Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After 17 pages, I read this as if I don't move over, I'm a jerk and if I speed I'm a jerk. Have I understood this correctly? Or this just a bunch of twisted panties for no good reason other than an "I'm more important than you" pissing match?
Was traveling to work one day on an 8-lane divided highway East of Houston which is moderately speed controlled meaning except during afternoon rush hour, speed limit is closely enforced.
On this day I was in a pack of rush-hour cars that was suddenly slowed to a relative crawl due to a speed limit enforcer in the left lane causing a bunch of ducking and diving for us drivers behind who were trying to get around and resume the 'normal' flow of traffic that day.
Like magic, a Constable cruiser pulled up behind the vigilante and activated the cruiser emergency lights, and when that had no effect squawked the siren. Immediately upon hearing the siren Speed Limit Rambo or Rambo-ette pulled over one lane, then when the cop continued to flash his/her lights Rambo kept pulling over until eventually they wound up well on the shoulder of the highway with our Constable only a few feet behind. Once the enforcer came to a complete stop the Constable turned of the cruiser lights, pulled back on the highway and sped off to leave the rest of us euphorically and speedily resuming our travels. I could have hugged that Constable!
I will say with the influx of out-of-state migrants in this area, good driving manners are starting to suffer with such violations as no lane-change signalling and sometimes people actually turning on their emergency flashers when it starts to rain, which causes all sorts of traffic alarm since in years past emergency flashers were a request for a wide berth, not an expression of fear of a wet road as now seems to be the case. Please, if you feel you need your emergency flashers to make your way home, pull over at a restaurant or someplace until conditions are safe for you to continue on instead of causing alarm in highway traffic.
We have very few LEFT exits in Georgia and the ones we do have are for HOVs (high occupancy vehicles) driving the HOV lane and needing to exit. There are never any exists from the 'fast' lane.
We only have four or five left-hand exits in Atlanta, but they are all located along the stretch of I-75/85 with an HOV lane.
As for the discussion about whether to move out of the left lane if someone runs up behind you and wants you to move over so they can take off wide-open....None of us have the right to force others to obey the law by refusing to move over. The risk of angering a driver who might use their car as a weapon or could be carrying a gun. If they're right on your bumper, there's also a risk of you having to brake quickly and they'll drive right into the back of your car and could seriously injure you or could hurt an innocent motorist in an adjacent lane. By refusing to let them by, you can bet they'll use the right side to try passing. That is a lot more dangerous than simply signaling, easing over one lane and letting them by.
It's not uncommon for me to be going 8omph in a 7omph zone and see a few cars growing larger in my rearview mirror. Even though I was going 10 over, I signaled and moved over at the first opportunity. And more than once, I've let them by and a few miles later see them pulled over by the cops....let them find the po-po first!
Which is why I said Washington state has it, even though it's ambiguous on whether driving the speed limit applies. Whereas a state like Alabama does not.
Well, for PA, code 75-3313 (d), it's pretty much like Washington. Stay over in the right lane unless you're going faster than the flow of traffic is a major difference to note.
Virginia 46.2-804 seems to only talk about highways. Not multi-lane freeways. 46.2-842.1 mentions:
"It shall be unlawful to fail to give way to overtaking traffic when driving a motor vehicle to the left and abreast of another motor vehicle on a divided highway. On audible or light signal, the driver of the overtaken vehicle shall move to the right to allow the overtaking vehicle to pass as soon as the overtaken vehicle can safely do so. A violation of this section shall not be construed as negligence per se in any civil action."
But really this whole discussion (we'll call it that) boils down to one simple idea. Does a person driving the legal speed limit have to give way to someone that's speeding and breaking the law?
Morally, in my opinion, this makes no sense. In no other way would a person be legally required to assist and abate a criminal offense, especially under the threat of legal action against them. It would seem a complete fallacy to require a person to break the law to appease others that are breaking the law, or to have to effectively try to evade these people or face charges themselves.
Now, a lot of people claiming speeders have right of way are talking about people driving UNDER the speed limit. A strawman argument since we're talking about setting right at the speed limit.
Either way, I've yet to see a case where the law says you have to give way to speeders specifically, but likewise none say you do not have to. To me there's not room for grey area: you break the law and no one has to help you do it. But as shown in this thread, an awful lot of people think that if you're driving the speed limit in the left lane, you're wronging the only group that could be "harmed" by it: illegal speeders.
The Texas statute I posted is very specific that if you are moving slower than the regular flow of traffic, you must use the right-most lane. It specifically does not reference the speed limit. So if everyone else is doing 85MPH and you're doing 65MPH, you are legally required to give way.
Depends on what the speed limit is. Today, driving on a toll road with an 80 mph limit, 70 was slow. On a road with a 70 mph limit, not so much.
Again, if you are griping about people not obeying the "slower traffic keep right" law because it keeps you from disobeying the speed limit law, you're not only a hypocrite, you need to grow up.
Moderator cut: .It is none of your business how fast people are going because (I'm assuming) you are not highway patrol. The rules are simple: if you are not passing cars to the right of you and there are people behind you who want to go faster, GET OVER.
Last edited by yellowbelle; 01-17-2016 at 12:21 PM..
Reason: personal attack
The Texas statute I posted is very specific that if you are moving slower than the regular flow of traffic, you must use the right-most lane. It specifically does not reference the speed limit. So if everyone else is doing 85MPH and you're doing 65MPH, you are legally required to give way.
I'm aware of the statute you posted. I'm also aware that many people in Texas are well known for their more colorful driving methods.
In any case, no sane judge would face that ticket in court, supposing any officer would bother to ticket someone for that. The law is ambiguous at best. It does say with the regular flow of traffic, but this is with the reasonable expectation of lawful driving speeds.
It's just talking in circles with you guys. You insist that being a lead foot gives you God's blessing to do as you wish in the world and to Hell with anyone who expects lawfulness. You stubbornly believe that everyone needs to break the law with you or get out of your way. Just like OP's video and post. There really isn't any way to demonstrate that you want to be a criminal and punish those that don't make it easy for you to do it.
It's just talking in circles with you guys. You insist that being a lead foot gives you God's blessing to do as you wish in the world and to Hell with anyone who expects lawfulness. You stubbornly believe that everyone needs to break the law with you or get out of your way. Just like OP's video and post. There really isn't any way to demonstrate that you want to be a criminal and punish those that don't make it easy for you to do it.
With interstate driving in mind if i'm doing 5-10mph faster than you are driving your assessment of me is that of some one with a lead foot a veritable criminal that needs to be punished and you are going to park yourself in that passing lane righteously proclaiming you are doing the speed limit..
In my case i'm not expecting you to immediately get out of my way i'm just hoping you have the driving awareness to realize i'm coming up behind you in the passing lane with intentions of passing you imminent, hopefully you'll safely move to the right to courteously allow me to pass.
How about the people in the left lane for whom you can never go fast enough? I go 70-75 in the fast lane, but there's always some jerk whose mad at me because he/she wants to do 80 or 85.
Then you should still move over and let them pass. I was always taught to pass and immediately pull to the right lane when I could. If someone wants to speed, that is not your problem, but you still should not impede the flow in the left lane.
I hate people who just loaf along in the slow lane, and, sometimes, I pass them on the right and pull back into the fast lane just a "tad" close to their front bumper, to give them the hint they might be in people's way. Generally, the do get the hint and I see them move to the right, especially if other drivers do what I did.
Don
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A Fantasy Come True
