Was the trucker in the wrong, or was I?

Sped He sped up. Not speeded up.

I can’t see anything wrong with what you were doing. I might have done the same thing. (And I have a CDL.)
One thing you might do is make certain your speedometer reads correctly. I see lots of new (er) cars these days where the speedo seems to be about 5 MPH off (slow). Of course, his could be off, too.

I was gauging my speed in relation to others. I don’t pay as much attention to the speedometer as I do to the average speed of those around me. I use it to keep a clear bubble around me by either speeding up or slowing down.

Thanks for the answer. Truckers are almost always right, so it left me a little confused.

As much as a trucker on here may disagree, I don’t think it’s accurate to say, ” Truckers are almost always right…” Way too many are wrong, you had an encounter with one.

I said MOST truckers are right. It’s the ones who are wrong who make the biggest impression though, obviously. You can see 20 truckers trucking right along, but that one who tries to move into your lane without checking is the one you’re going to remember. I probably had 5 trucks pass me on the left with that one right on my butt. Those 5 all moved back to center when they were done.

If people want to pass you, and you know it, get right. If you feel like everyone should move over to pass you, then you’re asking them to do the same thing you are refusing to do.

Passing on the right is always scary, because you know the other idiot doesn’t know what’s going on. I hate that. The trucker was wrong.

@funkdaddy I couldn’t move right. There was too much traffic and too much going on with people entering and exiting every mile. It was practically bumper to bumper, which is why the one guy trying to come on had no where to go, if the guy to my right didn’t move over. The trucker should have moved to the left, to the passing lane, where it was clear, instead of trying to force me to the right in to a bunch of shifting traffic.

I’ve noticed that trucks and buses tend to stay in the rightmost lane. They use the next lane over to pass other vehicles in the rightmost lane. So, I believe they thought you were going too slow in their passing lane. I’m not sure if this “keep right” thing is a law/requirement or not. If it is, I’d say you were in the way. If not, then the trucker was wrong.

Assuming that you assessed the situation correctly, if the trucker wanted to pass you, the thing for him to do would be to move into the passing lane. However, it sounds as if he was oblivious to the action in the rightmost lane, and simply moved to fill the gap you created when you entered the passing lane. If he had been more vigilant, he probably would have maintained his speed, and allowed cars from the right to make way for incoming traffic.

Or, he read the situation differently than you did, and saw no oncoming crisis from the right lane. Maybe you overreacted.

And I agree with @zenvelo. I have no idea why anyone would assume “truckers are almost always right”. I have no reason to suspect they are right more often than any other person who drives a lot.

It looks like he was in the wrong here, but if it were me this was happening to, I’d be a lot less concerned about who’s right or wrong and focus on the fact that trucks need a much longer margin for stopping.

If a truck is riding my back bumper, I’ll be the one reduced to creamed corn if anything unforseen happens so wouldn’t be alive to contest who’s in the right.

I don’t argue with truckers, period. Regardless of how wrong they are, I just don’t want to be anywhere near an asshole like that.

I just flash my brake lights and get over to the right and slow way down until he passes and I can’t see him anymore. I don’t want to be anywhere near an idiot who rides the bumpers of passenger cars.

So, in cases like this, for me at least, it’s an unfortunate case of “might makes right”. It shouldn’t be that way but for me it is. The sheer bulk and weight of that weapon he’s driving has the ability to wipe me off the face of the earth. Clearly I’m no match for that.

It’s similar to if I were being mugged at gunpoint. I’m tossing my wallet at the guy and running away as fast and as far as I can. No amount of money or pride is worth exchanging my life for.

PS: if the truck in question has one of those 800 numbers along with “Hows my driving?” I’ll definitely call with his plate number, but I’m not under the illusion that it will do much.

@Dutchess_III how did you ever get off the highway? ~

It’s probably easier for you to get right then it is for him to get left with 50 feet of truck. Some places, especially along IH35, trucks aren’t allowed in the left lane. It’s for passing only and when there are three lanes in an urban area, it’s illegal for them to use it. Your trucker was probably aware of that.

Unfortunately the center lane isn’t a safe zone to keep a bubble.

Sped and speeded are equally acceptable.

After I passed the last entrance ramp before my off ramp, and was secure knowing that I wasn’t going to be crowding someone trying to enter, I then moved to the right and exited.

