a hint” then you better get the fuck out of the way.
@jca but it is also annoying when said car coming up behind you in the left lane doesn’t even give you a chance to move over and overtakes you on the inside anyway. for example if I’ve just moved into the left lane to overtake someone slower than me, but I don’t want to speed, I’m steadily overtaking them and have just gotten far enough in front to do so but mean while there’s a speeding idiot up my bum who slips in between me and the car I was overtaking before I even had a chance to move back over. I hate that.
@shrubbery: Good point. But if you are in the middle/right lane and you are looking to get into the left lane, and see someone coming up quickly, going 80, and you basically cut them off by getting in front of them doing 55, you will have a pissed off person behind you.
The person going 80 should take into account that the speed limit is 55, and the word “limit” isn’t a polite suggestion.
If your speed and stress level is such that a signaled lane change by another person pisses you off, maybe you should pull over and cool off for a while.
My irritation with the people who are riding my backside in the left lane is that it happens when I’m already speeding. If there are 3 lanes and I’ve been in the middle, but need to get over to the left, I look first. If there’s no one there, I get over. I have had plenty of idiots come out of nowhere, flying in the left lane and they ride my bumper. I’m already speeding, I’m passing on the left as I should and someone thinks that it’s okay to sit there. And then they flip me off because they’re annoyed? Bah.
@jca what @tedibear said. Or how about I’m not going to cater to people doing 80 in a 55 zone. I suppose one of my driving faults is that I antagonise douchebags on the road. If someone is really really up my bum and I am literally doing the speed limit (say in a suburban area or school zone) then I will break suddenly to make them realise how close they are. If a lane is closed off somewhere and everyone is merging into the other lane early when they see the big flashing sign up ahead to make it easier for everyone, then some dickhead zooms down the other lane to push in at the last possible minute, I will not let them in.
Anybody that tailgates at those speed is too stupid to live. I sometimes flash the brake lights, just to make them think about backing off. Only trouble is last time I did that to some girl in a hurry, on a narrow two lane road, she passed me in a completely blind spot on the road. She had no way in hell of knowing if anything was coming and she went for it. It wouldn’t have been on me if she killed someone but I don’t want that thought in my head.
@Seek_Kolinahr: On some roads here the speed limit is 65.
@shrubbery: I will do the brake thing, too, if I am behind someone and so there’s no need for me to be tailgated, as I can’t go through the person in front of me. However, if I am going as fast as I feel comfortable going, and someone is behind me, obviously wanting to pass me, I won’t stay in the left lane, I’ll move over and let them pass. I do agree with you about not letting people in, when they should have merged “back there.”
As I said, around here, everyone goes 80 in the left lane, or they stay out of the left lane. There’s no “pull over and cool off” as @Seek_Kolinahr suggested, because it’s really just keeping with the flow of traffic. Again, as I said, if someone was doing 50 or 60 in the left lane, they’d really be in danger because they’d be cut off from the right. Even in construction zones, where it says you must slow to 45 mph, the slowest people will go is 60. Cops will sit by the side of the road and you can go by doing 80 and they won’t pull you over.
I am not sure if it’s “New York driving” but people here are very cut-throat. I think it’s a “metro area” thing because if I go upstate, it’s not that way.
This is not a “jca” thing, this is the way it is, here. I’m not the fastest, most aggressive driver on the road but I’m not the slowest. I’ll move out of the way for those who are looking to pass, but I know my place, and unless I’m going 80, my place is not the left lane.
I should add to this that (if it’s not apparent from above) driving habits and behaviors are regional. What flies or does not stand in one area of the country may or may not be totally different than the way people drive in another area of the country. The region I live in is very busy, with long commutes, older roads (some built in the late 1920’s and were originally meant for pleasure rides) and people who are aggressive in the first place (“NY types”).
YES, @jca. In New Jersey… by @Seek_Kolinahr‘s standards, everyone would be pulled over. The highway shoulders would be crowded with people pulling over.
Right or wrong, in New Jersey… whatever the speed limit is, add 10. For highways, 15. That isn’t one “douchebag” speeding. It’s actually pretty interesting. If you’re on a three-lane highway with a speed limit of 65… the left lane will be doing 80. The middle will be doing 70–75. And the right lane will be doing 55–65. Nearly without fail. And for the most part, almost every New Jersey resident follows this unspoken agreement. The douchebags are the ones doing 65 in the left lane.
@poofandmook: Thank you for summing it up perfectly! I was like “pull over for anger?” To not drive that way means you better just keep yourself in the right lane!
