Comment on Bruh, chill
Naz@sh.itjust.works 3 days agoI’ve had a much easier life following a super easy rule for highways:
Left lane: Passing/Fast
Middle lane: Cruising
Right lane: Exit/Slow
If I’m in the left lane doing 110 MPH and there’s a pickup truck right on my ass, I’ll signal and go middle lane and just cruise for a bit.
9 times out of 10, I’ll see that exact same pickup or other car on the right shoulder with a state trooper writing him up.
It’s happened so often in my life, it’s made me believe in “instant karma”. Just let them pass.
Right lane is for cruising.
Any lanes to the left are for overtaking, and you move back to the right after passing.
Of course it depends on how heavy the traffic is, but if you’re not willing to move faster than the cars on your right, CHANGE LANES.
People driving in the middle lane when there’s nobody on the left are a pet peeve of mine.
Don’t believe this is true. In scenarios where there are three or more lanes, the middle lane is used for cruising. The right-most lane is for entering/exiting traffic.
The laws are different for the US, where middle lane hogging is generally not illegal. However, all states stipulate that you must keep in the right lane unless overtaking, which is similar in spirit. Annoyingly, all but Florida then add an exception to this rule for highways with three lanes or more.
Middle lane hogging is mainly outlawed in the UK, who have correctly recognised it as being incredibly dangerous and a curse of congestion by preventing other people from overtaking.
Who, what, why: What’s wrong with middle-lane hogging? - BBC News - www.bbc.com/news/magazine-2278498
KEEP RIGHT TRAFFIC LAWS IN ALL 50 STATES CHART (00214405).DOC - SLOWER-TRAFFIC-KEEP-RIGHT.pdf - www.mwl-law.com/…/SLOWER-TRAFFIC-KEEP-RIGHT.pdf
The highway code, the official rules for road use in the UK, reads:
(General Rules, 160) “keep to the left, unless road signs or markings indicate otherwise. The exceptions are when you want to overtake, turn right or pass parked vehicles or pedestrians in the road”
(Motorway lane disciple, rule 264): “Keep in the left lane unless overtaking. If you are overtaking, you should return to the left lane when it is safe to do so (see also Rules 267 and 268).”
Many other EU countries have the same rules. I wouldn’t know about America.
Yes, these situations exist in Europe too, where we have a “drive in the rightmost lane”-law. For example the ring of Antwerpen has the rightmost lane almost exclusively reserved for on and off ramping. It’s a 4 lane highway, if I remember correctly.
I find that people driving in the middle when the right is clear are merely anticipating an upcoming on/off ramp where things can get bunched up.
So I was taught that undertaking is technically not illegal but it’s bad practice, hogging the overtake lanes when there’s nobody on your left is the actual offence. (UK before anyone driving on the incorrect side says anything). But yeah there’s still a reasonable speed to keep at on main roads in most conditions.
I don’t know about associated punishments, but the highway code is clear.
Rule 267: […]Overtake only on the right.
Rule 268: Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake.
It goes on to clarify that, in heavy traffic, the left lane could be moving faster and that keeping up with the flow is OK.
Any lanes to the left are for overtaking, and you move back to the right after passing.
A bit stupid to move back if nobody is behind you tbh. Needless lane changes.
You know what’s a needless lane change? When I come behind you and have to cross 2 lanes to overtake you, because you’re totally zoned out and never saw me coming, and then I have to move back 2 lanes again instead of 1.
MOVE RIGHT jackass. If changing lanes on an empty highway is too challenging for you, maybe you shouldn’t be driving on one.
It’s not challenging, needlessly (as in nobody is behind you trying to go faster) is just that, unnecessary. The whole point is that you move over if someone is behind you.
And good drivers pay attention to stuff happening around them. If you as a rule are zoning out, I have bad news for you lol
I cruise in the middle lane because the right lane is full of idiots with cars more powerful than mine but somehow going 10 under the speed limit.
This is how lanes should be driven in. If I’m passing someone in the left, and I see someone screaming up behind me, I’ll usually try and speed up, get over to clear the lane, and then resume where I was at. I don’t cut anyone off, ideally the person passing doesn’t catch me before I get over, and life goes on with minimal interruptions.
Too many people go on autopilot and are completely unaware of other traffic around them. I’m consistently watching mirrors, traffic around me, and for animals deciding to cross the the road. It’s not no work, but it’s where everyone should be at when driving.
Let them be the cop bait.
I try to drive in the rightmost lane where I can maintain my desired speed without needing to weave back and fourth, unless someone is coming up behind me, in which case I’ll reduce my threshold for moving to the right to let them by, unless they are driving aggressively enough that I think there’s a high chance they’ll pass on the right after I’ve passed someone but before I’m far enough ahead of whoever I just passed to move over.
Oh one more exception for if the right lane is clear but there’s an onramp with cars, I’ll leave them the right lane to merge into and move over once I’ve passed them. I’ll also avoid cruising in front of semis if I can.
This is assuming the person isn’t tailgating you in driving lane refusing to pass you, because that happens constantly…
What highways are there with a 100mph+ speed limit? I’d love to visit.
I thought the highest in the US was 80mph, which means at least 30mph over. I thought you could start getting your vehicle impounded and get reckless driving charges at that point. It’s a little more than common speeding
I have seen an 85 mph speed limit on a 2-lane highway in Oklahoma. It was cool because I was in a fast car and I could go as fast as I wanted to (about 90).
Doing the speed limit while cruising in the middle lane is the proper way to travel in the United States, or just going with the flow of traffic. Being predictable is safe.
If the road you’re on has a 80 MPH speed limit however, and people are doing 90-100 in the left lane (+10-20) it is exceedingly difficult to pass someone without temporarily going high speeds yourself.
You do not need to be passing people if they’re already going 100mph…
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 2 days ago
“Never be the fastest car on the highway” is a pretty good rule for avoiding state troopers.
xthexder@l.sw0.com 2 days ago
I’ve been following this advice myself, but maybe with a bit of an ulterior motive… Being the second fastest car on the road, maybe a mile or two back from the fastest car on the road means they get pulled over and I don’t.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 days ago
“Or the stolen vehicle with no plates and a trail of illicit drug smoke, dragging a gas station hose, shooting a firearm out the bloody windows, while your hostage is screaming.”
But that’s not as concise.
bluewing@lemm.ee 2 days ago
Nah, you still good bro as long as you are moving smoothly with the traffic.
bluewing@lemm.ee 2 days ago
What catches the trooper’s eye and gets you pulled over is doing all those lane changes if you want to be the fastest. That’s what is unsafe. Otherwise, they aren’t too concerned about the actual speed as long as the traffic is flowing smoothly.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 day ago
This strongly depends on both the area and the individual officers. And sometimes your skin colour, unfortunately. Also the condition of your vehicle, like a new porsche might be allowed to get away with a higher speed than a rust-bucket (or, on the other hand, that new porsche might attract more attention and/or envy).