If it was illegal, then I guess those other 5 trucks that passed on my left just broke the law.

Yes, it is a safe zone to keep a bubble. Hell of a lot safer than the enter/exit lane, where you have to constantly change lanes to let people in and constantly having people moving in your lane in front of you and behind you and some try to occupy the same space because they’re stupid. The center lane isn’t nearly as crowded and much easier to control.

Doesn’t sound right, though. “Speeded” sounds like something a little kid would say!

Maybe you didn’t fully understand the situation, @funkdaddy. We were in the middle of the city, LOTS of activity, not out in the middle of nowhere.

@Buttonstc It really didn’t occur to me to move into the passing lane to let him pass! I mean, I totally agree with your assessment of being creamed corn if something happened. As it was, I kept the traffic in front of me at a distance and kept my eye on the passing lane ready to maneuver if something happened, if someone in the right lane tried to come into my position or something.

I’ve driven literally thousands of miles on I35. I’m sorry you felt unsafe and were crowded, truly.

My experience has been the more uncomfortable someone is on the highway, the more chaos they are causing around them. The only solution I’ve found is for people to use the rules built into the system to their advantage.

There is no understood rule that the middle lane should be a safe zone, you will make people angry driving slowly in that lane.

There is a rule that you can drive slowly in the right lane, allow people in an out, and that’s expected.

All I was trying to get across is that there is another solution where you treat the person behind you with the same respect you’ve treated the person next to you, rather than feel one of you has to be wrong.

As I said originally, if you think someone wants to pass, just move over, when you can, most people understand.

I was matching the average speed of every one else, about 63 in a 60. I wasn’t driving “slowly.” He had plenty of time and room to move into the passing lane. I didn’t know what he wanted to do. I assumed if he wanted to pass, he would have movee into the passing lane and pass! Maybe he was just a crappy driver. I figured his exit was coming up soon and he was just in a rush to get to it and thought he could push me. Turns out he kept going all the way to the turnpike, pushing other people. Before I lost sight of him I saw him get up on the person who had once been in front of me. After my exit, the highway narrows to 4 lane (2 lanes each direction.) Don’t know what he wanted the other guy to do since he couldn’t move to the right because the right was gone.

Aren’t big trucks sometimes not allowed in the far left lane, or am I talking out of my ass here?

@Mariah It can’t be more illegal than tailgating, surely. :/

That’s what @funkdaddy, but I don’t think that’s the case here. I had other trucks who passed on the left. If that’s a rule, it’s a bad one, especially in a city setting.

Trucks may not be in the passing lane except to pass, and then they must get over asap. It’s a law.

@jca Then, it sounds like he should have used the passing lane, no?

That’s pretty much the rule for everyone @jca, not just trucks. Except some people are too stupid to learn.

@funkdaddy ”...and when there are three lanes in an urban area, it’s illegal for them to use it.” OK, now that is disturbing. We’re spending so much effort trying to convince people to stay in the right lane, except to pass, and then there is some law that says trucks can’t even use the passing lane? How are we, the average drivers, supposed to know that and compensate? What we have are different groups of people on two (or three) different pages. Sounds like a cluster to me.

@dappled_leaves That’s where I was coming from.

@Dutchess_III “That’s where I was coming from.”

Yeah. I mean, I could see someone (hmm, who?) arguing that trucks are special – they’re big and heavy and full of momentum, so they should not have to use the passing lane to pass. But they do. They either have to use the passing lane to pass, or they have to be patient and courteous enough to reduce their speed and not tailgate. One or the other.

Right. And I don’t get why he didn’t use the passing lane, when it was clear 80% of the time he was on my butt. And when I did move into the passing lane so the guy next to me could change lanes to let the 3rd guy enter, the trucker just charged into that situation. It just makes no sense.

@Dutchess_III: That’s the law for trucks, not just a rule.

I understand the difference. One’s a law for trucks, one is an excellent suggestion for other drivers. However, it did become a law in Kansas about 3 years ago that they can ticket drivers for cruising in the passing lane. Doesn’t seem to be enforced, as far as I can see, and hasn’t made a difference.

