6 ms·

It's not just some people. It is actually the law in most states (albeit a seldom-enforced one). Don't cruise in the left lane.

quuquuquu 9y ago
Most people cruise at a speed that is faster than everyone else in the other (non-left) lanes. But, please don't be the car that is cruising at 60mph in the left lane. It is a leading cause of accidents.
- e12e 9y ago
  Ie speeding?
  - quuquuquu 9y ago
    Some states are 70mph, and most cops won't pull people over unless they're doing 10-15mph over. Unless you are just really unlucky XD
    - soundwave106 9y ago
      Not sure why the downvotes. (Some states are 80mph actually!) Speeding enforcement in the United States is fairly loose, with usually roughly a 10mph buffer. (The exception being various "speed traps", atypically mostly rural towns that rely on ticket revenue for an outsized portion of their town budget.) I think this adds to the problem with left lane issues; even if the "true" speed limit is 80mph, if the "posted" speed limit is 70mph, some people will do no more than 70mph no matter where they are.
  - Trundle 9y ago
    Yes. Speeding will result in frequent overtaking. Hence the use of the overtaking lane.
drdeadringer 9y ago
.
- ojbyrne 9y ago
  That typically means the right lane is turning into an exit lane.
mercutio2 9y ago
I wish this were true of most states in the USA. It’s certainly true in many parts of Europe. I don’t have an especially authoritative source, and the first map I found was made seven years ago, but I don’t think things have changed much: http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left-lane-passing-laws-a-state-by-state-map http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left-lane-passing-laws-a-state-b... Only the green states would map to “don’t cruise in the left lane”; the laws in the majority only say you shouldn’t drive slower than normal traffic in the left lane.
- mjevans 9y ago
  Thanks, that helps explains why my driving experience is so poor. There isn't a national standard for the protocol so everyone gets together and has impedance mismatches. That's being overly charitable though; self-driving cars, even with different protocols, won't suffer from the rubber-necking or phantom slowdown issues. Their algorithm designers might even be smart enough to relieve the pressure of virtual blockages by going a little faster than the speed limit on the outbound side(s) to relieve the pressure wave.
- legohead 9y ago
  I recently took a road trip from CA to NY and back. As soon as I got out of CA, people were obeying the "left lane is for passing" idea -- except Vegas. I spent weeks in highway driving bliss with pretty much everyone obeying this rule. Then when I came back, and hit CA, I was immediately pissed off at traffic -- nobody was following this rule. But at the same time, the traffic is usually so bad it makes this rule meaningless, so I think we just forget about it after a while.
- Sohcahtoa82 9y ago
  That map is out of date. Oregon is now in the green group.
  - mercutio2 9y ago
    Good to know!
nitrogen 9y ago
This is such a problem in Utah that last time I was there, the traffic status billboards over the freeways just said, "Camp in the mountains, not the left lane"... and the left two lanes were full with the right lanes empty. If I hadn't been driving I would have taken a picture to savor the irony.
pkaye 9y ago
Does that mean the left lane should be unoccupied if everyone in the other lanes are driving at the speed limit?
- e12e 9y ago
  Yes.
- aisofteng 9y ago
  No. It should be unoccupied if nobody is passing. If it is empty on a particular stretch, somebody will decide to pass.
  - testvox 9y ago
    But if everyone is driving the speed limit no one can pass.
    - bfuller 9y ago
      you can exceed the speed limit by a certain amount while passing. at least here.
      - duggan 9y ago
        I'd like to see where that's written into a statute book; doesn't sound correct.
        bfuller 9y ago
        It's in the book you have to study when you get your license here in Texas :) you can exceed the limit by 5mph. Have a nice day!
        pkaye 9y ago
        Maybe on a state by state basis as I just googled it and you can't do it in California.
labster 9y ago
This doesn't apply at all in most of California. We need the left lane for capacity, not flow regulation. Also left lanes are frequently diamond lanes, so you're basically telling people not to carpool.
- goialoq 9y ago
  "left lane" is colloquial for the passing lane. It means the left-most lane in a group of equivalent lanes, not the HOV/reserved lane
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    In most places that have rules relating to lane use, it means every lane that isn't the rightmost lane, excluding lanes reserved for a special purposes (HOV, etc.).
- SirZimzim 9y ago
  A lot of the capacity issues end up being just a lot of cars clustered in an area. If you are able to escape the bunch there tend to be nice stretches of open road. Flow regulation would help avoid clumping of cars by making sure the left lane is not used for cruising.

