They don’t care about how quick they arrive (otherwhise they wouldn’t speed up to a redlight), they just wanna feel fast, in this case by driving faster than everyone else
Comment on Bruh, chill
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you are on any U.S. highway, there is always someone who thinks the ideal speed limit is 10 mph faster than whatever the speed of traffic is in the left lane. They will tailgate you until you change lanes to let them pass, causing everyone in the lane to the right to adjust to the change in traffic, and then repeat the process for every car in front of them, or they will attempt to pass you on the right, creating dangerous traffic situations. Best of all, this person genuinely believes that, “If everyone drove like I do, there would be no traffic.”
Zwiebel@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Exactly. I just drove from New York to Boston, and no matter what the speed was, I’d run into a tailgater every 30 minutes. I’d be cruising at 80 to 85 mph, keeping a minimum safe distance from the guy in front of me, there’d be 5 cars in front of me doing the exact same thing, but some dick (usually driving an oversized pickup) would decide that wasn’t good enough. He’d tailgate until I found an opportunity to drop into the middle lane, let him pass, then get back into right lane and watch him do the same thing to the guy in front of me. It’s as if he thinks he’s gonna reach the, “front,” and then their won’t be any traffic.
xthexder@l.sw0.com 3 weeks ago
Did you get the lanes mixed up, or are you saying you’re moving into the faster lane to let them pass you on the right? Passing on the right may not be illegal in the US, but it’s definitely less safe and it’s illegal in parts of Europe. I would never move left to let someone pass, if they can’t figure out how to go around on their own, that’s their problem.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
No, I’m saying I would be in the passing lane, going faster than the speed of traffic, then I’d get tailgated by someone whi decided the flow of traffic was too slow and change lanes, just to watch him do the same thing to the car that was just ahead of me. I think if I edit this sentence it would be more clear:
He’d tailgate until I found an opportunity to drop into the middle lane, let him pass, then [I would] get back into right lane and watch him do the same thing to the guy in front of me.
rishado@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Totally right, considering there is traffic in front of you. If there’s only one car in the left lane however they should still move over to the right for a faster driver behind, even if they’re already going 30+ over the limit.
Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Just to confirm, does this imply you just drive in the left lane like normal without activley passing?
dmention7@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Why is this passive aggressive “hurr durr found the left lane camper” comment on every literally post about left lane tailgaters?
Have you literally never driven in any Metropolitan area ever? I see it daily… lines 10+ cars deep of traffic maybe a single carlength apart, all doing 85 in the left lane, constantly passing middle lane traffic, as if that’s somehow going to make the 1/2 mile of traffic ahead of them go faster.
The number of aggressive tailgaters I see during my commute easily outweighs the left lane campers by 10:1
BassTurd@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you are in the left lane, and aren’t actively passing someone, you are in the wrong and in most highways, breaking the law. Left lane campers are the reason people have to pass on the right dangerously, and if they did get to the right like they should and drive predictably, then it wouldn’t cause a cluster in the right lane traffic, because it is the expectation.
dmention7@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
I get that, but these comments strongly imply two things that are generally false: -The main that reason tailgating happens is because someone is camping in the left lane, and -Tailgating is an appropriate response to someone camping in the left lane.
Nobody, literally nobody, ever defends left lane campers, but for some reason the immediate reaction to calling out tailgaters for their dangerous driving is to strawman the caller-outer as a left lane camper.
8000gnat@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
found the left lane camper
dmention7@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
I asked for that >.<
Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m in one of the biggest Metropolitan areas in the US and I see entirely the opposite. 50x the amount of slow left lane drivers, going the same speed as the car to their right, blocking all cars going the appropriate speed, than tailgaters.
I agree the no space in the left lane is crazy though. More often than tailgaters, when I’m activley passing in the left lane, and a car from the right lane cuts me off and continues to go the same speed they were in the other lane, making me have to break on the freeway (which is another thing you should avoid whenever possible, and just let off on the gas. You’re a multi-ton chuck of metal going 60+ mph, you’ll slow down quick by just not accelerating).
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
No, I very specifically called out people who want to drive faster than what the speed traffic in the passing lane. How you think that implies going slower than the middle lane is beyond me.
Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because you mention that you need to make other drivers slow down when changing into the right lane. If you are actively passing, when you finish passing you merge back into the lane to your right when you get to the gap you were aiming for, thus not needing to make anyone slow down. If you’re passing, you should have a plan of when you’re done passing, even when sometimes that gap shifts when cars change, and then you’re looking for a new gap.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah, you should always wait until there’s a safe amount of space to change lanes, but realistically, you’re very rarely going to find a gap that has enough space to merge in with safe follow distance behind and in front of you (assuming 55-60 mph speed limit, that would be 100 feet plus the length of your car). You’ll probably find a gap with a little extra room, maybe 60 or so feet, match speed and merge with about 30 feet in front of you, then drop speed for a little bit until you hit 50 feet. The car behind you will do the same, and so on.
That happens all the time on the highway and it’s not a big deal, but if some asshole is forcing cars to do that every 2 minutes because they’re tailgating the left lane, that’s gonna start slowing down the middle lane. It’s also gonna cause people to start doing stupid shit like following to closely or jumping into the left lane at the earliest opportunity, even if there isn’t enough room to do that safely.
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Are you implying that you break the speed limit just to pass people?
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Are you a cop?
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
It’s lame that you ask me that instead of asking it to the policing user I was replying to in parody.
Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Absolutely. If you’re scared to so so when appropriate, you shouldn’t be on the road.
Why we need actual public transit so we don’t have to be concerned about this.
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
So you’re making an arbitrary value judgment about which legal violations are acceptable and which aren’t. That’s fine to do, for yourself. But you’re applying them onto others.
It would be one thing to debate someone about when it is and isn’t OK to break the law, but you’re not doing that. You’re just implying that someone else is wrong because they don’t share the exact same illegalist framework as you. And you’re resting your entire point upon that supposition.
I dunno bud, if you’re OK with people speeding to pass, maybe relax about people doing the speed limit in the left lane instead of insisting that it’s your way or the highway. Pun intended.