@poofandmook “The douchebags are the ones doing 65 in the left lane.”
And incidentally, more often than not, from PA.
Connecticut people are often in the left lane doing 70, which is not too cool.
@jca – and New Yorkers do it here in NJ – but not as bad as PA drivers. I suspect that people who are less familiar with the route they are traveling and its traffic patterns and flow are more inclined to stay in the left lane; which is why every state complains about the drivers from neighboring states.
@hearkat: Except where I live, right near the CT border, the CT people are doing their daily rush hour commute, and we’re all going to the same city. So they know the route but I think perhaps it’s that CT people are just a tad more laid back.
@jca – We took vacation time from this Tuesday to next Tuesday to avoid the SuperBowl mess, as my fiancé commutes up through that area. We had hoped to leave the state, but the finances weren’t there, so we’ll just stay south of the Raritan.
My goodness! What have I started!
Um….I don’t know. I try to stay uber alert when I’m driving. I refuse to talk on the phone when I’m driving. I anticipate a lot. When I’m on a fast two lane highway and there is someone at a stop sign waiting for a break so they can pull out I always flash my headlights at them to make SURE they’ve seen me, especially if their wheels are rolling a little (I hate that.) I’ve a few people tell me I’m a good driver.
@filmfann _“On a long highway, going 72 in the fast lane, I refuse to move into a slower lane for faster cars behind me. They flash their lights, I ignore them.
I figure they have steering wheels too.“_ Why do you refuse to move over? You create a situation that could be dangerous when you force people to weave in and out.
@filmfann: @Dutchess_III has a good point. Why be unnecessarily stubborn? I am not going to use the word that I think when I pass drivers that are driving the way you describe, but it’s not nice. I see no reason for doing what you describe yourself doing. The left lane is called “The Passing Lane” for people to pass, and slower cars are not supposed to be in that lane – it’s dangerous to have people passing you on your right.
And the person flying down the road at 80+, taking advantage of the passing lane, so that people driving at a reasonable speed are unable to pass without “pissing off” the speeders? What of them?
My Ex always stayed in the passing lane which I thought was really wrong.
@Seek_Kolinahr You wait a second till they get around you, then you pull out and pass then get back over. I don’t see the problem.
My ex-boyfriend used to do that too, @janbb, doing the speed limit. He said, “That lane is always clear!”
I told him it was clear for a reason and they didn’t build that lane just for HIM!
Again, I understand driving habits are regional. Perhaps what is acceptable in Florida or Tennessee or Alaska is not the way we drive around where I live, with most people commuting to NYC, long commutes from Connecticut or upstate, and everyone is in a big giant rush. However, around here, you should not be in the left lane if you are not going at least 80.
Furthermore, regardless of where you are, no matter what state, if you are in the left lane and someone is behind you flashing their lights, looking to pass you, for what reason would you insist on staying in the left lane? Once you pass other cars in the middle lane, if that’s what you are doing, why would you not move over, getting in front (“passing”) the cars you just passed?
Again, around here, don’t drive that way because you will probably be involved in an accident.
I posted a link yesterday from a New Jersey paper that was explaining to out-of-state people some tips that locals want them to know. #1 was “Stay out of the left lane.”
Link above – Didn’t realize it was on this threat that I posted it.
I’m curious as to what the answer is too, @jca. Why would he do that, especially knowing exactly what he was doing?
Around here, someone would get in front of him and slam on the brakes.
Who are we talking about now?
@filmfann said he stays in the left lane regardless of faster drivers flashing their lights at him. Look above.
I think he’s the only person who has said he hangs out in the left lane.
I tend to stay in the center, because speeders are assholes and idiots don’t know how to merge safely (like those who coast up to the end of the merge lane slowly, then stop and flip on their turn signal).
Yep. Center lane except to pass. At one point or another everyone on the highway will be in the right lane, either entering or exiting. That right there creates situations best avoided. Not everyone will be in the center lane, and even fewer in the passing lane.
Yes, he’s the only one who has said it and we’ve been wondering what his logic is ever since.
But hanging in the center lane is what forces slightly faster drivers to pass in the left lane, resulting in the fastest drivers being forced to pass on the right which totally defeats the purpose and makes the traffic pattern less predicable and less safe for everyone. Keep to the right, except when passing.
I disagree @hearkat. On a 2 lane+ highway, he far right lane is a traffic snarl with people merging to exit and people merging when they enter, and many of them have no skill or common sense. To hang around in that lane is almost an invitation to a wreck.