I just found this helpful chart linked here:

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

It gives me a new attitude toward other drivers and discussions we’ve had here on Fluther where people say they stay in the left lane regardless of who wants to pass them or other drivers being behind them. Now I know that in many states, it is a law to move over. I knew it was a law for trucks, but not necessarily for cars. I am one who gets very annoyed at drivers who stay in the left lane and refuse to budge. Get the fuck out of the way! (this is not related to the discussion we’re having here about the truck, which I am not really following)

@jca Absofuckinglutely.

This is too damn confusing. I’m calling my state rep!

Thanks for the link @jca. Who’s with me thinking there needs to be a national law and not having it left up to states? I’m thinking everyone should be forced to attend driving school at least once every 10 years in order to renew their license. I mean, this flying around other people at 70, 80, 90 miles an hour with nobody knowing the rules is scary.

@Dutchess_III: What’s helpful is the 6 hour safety course, which takes money off your car insurance rates and gives a refresher about laws and rules of the road. I don’t know if it’s in every state, but it’s in NYS.

I hadn’t heard of that. I know that taking Driver’s Ed reduced my folk’s car insurance. I’ll check with my insurance provider tomorrow.

It just sucks that driving, probably the most dangerous thing in the world, is so damn helter skelter in this country.

@Dutchess_III: There’s a lot of complaining about the cops lately, in this country. I’m glad there are cops patrolling the highways and byways, because if not, people would go 100 and weave in and out of traffic and all kinds of things they do anyway, but would do way more without the fear of getting caught, if they could.

@Dutchess_III I won’t argue with you about driving school every so often but I do believe that every driver should attend a defensive driving course. It’s not enough to just know how to operate a car (or truck) and motor it down the road.

The trucks aren’t allowed in the “fast lane” here because

1) trucks take a long time to pass both because they generally exceed the speed limit by less than most cars in the fast lane and because they need more space to get back over
2) their speed limit is lower in many areas

So if there are three lanes, one is “no trucks” so you don’t end up stacked behind trucks 3 wide basically. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, just that’s the thinking.

Austin built a toll road around 35 (SH 130) specifically because of the amount of truck traffic that goes through the middle of town.

My reaction is he is wrong, because it is always wrong to tailgate period. It’s unsafe. It’s even more unsafe if you are a big truck, because the truck has much less stopping time, because if the weight of the truck.

I also was thinking possibly the law on that highway is trucks aren’t allowed in the left lane.

The law might also be it’s ok to pass on the right, or possibly the state the trucker is licensed in allows to pass on the right and he thinks it is ok. Although, passing on the right is discouraged even in states that it is legal. On highways with 8+ lanes there is often passing on the right, but the very far right lane that has to allow merging traffic in usually is the obviously slower lane. In your situation, 6 lanes, it’s usually pretty consistent that the right lane is around the speed limit or a little slower, the middle lane 5 mph faster and the left lane 5+ mph faster than the middle with some variation depending on the particular road.

It wouldn’t startle me that a truck that was tailgating me in the middle lane passes me when I get over to the left, but I would be nervous about it, like you, if I knew traffic coming on to the highway was having trouble merging. The thing is the people in the right lane are not obligated to move over for incoming traffic. The incoming traffic is obligated to merge safely.

It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. You did your best to keep things safe.

If I see a truck following me too closely, I try my best to get out of his way quickly. I know that not only is it hard for him to stop, but if he has some momentum and a heavy load, he may want to keep that momentum up to get up an approaching hill. Regardless, I move over and let him do his thing. He’ll roll over me like a pancake.

Tldr

When there are 3 lanes, typically the middle lane is reserved as a truck passing lane. The left lane is only for cars.

If you are in the middle lane and a truck is behind you trying to get by, you should move to the right lane and let them pass. It’s the same procedure you should take if you are in the left lane and its a regular car behind you.

You were in the wrong. I would have honked or flashed my lights if I was the truck.

@Silence04 So I should have moved to the far right lane where it was almost bumper to bumper, where people were entering and exiting every few seconds, changing lanes, hitting brakes to accommodate other drivers, speeding up, slowing down, jockeying for position? Really? So he doesn’t have to move into the perfectly clear and empty passing lane?

Mysr.

It does sound like he was the one at fault, especially with the left lane wide open for the pass, and you said he sped up to fill the gap you left by allowing that car to come in.
Few things to take into count did it say on any signs trucks MUST keep right?
Also a lot of transport trucks are speed restricted by the company like mine will only go 65mph and that is set by the computer, the reason I bring that up and I am not defending the guy if he was speed restricted and used the left lane he might have thought he would be out there to long.
He also might be new and have very little experience .
Any ways I don’t think you did anything really wrong.

