Left Lane Drivers

[OnThePike]

I enjoy driving responsibly, probably due to the fact that my license is my livelihood. When you're accustomed to driving 15-30 MPH all day, every day, driving at 65-70 MPH on an open interstate is a treat.

I never drive in the left lane and never drive over the posted speed limit. It may take me a bit longer to get from NY to FL, but one thing's for sure- I'll have all the money I came with, won't have to deal with any unexpected overnight "stop overs" and will be less stressed/anxious about the trip leaving me less fatigued to concentrate and be aware of my surroundings. I have a radar detector- didn't even turn it on for the entire trip ( [url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050104084857/http://www.travelriver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375]http://www.travelriver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375[/url] ). Blue lights pulsating throughout the night were of no concern to me. My concern was getting to and from FL safely and without incident.

Because I drive in the right lane, and because I'm extremely observant of my surroundings, I actually yeild the right lane to any trucker coming up behind me. If there's room, I'll move left giving him the right lane so he doesn't have to negotiate traffic on his left. As soon as he's passed, I move back into the right lane.

Works for us both, I suppose!

Edit: For whatever reason, a post I made about 9 years ago (lol) no longer exists, but remains linked above. I linked the old post at archive.org.

[Lakota]

"On the Pike" definately has "got it." Couldn't have said it better.

[OnThePike]

Well, thank you Lakota. I appreciate the compliment!

[anticellphonechris]

How about when you try to pass a person in the right lane, you get into the left lane to pass and then the driver in the right lane speeds up, making you have to do 80 miles an hour to get around them? My brother calls it, "dose of ego." This happens to me often on rt. 18, where it is an expressway (the way it should be). It's very frustrating and I'm just venting.

I would love to shoot out their tires, or ram them off the road, though.

[lou]

Anticellphone, are you talking about Route 18 in New Jersey. Cause if you are, I believe it. I always say this, NJ has the best roads in the country (that don't have potholes) but has the biggest morons driving on them.

[TNT]

I usually assume they are NOT aware that they are causing traffic jams. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've entered a slow wave with good distance visibility only to find a barrage of 4 cars driving head to head 15 cars ahead of me and then a half mile of absolutely empty road. That's when I slide over to the right, wait for an exit lane, accelerate up to the front of the pack, eventually work my way out front and return to the offending car in the left lane.

Now very carefully, graciously, without using my brakes at all, I settle in front of the offensive driver and very gradually let the car drop in speed, CAREFULLY. This process can be time consuming as I don't want the offensive driver to think I'm breaking in their face. Just very gradually so they get a feel of what it actually feels like to be caught behind someone going slower than we'd like to. This can last 30 seconds (these drivers are aware of their offense) and 2-3 min (these drivers are completely clueless, they'll just slow down too until they realise the ridiculousness of the speed they're doing) and when the offensive driver switches back to the travel lane, I accelerate away out of there!

Of course I don't do that in rush hour or if there's family in the car, but down in Florida, most vehicles are single occupants so it's easy as pie and so much fun!!!! It's like a game to play when you have time and the roads are pretty clear, the whole process can sometimes take 5 minutes, but it can just make my day!