This law definitely has to go into effect in Texas...

You're not supposed to drive in the left lane? Wow, who knew...

 

Rocketman95 is correct.

Texas law requires highway signs stating: “slower traffic keep right” and “left lane for passing only.”

 

tailgaters and driving too slow in the fast lane? maybe you're being tailgated because you're driving to slow in the fast lane.

i agree with you on the cell phone bit although i hate to admit it. was driving home on highway 6 yesterday, cellphone rang, i talked, hung up, and realized that i was halfway home vaguely remembering that particular part of the trip home. kinda scary. my attention was focused on the conversation at hand... almost like driving involuntarily.

 

I would think this would be easy to dispute and get out of paying.

 

more like 10 miles over!

 

This thread just makes me want to drive slow in the fast lane. This much whining needs to be punished.

 

By a ticket. Driving slower than traffic is one of the leading causes of wrecks. If whining is a good excuse for you to get in a wreck, then by all means...

 

I don't care if you are going 80, if the guy behind you is going 90 you should move to the right.

In other words don't base you lane usage on anything as arbitrary as speed limits, which are based on something like the top 30th percentile for average drivers on that road or highway except with some state/federasl caps, base you lane usage on the conditions of the traffic and road.

Besides, 99.9% of the highway time cops will add 10 MPH before enforcing any speed limit.

If tailgaters and left lane cloggers would both be more respectful highway driving would be more pleasant, more efficient and less dangerous for all. Leave enforcment of law breakers and dangerous sitations to the police.

Another side, the faster the cars go on freeways, all things being equal, the less congestion there is. Look at the LA area, the driving culture is quick and merciless, but given the amount of cars they get people through quickly with little accidents (compared with say Houston or Phoenix which has what 1/3 or 1/4th the cars but can be just as bad).

 

For every several ignorant left-lane abusers who are driving too slow, there is at least one ignorant, overly zealous ultra-speeder. Example:

I am driving home from Dallas going about 80 in the left lane, and about 75-80 in the right lane in areas where traffic is lighter and have very few people on the highway. No one is behind me in the left lane, but there are a steady stream of cars in the right lane, when all of a sudden either a SUV or sports car charges me up going about 95-100, consistently tailgaiting me at a distance of maybe 10-20 feet or so, when it is impossible for me to get over at this point.

As a 'courteous' driver would do, I speed up, to about 90 or so, and get over to the right lane as soon as there is even a small gap in traffic. Even while I am speeding up to 90, this guy is tailgating me, which doesn't seem necessary since it is obvious I am going to get over as soon as I can.

I also 'enjoy' people who tailgate for long distances (especially in the right lane!!!) when there is a clear opening in the adjacent lane for them to pass. Tailgating when you could easily get around the person and move to an unoccupied 'area' of the road leads to major traffic congestion.

Tailgating in the above situation is also very dangerous for both the tailgater, and this other person, because sometimes the tailgater gets fed up and quickly tries to 'pass' them, while at the same time, the other car (maybe a slow moving van) notices that there is a person behind them and tries to get over as well to let them go by, but since the speedy car can accelerate in a faster amount of time than the driver of the van has to react, this can easily result in an accident as the van is probably going to be moving into the other lane right as the faster car enters that space, since he will not know you are there already. If you are intending to pass the other driver, you definitely should back off a reasonable distance before you do so.

Regardless, driving the speed limit or under in the left lane in congested traffic which no intentions of moving over a lane is definitely not safe (and also contributes heavily to traffic jams), nor is driving 90-100 in a 65 mph zone within the city limits, simply because even if your vehicle is well maintained and you have good reaction time on the road, other drivers are often too incompetent to adapt and will cut you off, not see you, etc.

 

What is really weird to me is I think most often highway drivers often will unconciously stay with a pack. Me, I prefer having wide open spaces when possible.

But when I think when it comes to driving, unconscious behavior (humans wanting to be close to other humans) leaves humans to be in more dangerous situations than they need to be.

And it drives me crazy when I try to change speeds to get safe distance in my mind only to have the dufus behind me stay annoyingly close by conciously or unconsciously altering their speed with me, especially at night. (Though I also understand the usefulness of getting a safe but within sight distance behind a "hero" or two when I am trying to make time.)

 

Everybody driving faster than you is an a**hole, and everybody driving slower is a d***head. You are the only person on the road that is always right and free from all blame.