Thanks @SQUEEKY2. I don’t think I did either. I’m still here, anyway.

Saw a bad wreck on the way there. It was on a country 2 lane.

No. There were no signs that said truckers had to stay right.

One thing to alway keep in mind always try even if the transport driver is being an idiot, give them extra room for everyones safety.
And if at all possible if a driver is being unsafe try, and this is hard ,try to get the companies name off the door and the units number and phone the cops or the company it self and say what happened.
Cops will want lots of details such as colour, make,company name, and unit number.
The company will only need the unit number to identify the truck and driver.

I think what’s always important is to try to do the safest thing. Many drivers get angry or stubborn and dwell on the other driver “should” be doing something differently. The other driver could be an idiot or out of control of the vehicle or not knowledgable about a local law or impaired.

You did the safest thing in the situation.

@Dutchess_III

Yes. Sounds like he was trying to get around all of that craziness in the right lane, and you were blocking him in the truck passing lane.

I didn’t do an extensive search, but I know the following is true in several other states:
http://patch.com/washington/enumclaw/ask-a-trooper-what-lanes-are-semi-trucks-allowed-to-u13a94dca48

Why should he have the right to “get around all of that craziness in the right lane,” but I have to be forced INTO all that craziness when the passing lane was clear?

@SQUEEKY2 Do you ever come across that “Truckers must stay right at all times” insanity? Or do you use the left lane, far left lane, as needed?

If there is such a law it’s completely retarded. A trucker comes upon someone doing the minimum, 40 mph, but they aren’t allowed to pass them?

@Dutchess_III In my experience, those signs usually say “Trucks must keep right except to pass”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that says simply “Trucks must keep right”.

In America there absolutely are some highways that restrict trucks not allowing them into the left lane. They can be ticketed and fined for the offense. Obviously, it is for freeways with 6 or more lanes. I would say the majority of highways don’t have this restriction, but it still is not something I would consider uncommon. Some states have this law on lots of roads and some states don’t have it at all.

It doesn’t sound like that was the situation here though.

Me either, @dappled_leaves. Actually, I don’t recall a sign specifically mentioning truckers. If there is a sign, it just says “Keep right except to pass.”

@JLeslie do you mean 6 lanes each, or 3 lanes each for a total of 6?

3 lanes each way.

If it’s an open stretch with no exit or entrance for mile and miles I could understand that. But in a crowded, congested city I don’t.
And how are regular folks supposed to know that for truckers you’re supposed to move into the passing lane (potentially blocking faster traffic) to let trucks pass when we’ve bee programmed to stay out of that lane unless you’re passing?

I couldn’t find stats, but here is an article about it and has a picture of the road sign, “no trucks left lane.” Most states I see the sign say, “trucks use right lanes.” Or, something similar like “trucks stay right.”

You’re absolutely right that in more urban areas, with lots of cars entering and exiting the highway with exits close together, it isn’t good to not allow trucks in the left lane when only 3 lanes are available. That is definitely taken into consideration when these laws are being debated.

I don’t get that at all. A trucker who has limiters set at 65, and is on a schedule, winds up behind two cars, one in front and one on the right, both going 50 and he’s just stuck there? I don’t understand the logic at all. How do truckers using the left lane to pass cause accidents and how does it account for poor air quality?

Just like I’m stuck not using the HOV lane if I’m driving alone.

Depends on the road regarding accidents. Roads with lots of hills and turns are tricky, because of the weight of a truck. Drivers makes assumptions about what is in front of them even if they can’t see what is around the corner or over the hill.

The rule is really quite simple, if you are not going faster than the car on your right, move over. It’s called courtesy and it works regardless of the number of lanes.

He wasn’t on my right, @Jaxk. He was behind me, and had a clear passing lane to our left. Simple, really, if you read the details.

@JLeslie “Drivers make assumptions…” Reminds me of the time we hit dense fog on the freeway. Rick didn’t slow down at all, didn’t hestitate, even though there was no way he could have stopped within the distance we could see. I said, “Aren’t you concerned about something that may be in the road ahead that you can’t see?”
He snorted and said, “There’s nothing in the road ahead!”
Wasn’t 10 seconds later we came upon a massive pile up in the on-coming lane, on the other side of the Meridian. Counted 30 cars before we stopped counting.

