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Hey, folks? Did you know that "slower traffic keep right" doesn't mean "the speed limit doesn't exist in the left lane"? Heck, even in that, it applies to people going SLOWER THAN THE SPEED LIMIT in the left lane. If you're going the speed limit in the left lane, then those who simply must, must, MUST speed who are behind you have no gripe coming.
One of my pet peeves. If you're going to speed, by all means, speed, but BE AN ADULT AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT! Don't blame those who DON'T speed for the fact that you want to break the law and pretend that THEY are the problem.
There's also the fact that in Texas, the left lane is reserved for passing ONLY in those areas where TxDOT specifically puts signs so indicating. In all other areas, it's not reserved for passing only. (Read the statute.)
'Left lane for passing only' and 'slower traffic keep right' are essentially the same thing.
And I don't care who is driving what speed - if someone wants to pass you, don't be a jerk and stay in the left lane just 'cause you can'. Move over and let people get on with their lives...at their own pace.
'Left lane for passing only' and 'slower traffic keep right' are essentially the same thing.
And I don't care who is driving what speed - if someone wants to pass you, don't be a jerk and stay in the left lane just 'cause you can'. Move over and let people get on with their lives...at their own pace.
No, they're not. "Slower traffic keep right" means "traffic driving slower than the speed limit keep right". If you're driving the speed limit (or slightly above) and you're in the left lane, in Texas, except for those specific areas that TxDOT chooses to mark as left lane being for passing only, you're just fine. It's the people who insist that it's their God-given right to speed and that anyone driving the speed limit (not below) or slightly above that's the problem who are the jerks - and in the wrong, to boot.
Nothing was said about staying in the left lane just 'cause you can'. What was said was, if you're going to speed, DON'T be an idiot and blame others for the problem, because YOU, YOURSELF are the problem. If you obeyed the speed limit (you know, the law?), if others were driving the speed limit in the left lane, there'd be no problem.
I pull over if someone is coming up behind me even if I'm driving over the limit (see, I do speed, I just pull up my big girl panties and admit that I'm the one doing something wrong). Usually, I just smile and wave them on by, knowing that if there IS a cop up there, they'll catch him for me and I can go sailing on past, or hope that they don't take someone else out with them when they go. But that doesn't mean that I'm not well aware that THEY are the problem on the roads and would very likely deny it to their dying breath, and I use that adjective advisedly.
No, they're not. "Slower traffic keep right" means "traffic driving slower than the speed limit keep right". If you're driving the speed limit (or slightly above) and you're in the left lane, in Texas, except for those specific areas that TxDOT chooses to mark as left lane being for passing only, you're just fine. It's the people who insist that it's their God-given right to speed and that anyone driving the speed limit (not below) or slightly above that's the problem who are the jerks - and in the wrong, to boot.
Nothing was said about staying in the left lane just 'cause you can'. What was said was, if you're going to speed, DON'T be an idiot and blame others for the problem, because YOU, YOURSELF are the problem. If you obeyed the speed limit (you know, the law?), if others were driving the speed limit in the left lane, there'd be no problem.
I pull over if someone is coming up behind me even if I'm driving over the limit (see, I do speed, I just pull up my big girl panties and admit that I'm the one doing something wrong). Usually, I just smile and wave them on by, knowing that if there IS a cop up there, they'll catch him for me and I can go sailing on past, or hope that they don't take someone else out with them when they go. But that doesn't mean that I'm not well aware that THEY are the problem on the roads and would very likely deny it to their dying breath, and I use that adjective advisedly.
UGH...
From Texas transportation code
Quote:
Sec. 545.051. DRIVING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY.
Quote:
(b) An operator of a vehicle on a roadway moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles at the time and place under the existing conditions shall drive in the right-hand lane available for vehicles, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless the operator is:
(1) passing another vehicle
You have it wrong. The car cruising the speed limit in the left lane IS THE PROBLEM. Not the line of cars behind them waiting for them to pull over.
In the law it says nothing about the speed limit. It specifically states that if most of the traffic is going 75 down that stretch of road on that particular day, then someone going the posted speed of 70 is in fact 'a vehicle moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles' and needs to move over.
Sometimes driving the speed limit is not safe given congestion. Take a chill pill and drive safely. I know too many people who have died in car accidents to drive carelessly.
To those people I say, take your chill pill and move out of the left lane. There are plenty of times I do under the speed limit when it's appropriate. But nothing boils my blood worse than someone poking along in the left lane when there is absolutely no reason to do so. I would say it's my number one aggravator when I am driving in Austin.
In my case, I don't use many highways - Mopac, 183 some, but most of my driving is done on roads like Bee Cave, 360 and 620. People absolutely do not use left lane common sense on these roads. The speed limit is 60-65 in places and yet I get stuck behind people doing 50 pretty routinely.
I also do not understand why people just won't move over. Whenever I see a vehicle coming up behind me, I move over if I can. It's like people don't want you to pass them..what gives?
No, they're not. "Slower traffic keep right" means "traffic driving slower than the speed limit keep right". If you're driving the speed limit (or slightly above) and you're in the left lane, in Texas, except for those specific areas that TxDOT chooses to mark as left lane being for passing only, you're just fine. It's the people who insist that it's their God-given right to speed and that anyone driving the speed limit (not below) or slightly above that's the problem who are the jerks - and in the wrong, to boot.
Nothing was said about staying in the left lane just 'cause you can'. What was said was, if you're going to speed, DON'T be an idiot and blame others for the problem, because YOU, YOURSELF are the problem. If you obeyed the speed limit (you know, the law?), if others were driving the speed limit in the left lane, there'd be no problem.
