NJ News Stories about Left Lane Richards

[jeffandnicole]

There are 3 things that New Jerseyians complain about: The current Governor, Taxes, and Left Lane Richards.  Guaranteed, any news stories - even opinion articles - that mention motorists that fail to keep right except when passing is sure to get the comments rolling...

http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2013/07/theres_money_to_be_made_from_l.html#incart_m-rpt-1

(Oh yeah - we complain about beach tag fees as well...)

[Zeffy]

Maybe to help curb the problem, NJDOT should start placing black-on-white signs that state "LEFT LANE FOR PASSING ONLY" and maybe "VIOLATIONS SUBJECT TO FINES" under it on major highways / freeways. The problem is that PA, NY, or any other out of state drivers don't know that rule in NJ. And without any indication that hogging the left lane is a no-no, it will probably stay that way.

Here's a concept of a sign I designed that may help alleviate this problem...

[jeffandnicole]

NJ already heavily utilizes the "Keep Right Except to Pass" signage.  For the most part, they will be found after every interchange on the left side of the roadway.  There aren't as many signs on the turnpike, but they also use the new full-color VMS boards to display "State Law - Keep Right Except To Pass". 

Some of the signs are missing and haven't been replaced, but this isn't a problem that's cropped up recently either.  I'm fully convinced people just don't know their right from their left. 

[1995hoo]

Hey now. I resent this thread title. There are plenty of us named Richard who are religious about not cruising in the left lane if it can possibly be avoided.

As to signs, I don't know if it's still there (I have not been that way since New Year's weekend 2011), but there used to be a big sign on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike just west of Breezewood that said "KEEP RIGHT–PASS LEFT–IT'S THE LAW." As a general matter I kind of like that wording better than "violators subject to fines" because I don't especially like the way these days it seems like all levels of government are constantly threatening people–"do what we say or else." I resent that kind of attitude from the government. HOWEVER, I think most motorists tend to ignore signs of the sort I just described near Breezewood because they view those laws as toothless and as never being enforced (which pretty much matches my experience, as I've never seen anyone stopped for that sort of thing). I don't know whether people would take the same jaundiced view of "violators subject to fines." I kind of suspect they would unless it became known that it wasn't an idle threat.

[agentsteel53]

how is it not common sense to move the fuck over?

I feel like these people also shit themselves because they can't be arsed to go to the bathroom before going to the bathroom.

[1995hoo]

how is it not common sense to move the fuck over?

I feel like these people also shit themselves because they can't be arsed to go to the bathroom before going to the bathroom.

I agree, and I tend to say the same thing about the "Move Over" laws that apply when you encounter an emergency vehicle or the like. Some people seem absolutely hung up on their "right" to drive in the left lane "if I'm going the speed limit," though. Then you have the people who get in the left lane because they want to use a left-side exit, never mind that the exit is another seven miles down the road.

The only time I make a general exception and use the left lane for cruising in a "drive-on-the-right" country is when the right lane is in atrocious condition and the left lane is not. Some of Quebec's autoroutes have been good examples of this the last several times I've been up that way. I'd rather preserve my alignment and suspension and I'll drive in the left lane there, but I'll move over whenever I see someone coming up behind going faster than I am. That seems like common sense too.

Going back to New Jersey, I always thought the "left lane for passing only" law was pretty common knowledge, even among out-of-staters. They might ignore that law, just as almost everyone ignores the speed limits, but they know of it.

[Brandon]

how is it not common sense to move the fuck over?

Because these twits, the left lane hogs, feel entitled to use whatever fucking lane they see fit.  I see it all the time here in Illinois.  The bozos never seem to get the point to move over out of the left lane even though there is a law on the books for it.

I've only heard of people being pulled over for being left lane hogs in one state - Michigan.

[jeffandnicole]

I've seen a few people pulled over for failing to get to the right lane (but definitely not enough of them). Then again, if the fully marked cop car is behind them, and they are not moving over, or worse, slowing down and not moving over, I hope that the cop gives those people tickets and not warnings.

A state trooper that I know will tell me that he'll be speeding down the road with lights on and sirens blaring, come upon PA tagged car, and they STILL won't move over sometimes!

[Compulov]

Couple of questions... is NJ's law unique somehow? I thought keep right except to pass was a fairly universal law in the US. Given my experience in other states, it also seems like a law which gets ignored frequently as well.
Also, I grew up in Ocean County... and I can't say I've ever heard the term "Left Lane Richard" before today. Is that a regional thing (like Sprinkles vs Jimmies or Bennies vs umm... forgot the south Jersey term for that again)?

[cpzilliacus]

Hey now. I resent this thread title. There are plenty of us named Richard who are religious about not cruising in the left lane if it can possibly be avoided.

Maybe the thread name should be John Oliver Nestor, M.D.?

As to signs, I don't know if it's still there (I have not been that way since New Year's weekend 2011), but there used to be a big sign on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike just west of Breezewood that said "KEEP RIGHT–PASS LEFT–IT'S THE LAW." As a general matter I kind of like that wording better than "violators subject to fines" because I don't especially like the way these days it seems like all levels of government are constantly threatening people–"do what we say or else." I resent that kind of attitude from the government. HOWEVER, I think most motorists tend to ignore signs of the sort I just described near Breezewood because they view those laws as toothless and as never being enforced (which pretty much matches my experience, as I've never seen anyone stopped for that sort of thing). I don't know whether people would take the same jaundiced view of "violators subject to fines." I kind of suspect they would unless it became known that it wasn't an idle threat.

