Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[The Firebird]

IMO there are many instances where speeding is safer than not. One example is going quickly around a semi truck in the interstate instead of passing it at a snail pace.

There’s also a weird effect where speeding can cause you to have increased awareness of surroundings.

My wife and I now have our car insurance tracking our speed and driving for a discount. It does save money. But there is a major road here that is set at 40 mph where the flow of traffic is 55 mph. We get dinged there, but we'd be causing problems otherwise.

 

[Cadence]

IMO there are many instances where speeding is safer than not. One example is going quickly around a semi truck in the interstate instead of passing it at a snail pace.

There’s also a weird effect where speeding can cause you to have increased awareness of surroundings.

The biggest thing they've done here is to start publicizing that it is against state law for slow traffic to be in the left lane on highways.

I really wish we had state police enforcing that with regular tickets and giving absolutely huge ones with tons of points to those tailgating at speed. I would happily give to a state income tax check-off to hire more troopers just for that. I bet the combination would do wonders even if they didn't do anything about speeding.

Instead you might see one trooper every few hundred miles, and then all they do is cause a momentary blip of slowness.

 

[CleverNickName]

The biggest thing they've done here is to start publicizing that it is against state law for slow traffic to be in the left lane on highways.

The trouble here on the west coast (and elsewhere, I'm sure) is that most people see the sign that reads, "slow traffic keep right" and conveniently misinterpret it as "traffic moving slower than me keep right." That's not what the sign says, but certain people insist otherwise.

Sorry, Crash Bandicoot. Vehicles traveling the speed limit are not "slow traffic," and your sense of urgency does not override the posted speed limit.

 

[payn]

I get that folks think its their god given right to drive the speed limit or even the minimum in the left lane, but there are a lot of reasons not to stay in that lane. The best one is there might not be room for folks to get over in the case of other vehicles pulled over on the shoulder for safety. Another is that driving the limit or minimum can back traffic up for miles in heavy traffic conditions. Please speed up or slow down and get your butt in the right lane. Thanks.

 

[Cadence]

The trouble here on the west coast (and elsewhere, I'm sure) is that most people see the sign that reads, "slow traffic keep right" and conveniently misinterpret it as "traffic moving slower than me keep right." That's not what the sign says, but certain people insist otherwise.

Sorry, Crash Bandicoot. Your sense of urgency does not override the posted speed limit.

In South Carolina, for example, the law behind the "slow traffic keep right" signs is actually "no leftmost lane unless passing (barring congestion etc...)". So, paralleling someone in the lane to your right is in fact often illegal even if you are going the speed limit.

 

[Velderan]

The biggest thing they've done here is to start publicizing that it is against state law for slow traffic to be in the left lane on highways.

I really wish we had state police enforcing that with regular tickets and giving absolutely huge ones with tons of points to those tailgating at speed. I would happily give to a state income tax check-off to hire more troopers just for that. I bet the combination would do wonders even if they didn't do anything about speeding.

Instead you might see one trooper every few hundred miles, and then all they do is cause a momentary blip of slowness.

That momentary blip of slowness here means that people will slow down to 5-10 under the speed limit, as if the trooper was going to pull them over for accidentally going 1 over the speed limit.

 

[FrogReaver]

I get that folks think its their god given right to drive the speed limit or even the minimum in the left lane, but there are a lot of reasons not to stay in that lane. The best one is there might not be room for folks to get over in the case of other vehicles pulled over on the shoulder for safety. Another is that driving the limit or minimum can back traffic up for miles in heavy traffic conditions. Please speed up or slow down and get your butt in the right lane. Thanks.

Yep. Much less safe when people do that.

Best laws I ever seen about driving were out of Germany. They had 2 particularly good ones. If a vehicle was approaching you and you were both in the left lane then it was your obligation to get out of their way. The other was the zipper law where traffic in the left had to be allowed to be let into traffic on the right. They enforced that as well. Those 2 would solve most problems on American roadways IMO.

 

[FrogReaver]

That momentary blip of slowness here means that people will slow down to 5-10 under the speed limit, as if the trooper was going to pull them over for accidentally going 1 over the speed limit.

I’ve known of that to happen! Though it was in a small town.

 

[FrogReaver]

In South Carolina, for example, the law behind the "slow traffic keep right" signs is actually "no leftmost lane unless passing (barring congestion etc...)". So, paralleling someone in the lane to your right is in fact often illegal even if you are going the speed limit.

IMO there’s too much interpretation left in such laws. Means no one behaves to them consistently.

As example I’ll glad get over to the right if I’m passing traffic while in left lane but I’ve gotten over too many times to have the person behind me not go fast enough to get in front of me by the next car going slow. So now I have to decide are they actually going to pass me or is my speed close enough to what they wish to go. It’s a mess to navigate.

 

[Velderan]

I get that folks think its their god given right to drive the speed limit or even the minimum in the left lane, but there are a lot of reasons not to stay in that lane. The best one is there might not be room for folks to get over in the case of other vehicles pulled over on the shoulder for safety. Another is that driving the limit or minimum can back traffic up for miles in heavy traffic conditions. Please speed up or slow down and get your butt in the right lane. Thanks.

It's funny how even just traveling 1 state away can make a difference there. We drove to Mount Rushmore in June and pretty much as soon as we crossed into South Dakota from Minnesota, people would largely stick to the right lane unless they were actively passing someone. We really didn't see a lot of people hanging out in the left lane beyond that.