@Jaxk Actually no. On a road with three lanes moving in the same direction the person in the middle lane has no real obligation to move right for traffic behind them. I agree slower traffic should move to the right typically, but if someone in the middle lane wants to go faster than the flow of traffic in the lane, then they should move left and pass.

Since you missed it, this wasn’t wide open country. It was in the city and the right lane was busy busy, with cars almost bumper to bumper, exiting and entering. Bad place to hang out unless you had a reason to.
I can’t find a single thing anywhere that states that in Kansas trucks can’t use the passing lane. Can ya’ll help me look?

@JLeslie – Actually they do. You don’t want the right lanes going faster than the left. That obligates those in the left or middle to stay to the right unless they are moving faster than those to their right.

@Dutchess_III – I read the details, I think you misunderstood what I said.

Well, yes, I did, because your answer bore no resemblance to my situation. He wasn’t on the right.

As to the general rule of slower traffic staying out of the passing lane, that just makes sense. It makes NO sense to not use the passing lane to pass, and instead just ride someone’s butt when they really have no where to go.

@Jaxk I’m saying if the middle lane is going the normal flow of traffic, faster than the right lane. The OP was driving with the flow of traffic. Plus, there was active traffic merging on and off the highway in the right lane. You aren’t supposed to change to the right lane when traffic is merging on.

This is why densely populated urban highways are 55–60 mph and not 70.

Right. For the most part I was passing those on the right. It frustrated me when the occasional driver came flying past me on the right at 70, 75 in a 60. Just thoughtless and dangerous.

If you had moved to the right, they would not have passed you on the right. Instead you moved left and the truck had to pass you on the right. I think you and many others are hung up on this ‘Passing Lane” stuff. If the only way past is in the right lanes, people will do that. Doesn’t make it right but it will happen.

@Jaxk In the OP’s situation the problem was the trucker didn’t get over to the left, he was tailgating.

I agree with you that passing on the right isn’t the worst thing. I said above it would not have startled me if the truck drove past me once I moved left. I would have expected it, he obviously wanted to go faster.

(I think he’s referring to my comment about the occasional driver who flew past me on the right, then wove in and out of traffic, passing people, when they could have passed everyone much more safely if they’d just used the passing lane.)
I told you, the right was congested and very busy with cars entering and exiting every few seconds. The passing lane was wide open. They should have used that lane to speed about in, not the congested, busy lane enter/exit lane.

@Dutchess_III
Because they only have 2 lanes to work with. Plus, it’s safer for you to move out of their way than having a truck go through multiple lanes to go around you. Passing should always happen on the left. Trucks can’t be in the left lane. It’s really as simple as that.

@JLeslie – I’m not familiar with the road in question but I’m used to having trucks not allowed in the left most of three lanes. For whatever reason the trucker didn’t feel he could use the left lane and wanted past. That is not an excuse for tail gaiting so if we use that to say the trucker was wrong, I have no problem with that. The passing on the right however shouldn’t happen and won’t if drivers simply move to the right instead of the left.

No, there were 3 lanes. The exit/enter lane, the middle lane, and the far left passing lane. He didn’t have to go through “multiple” lanes. He only had to move into the lane directly on his left, like all the other trucks did. Since it was the middle of the day, and not rush hour, that lane was open 80% of the time.

I agree, passing should always be on the left and he had the option to pass on the left. He chose to try and push me instead. I just was not going to risk an accident by moving into the busy, shifting right lane when all he had to do was move to the left lane.
Really, how difficult is it for a truck to change lanes? They do it all the time.

Again, @jaxk, I can’t find a thing about Kansas laws saying truckers can’t use the left lane. They use it all the time here.

Also, many people in the right lane weren’t leaving much room between the cars for people to move into. It would have been unacceptably risky.

It would be posted on the road if trucks can’t be in the left. You don’t have to hunt for the law.

Well, I know for sure there are no signs on I35 prohibiting trucks in the left lane, all the way through Kansas. I read my signs (unlike my husband!) There are signs that simply say, “Stay right except to pass.”