The I-95 part of the Connecticut Turnpike between New Haven and Niantic (most of it is two lanes each way) has signs that read NO PASSING ON THE RIGHT, though I am not sure drivers pay much attention to them.  There was still plenty of Nestoring going on when I drove it in June.

[1995hoo]

....

Also, I grew up in Ocean County... and I can't say I've ever heard the term "Left Lane Richard" before today. Is that a regional thing (like Sprinkles vs Jimmies or Bennies vs umm... forgot the south Jersey term for that again)?

He's referring to "Richard" in the sense of there being a nickname some people use for "Richard" that refers to a part of the male anatomy. My father uses that nickname, but then he was born in the 1940s when it was no big deal. I don't use it. He says, "That's because your generation has sick minds." He's right!

[_Simon]

Dicks.  They mean "dicks".

[NJRoadfan]

Couple of questions... is NJ's law unique somehow? I thought keep right except to pass was a fairly universal law in the US. Given my experience in other states, it also seems like a law which gets ignored frequently as well.
Also, I grew up in Ocean County... and I can't say I've ever heard the term "Left Lane Richard" before today. Is that a regional thing (like Sprinkles vs Jimmies or Bennies vs umm... forgot the south Jersey term for that again)?

They are referring to left lane dicks in a nice way. They are usually easy to spot with their New York license plates *ducks*

New Jersey's "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS" signing is very explicit . Virginia uses a vague sign like "Slower Traffic Keep Right" which doesn't define what the left lane usage should be. About a month ago when the state proposed to raise the penalties for failure to keep right, it made national news.

Driving back from NC last January, I heard a news piece on the local radio on how a trooper cited someone on the Turnpike for failure to keep right even though they doing the speed limit. It was apparently a big deal to them. I couldn't find any mention of the story on the news around here.

[Alps]

The I-95 part of the Connecticut Turnpike between New Haven and Niantic (most of it is two lanes each way) has signs that read NO PASSING ON THE RIGHT, though I am not sure drivers pay much attention to them.  There was still plenty of Nestoring going on when I drove it in June.

I learned to drive on the Garden State Parkway. Basically, you look way down the road, figure out where the gaps are and whether they're opening or closing, and plan your next lane changes accordingly. There's no hope to staying in one lane on roads like the Parkway, I-95 in CT, pretty much any road in the greater BaltoBoston corridor. I'd also note that that corridor has the most lax speed enforcement of any - 75-80 mph is the norm.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky's black-on-white signs say "Keep Right Except To Pass."

And I knew a guy way back when whose nickname was "Richard Cranium." 

[agentsteel53]

I'd also note that that corridor has the most lax speed enforcement of any - 75-80 mph is the norm.

I feel like the rural west beats it.  there are places that you can get away with doing 100 for miles on end simply because there ain't nobody there doing any enforcing.

[Alps]

I'd also note that that corridor has the most lax speed enforcement of any - 75-80 mph is the norm.

I feel like the rural west beats it.  there are places that you can get away with doing 100 for miles on end simply because there ain't nobody there doing any enforcing.

That's not lax enforcement, that's lack of enforcement.

[Duke87]

how is it not common sense to move the fuck over?

I encountered someone doing 45-50 in the left lane on I-95 yesterday (speed limit: 55, typical average speed: 70). When I passed him I noticed he was concentrating on some form of electronic device rather than the road. So that's one reason why not...

Even if an electronic device isn't involved, though, some people are just inattentive when cruising and become oblivious to the fact that they're getting in anyone's way.

And some people genuinely just don't give a shit how their behavior impacts other drivers.

[vdeane]

Some people just don't care, too.  Earlier today I had the "pleasure" of trying to pass an idiot doing 20 mph under the speed limit on NY 364.  Later, I passed someone going about 30 under on the Thruway.  Oh, and did I mention that the latter was at night and the vehicle in question had no tail lights?

[bugo]

I know I shouldn't do this, but sometimes when somebody is hogging the left lane going under the speed limit I will pass them on the left, get in front of them, and slow waaaaaay down, causing them to get to the right, then I speed up.

[1995hoo]

I know I shouldn't do this, but sometimes when somebody is hogging the left lane going under the speed limit I will pass them on the left, get in front of them, and slow waaaaaay down, causing them to get to the right, then I speed up.

Do you perchance mean you pass them on the right? Or do you drive on the shoulder?

[roadman]

Couple of questions... is NJ's law unique somehow? I thought keep right except to pass was a fairly universal law in the US. Given my experience in other states, it also seems like a law which gets ignored frequently as well.
Also, I grew up in Ocean County... and I can't say I've ever heard the term "Left Lane Richard" before today. Is that a regional thing (like Sprinkles vs Jimmies or Bennies vs umm... forgot the south Jersey term for that again)?

Massachusetts law implies KRETP, but also considers it legal for drivers to pass on the right on Interstates and other divided highways where all travel lanes are going in the same direction.

[NJRoadfan]

Massachusetts law implies KRETP, but also considers it legal for drivers to pass on the right on Interstates and other divided highways where all travel lanes are going in the same direction.

NJ law permits passing on the right, but only if you don't have to exceed the posted speed limit to do so.

[agentsteel53]

NJ law permits passing on the right, but only if you don't have to exceed the posted speed limit to do so.

this of course implies the logical question: when are you allowed to exceed the posted speed limit?

[Alps]

NJ law permits passing on the right, but only if you don't have to exceed the posted speed limit to do so.

this of course implies the logical question: when are you allowed to exceed the posted speed limit?

Some states (IMO all states should) allow it when passing in the opposing lane.