What’s the excuse when there’s several miles between exits? Just stay in the right lane. If there’s a heavy merge, move over when needed – because then you are passing. Once the flow has resumed, move back into the right lane.
If you’re keeping pace with the traffic in whatever lane you’re in, then stay in that lane. To be switching lanes right and left is when the majority of accidents happen on the highway. If you’re in a lane where everyone is going 70, and you’re going 70, then stay there. If you’re in a lane where everyone is going 55, and you’re going 55, then stay there.
I’m a little stuck on the “speeders are assholes” thing. That’s horribly judgmental to say just because you disagree with their methods. Fast isn’t always dangerous. Here, slow is dangerous.
Maybe the fastest drivers could lay off the damned gas for five seconds so someone else can use the passing lane, too.
To me, someone who stays in the passing lane while people are flashing lights at them and making it obvious they want to pass is the ultimate a-hole driver. When you take the drivers’ safety class, that’s one thing the instructor cautions against – when someone wants to pass you, is tailgating, flashing lights, whatever, get out of their way! Especially with the increase in road rage incidents, why would you want to invite trouble? So it’s not just us on Fluther, it’s the link from NJ and it’s professional driving instructors who feel the same way. So who’s right?
I also like how @filmfann never came back to defend why he does such a thing (staying in left lane even with people wanting to pass).
What I’m hearing from @hearkat is that EVERYONE should drive single-file in the right lane, use the center lane for passing, so the speeders have the left lane all to themselves.
Which sounds patently ridiculous to me.
Up here in B.C there are signs on the highways that say stay right except to pass.
No I haven’t seen it on 3lane highways just 2 .
It’s my understanding that in NJ on the three lane Parkway, etc. that the two right most lanes – the center and the enter/exit lane – can have continuous traffic in them and the left most lane should be left clear for passing. When there is heavy traffic, all three lanes seem are utilized with the leftmost lane ideally going the fastest.
There are signs here on two lane highways as Squeeky says for Canada.
@Seek_Kolinahr: I’m a bit confused by your statement about faster drivers laying off the gas to let someone else pass. Wouldn’t you probably only need to wait a few seconds before they passed you, and then you could pass behind them?
I was on a freeway in Wichita for the first time in a looooong time yesterday. I used to drive it on an almost daily basis when I lived there, but it’s been several years. I found myself slipping into old, and safe habits, without even thinking about it, and I thought of you guys. I stayed in the center lane (exits and entrances every mile or so) and created a nice big bubble around myself with what I could control. I left 10, 15 car lengths between me and the cars in front of me, and made sure no one was riding right beside me for any length of time, so that everyone could change lanes as needed without stress, without feeling like they have to squeeze themselves in. I rather enjoyed watching people move smoothly in and out of the bubble I created, knowing that they didn’t realize I had made it just for them.
@hearkat, in my experience the only time there are 3 or more lanes is when you are in a metropolitan area. The exits are much closer than “miles apart.” As you get on the outskirts, the lanes narrow down to just 2, where the exits are indeed many miles apart. When that happens sure, you should stay in the right lane. But NOT when you’re in a busy, congested, metropolitan freeway where people are entering and exiting every few seconds.
I agree with @jca when she says that changing lanes is when people get into trouble.
@seek…I’m not sure what your experience with asshole speeders is, but I’ve never had any trouble moving into the outside lane when I wanted to pass a slower driver. I just had to pick my space, wait till it opens up, move into it, make sure I’m going as fast as the people coming up behind me are (perhaps going faster than I actually wanted to for a moment) then move back over when I’ve passed the slower driver I wanted to pass.
@Dutchess_III – I commute daily on a 3-lane interstate where there are spaces with 5–7 miles between exits – plenty of space to stay in the right lane and only move over if there is a heavy merge. On the toll portions of the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway there are even longer gaps between exits.
If it’s a more local road, like US Hwy. 1 that I also commute on, I do understand staying in the center lane because there are many side roads and entrances to stores along the way. My criticisms are mostly relating to controlled-entrance highways.
@filmfann: I respect you a lot for admitting it’s a fault. GA.
Can you please, please correct it @filmfann? :(
Okay. People are going to speed in the left lane. Fine. Go for you life. But if I want to pass someone, and I move into the left lane to do so, and a speeder comes out of nowhere up my ass wanting to zoom past, I am not going to speed so that they can get past me a few seconds sooner. I am not going to risk a speeding fine and points off my license for them. I will overtake someone who is doing less than the speed limit so that I can get in front and do the speed limit, but you’re not going to make me speed just because you want to, so you can just wait until I’ve moved back into the right line. Deal with it.
