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I have always lived in the US and Canada but was on a driving vacation in Germany in the past year. I did hours of Autobahn driving at 160kMh/100MPH. The driver

I have always lived in the US and Canada but was on a driving vacation in Germany in the past year. I did hours of Autobahn driving at 160kMh/100MPH. The drivers are MUCH more courteous in Germany. ALL Trucks are in the right most lane as are cars pulling ANYTHING. That alone will never fly here. This means that the only vehicles in the two left lanes are cars and some small trucks. Even then most vehicles stayed well away from the far left lane. Mostly because the cars were not capable of courteously driving in the left lane. What this all means is that I saw no acts of aggression on the roads that are very common on US freeways. Acts of aggression can include driving at the speed limit or less in the left lane because "I can and it's not against the law". Speeding cars approaching other cars quickly, tailgating, and flashing headlights when they are maybe already exceeding the speed limit and have not had a chance to move over yet. In summary, it was much more comfortable driving in Germany at 100MPH than driving on US roads at much lower speeds.

jjcm 8y ago
If this did go live in California, it would need to be policed in a different way. The “left lane is for passing only” would have to be enforced strictly before it would operate efficiently, and a minimum speed limit would have to be posted.
Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
> Acts of aggression can include driving at the speed limit or less in the left lane because "I can and it's not against the law". What's especially shitty about this is that in many states, it actually is against the law, but since it's so poorly enforced, people either don't know or don't care.
- SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
  I'm not a left lane parker, but isn't driving above the speed limit also against the law?
  - Spartan-S63 8y ago
    Yes. In some (most?) states, the leftmost lane on a motorway above 65MPH is supposed to be used for passing only. What makes highways dangerous are large speed gradients and this is an issue caused by drivers both on the high end and the low end of speed. Hence why most highways have a minimum advertised speed. The issue is that no one respects the speed limits anymore which often expands the gradient and makes the highway less safe. Left lane or not, you shouldn’t exceed the speed limit.
  - Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
    Yes, but two wrongs don't make a right. It is not your job to deliberately stay in someone's way to prevent them from speeding. Leave the speed enforcement to the police.
S_A_P 8y ago
Agreed. In Houston, the people are all incredibly passive aggressive, clueless or blind to folks in the left lane. If someone is behind me approaching at a high rate of speed, I get out of the way. Why this is not someones first instinct blows my mind. I actually did quite a bit of driving in Colorado this summer and was amazed at how courteous most people were in this respect. In Houston and most of Texas, the left lane seems to be where people that don't want to ever change lanes congregate, so I have to pass on the right.
- jdmichal 8y ago
  As long as they are not near you, moving over is fine. If they are approaching you quickly and they are close, from a defensive driving perspective, you should probably stay put until the speed differential is reduced and can safely move over. Otherwise you risk both you and them attempting to change lanes at the same time.
cameldrv 8y ago
I wouldn't say it's more comfortable. The rule on the Autobahn is that you move right if someone is coming up behind you. If it's two lanes each way, you'll have trucks going 80kph in the right lane and BMWs going 220kph in the left. If you want to go 150, you will find yourself urgently merging a lot with 70 kph speed differentials. The amount of attention and skill this requires is far more than the Interstate demands.

jjcm 8y ago

If this did go live in California, it would need to be policed in a different way. The “left lane is for passing only” would have to be enforced strictly before it would operate efficiently, and a minimum speed limit would have to be posted.

Sohcahtoa82 8y ago

> Acts of aggression can include driving at the speed limit or less in the left lane because "I can and it's not against the law". What's especially shitty about this is that in many states, it actually is against the law, but since it's so poorly enforced, people either don't know or don't care.

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
I'm not a left lane parker, but isn't driving above the speed limit also against the law?
- Spartan-S63 8y ago
  Yes. In some (most?) states, the leftmost lane on a motorway above 65MPH is supposed to be used for passing only. What makes highways dangerous are large speed gradients and this is an issue caused by drivers both on the high end and the low end of speed. Hence why most highways have a minimum advertised speed. The issue is that no one respects the speed limits anymore which often expands the gradient and makes the highway less safe. Left lane or not, you shouldn’t exceed the speed limit.
- Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
  Yes, but two wrongs don't make a right. It is not your job to deliberately stay in someone's way to prevent them from speeding. Leave the speed enforcement to the police.

S_A_P 8y ago

Agreed. In Houston, the people are all incredibly passive aggressive, clueless or blind to folks in the left lane. If someone is behind me approaching at a high rate of speed, I get out of the way. Why this is not someones first instinct blows my mind. I actually did quite a bit of driving in Colorado this summer and was amazed at how courteous most people were in this respect. In Houston and most of Texas, the left lane seems to be where people that don't want to ever change lanes congregate, so I have to pass on the right.

jdmichal 8y ago
As long as they are not near you, moving over is fine. If they are approaching you quickly and they are close, from a defensive driving perspective, you should probably stay put until the speed differential is reduced and can safely move over. Otherwise you risk both you and them attempting to change lanes at the same time.

cameldrv 8y ago

I wouldn't say it's more comfortable. The rule on the Autobahn is that you move right if someone is coming up behind you. If it's two lanes each way, you'll have trucks going 80kph in the right lane and BMWs going 220kph in the left. If you want to go 150, you will find yourself urgently merging a lot with 70 kph speed differentials. The amount of attention and skill this requires is far more than the Interstate demands.