Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > Hangin' out in the left lane
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Foist
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Foist
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PostMon Jun 16, 2014 3:08 pm 
This is an epidemic in the Pacific NW -- and it's illegal, as it turns out. I experienced a ton of this yesterday driving for a couple hours on I-90. If you're not passing anyone, GET THE EFF OVER. http://www.vox.com/2014/6/16/5804590/why-you-shouldnt-drive-slowly-in-the-left-lane

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wolffie
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PostMon Jun 16, 2014 3:33 pm 
It is the 8th Deadly Sin. You can get off on a technicality (deathbed confession) for just about anything, but not for driving slow in the fast lane. For that, it's eternity. No excuses, no chance of redemption or parole. The center lane counts, too. Ever notice that? Traffic travels in clumps, gaggles, and it's always some slow driver in the center lane creating the bottleneck. They go to Hell, too. And those who text while driving? They're unwelcome even in Hell. Not even the rapists and child molesters want to be around them. They share a special room with the guys who invented leaf blowers, boom cars, and car alarms and such. You may wonder how I know so much about this place. That's another story.

Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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Schenk
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 9:17 am 
I have been trapped in the left lane before....I moved over to allow someone onto a busy, crowded, highway and then could not get back over (blinker on!) due to A-hats speeding by and passing on the right. Since they were like a bunch of pachyderms (nose to nuts) I could not get back to the right and nobody would let me in. I returned every one finger salute I received with enthusiasm. So now what do you think I do? ...I will NEVER move out of the way for some dumba$$ who can't speed up and merge properly again. Screw-em if someone can't learn to merge and screw them if they are driving some lumbering motor coach and trying to navigate rush hour traffic like a slug on dry cement...they should have planned ahead. And I kick over cairns too...and I don't like kittens or cats.

Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
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Randito
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 9:24 am 
Technically its illegal to drive faster than 70mph on I-90 as well, another widely ignored rule. My pet peeve is encountering three semis on I-90 across all three lanes, with a 1mph speed difference between each, but all significantly below the limiit. 1st world, or more precisely American problems.

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Schroder
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 12:12 pm 
The article cited indicates there is no law requiring anyone to move out of the left lane in Washington state.

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Foist
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 12:17 pm 
Pretty sure you're misreading it. It says "In 10 states [colored green on the map], the laws are even stricter — specifically saying the left lane is only for turning or passing. Most of the remaining states say cars need to get over if they're blocking traffic that wants to pass." One of those 10 states is Washington. Here is the law.

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ejain
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 2:44 pm 
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Foist
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 3:27 pm 
Sorry, I missed that one. I confess I don't go to the "Saloon" section much. I've moved around and lived in a lot of places in my life. There are a few tendencies in every place (at least in the U.S.) that I find funny: people always think their city/state has the craziest weather; people always think drivers in their city/state "don't know how to drive in the rain"; and people always think the drivers in their particular state are the worst in general. There's a lot of that last thing going on in the other thread. I haven't lived everywhere in the U.S., but I do have some perspective on this. I think Massachusetts and Washington State both have the worst drivers, but in completely opposite ways. Drivers in WA are the slowest and most oblivious of any place I've been. It's like they're all driving scared (which I think is just as bad as driving angry). As for driving angry, Massachusetts has the most aggressive -- I would even say psychotic -- drivers anywhere I've ever been in the U.S. In Massachusetts, if you're going 70 in a 65, you are by far the slowest driver on the highway. Many of those faster drivers will whiz by harmlessly, but many others will pass you going 80, get right in front of you, and then slow back down to 65. In other words, it's like they're not really interested in getting somewhere; they're interested in getting somewhere BEFORE YOU. It's like driving is some zero-sum game where everyone is trying to be the aggressor. If WA and MA drivers fall at the opposite ends of a spectrum, I'm somewhere in the middle. OK, maybe a little closer to MA. But there's a difference between driving relatively fast and wanting to get somewhere, and being *aggressive.* I want to get where I'm going, but I could care less if you get there first. In fact, I *like* when faster drivers pass me or go in front of me, because it reduces my odds of getting a ticket. If I pass one car in the left lane, and then see another slow car in the center lane way up ahead that I will want to pass also, I check my rear view mirror first to see if someone else is coming up behind me wanting to go faster. If so, I move over. If not, it's safe to just continue on in the left lane until I pass the next car and avoid unnecessary lane changes. Conversely -- although this would fall outside the scope of the law -- I think it's a bad idea to cut someone else off in the left lane who is going faster than you, even if you ARE passing another, slower car. First of all, it's just obnoxious. The person behind you wants to go faster, you might as well wait until they pass first to pass the slow car. Second, again, it actually benefits you to have a faster car in front of you, as they will get a speeding ticket first, and you are less likely to get tailgated.

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Randito
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 3:48 pm 
I've driven in Tel Aviv, all US drive are courteous, considerate and careful in comparison. Even Massholes and NYC taxi drivers.

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Foist
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 3:51 pm 
Oh yes, I can attest to that. In Israel (and the West Bank for that matter) it's like lane markers do not exist. It is terrifying.

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Voxxjin
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 4:23 pm 
I know Paris, France (I always like to call them parasites) drivers are pretty crazy. I have seen moped cut off buses, three cars abreast on a marked two lane road and people drive straight across the huge traffic circle around the Arc'de Triumph--perpendicular to the flow of traffic. But for WA my annoyances are, slow drivers, slow drivers in the left lane and people who try to merge onto the freeway at a slow speed.

Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war
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Schroder
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 4:43 pm 
Foist wrote:
Pretty sure you're misreading it. It says "In 10 states [colored green on the map], the laws are even stricter — specifically saying the left lane is only for turning or passing.
Okay. The chart didn't spell that out - and the article is not quite accurate. RCW 46.61.100 (4) says: It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic. You can drive continuously as long as you're not impeding traffic. It also says: (3) No vehicle towing a trailer or no vehicle or combination over ten thousand pounds may be driven in the left-hand lane of a limited access roadway having three or more lanes for traffic moving in one direction except when preparing for a left turn at an intersection, exit, or into a private road or driveway when a left turn is legally permitted. This doesn't seem to be enforced at all.

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DIYSteve
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 5:28 pm 
Schroder wrote:
RCW 46.61.100 (4) says: It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic.
Correct
Schroder wrote:
You can drive continuously as long as you're not impeding traffic.
Incorrect. The statute must be read in its entirety. See RCW 46.61.100(1):
Quote:
(1) Upon all roadways of sufficient width a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows: (a) When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction under the rules governing such movement; (b) When an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the highway; provided, any person so doing shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles traveling in the proper direction upon the unobstructed portion of the highway within such distance as to constitute an immediate hazard; (c) Upon a roadway divided into three marked lanes and providing for two-way movement traffic under the rules applicable thereon; (d) Upon a street or highway restricted to one-way traffic; or (e) Upon a highway having three lanes or less, when approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck or other vehicle providing roadside assistance while operating warning lights with three hundred sixty degree visibility, or police vehicle as described under *RCW 46.61.212(2)

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Schroder
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 6:03 pm 
You are driving on the right half of a roadway when you're on the freeway, at least I hope you are.

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Jun 17, 2014 6:27 pm 
Americans are CRAPPY drivers! I drive 60mph in the right lane. Hell, even I pass some people in the left lane sometimes. moon.gif

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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