Can someone give me a brief, accurate run-down on the prohibition against "Passing on the Right" as it applies to the U.S.?

I think it has something to do with drivers not expecting you to pass from the right, so it causes fear which can lead to danger. I have no personal opinion on this because I don’t drive, but those are the opinions of a few other people who I’ve talked to this about.

Bear in mind that before the 1980’s, most cars did not have a right side mirror, so the right side blind spot was huge. If you passed someone on the right, you were in their blind spot and they could only see you if they looked over their right shoulder.

Out here in California we’ve never had that “passing lane” concept or mindset. We have the fast lane and the slow lane. But no compunction about passing someone on the right if they aren’t up to the flow of traffic.

Seems to me that if you’re in the driver’s seat on the left you’re able to see cars passing on the left better than if they’re passing on the right.

What @Pachy said.

Around here, too, if you’re going slow in the left lane, you’ll not only get passed on the right but you may get cut off and possibly shown some brake lights by the person passing you.

There were right side mirrors in the 60’s, @zenvelo. I was there, and I manually adjusted them for my parents.

If someone comes up behind me, I want to get into the right-hand lane so that they can have the leftmost lane to pass slower traffic. If that fast-moving car tries to pass me on the right while I’m trying to do that, there will be a collision.

Basically, passing on the right removes the ability of the person driving in the left lane to act responsibly. It’s an asshole move, and it puts all other drivers around that car in danger.

Here are the rules for California. VC Section 21754 Passing on the Right .
Summary: It’s legal in most cases and the slower car should move to the right.

I think it’s common sense. Almost all on ramps and off ramps enter from the right, so it just makes sense to avoid passing on the right. And the law is unless passing, you’re supposed to stay in the right hand lane. It gives you added room to avoid traffic in the other direction. But you always see idiots driving slow in the left lane.

Some states allow passing on the right, but even in those states it is discouraged.

Passing on the left only applies to freeways/highways/interstates, whichever term you use. Exits and entrances, also called on ramps and off ramps, to the highway are typically on the right so merging traffic is also on the right. Merging traffic is at slower speeds, so keeping slower traffic on the right is safer and logical. Passing traffic is faster traffic. As traffic is entering the highway the car entering and the cars in the right lane carry the responsibility of cars merging on safely and so if another moves over to the right where cars are merging it adds another car to have to deal with and a car changing lanes can easily be missed by the car trying to merge onto the highway. Much like you cannot change lanes within a few hundred feet of an intersection or near an intersection, no one should be changing lanes into the right lane near an entrance to a highway as cars merge on.

A lot of old highways have weave patterns for exiting and entering the highway, which means cars exiting are merging over to the exit lane while people coming on are in that same lane eventually moving over to the left onto the right lane of the highway. In older cities the merge space is very short, made in a time when speeds were not so fast and highways were not so crowded. Some old highways you have to basically yield rather than match speed and merge.

In summary, merging is the real deal on freeways and you can’t merge well with traffic if you are trying to get up to speed and the cars in the lane you are merging with are going so fast it is impossible to reach that speed in the distance alloted before the merge lane ends.

Lastly, the left lane is the fast lane, so it is logical that it would be the passing lane. It is safer for there to be general rules about the speed of each lane on large highways because a car driving 70 that comes up on a car going 50 is unsafe. Especially, if the road has some curves and the driver might not be able to see several hundred feet ahead at all times.

Note: highway in this case is the same as an interstate type road not a rural highway.

@ibstubro Yes, there were some. But not on a ‘68 Ford Country Squire, or a 72 Plymouth Duster, nor on a ‘69 Ford Cortina. First car I had with one was a 77 Plymouth Fury.

My dad was a Chevy man, @zenvelo. Honestly, I know nothing about the rest. He was also a former auto-body-mechanic, and might have modified our cars. Corvair is my early memory.

Agree with @Adirondackwannabe. Everybody moves to the right eventually. Not every one moves to the left. The chances of getting whacked by passing on the right are higher. Plus it makes a nightmare for on and off ramps.

As long as there are 4 lanes, I see nothing wrong with a quick pass on the right. I honestly believe that some people think the left lane is for people that are not going to be exiting for a long time. I see them enter and immediately move to the left lane, regardless of speed.

I mean, you have to pass on the right at times when there are 6, 8 or 10 lanes, don’t you? So, if some idiot get in the left lane and drives 55 in a 70mph, the whole of traffic is at their mercy? That’s not even a valid thought. And it does happen.

@ibstubro When I lived in TN it was the worst state I ever lived in for freeway traffic. Later my husband and I began to realize that a lot of people there did not know fast traffic stays left. It was incredibly frustrating. The rules are there to give predictability to traffic, which makes the roads safer. However, I agree that passing on the right sometimes is reasonable. I learned to drive in a state where passing on the right was legal. Ironically, in that state, people were good about slower traffic to the right and fast traffic on the left. The roads had so much traffic there that it was basically fast traffic on the left, not “passing” traffic, because all lanes were full. Cars would get on the highway and immediately get into the left lane if they drove 70 MPH + as their standard speed. While when I lived in MI some of the highways were less traveled and people literally passed on the left and got back over to the right.

If someone is putting in the left lane on a freeway, you can almost bet that it is an old person. They probably learned to drive before there were freeways, and simply don’t understand the way they’re supposed to work.

Hell, I just learned about zipper merge, and I’m past 50. They could do a lot, @JLeslie, to educate people with signage at construction slow-downs, stops.

