Keep right except to pass

[corco]

Washington State Patrol (what?) New Jersey State Police doing their finest work. Language NSFW

[agentsteel53]

that should've been a ticket for reckless driving.  the driver was oblivious to the surroundings, and should have been taken off the road and shot.

[vdeane]

What would have happened if you had passed them on the right?  It's what we do in NY (particularly Rochester) when encountering slower traffic to the left.

[Mr. Matté]

Thinking about the rampant tailgating in the state, what if the driver of the car hit the brakes causing the cop to crash into him? Theoretically, shouldn't the cop be ticketed for tailgating?

(I know, I know, the cop will get jack squat in fines/reprimands)

[agentsteel53]

forget tailgating.  given the speed at which the driver was going, they should've gotten a ticket for being parked illegally.

[Duke87]

I refuse to complain any time a cop declines to write someone a ticket. We need less of that, not more.

Besides, it isn't necessary here. I think the guy got the message.

[agentsteel53]

but this was driving that was actually dangerous to surrounding traffic.  I'd rather have 100 tickets written for that, than 1 for being the only car on the road and doing 85 out in the middle of nowhere.

[NE2]

Any danger would have been caused by other drivers who don't know how to drive safely. If you hit something in front of you that didn't suddenly move in front of you, you're at fault. Period.

Should he get out of the left lane? Probably. But don't try to make it into a safety issue; it's solely for the convenience of those who want to go faster.

[xcellntbuy]

I wish that would happen in south Florida.

[agentsteel53]

no, it is part of every state's standard driving regulations that lanes to the left are intended to go faster than lanes to the right.  if you are in the left lane and getting passed by drivers on the right who are doing reasonable speeds, then clearly you are in the wrong.

[corco]

It's absolutely a safety issue- sure, in the context of one car vs another in a vacuum it wouldn't matter. The car approaching the slow car should know to slow down. But that's not how driving works- you have to look at the network as a whole.

What if there are 10 cars in a line approaching a slow car? The first car may brake, but then the second, third, fourth etc have to with increasing chance of accident (or if people are driving safely, increased deceleration, which causes unnecessary traffic jams. A car going 10 MPH slower can cause a 30 MPH slowdown a half mile back) with every additional car.

The other issue would be that if you're on a six lane freeway (3 lanes per carriageway) and you have a car in the middle lane going slow and a car on the left passing. If another car comes up behind that middle car and wants to pass at a faster rate, they have to (dangerously- and the person who does this is driving recklessly) weave to the right to get around, and then they'll almost always want to get right back into the middle lane, usually at about the same time another car wants to get in the middle lane. If the car in the middle is a semi, you often won't see that other car until you're about to merge right, and that's just dangerous for everyone.

Other safety issues- passing on the right is inherently more dangerous. If the car to your left wants to get over, they have less visibility from that side and if you came up on them too fast they likely won't be able to see you. Heck, not a state in the country actually requires cars to have a passenger side mirror!

Driving slow in the left lane may not be dangerous for the driver, but it encourages dangerous behavior. Those that deny that are living in some sort of strange fantasyland. Especially those that go slow in the left lane on purpose. Even if I didn't condone speeding, I wouldn't act as a human roadblock in the left lane just to slow folks down- if I'm going 55 I'd have to be an idiot to drive in a lane where other folks were going 90.

[agentsteel53]

I wonder what compels people to drive at dangerously slow speeds.

if you don't want to go ... stay home!

[J N Winkler]

What if there are 10 cars in a line approaching a slow car? The first car may brake, but then the second, third, fourth etc have to with increasing chance of accident (or if people are driving safely, increased deceleration, which causes unnecessary traffic jams. A car going 10 MPH slower can cause a 30 MPH slowdown a half mile back) with every additional car.

But the individual driver can't be responsible for the behavior of vehicles following him, who almost have to be tailgating each other in order for a reduction in speed by the lead vehicle to increase as it propagates backward.  I generally try to maintain enough of a following distance that I can regulate my speed without having to touch the brakes, but that is the best I can do.

