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I love how people are mad cause they are breaking the law going 85 in a 65 zone. And they are mad at people for breaking the law cause slower traffic needs to keep right. If the speed limit is 65 that means its the LIMIT. So anyone going under the limit needs to stay right. If the middle lane is going 70 and im going 75 and the guy behind me is going 80 am i breaking the law??? Slower traffic is to the right of me... I feel like this is something no one can change... People are saying we should get the police on them. Do u think that the police are going to ticket someone for going 70 when the speed limit is 65 and u want to go 80...
I love how people are mad cause they are breaking the law going 85 in a 65 zone. And they are mad at people for breaking the law cause slower traffic needs to keep right. If the speed limit is 65 that means its the LIMIT. So anyone going under the limit needs to stay right. If the middle lane is going 70 and im going 75 and the guy behind me is going 80 am i breaking the law??? Slower traffic is to the right of me... I feel like this is something no one can change... People are saying we should get the police on them. Do u think that the police are going to ticket someone for going 70 when the speed limit is 65 and u want to go 80...
This is incorrect. The law states that anyone who is going slower than the normal speed of traffic in that time and place should get to the right. This is a separate issue from the posted limit.
What people in this thread are complaining about is that some people are improperly using the left lane as a "slow lane" in order to avoid right lane traffic that they consider "too fast". This is illegal. If all the traffic on the right is passing you, you need to get out of the left lane immediately.
I'm sorry, again, not trying to be harsh, but this is not rocket surgery. The left lane is for faster traffic to overtake and pass right lane traffic. If the right lane traffic is going faster than the speed limit, YOU can drive the speed limit in the right lane and let the faster drivers race off ahead of you. Nothing bad will happen. Faster drivers behind you will simply use the left lane to pass you as they are supposed to do. It is what the left lane is for.
If you instead unlawfully use the left lane to avoid faster right lane traffic, you will screw everything up and become a dangerous obstacle to the people who are driving correctly and need to accelerate in that lane in order to pass right lane traffic. Yes, this should be ticketed, and in many jurisdictions, it is. In other jurisdictions, the police are too cool for writing a ticket, like this guy:
If the middle lane is going 70 and im going 75 and the guy behind me is going 80 am i breaking the law???
No, you're not breaking the law in question. So long as you're passing people, the guy behind you is just going to have to chill until you finish passing and can move right.
Some people seem to think that the "stay right except to pass law" means "if I just go faster than everyone else, everyone else has to get out of my way". That's not true.
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.
AMEN. Like new2colo says, traffic volumes are so great in dense urban areas that it's not efficient to always leave the left lane wide open.
For the record, I never use the left lane, so I'm not an offender of this debate.
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.
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.
Clearly the law exists when the bounds of the speed limit. Just because YOU are traveling at a certain speed doesn't make it the "normal" speed of traffic. The fact that the speeders on this thread run into multiple drivers in the left lane and are presumably passing people in the rightmost lanes means that they are not going the "normal" speed of traffic. You can't break the law and then try to justify your position by claiming that others are breaking the law too. As far as I am concerned, you should be pulled over.
There is never a situation where "everyone" is doing 90 except maybe out on the 10 between here and California or Highway 95 between here and Vegas. Within the Valley, people here do all sorts of speeds in all sorts of lanes. You have no choice but to deal with it.
There is a law under the Arizona Revised Statutes Sect. 28-721(b).
Translated, you travel in the right most practicable lane at travel speeds and you are then exempt to pass to the left when overtaking a car traveling in front of you in the same lane to their left. Notice the phrasing 'less than NORMAL speed' not the limit but the rate of travel at the time and place.
You guys are the problem. The policy reason behind it is safety and efficiency. You have a larger blindspot on your passenger side, allowing people to pass you to your right is more dangerous for you to not see another car and for them to rear end you for ignoring the law. It is a documented fact that passing to the driver's side of a vehicle (especially trucks) is many times over safer and more efficient for traffic flow.
We're not the problem. I move over if I can. The problem is the speed differentials and the fact that our freeways are a free for all. Multiple coworkers of mine have told me how much better they believe traffic flowed back when there were speed cameras on every freeway. There were much fewer speed demons and the cameras actually equalized the flow of traffic.
Please don't cite being safe, when exceeding the speed limit is anything but. I don't feel guilty for driving within the bounds of the law. If you're passing on the right, the other driver is not being unsafe. You are. You are knowingly maneuvering your vehicle in people's blind spot and you are fully aware of the danger of doing so, yet you continue to do it. The funny thing is that if you just have some patience, you can normally find a way to safely pass the "offending" vehicle in a couple minutes. There have been instances in which I have been behind slower drivers in the left lane who have ample opportunity to move to the right, but don't do so. Most of those time, those same drivers move right within a couple minutes or less.
You're not that important. Slow down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valley Native
Mister A and JGMotorsport already posted the precise Arizona law which states that a person driving at a slower rate of speed than the regular traffic flow needs to be driving in the right lane. This law applies to all of Arizona, including the urban freeways. State law for speed is prima facie, which basically translates to reasonable & prudent. While it's unlawful to excessively drive over the speed limit, it's also unlawful to be camping out in the left lane & driving holding up the flow.
Leaving earlier doesn't solve the problem of slow drivers, or other types of traffic annoyances. The fact is that if you're in the left lane driving slower than the normal flow, you're breaking the law. The problem is DPS is not enforcing this law all that much ... so in the meantime, if you are one of those drivers who purposely drives slower than the flow in the left lane, knock yourself out. Just realize that there are many people who WILL aggressively cut you off. Worse yet, there are some maniacs out there who carry weapons and won't hesitate to use them over any traffic annoyance. Don't allow yourself to be a victim!