@ibstubro Certainly people who rarely drive on freeways are usually not very good at it. We see that in FL. People from the islands who never could drive more than 45 on a mountainous road in their country, or people from Manhattan who rarely drive at all. In your neck of the woods highways have been around for a long time. My grandma used to drive the highways and she would be in her 90’s if she were alive. She learned to drive at age 50, so maybe she doesn’t count? My parents are in their 70’s and they certainly know to lass on the left. They are from a pass on the left only state though. Unless NY has changed that law. Actually, I think they learned to drive in Massachusetts. I know my mom did.

@ibstubro If the person in the leftmost lane is sitting there, going a lower speed than other traffic, and collecting a string of cars behind it, then I think it’s perfectly acceptable (and probably the safest thing to do) for people to pass it on the right – because the slow driver on the left is making everyone unsafe with his behaviour. But at least give that driver an opportunity to safely switch lanes before trying to pass.

However, most of the passing on the right that I’ve witnessed occurs when some yahoo decides that the highway is his personal racecourse, and just weaves around all the cars at high speed.

@ibstubro I’ve been watching cars recently and it is so much easier to see them on the left. I usually use the mirrors a lot, but it’s hard to see someone on the right side.

Eisenhower started the interstate highway system in St. Louis, Mo, @JLeslie. There’s a plaque where it started. Certainly there are people on the roads today that learned before that.

I live between two small towns, about 20 miles apart, and there is a significant number of people who never make the drive because it’s ‘too far’. When those people have to deliver someone to the airport in St. Louis, it’s about as familiar to them flying a helicopter. I’m agreeing with you, just so there’s no mistake. :)

I can go with that, @dappled_leaves. When the average driver is passed on the right, it’s a stupid, impatient move. Other clueless or rude drivers make passing on the right necessary at times.

If they are driving under the speed limit for more than a mile or so, I’m going around, @Adirondackwannabe.

I think it is just insane to pass a person on the right when you have on and off ramps everywhere. For all you know, the person is going to move to the right to get the next exit and not even look.

If an on/off ramp is approaching, it’s asinine to be in the opposite lane from another vehicle, right or left, @Dutchess_III.

My experience driving in and around St. Louis was fairly uneventful. Some of the roads west of St. Louis are a little confusing, which made driving a little nerve racking. Some cities I feel overly impressed by the courtesy of other drivers on the road and their adherence to the rules. I didn’t feel that in St. Louis, but I also didn’t feel they were overly dangerous or scary drivers. I only have spent maybe 7 or 8 days in St. Louis broken up into a few visits. Plus, a few times I just drove by on my way to Indiana. So, I don’t have a ton of experience there.

I’m thinking of 6 lanes, @ibstubro. 3 one way, 3 the other. The center lane is the best place to be if you’re going faster than some, slower than some. That leaves the right lane open for people to merge into as they’re coming on, and merge into as they’re exiting, and the far right lane open for people to pass.

@JLeslie I5 is a trip!

I think 70 is through KC, but there was a huge confluence the last time I was there, @Dutchess_III. Like 12 lanes (converged) to 6–8, downtown?

Go with the flow, pray for the best.

On a 6 lane, I still find the best place to be is the left lane. I pick up the speed of traffic and follow it.

12 lanes can be overwhelming. Up to 10 I am ok with. Sometimes 10+ are divided into local lanes and express lanes and that can be worrisome if you are new to the area. Afraid you might not be able to get out when you need to. 8 lanes feels commonplace to me, although 6 is what I mostly find myself on. 4 lane highways always feel a little odd to me, because I am so used to 6+ even though I lived quite a few years in places with 4 lane highways nearby. Having only 2 lanes to choose from feels more limiting in heavy traffic than having 3, even if the density of the traffic is the same in the lanes.

Even as a country boy, I seem to navigate the multiple lanes as I come upon them, @JLeslie. I use to drive through the city downtown’s I came through, just to see the sights. If there was a city on my route, I took the downtown route.

Wild but thrilling. Never an accident.

No thanks, I’ll stick to the highways when I can. Although, I do often take the highway through the city rather than a beltway or loop around if the city route is a shorter distance. As long as it isn’t rush hour I take my chances to hopefully save time. The problem with the interstates through the city is they often are crappier roads. Sometimes narrower lanes too.

I’m a paradox, @JLeslie, I love the skyline as much as the country-scape.

I hate what man does to the planet, I marvel at the things man has done, then hate the cancer more.

When I am down in the city I can’t see the skyline. It’s the approach to the city that is awesome. I love seeing the city suddenly in the distance and watching it grow. I don’t think of the city as the opposite of nature. Having dense cities with buildings that go up ideally means more countryside is maintained. It’s the suburbs, the sprawl, that takes away precious land. In the city a milion people can live in a mile.

Observation of three lanes each direction in central California:

Between Vacaville CA and Davis CA, Interstate 80 is three lanes each way, and heavily travelled. Often, the middle lane moves faster than the left lane, as most Californians will move into the left/fast lane by instinct to get where they are gong as quickly as possible.

And people move out of the slow lane so that traffic can move on and off easily. So often one will see the left lane and the middle lane slow way down because of traffic, and the most efficient use of roadway is to zip on up the right lane and bypass the slower traffic.

Well, I still see passing on the right as dangerous, especially when you have cars entering and exiting on the right. Be passing a car and he needs to move to the right to exit, so he does,and doesn’t see you. There is a car trying to enter the right lane from the on ramp, and suddenly you have to move to the left to let him in. The less you have to change lanes, the better off you are. That’s why I use the center lane, unless I’m passing (on the left) or exiting, on the right.