You've heard of left lane camping, but what about CENTER lane camping?

[kphoger]

It makes more sense to just stay in the middle lane if you are not already going slower than traffic.

If nobody is going faster than you, then there's nobody to complain about your lane choice.  Which is why I originally said...

With rare exceptions, if someone passes you in the right lane, then you shouldn't have been in the center lane.

[Big John]

It makes more sense to just stay in the middle lane if you are not already going slower than traffic.

If nobody is going faster than you, then there's nobody to complain about your lane choice.  Which is why I originally said...

With rare exceptions, if someone passes you in the right lane, then you shouldn't have been in the center lane.

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.

[kphoger]

All I'm saying is that, if a tree falls in the forest...

[bwana39]

I was taught that in a 3 or more lane roadway outside the city center that the far left lane was for passing only and the far right lane was for exiting and entering the freeway. The right lane was also for any traffic going significantly slower than the inner lanes.  THat would put most of the traffic in the interior lanes. That is pretty much how I drive it EXCEPT for three lane freeway when there is a prohibition for heavy trucks in the far left lane. In this case, I drive it like a 2x2 and keep to the extreme right as heavy trucks can only pass in the middle lane.

[BJ59]

I usually stick it out in the middle lane because, like bwana39 said, traffic is often merging into the right lane. If you stay in the right lane you will get stuck behind people still going the speed of the frontage road (like 45mph), and you will have to deal with other vehicles merging from onramps. I say if you are going around the speed limit, using the middle lane is fine, and use left lane to pass.

[webny99]

I usually stick it out in the middle lane because, like bwana39 said, traffic is often merging into the right lane. If you stay in the right lane you will get stuck behind people still going the speed of the frontage road (like 45mph), and you will have to deal with other vehicles merging from onramps. I say if you are going around the speed limit, using the middle lane is fine, and use left lane to pass.

Frontage roads aren't that common in much of the country. Nobody is disputing this when traffic is heavy and exits are frequent, but there are plenty of six lane freeways where neither is true.

[cockroachking]

I usually stick it out in the middle lane because, like bwana39 said, traffic is often merging into the right lane. If you stay in the right lane you will get stuck behind people still going the speed of the frontage road (like 45mph), and you will have to deal with other vehicles merging from onramps. I say if you are going around the speed limit, using the middle lane is fine, and use left lane to pass.

Frontage roads aren't that common in much of the country. Nobody is disputing this when traffic is heavy and exits are frequent, but there are plenty of six lane freeways where neither is true.

Like I-87 between Exits 15 and 16 in New York. 15 miles between exits and people going 60 in the center lane. 

[kphoger]

Nobody is disputing this when traffic is heavy and exits are frequent, but there are plenty of six lane freeways where neither is true.

Precisely.

People seem to be taking the approach, I don't use the right lane just in case someone slower might show up there later.  That's just lazy and entitled.

[StogieGuy7]

Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and Deerfield, IL is 8 lanes (2 x 4 lanes) and I can't tell you how often I see semis hogging up the three right lanes. In fact, this am, at one point near Racine there were semis jamming up all four!  Fortunately there was a little space between them and I could play real-life Frogger and get around the obstruction. But here you have these truckers going on about how they're "professional drivers" and so much better than the rest of us, yet many apparently get the memo about that whole "the left lanes are for faster traffic" thing. 

It's bad enough that Clem the Packer fan from Menomonee Falls stubbornly sits his ass in the far left lane doing 65, but truckers should know better.

[US 41]

As a Class A CDL holder I can tell you that thru semi truck drivers are trained to stay one lane left of the right lane in the cities so that we aren't constantly dealing with merging traffic from the on ramps. On city streets / highways that are three lanes each direction I also usually stay in the center, because I never know when the right lane may suddenly end without any warning and I also don't have to deal with people turning into businesses, side streets, etc. I might adjust my driving if most people in urban areas actually respected trucks and didn't try to cut us off all the time because they don't want us to be "in their way".