I have explained my interpretation of the law above. Have you ever noticed that there are no signs on Valley freeways advising "slower traffic to keep right?" Those signs exist in rural areas, but are noticeably absent from metro Phoenix and Tucson. Have you ever asked yourself why? Also, your theory on our speeding laws, or supposed lack thereof, is just off. Our roads have speed limits and you can be ticketed for exceeding the limit. Arizona also has a law that makes exceeding the speed limit by 20 MPH a criminal offense, punishable by jail.
You live in an urban area. There are going to be annoyances of having other people around you at all times. Either deal with it, or move to someplace like Golden Valley or Clifton. You're not going to control other people's driving. DPS doesn't enforce the supposed left lane law because it's not applicable to metro Phoenix. I have never ONCE seen a DPS office usher someone out of the left lane for "driving too slow."
I don't sit in the left lane personally. If aggressively cutting people off makes you feel better, have at it. If flashing your gun or shooting someone makes you feel better, hey. It's childish and your license should be revoked immediately for purposely doing an action like that. Have you ever noticed no matter how "aggressively" you cut a left laner off that the majority of time they STILL sit in the left lane? You cannot control how other people drive. I personally think it's asinine to risk a lengthy prison sentence to try to prove a stupid point. Your problem is that you want to change everyone's behavior but your own. That's not how driving works. If you cut someone off and end up causing another accident, you will be liable. If you shoot someone or flash your gun at someone else because you don't like the way they're driving, you will be liable. If I ever witnessed an accident involving a speed demon cutting someone off or shooting someone, I would stay behind as a witness and do my part to ensure that the rager has the book thrown at them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnum Mike
Overall, if you are driving slower than the flow of traffic or the posted speed limit in the left lanes, you are causing problems to others behind you who want to drive faster, and out of courtesy, stay over in the right lane.
I don't hang out left. The people who do are not causing problems. The people who just have to get around and be in front at all times are the ones causing the issue. The left laners are just driving their cars. They are not responsible for the stupid actions other drivers take to get around them. How you react to a left laner is your choice, not theirs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougStark
AMEN. Like new2colo says, traffic volumes are so great in dense urban areas that it's not efficient to always leave the left lane wide open.
For the record, I never use the left lane, so I'm not an offender of this debate.
Thank you. The speed demons think that all the other drivers should be bumper to bumper with each other in the right lanes while the left lane goes unused except for people who want to go 80-90+ MPH. Our freeways are wide, but don't have that kind of capacity. We all paid for these freeways, everyone has the right to use them.
I'm a speeder, I won't lie. I'm always in the left lane unless I am preparing to exit or I just got on the freeway. Usually I stay not the fastest, but the second fastest.
I don't care when I'm in the Phoenix metro or limits of a major city (though it's annoying when it's not rush hour) but when it's the Interstate in the middle of no where, like down to Tucson or west to LA, you best believe I'm getting irritated about this. Especially when the interstate is only two lanes.
Clearly the law exists when the bounds of the speed limit. Just because YOU are traveling at a certain speed doesn't make it the "normal" speed of traffic. The fact that the speeders on this thread run into multiple drivers in the left lane and are presumably passing people in the rightmost lanes means that they are not going the "normal" speed of traffic. You can't break the law and then try to justify your position by claiming that others are breaking the law too. As far as I am concerned, you should be pulled over.
There is never a situation where "everyone" is doing 90 except maybe out on the 10 between here and California or Highway 95 between here and Vegas. Within the Valley, people here do all sorts of speeds in all sorts of lanes. You have no choice but to deal with it.
The scenario is unambiguous. A driver who wishes to drive at precisely the speed limit has chosen to use the left lane because the right lane is traveling faster than they would prefer:
Quote:
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Horizons
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.
Quote:
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 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.
The driver is moving more slowly than the speed of the traffic on the right, and is being passed by the traffic on the right.
The law is clear that the right lane is for slower traffic, and the left lane is available for overtaking and passing the traffic on the right. This driver is doing the opposite of what they are supposed to do. They are the slow traffic who needs to be on the right, as evidenced by the fact that they are being passed on the right.
If you wish to drive at the speed limit in conditions where traffic is generally exceeding the speed limit, you may do so in the right lane. Other traffic will pass you on the left, as intended. If you do this in the left lane, you are breaking a traffic law, the same as if you were speeding.
That's all there is to it. It doesn't matter who is speeding and who is not. If all the traffic on the right is "whizzing by", that is the sign. You are in the wrong lane.
I am not disagreeing with you that speeding drivers should stop speeding. This is a valid point of view. However, it simply does not follow that it is appropriate or lawful for any driver to use the left lane as a lower-speed cruising lane to avoid higher-speed traffic. The law, which you previously claimed did not exist, clearly states that this is wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by new2colo
We all paid for these freeways, everyone has the right to use them.
Yes, we all have the right to use them within the confines of the traffic laws.
Some great posts on page 5. Brings back to the fore the point that a lot of this argument is 1) a result of speed limits not really being obeyed or enforced as posted and 2) an ambiguously worded state law that many people interpret as giving them carte blanche to exceed the speed limit if that's how the flow of traffic is going. To me that's a chicken and the egg situation; did the flow of traffic come first or did people speeding come first? Someone had to start the chain reaction of going above the speed limit and eventually the flow of traffic being established at X speed.
However, the fact still remains that if you are going 65 and everyone else is going 85, you should be staying to the right unless you have a reason to be in the left, e.g. a left freeway exit upcoming or you an HOV are in the HOV lane during HOV hours.
It all comes back to enforcement. If you let people break laws, they'll break them. This applies to both people not staying right as well as people not driving the speed limit.
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