I pull over if someone is coming up behind me even if I'm driving over the limit (see, I do speed, I just pull up my big girl panties and admit that I'm the one doing something wrong). Usually, I just smile and wave them on by, knowing that if there IS a cop up there, they'll catch him for me and I can go sailing on past, or hope that they don't take someone else out with them when they go. But that doesn't mean that I'm not well aware that THEY are the problem on the roads and would very likely deny it to their dying breath, and I use that adjective advisedly.
Again, I recognize that different drivers drive different speeds comfortably and (hopefully) safety - both at, above, and below the posted speed limit. (And just FYI, there are many factors that go into determining the posted speed limit, some of which have nothing to do with the geometric design conditions of the road. Free-flow speed is what determines driving speed for many drivers, and that doesn't always jive with the posted speed limit.)
I'm not encouraging people to speed. Honestly, I don't care whether you go above or below the speed limit - whatever you're comfortable driving at - as long as you just be considerate on our public roads and let people pass you on the left where possible.
Thanks Mdlx for doing the research on the actual transportation code.
That is in direct conflict with what the TX Defensive Driving course teaches.
If a car in the left lane is moving more slowly than the general flow of traffic it needs to move over . Not moving over is a bigger safety issue, often causing drivers to try to pass on the right, or even road rage , where often innocent people get hurt. Let the police take care of the speeders, but for the safety of others , if you are slower than the general flow of traffic, you, are then the bigger safety risk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
No, they're not. "Slower traffic keep right" means "traffic driving slower than the speed limit keep right". If you're driving the speed limit (or slightly above) and you're in the left lane, in Texas, except for those specific areas that TxDOT chooses to mark as left lane being for passing only, you're just fine. It's the people who insist that it's their God-given right to speed and that anyone driving the speed limit (not below) or slightly above that's the problem who are the jerks - and in the wrong, to boot.
Nothing was said about staying in the left lane just 'cause you can'. What was said was, if you're going to speed, DON'T be an idiot and blame others for the problem, because YOU, YOURSELF are the problem. If you obeyed the speed limit (you know, the law?), if others were driving the speed limit in the left lane, there'd be no problem.
I pull over if someone is coming up behind me even if I'm driving over the limit (see, I do speed, I just pull up my big girl panties and admit that I'm the one doing something wrong). Usually, I just smile and wave them on by, knowing that if there IS a cop up there, they'll catch him for me and I can go sailing on past, or hope that they don't take someone else out with them when they go. But that doesn't mean that I'm not well aware that THEY are the problem on the roads and would very likely deny it to their dying breath, and I use that adjective advisedly.
Traffic congestion in which there are slowdowns due to traffic volume (as opposed to open freeways where left lane speed is actually relevant) can be best relieved by maintaining as steady a speed as possible while leaving plenty of braking distance between yourself and the car in front of you. You can observe patterns of traffic in which clusters of cars brake (often coming to a complete stop) then move again (often at fairly high speed until the next jam.) This is caused by a wave effect that is created when people rush to get from one jam to the next, and the jams are generally caused by tailgating because the tailgater has to apply brakes suddenly and frequently to prevent hitting someone who slows down or changes lanes.
I've single-handedly smoothed out traffic flow in my own lane when I was driving on the Santa Ana freeway in Los Angeles. It's a good place to experiment because traffic is constantly changing speeds and you run into many bottlenecks, plus it's a long stretch of road where you can actually make a difference in how your own lane functions.
What I did was to keep LOTS of room in front of me during times when traffic was swift, then approaching a jam in front of me without changing my speed much because I was leaving enough room for the jam to dissipate before I arrived. The result was amazing. My lane started moving more smoothly because people behind me had to accommodate my own constant speed rather than flooring it to get to the next spot where they'd have to brake.
The other effect of leaving plenty of space in front of you is that you allow cars to change lanes without everyone around them having to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. You can test the opposite of what I did on the Santa Ana freeway by applying your brakes in heavy but steady traffic. The effect of one car braking will have a ripple effect such that cars continually brake at the very spot where you did, and this ripple will remain in place until there's enough space between cars for the pattern to disperse.
Hopefully someone followed this line of reasoning. If you really want to study it, you can find mathematical models of traffic flow online but they're pretty complex.
To those people I say, take your chill pill and move out of the left lane. There are plenty of times I do under the speed limit when it's appropriate. But nothing boils my blood worse than someone poking along in the left lane when there is absolutely no reason to do so. I would say it's my number one aggravator when I am driving in Austin.
In my case, I don't use many highways - Mopac, 183 some, but most of my driving is done on roads like Bee Cave, 360 and 620. People absolutely do not use left lane common sense on these roads. The speed limit is 60-65 in places and yet I get stuck behind people doing 50 pretty routinely.
I also do not understand why people just won't move over. Whenever I see a vehicle coming up behind me, I move over if I can. It's like people don't want you to pass them..what gives?
This is a trickier one. While I generally keep the left lane clear on highways, on highways with lights I think it is a much tougher call to only drive in the right lane.
You have it wrong. The car cruising the speed limit in the left lane IS THE PROBLEM. Not the line of cars behind them waiting for them to pull over.
In the law it says nothing about the speed limit. It specifically states that if most of the traffic is going 75 down that stretch of road on that particular day, then someone going the posted speed of 70 is in fact 'a vehicle moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles' and needs to move over.
I have already quoted this to her in prior debates, she believes what she wants to believe Here is a link to another thread where we had the exact same discussion
I have already quoted this to her in prior debates, she believes what she wants to believe Here is a link to another thread where we had the exact same discussion
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