@shrubbery I totally agree,just make sure they are not already on your ass before you pull out to pass the slow poke.
Right, like @SQUEEKY2 said, make sure you’re not cutting someone off who is coming quickly and you’re getting in front of them. You wouldn’t be moving into the left lane (in the region I live/work in) unless you were willing to go over 70, because the middle lane is doing 70.
On the road I take to work, 3 lanes in each direction, people will also pass in right lane if there are slow idiots in both left and middle lanes.
I don’t know, around here, we go past the cops doing 80 and they don’t bother – I guess because they’d be trying to ticket everyone and they’d not get to drink their coffee. It’s called “Keeping up with the flow of traffic.” Everyone’s doing 80, the slowest are doing 65, so if you’re going less than that, you’re screwing everything up.
That sounds absurd.
And also, it’s clearly not working.
@Seek_Kolinahr Yes, I’ve never seen it done that way on our large three lane toll roads and I’m in NJ.
Should make cars out of rubber, turn motorways/freeways into giant pinball machines.
Accidents would be truly hilarious, weeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh!!
Taken from the article:
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), a co-sponsor of the legislation, said that besides drinking and driving, failure to stay right is perhaps the most hazardous action on roadways — and also a trigger for road rage.
“It’s extremely frustrating to be stuck behind someone who is not practicing proper lane discipline, keeping to the right,” said O’Scanlon, who co-sponsored the measure with Assemblyman Gilbert “Whip” Wilson (D-Camden). “If you are not passing, you should not be in the left lanes of any highway. If you drive on the (Garden State) Parkway for longer than 5 or 10 minutes, you see people just blatantly ignoring this most decent principle of highway driving.”
Thank you! :)
So, do you plan on driving 80+ in the right lane? Or just claim to be “passing” everyone on the road?
I like the top comment under the article. “O’Scanlon : ”..and also a trigger for road rage” – that’s like blaming the victim of domestic violence for pushing the perp’s buttons”
NJ sounds like it has a bunch of impatient drivers. I think impatience causes more accidents than drivers obeying the speed limit. just my opinion
Why anger someone unnecessarily? They tell you this when you take the drivers’ safety course – when someone looks to pass you, get out of their way. Why would you want to take the chance that someone is going to cut you off and slam on their brakes or something like that? I don’t see the reason why you would want to invite that. To be spiteful? To show that you are entitled? Multiple sources saying get out of the way. So get out of the way. Especially during rush hour.
I don’t know why everyone else on the road has to coddle you because you want to drive dangerously fast. Are you entitled? Are you spiteful?
You still haven’t answered: Do you want the right to drive 80+ in the right lane, or do you, as a speeder, get special privilege to hang out in the passing lane, whilst everyone else marches single-file?
Common courtesy @jca. Today, however, some people seem to think that showing common courtesy is a weakness.
@Seek_Kolinahr You adjust what lane you’re in, and your speed sometimes too, according the your needs at the moment, or according to other people’s needs at the moment.
Oh no no. The middle and left lanes are for passing only. Period. End of story. See above.
(I’m so confused as to why this has become a hot argument. Are some of you theists and some of you atheists?)
Yes, Seek. That is correct. When you are passing you move to the left lane. When you are finished passing you move back to the center or right lane to clear the way for those who may be going even faster than you are. (I’m sticking with using the center lane for cruising and leaving the right lane clear for entering and exiting traffic. It may be that our freeways are set up a little differently here than they are in some places.)
@janbb Ssssh. We’re not allowed to discuss that here, anymore.
(This is sooo much more fun. How about, “Is this the argument clinic?”)
JESUS SAVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Took me a minute, but I got it!
If, as a speeder, one is passing everyone, then one would be hanging out in the left lane (myself included).
Anybody who disagrees, please don’t come driving slowly in the left lane in the NY metro area during rush hour. Disagree and drive slowly in the left lane wherever you’re from, on Sunday afternoons or whatever, please. I’m not asking to be coddled, as @Seek_Kolinahr so eloquently puts it. I agree with @janbb, it’s not clear why this is an argument. This is not a @jca issue, as I linked articles and explained that even in Defensive Driving/Driving Safety courses, they say the same thing. Why incite road rage, why be spitefully going slow in the left lane? Get out of the way! That’s all. Peace.
