why don't people get over when driving on the highway? (Phoenix: calculating, camping)

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Heath V

There is no highway around here where the flow of traffic is anything close to the posted speed limit? I'm not quite sure where you're driving but I'm not about to get over because some idiot feels the need to go 85 mph while I'm obeying the law. I guarantee that they will be pulled over and given a ticket and I wont.

But why would you drive in the left lane at all unless you are passing? Just to teach everyone else a lesson? Did you also remind the substitute teacher to assign homework when you were a kid?

The flow of traffic on the 101 is 80 mph, but the posted limit is 65 mph. No matter the speed limit, why would you cruise in the left lane? If you want to go the posted speed limit, you are creating the problem, as speed delta is the real danger and everyone else is going faster. Do you think a single person has ever observed you and thought, "I really should be driving more like that guy?" Why not just stay in the right lane? Have you ever driven in Europe, you know, where the laws are pretty much the same as they are here except everyone actually sticks to them? It's a lot more pleasant and safe when slower traffic keeps right.

FWIW, I pass cops all the time on the 101, as in daily, who are already going over 65mph. Never been pulled over in almost eight yrs. here.

[FloppyRunner]

Originally Posted by Heath V

There is no highway around here where the flow of traffic is anything close to the posted speed limit? I'm not quite sure where you're driving but I'm not about to get over because some idiot feels the need to go 85 mph while I'm obeying the law. I guarantee that they will be pulled over and given a ticket and I wont.

You keep saying that you're obeying the law in these situations, but you aren't. You may be obeying the SPEED LIMIT, but you're not "obeying the law" if you're in the left lane while not passing.

28-721 - Driving on right side of roadway; driving on shoulder; exceptions

In other words, the guy behind you may wish to break the speed limit, but you ARE breaking the above linked-to law. You may as well pull right (again, assuming you aren't passing anyone) and let them on their merry way, while breaking zero laws of your own. Let the cops take care of the speeders.

That said, I've had people flash their lights and get all pissed off at me while I pass someone. I'm always glad to get right AFTER I finish passing. Simply going faster than everybody else doesn't obligate everyone else to get out of your way.



Pasted below for convenience:

28-721. Driving on right side of roadway; driving on shoulder; exceptions

A. On all roadways of sufficient width, a person shall drive a vehicle on the right half of the roadway except as follows:

1. When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction under the rules governing the movement.

2. When the right half of a roadway is closed to traffic while under construction or repair.

3. On a roadway divided into three marked lanes for traffic under the rules applicable on the roadway.

4. On a roadway designated and signposted for one-way traffic.

B. On all roadways, a person driving a vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall drive the vehicle in the right-hand lane then available for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

C. In an age restricted community that is located in an unincorporated area of a county with a population of more than three million persons, a person may drive a golf cart or a neighborhood electric vehicle on a paved shoulder that is adjacent to a roadway or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of a paved roadway if there is no delineated paved shoulder.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by Heath V

Are they going the speed limit? If so they are obeying the law, not everyone wants to speed.

You obviously don't know the law, how to drive properly, or what you are talking about.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

You obviously don't know the law, how to drive properly, or what you are talking about.

This.

Be courteous, don't be a self-appointed LEO, allow traffic to flow, enjoy living in a pleasant society.

[New Horizons]

Sometimes you have to get over to the left lanes, and sometimes well in advance if the traffic is bad. If I have a window of opportunity 2 miles before the interchange, I'm taking it, and will continue my leisurely pace of 65.

And then sometimes you can't even get over to the right lanes out of courtesy. You put your right blinker on and they all just keep whizzing by on your right. When that happens I cancel my turn signal and stay in the lane. Let them play their game of Burnout Paradise.

I drive a Grand Marquis. There's something about that car, when you get in it, your just relaxed and not in a rush! It's either that or the anti-depressants.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by New Horizons

Sometimes you have to get over to the left lanes, and sometimes well in advance if the traffic is bad. If I have a window of opportunity 2 miles before the interchange, I'm taking it, and will continue my leisurely pace of 65.