quuquuquu 9y ago

Most people cruise at a speed that is faster than everyone else in the other (non-left) lanes. But, please don't be the car that is cruising at 60mph in the left lane. It is a leading cause of accidents.

e12e 9y ago
Ie speeding?
- quuquuquu 9y ago
  Some states are 70mph, and most cops won't pull people over unless they're doing 10-15mph over. Unless you are just really unlucky XD
  - soundwave106 9y ago
    Not sure why the downvotes. (Some states are 80mph actually!) Speeding enforcement in the United States is fairly loose, with usually roughly a 10mph buffer. (The exception being various "speed traps", atypically mostly rural towns that rely on ticket revenue for an outsized portion of their town budget.) I think this adds to the problem with left lane issues; even if the "true" speed limit is 80mph, if the "posted" speed limit is 70mph, some people will do no more than 70mph no matter where they are.
- Trundle 9y ago
  Yes. Speeding will result in frequent overtaking. Hence the use of the overtaking lane.

drdeadringer 9y ago

ojbyrne 9y ago
That typically means the right lane is turning into an exit lane.

mercutio2 9y ago

I wish this were true of most states in the USA. It’s certainly true in many parts of Europe. I don’t have an especially authoritative source, and the first map I found was made seven years ago, but I don’t think things have changed much: http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left-lane-passing-laws-a-state-by-state-map http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left-lane-passing-laws-a-state-b... Only the green states would map to “don’t cruise in the left lane”; the laws in the majority only say you shouldn’t drive slower than normal traffic in the left lane.

mjevans 9y ago
Thanks, that helps explains why my driving experience is so poor. There isn't a national standard for the protocol so everyone gets together and has impedance mismatches. That's being overly charitable though; self-driving cars, even with different protocols, won't suffer from the rubber-necking or phantom slowdown issues. Their algorithm designers might even be smart enough to relieve the pressure of virtual blockages by going a little faster than the speed limit on the outbound side(s) to relieve the pressure wave.
legohead 9y ago
I recently took a road trip from CA to NY and back. As soon as I got out of CA, people were obeying the "left lane is for passing" idea -- except Vegas. I spent weeks in highway driving bliss with pretty much everyone obeying this rule. Then when I came back, and hit CA, I was immediately pissed off at traffic -- nobody was following this rule. But at the same time, the traffic is usually so bad it makes this rule meaningless, so I think we just forget about it after a while.
Sohcahtoa82 9y ago
That map is out of date. Oregon is now in the green group.
- mercutio2 9y ago
  Good to know!

nitrogen 9y ago

This is such a problem in Utah that last time I was there, the traffic status billboards over the freeways just said, "Camp in the mountains, not the left lane"... and the left two lanes were full with the right lanes empty. If I hadn't been driving I would have taken a picture to savor the irony.

pkaye 9y ago

Does that mean the left lane should be unoccupied if everyone in the other lanes are driving at the speed limit?

e12e 9y ago
Yes.
aisofteng 9y ago
No. It should be unoccupied if nobody is passing. If it is empty on a particular stretch, somebody will decide to pass.
- testvox 9y ago
  But if everyone is driving the speed limit no one can pass.
  - bfuller 9y ago
    you can exceed the speed limit by a certain amount while passing. at least here.
    - duggan 9y ago
      I'd like to see where that's written into a statute book; doesn't sound correct.
      - bfuller 9y ago
        It's in the book you have to study when you get your license here in Texas :) you can exceed the limit by 5mph. Have a nice day!
        pkaye 9y ago
        Maybe on a state by state basis as I just googled it and you can't do it in California.

labster 9y ago

This doesn't apply at all in most of California. We need the left lane for capacity, not flow regulation. Also left lanes are frequently diamond lanes, so you're basically telling people not to carpool.

goialoq 9y ago
"left lane" is colloquial for the passing lane. It means the left-most lane in a group of equivalent lanes, not the HOV/reserved lane
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  In most places that have rules relating to lane use, it means every lane that isn't the rightmost lane, excluding lanes reserved for a special purposes (HOV, etc.).
SirZimzim 9y ago
A lot of the capacity issues end up being just a lot of cars clustered in an area. If you are able to escape the bunch there tend to be nice stretches of open road. Flow regulation would help avoid clumping of cars by making sure the left lane is not used for cruising.