@Dutchess_III “he had the option to pass on the left”

I think your problem is you are treating semi-trucks as equals to cars, when they are not equal. They have specific rules on the road, different than cars and take different driving tests in order to obtain a license.

They are not nearly as nimble as cars, they need a lot of room to safely maneuver, they can’t speed up fast, they can’t break quickly, they have to ride lower gears going down hills, they have to greatly reduce speed for various road changes, they have massive blind spots, and the list goes on. These are all great reason why you SHOULDN’T want trunks in the left lane of a 3+ lane interstate. And whether or not there is a state law for it, trunk drivers will usually live by this rule regardless due to their safety and the safety of others on the road.

As for the the choices you made on the road, trunks moving faster than you will always go past you on the right, unless you are in the far right lane. If you wanted to get out of the trucks way, you should have used a safe offensive maneuver to get into the right lane (turn signal + a test nudge usually works), or get into the left lane to pass the “craziness” all together. While you do have the right to stay in the middle lane and block trucks from passing, just know that when they are tailgating you they are actually trying to say “please move because i’m trying not to go around you dangerously in the far left lane.”

You’re not listening to me.

There were 3 of us. Me in the center lane, a car that I was moving slightly faster than in the right lane, and a 3rd car trying to merge. We were, at that moment in time, sided by side by side, and no one in the right lane was leaving room for him to either speed up or slow down to merge between cars, so I moved into the far left lane so the car next to me could move into the center lane so the other driver could merge into the spot he left open. So we had this ballet going on, with the trucker riding my ass, that apparently, the trucker missed, because as soon as I moved over he charged into the whole situation, and almost rear ended the car that was moving into my spot.
He should have passed in the passing lane, on the left, like many, many other trucks had done on my one hour travel up I35.

If a trucker can’t change lanes, he ought not be a trucker.

@Dutchess_III You were in the right, and the trucker was driving in an unsafe manner.

If the situation arises again, act in the same manner as you did last time.

I don’t know how my response made you think i wasn’t listening… lol

The truck driver refusing to pass in the far left lane is not evidence of lack of skill, it’s the exact opposite. Just like a car, the biggest blind spot for a truck is on the right side. I’m really confused on why you would want a semi to pass you on the left while you are in the middle lane of a busy highway. It’s as if you want them to take a greater risk for your comfort.

You’re choice to temporarily move to the left lane was fine. The other driver trying to merge into your spot made a bad decision by purposefully going into a truck’s no-zone.

also, found these:
http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left-lane-passing-laws-a-state-by-state-map
http://kcc.ks.gov/trans/ktc_handbook.pdf

seems like there are KS state regulations preventing certain trucks from using the left lane whether or not a sign is posted.

Thanks @zenvelo. I know I was right!

@Silence04, should read your info before you post it as proof of your position. your first link simply repeats what most people know. Slower traffic keep right. Doesn’t say a thing about trucks specifically.

Your second link says the same damn thing: “Lane of Travel: An SVC must remain in the right hand lane except when passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction or when emergency conditions exist. That applies to everyone, not just truckers.

And what about the guy who was trying to merge and had no place to go until we both made room for him? What would have happened to him? Well, I guess he could have slammed on his brakes and waited for an opening. Right.

It bothers me too that the trucker apparently couldn’t be bothered to “read” the road, didn’t see what was unfolding right in front of him. HE was the dangerous one.

If you want to vent, just say you want to vent.

If you want answers from various viewpoints, then that’s really more what a question and answer site is about.

I did get answers from various view points, most of them agreeing with me, including those with CDL licenses. I thought maybe there was something I was missing and the trucker had a valid reason for what he did, but now I’m am fully convinced he was driving foolishly. And dangerously. And wasn’t reading the traffic patterns.

In fact, the links that @Silence04 posted sealed the deal!

First link shows that left lanes in kansas are reserved for turning.
Second link, which you clearly misunderstood, means SVC can only use 2 lanes.

“Well, I guess he could have slammed on his brakes and waited for an opening. Right.”
or… gaged the situation appropriately and merge behind a truck that was in the middle lane.

“didn’t see what was unfolding right in front of him.”
you are aware that semi tucks can’t see what’s happening directly in front of them, right?

Could you copy and past a statement from each of your links so I can do a search?

There was no time for that. He didn’t know the truck was going to go barging in, and even if he did we had only a split second to work. If he’d waited to get in behind the truck the merging guy would have run out of road by then.