As long as there are people to be passed then speeders are “hanging out” in the left lane, which is not to be confused with someone hanging out in the left lane because there are no other cars in that lane and they like it, even though they’re only doing 50.
But even the speeders need to move over when there is no one left to pass for quite a distance.
I drive about 5 mph over the speed limit and that’s it. I often use the left lane to pass people who are driving the speed limit, or slower, in the right hand lane. Some of these drivers in the passing lane come out of nowhere! I would never purposely get in the left hand lane to pass someone if I noticed another car coming along behind me in the passing lane. These people who come out of nowhere doing 80 mph or more start riding my ass and expect me to speed up just so their impatient head won’t explode. Just who is inciting the road rage here? It happens to me all the time. I get over as soon as I can, but I’m not going to speed up just to appease these impatient drivers.
I do drive 75–80 MPH in the right lane when there are no other vehicles in my vicinity. I commute opposite the heaviest traffic on the 3-lane interstate in rush hour, and also have a couple days when I work off-peak hours. I hate when I’m cruising along and keeping right then come upon someone going slower in the center lane, because I am faced with the dilemma: cross two traffic lanes in order to pass on the left, or stay the course I’m on and pass on the right?
@hearkat – I encounter that scenario and simply stay in my lane. To me, that’s more like cruising along in your lane – not so much passing the person. From a legal perspective, I wonder if I’m right?
@hey_now – That’s what I mean! I don’t hang in the left lane, but I do use it to pass. If I’m already speeding (usually 7 over because I don’t need another ticket) and have no lane to go into, how does the person behind me benefit from tailgaiting? That’s the part I can’t figure out.
I agree with @hey_now. I wouldn’t purposefully cut someone off who’s coming up the left lane when I want to overtake, I wouldn’t purposefully cut anyone off at that speed, (only dickheads who want to merge in at the last minute when we’re all going slow anyway :P) but if someone comes hooning up out of nowhere I will not speed up for them, and I shouldn’t have to be willing to go over 70 or whatever the speed limit is. In Australia we have automatic speed cameras on the freeways/main roads/intersections etc so if everyone is speeding in the left (well actually it’s the opposite here but for discussions sake) lane everyone will get a ticket. We are also encouraged to stick to the right unless overtaking but the middle lanes are free for alls. As long as you’re not going slow in the left lane you can be in whatever lane you like because you might have to be in a particular lane to exit or to be on the correct side where a freeway splits in half to go different directions for example, you don’t want to hang in the right lane and then get stuck going somewhere by accident because you couldn’t get across. Keep left (right for you) unless overtaking, that’s what our signs say, but it doesn’t literally mean the left lane only unless there’s only two lanes, because as others have said everyone will be merging in on the left (right for you) lane and you’ll have to move over anyway every time so you are perfectly allowed to sit in the middle lanes. That is one other thing that annoys me though. The thing about merging is that you are supposed to be going the same speed as the traffic you are merging into by the time you get there, right? That’s the fundamental part of merging isn’t it? But people coming on the on ramps never seem to be willing to get up to speed so they awkwardly have to cut in and make the people already in the left (right for you) lane slow down if they didn’t have time to move into the centre lane so the left (right for you) lane is always slower, so that’s why I stay in the centre lane to do the speed limit, and speeders pass on the right (left for you).
That was the longest aside I’ve seen in my whole Jelly life.
@tedibear – That’s my take on it, too. I might cross over if I know there’s an exit coming up in case someone is merging on the highway and don’t want to be going that fast in the right lane and unable to move over because self-absorbed dippety-do is clogging up the center lane. To clarify – I do mind what’s happening on the entire road, and if a slower car is in the right lane and I’m passing in the center, but then I see merging traffic or they’re coming up on an even slower vehicle, I will respectfully move over to the left to allow them room in the center lane. Common courtesy is sadly uncommon these days.
Whenever I take my eyes off the road, even for a second, I drift to the right shoulder.
My reflexes, situational awareness and proprioception were always exceptional. And now this drifting is a sign that all that is waning. My interest in driving today is nil. If I had the money for servants, the first one I’d hire would be the chauffeur.
I try to never, ever take my eyes off of the road, especially in town. When I do for whatever reason, I’m invariably taken by surprise by a car braking in front of me, then I have to rush to put on my brakes. I hate that, and I feel sheepish, even when I’m by myself. However, I think a lot of people think that that sudden, unexpected braking is just a natural part of driving and not a flag that they weren’t paying attention and could rear end someone next time.
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