Quote:
Originally Posted by azsundevil99
Interesting article today about people who drive in the left lane and hold up traffic:
Left-lane slowpokes drive you crazy? - MSN Money
One of my biggest peeves are the truckers who will cause what I like to call a "clusterf#ck" on 2 lane interstate highways. You end up with one truck in the right lane and people racing up to it to cut off those in the left lane waiting for the offending trucker to get out of the way. At the end you just have 2 backed-up lanes of traffic and a bunch of po'd motorists! The classic "clusterf#ck" can last for many many miles.  |
While there are truckers that could use better judgement when passing (And I'm being charitable here...) There's usually a "rest of the story" and this situation is no different.
I wish every one of you could sit in the passenger seat as I drive my rig on a road with rolling hills like I-81 or I-71 between Louisville and Cincinnati. It requires more than a litlle skill, guesswork and luck to pass another truck on a road like that. (Actually, a flat road isn't much better...) Trying to get past another heavily loaded truck isn't easy. And yes, the cars that sneak up on your right side, preventing you from getting back in the right lane again don't help, either.
While I've got the soap box out; if you're tooling along right at the truck speed limit and there's a truck that can't seem to pass, PUH-leeze step on the gas enough to move ahead of him so that he's not having to jump out in the left lane. Most large fleet trucks are governed to around 65 mph. And boy is that frustrating to have a car in front of you that barely maintains a pace ahead of you...
As much as I, too, hate left-lane bandits, there's a couple of reasons that I will purposely grab the left lane in a big truck. Many cities have heavy merges where it really does help things if a truck moves into the left lane until past the merge so that traffic merging onto the highway can get on. Yes, I know it might slow you up a couple of seconds, but I'm looking at the safety of the whole area. Louisville, Ky has a couple of places where that's a good idea; NB I-71 as you curve past the I-264EB merge. I also try to grab the left lane while passing the I-265 on-ramp to I-71, as well. Especially at rush hour.
Sometimes a few moments of patience will save you minutes...
In Zanesville, OH through traffic on I-70 is moved to the left lane; I sure like that idea!
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