Poll: Highway Cruising Speed?

[jakeroot]

Common courtesy on Mexican two-lane highways.  After driving in Mexico awhile, where slower traffic does indeed move over onto the shoulder, you'll really wish people in the US did it as well.

In some countries, such as South Africa, it's common for both directions to move onto the shoulder to allow faster traffic to pass on the center line (assuming the shoulder isn't wide enough for a whole vehicle). Seems smart, but South Africa also has a lot more road deaths per capita than the US, so maybe it's not as great as I think.

[kphoger]

Common courtesy on Mexican two-lane highways.  After driving in Mexico awhile, where slower traffic does indeed move over onto the shoulder, you'll really wish people in the US did it as well.

In some countries, such as South Africa, it's common for both directions to move onto the shoulder to allow faster traffic to pass on the center line (assuming the shoulder isn't wide enough for a whole vehicle). Seems smart, but South Africa also has a lot more road deaths per capita than the US, so maybe it's not as great as I think.

That's what they do in Mexico too.

And Texas, actually.  Although they're less likely in Texas to pass down the center line compared to Mexico, it certainly happens quite a lot, and I've personally done it a few times.  I think the main difference is that oncoming traffic is a LOT more likely to ride the shoulder too in Mexico than in Texas.  The last time I drove through Texas (this past March), I witnessed slower traffic riding the shoulder–or had faster traffic willing to pass me while I rode the shoulder–probably a dozen times just between Sonora and Abilene.

[kalvado]

Common courtesy on Mexican two-lane highways.  After driving in Mexico awhile, where slower traffic does indeed move over onto the shoulder, you'll really wish people in the US did it as well.



In point of fact, it is specifically legal to do this in Texas, per statute.

In NYS we're specifically told that passing vehicle stopped in driving lane for left turn by moving over to shoulder is explicitly illegal. Best case scenario is two cars trying to make a turn a block apart in opposite directions... You shall not pass!

[riiga]

In some countries, such as South Africa, it's common for both directions to move onto the shoulder to allow faster traffic to pass on the center line (assuming the shoulder isn't wide enough for a whole vehicle). Seems smart, but South Africa also has a lot more road deaths per capita than the US, so maybe it's not as great as I think.

We used to have lots of two lane roads with wide shoulders which encouraged such passing behavior, but due to the accident rate most have been converted to 2+1 roads (alternating passing lanes) and fatalities have dropped accordingly.