Of course they can. Everyone can if they just pay attention. Obviously this guy wasn’t paying attention.

Were you traveling downhill?

No. It was flat (this is Kansas, remember!) Plus it was an elevated highway.

Nevermind. I found what I was looking for and you are wrong. I am in a green state on your map on the first link and what it says is “The states indicated in green dictate that the left lane should be used exclusively for passing OR turning left….” It doesn’t say it’s reserved only for turning left. (Besides, how many times you you even had an option of turning left, or even exiting on the left on a freeway!)

The second on doesn’t say anything, anywhere, that the SVC is restricted to just the two lanes when there is more than 2 lanes.

God my grammar has been tanking lately!

That map was interesting. One of the best states I’ve driven in is MI. I would guess because of the car industry. Interestingly it has limited amounts of trucks considering it is a peninsula and a northern border state, so it’s not like I40 or I80 or even I95 which goes across many states and many miles. In MI they tend to be great on the highways at slower traffic right, pass on the left. Anyway, on that map there aren’t many laws about it. I became driving age in MD, and took driving school there, which also has few laws about it.

@JLeslie

What is so great about driving in Mi. ?

The roads are constantly in a horrendous state of disrepair and rather than be proactive with pending snowfall (as many other Northern states routinely do) they’re constantly behind the eight ball playing catch up.

I’ve honestly never encountered another Northern state so oblivious to proper snow/ice prevention and removal.

Compared to Pa., NY.(the gold standard) CONN., MASS., VT. and even MD., MI is the absolute bottom of the barrel.

When you get beat out by an almost Southern state like MD. for winter road maintenance, that’s pretty damn pathetic. And this is not just my opinion. Even native Michiganders acknowledge this. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

And I haven’t exactly been wowed by the skill level of most MI drivers either.

But I guess NY ruined me for other states. Even in NYC, they may be rude; but at least they are VERY SKILLFULLY rude :)

Oklahoma roads are crap because they don’t charge personal property taxes.

@Buttonstc I was talking about the drivers, not the fact that MI has two seasons: summer and road construction. I wasn’t thinking about weather at all let alone winter weather.

VT I found the drivers to be good also, although it was much less populated so it’s not really a fair comparison to the bottom half of the LP.

I wouldn’t count MD as a southern state when it comes to winter weather.

Let’s compare in the sunshine and good weather and just talk about weather drivers stuck to the laws and are prudent about safety. My experience is MI is pretty good, except that they stay right in an intersection when making a left, which is different than the rest of the country, unless of course if is a Michigan left intersection, but that a whole other topic. This Q is about highways, passing, and letting cars merge on safely.

Yeah, I see your point. But I haven’t found the drivers all that fantastic either. I’m glad your experience was better.

Re: MD that’s why I called it almost southern. My primary point being that it gets a whole lot less practice in severe winter and yet is better at coping with it when necessary compared to MI which barely copes at all :)

@JLeslie: IF you mean “Minnesota” it’s MN not MI. MI is Missouri, which, I am guessing is not what you mean because it’s not a northern border state.

^^ MI is Michigan. Missouri is MO.

Oh ok. Gotcha. And that is a northern border state! :)

@Buttonstc I grew up in MD and went to college in MI. I dealt with snow plenty in both states. I don’t see how you can say MI doesn’t cope reasonably well with snow.

MI MI MI! Well, I live in KS, next to OK and NE. Don’t forget MO. I like MO. Where is KnowItAll?

Did you see my Q about state two letter postal abbreviations?

If I have a truck on my tail, I don’t think about what he could do or should do or might do. I try to get away from him.

This happened to me today, and the trucker was dangerously close to my bumper and therefore in the wrong. I don’t care if that is “his” lane or not; tailgating at 70 mph is life threatening and is NEVER acceptable. He was basically terrorizing me. However, my husband told me when there are 3 lanes, truckers are not allowed to drive in the left lane and have to pass in the middle lane. I’ve been driving for nearly 40 years, and that’s the first I’ve ever heard of that. Since I was going the speed limit, he did not have any business passing anyway, but at least now I know what to try to do to escape another homicidal maniac truck driver if this happens again.

Hey…of course he had business passing. You don’t have any business telling other people what their speed should be.