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But the other thing, to answer your question in general, is that very few people are actually "from" here. ...
You have to pay attention here, and make no assumptions about anyone, because you really don't know where they are from.
Speaking of "making assumptions about people"...it is most certainly NOT the case that "very few people are from here"! Approximately 50% of the residents of this area are natives--for now, anyway.
Current NC law only requires that you maintain the speed limit in the left lane. There's nothing the HP can do. Other states do have laws on the books in the area of failing to yield to an overtaking vehicle that are beginning to get enforced.
I think the key takeaway here is to remember that the left lane(s) is for passing, not for cruising. If you are not passing another car in the moment, you really should be staying right. It makes for more lane changes, but it allows for a much more efficient traffic flow. And, please, please signal. I can't read your mind.
NC has one of the most lax laws in this regard compared to other states (see State "keep right" laws for a comparison). While the NC Drivers Handbook does tell drivers to "Keep to the right, use the left lane(s) for passing" in the Interstate Highways section, the SHP can't do much without a stronger law on the books to enforce.
Please ask your state representatives to support a stronger restrictions to help reduce road rage and make our highways more efficient. Getting more cars off the roads will also help the environment too.
Last night I was driving on I-40 past RDU going toward downtown. I was in the left lane minding my own business when a car came up behind me, passed me on the right and honked at me, then pulled in front of me in the left lane and slowed down. He kept driving slowly in front of me until I was forced to move to the right to pass him, but then he sped away! I did nothing to provoke him. Do drivers here just commit random acts or road rage or what?
Have you noticed the signs in the median "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT"?
Have you noticed the signs in the median "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT"?
Guess not..........
Ever heard the term "left lane hog" And it's the law in NC GS_20-146
Unfortunately, this law is specific to drivers driving less than the speed limit. Here is the text of 20-146(b):
Quote:
Upon all highways any vehicle proceeding at less than the legal maximum speed limit shall be driven in the right‑hand lane then available for thru traffic, or as close as practicable to the right‑hand curb or edge of the highway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn.
It would be much more effective if it applied whenever the driver was not passing, no matter his speed.
Here are some examples of more effective laws:
Colorado [CRS 42-4-1013]:
Quote:
A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor vehicles that are in a nonpassing lane or turning left, or unless the volume of traffic does not permit the motor vehicle to safely merge into a nonpassing lane.
Oklahoma [Section 41-11-301]:
Quote:
Upon all roadways any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place under the conditions then existing shall be driven in the right-hand lane when available for traffic...
Regardless of that fact, under no circumstance should someone do what the OP said this driver did. Just because someone is going slow in the fast lane, does not give other drivers the right to drive recklessly to "prove their point".
I had something similar happen to me yesterday, when out of no where a driver in a jacked-up ford f-150 pulls over 4 lanes and gets on my ass. I was already passing cars and doing 70 in a 60 (I know I was speeding). The driver should have followed me at a safe distance until I could get over, instead he proceeded to drive up my butt until I could safely get out of his way. He speeds past me and continues to do the same thing to the driver which was right in front of me to begin with.
Passing is one thing, but driving recklessly and 30mph over the speed limit is just stupid.
Oh, I never meant that the other driver was right. I was only explaining what he was doing.
As far as the situation that happened to you, that pisses me off to no end. If I'm passing, and going over the speed limit to do so, don't tailgate me to hurry up and finish passing. Even worse is when they're impatient for me to finish passing, and do so before I can, cutting off the driver I'm trying to pass. It not only cuts the other driver off, it keeps me from moving back over.
All to save, at most, a minute or two in their commute.
Forced driver re-education programs for transplants from the following states would certainly help (this is based on personal experience driving in all of these and living in several):
Regardless of that fact, under no circumstance should someone do what the OP said this driver did. Just because someone is going slow in the fast lane, does not give other drivers the right to drive recklessly to "prove their point".
I had something similar happen to me yesterday, when out of no where a driver in a jacked-up ford f-150 pulls over 4 lanes and gets on my ass. I was already passing cars and doing 70 in a 60 (I know I was speeding). The driver should have followed me at a safe distance until I could get over, instead he proceeded to drive up my butt until I could safely get out of his way. He speeds past me and continues to do the same thing to the driver which was right in front of me to begin with.
Passing is one thing, but driving recklessly and 30mph over the speed limit is just stupid.
I was taught in driver's ed that when you are being tailgaited, that the safe thing to to is to slow down. I'm not talking about a "brake check" that could trigger an accident, but slowly letting up on the accelerator so that you gradually slow down. Continue slowing until the distance between you and the car following becomes a safe distance (the slower that you are going, the shorter this distance needs to be to be safe). By then the tailgaiter will figure out that he is better off in another lane.
I do notice a distinct lack of "slower traffic keep right" and "left lane for passing only" signs here. I agree with what others have said, the left lane should not be a "minding my own business" lane, but a "get past a slower car on your right" lane.
Yeah, the guy who honked and passed the OP on the right shouldn't be driving fast and aggressive, but people shouldn't be just cruising in the left lane without a care in the world either.
I see the same slow poke drivers hogging the left lane every day while going to work. I know their vehicles and try to avoid being stuck in the same lane behind them.
If you're in the left lane driving slow and EVERYONE is passing you in the right hand lane..... get a clue and move over.
Here's your sign....!!!!!!
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