And then sometimes you can't even get over to the right lanes out of courtesy. You put your right blinker on and they all just keep whizzing by on your right. When that happens I cancel my turn signal and stay in the lane. Let them play their game of Burnout Paradise.

I drive a Grand Marquis. There's something about that car, when you get in it, your just relaxed and not in a rush! It's either that or the anti-depressants.

Still dangerous.

Making somebody pass you to your right is much more dangerous than following the proper driving standard of allowing passes to the left.

People w/ this mentality are again, the problem.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Still dangerous.

Making somebody pass you to your right is much more dangerous than following the proper driving standard of allowing passes to the left.

People w/ this mentality are again, the problem.

yep. If cars are whizzing by on the right, you are obviously in the wrong lane. if you insist on going the posted limit of 65, stay to the right, period, and you won't be in danger of not being able to get to your exit. When you enter the freeway, stay on the right. Just don't go to the left AT ALL! Seems simple to me!

[Mister-A]

Originally Posted by Heath V

There is no highway around here where the flow of traffic is anything close to the posted speed limit? I'm not quite sure where you're driving but I'm not about to get over because some idiot feels the need to go 85 mph while I'm obeying the law. I guarantee that they will be pulled over and given a ticket and I wont.

I assume this is one of those problems that stems from "everybody being from somewhere else" in Arizona. I remember when my home state first adopted the passing lane rules. There are differences between how some states handle it to this day, and that this explains confusion between people of different ages and different states of origin.

In a state where the law requires that you use the left for passing, yes, you may very well be pulled over for using it in order to go slower than the "idiots" doing 85 on the right. It's a great excuse to pull somebody over and get a look inside their car. I know, I've seen state troopers do it.

The reason is simple: if you are going slower than the traffic to your right, you are in the way, blocking traffic trying to use the left lane for the proper purpose. If you want to do the speed limit in an area where the flow of traffic is faster than the speed limit, you should drive in the right lane. The "idiots" will then be forced to use the left lane to pass you and go about their business at 85 mph, as intended. No harm will come to you as they rocket past you on the left and onward to the horizon. This is by design.

Left-Lane Passing Laws: A State-By-State Map

The most popular law follows the Uniform Vehicle Code, which says a car driving below the "normal speed of traffic" should be driven in the right-hand lane. Because it indicates "normal speed" instead of saying "speed limit" a driver going above the speed limit but slower than most traffic is still in the wrong.

[new2colo]

There is no fast lane in the Phoenix area. There is no law on urban area freeways that you need to keep right except to pass. With traffic volumes here people aren't going to squeeze in the right lanes to allow people to fly by at 90 MPH. You'll get to where you're going. If you're in that much of a rush, you should have left where you're coming from earlier. People here are not going to kowtow to law breakers just because they want to speed. It's funny how many times I actually end up ahead of people who are weaving in and out of lanes trying to get around slower drivers.

[Mister-A]

Originally Posted by new2colo

There is no fast lane in the Phoenix area. There is no law on urban area freeways that you need to keep right except to pass. With traffic volumes here people aren't going to squeeze in the right lanes to allow people to fly by at 90 MPH. You'll get to where you're going. If you're in that much of a rush, you should have left where you're coming from earlier. People here are now going to kowtow to law breakers just because they want to speed. It's funny how many times I actually end up ahead of people who are weaving in and out of lanes trying to get around slower drivers.

The Arizona law which requires you to keep right except to pass has actually already been posted in this thread.

28-721 - Driving on right side of roadway; driving on shoulder; exceptions

On all roadways, a person driving a vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall drive the vehicle in the right-hand lane then available for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

As I noted before, this language does not say "speed limit". It says "normal speed of traffic at the time and place". If everybody wants to do 90 and you want to do less, it is your duty to get into the right lane.

Also, from the Arizona Driver License Manual:

http://azdot.gov/docs/default-source....pdf?sfvrsn=11

The right lane is used for entering and exiting, and for slow traffic. The left lane is used by higher-speed traffic.

If you do not wish to exceed the speed limit, that is perfectly fine and even admirable. However, if everybody else does, that makes you the "slow traffic" which belongs in the right lane.