Slower Traffic Keep Right (condo, to move, train)

[JenLee]

I usually do try to stay in the right lane; but I am amazed at the way people tailgate lately. I usually drive at the speed limit (or 2-3 miles higher); but Then some big old SUV comes barreling down on my bumper, and when I check the rear-view mirror, 9 times out of 10 the driver is on the cell phone , eating, drinking, or --I KID YOU NOT!!!-- reading the newspaper! WHILE driving!

That's why I asked how fast the original poster plans to go!

And yes, the left lane is supposed to be the passing lane.

[01Snake]

It's not a matter of how fast the person behind you is going, its the fact that you are camped out in the "fast" lane doing the speed limit while several cars behind you are either:

A. riding your bumper

or

B. going around you to pass you while YOU are in the "passing" lane.

Someone also mentioned drivers in cell phones. I'd say 80% of the time its the clueless moron yapping on his/her cell phone that tootle along in the left lane oblivious to the dozen cars stacked up behind them.

It's really not that difficult. If you're impeding the flow of traffic in the left lane and the right lanes are open, MOVE OVER!!

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by JenLee

I usually do try to stay in the right lane; but I am amazed at the way people tailgate lately. I usually drive at the speed limit (or 2-3 miles higher); but Then some big old SUV comes barreling down on my bumper, and when I check the rear-view mirror, 9 times out of 10 the driver is on the cell phone , eating, drinking, or --I KID YOU NOT!!!-- reading the newspaper! WHILE driving!

That's why I asked how fast the original poster plans to go!

And yes, the left lane is supposed to be the passing lane.

What do you mean "lately"? Minnesota is possibly the worst place I've seen for tailgating, no matter what the road or traffic conditions. People will sit on your tail even if there's room to go around you on the left or right-hand side. And that trick of driving really fast up behind the car in front and realising at the last second that the car in front isn't going to move or go any faster, forcing them to slam on the brakes, is nothing new. I've seen that happen for 10+ years. Something you'll just have to get used to I'm afraid.

[JenLee]

Originally Posted by chilaili

What do you mean "lately"? Minnesota is possibly the worst place I've seen for tailgating, no matter what the road or traffic conditions. People will sit on your tail even if there's room to go around you on the left or right-hand side. And that trick of driving really fast up behind the car in front and realising at the last second that the car in front isn't going to move or go any faster, forcing them to slam on the brakes, is nothing new. I've seen that happen for 10+ years. Something you'll just have to get used to I'm afraid.

I don't think MN has a corner on tailgaters; the drivers in the east are much worse in my estimation; especially in Mass. and the states around DC! I haven't driven through the entire eastern US; but I do think that the drivers around DC have a death wish; they have to in order to drive the way they do!

[Kingsnkali]

Minnesota is famous for slow drivers parked in the fast lane. That's why the flow is always so screwed up on the freeways. And tailgating (another Minnesota tradition) is probably a natural reaction to the slow paced/disfunctional/screwed up driving.

Give me California with 80 (+) mph in the fast lane. And 75 mph in the number 2 lane anytime! Much better lane segregation here. And the only time people tailgate is if someone is going too slow for the lane they're in. We drive fast as hell, but it makes perfect sense and is in harmony with the design of the freeway.

[JenLee]

Originally Posted by Kingsnkali

Minnesota is famous for slow drivers parked in the fast lane. That's why the flow is always so screwed up on the freeways. And tailgating (another Minnesota tradition) is probably a natural reaction to the slow paced/disfunctional/screwed up driving.

Give me California with 80 (+) mph in the fast lane. And 75 mph in the number 2 lane anytime! Much better lane segregation here. And the only time people tailgate is if someone is going too slow for the lane they're in. We drive fast as hell, but it makes perfect sense and is in harmony with the design of the freeway.

SEE? There is the difference! I swear there isn't a design to MN freeways; someone just scribbled on a map and that's where they put the Twin City freeways. Anytime a major beltway narrows down to almost 1 lane (such as 694 at the Snelling/US 10 interchange) you KNOW there isn't any plan to the freeway system here.

[SlyFrog]

Originally Posted by JenLee

SEE? There is the difference! I swear there isn't a design to MN freeways; someone just scribbled on a map and that's where they put the Twin City freeways. Anytime a major beltway narrows down to almost 1 lane (such as 694 at the Snelling/US 10 interchange) you KNOW there isn't any plan to the freeway system here.

Yes, or the awesome offramps, such as the 77 to 62/Crosstown interchange, where traffic inevitably stacks up about 1/2 mile back for an hour or two each morning, because of a shared, goofy, one lane off-ramp design that people are confused to use.

Though I suppose that I should be surprised that by having only one small choked off lane, it doesn't make the traffic go faster.

[betsi100]

After moving here from Phoenix, this strange driving behavior truly amazes me. They ride 40-50 mph in the left lane - totally oblivious to anyone else. It holds up traffic and causes people to cut in front of them. Drives me crazy!

[Kingsnkali]

The Crosstown really has no length to the on and off ramps. You just come around the cloverleaf and you're thrown into the active lane. It's a mess. And trying to come off the eastbound Crosstown to south 77 is the same way. No real ramp to speed up and merge. Poorly designed even for back in the 50's and 60's.

35W from the Crosstown to the Minnesota River has always been bad. What were those planners thinking back then??? It was inadequate even back in the 70's. The pretty sound barriers are nice to look at while you're stuck in traffic I guess...

[bighusker]

I moved here from Omaha and I'm shocked at how poorly designed and outdated your innerstate ramps are. My least favorite (so far) is the 494 offramp to 394 east. There's like 500 feet of shared on-ramp-off-ramp and you have to time it just right so that the people merging can get over and you can merge off...and then you have the same problem when you actually merge on to the 394 "access road", only you are the ones merging on to the road and now you have to look out for exiting traffic! To top it off, the damn 360 curve slows you down way below a safe merging speed! And when you do finally get to a straightaway, too many idiots don't realize that you have to floor it immediately.

It also would have been nice if they had designed a grid plan for most of the roads instead of this haphazard mess of innerstates, highways and crazy windy dead-end residental streets...but it's a little late to fix that.