The other issue would be that if you're on a six lane freeway (3 lanes per carriageway) and you have a car in the middle lane going slow and a car on the left passing. If another car comes up behind that middle car and wants to pass at a faster rate, they have to (dangerously- and the person who does this is driving recklessly) weave to the right to get around, and then they'll almost always want to get right back into the middle lane, usually at about the same time another car wants to get in the middle lane. If the car in the middle is a semi, you often won't see that other car until you're about to merge right, and that's just dangerous for everyone.

But the thing about defensive driving is that you have to watch out for that kind of misbehavior.  The scenario you describe is one reason why I rarely pull back in immediately after finishing a passing maneuver in the left lane on a six-lane freeway.  If an idiot wants to pass on the right (undertake), I'd rather postpone my move back into the middle lane until I am able to see him, even if this results in frustration for people following me and hoping to go faster.  If they are so impatient that they choose to slalom around me without being able to see around the middle-lane vehicle they and I have just passed, there isn't much I can do about that.

[allniter89]

YES!!! Cop escorted the car to the correct driving lane! Right On!!   I can just see the cop pointing his finger at the driver and mouthing "now STAY there" as he passes the car!!
Sad fact is, the driver probably still doesnt know what he/she did wrong!  
This is a severe problem in my area and it infuriates me when I come up behind one of these @#$%^&!!
On a good day I just pass on right and go on my way, on a bad day they get two handed birds and possible road rage!  

[corco]

But the individual driver can't be responsible for the behavior of vehicles following him, who almost have to be tailgating each other in order for a reduction in speed by the lead vehicle to increase as it propagates backward.  I generally try to maintain enough of a following distance that I can regulate my speed without having to touch the brakes, but that is the best I can do.

But the thing about defensive driving is that you have to watch out for that kind of misbehavior.  The scenario you describe is one reason why I rarely pull back in immediately after finishing a passing maneuver in the left lane on a six-lane freeway.  If an idiot wants to pass on the right (undertake), I'd rather postpone my move back into the middle lane until I am able to see him, even if this results in frustration for people following me and hoping to go faster.  If they are so impatient that they choose to slalom around me without being able to see around the middle-lane vehicle they and I have just passed, there isn't much I can do about that.

I guess my counter to both those arguments would be that yes, you should drive defensively, but the driver that goes really slow int he left lane or slingshots around on the right are driving selfishly- they aren't driving for the good of the network, they are driving for their own gain. People who do that are selfish and dangerous because they add a layer of unpredictability to the roadway. The key to driving well is to drive predictably (you should never notice a good driver), and people who drive against the accepted flow of the network are driving unpredictably.

[agentsteel53]

I generally try to maintain enough of a following distance that I can regulate my speed without having to touch the brakes,

I always maintain a distance that appears excessive by the standards of others on the highway ... much to my chagrin, it just encourages other drivers to cut in front of me.

no, asshole, that space isn't for you ... it's for me.

[agentsteel53]

(you should never notice a good driver)

yep, that should be the ultimate goal of all drivers.  that, if the driver were eliminated entirely from the network, the traffic patterns would remain completely unchanged.

[agentsteel53]

This is a severe problem in my area and it infuriates me when I come up behind one of these @#$%^&!!
On a good day I just pass on right and go on my way, on a bad day they get two handed birds and possible road rage!  

I just wish they'd figure out what someone coming up behind them flashing their lights means.  nope, complete oblivion.  "move your idiot hind over a lane" is not a thought process that registers in their primitive exoskeletons.

[Brian556]

Good Job, Officer!

We need alot more enforcement of this rule.
I think the cop should've pulled them over and gave them and explanation and a ticket.

[berberry]

[Alps]

It always gets me when a KEEP RIGHT sign is posted on the right side of the road. See that thing at night, you end up jumping the curb and hitting a tree.