this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Or better yet, if there's room to your right and the lane to your right isn't the right-most lane, move right. It doesn't matter if someone is behind you or if you're one lane from the left, move right if you're not passing someone.

Far too many people camp in the left most lane when there's plenty of room to the right. This forces traffic that you're probably not actually noticing to pass on the right, which is unsafe and, in some areas, illegal.

[–] starman 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In some countries it's illegal to drive on the left lane, when there is place on the right one

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

As it should be. I wish it was in my state, because so often we have a line of people in the left lane, nobody in the next two lanes, then trucks and grannies in the right two lanes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I drive all over the country. In states where it is illegal to slow camp the left lane it is NEVER enforced by police. Same problem everywhere no matter the law.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I really wish they'd enforce that instead of speeding, surely that's a bigger cause if road rage than pretty much anything else...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It doesn't force them to drive unsafely. That's a decision they make on their own.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Personally I always keep an eye out for this type of driver and make sure to get out the way. The longer they are around me the more likely I am to be collateral in their firey death.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Oh certainly. Always drive defensively. But that's different than blaming someone else for their offensive driving.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Unsafe driving is anything that's surprising. Having a car go faster than your to your right is surprising, thus unsafe. The #1 rule in any kind of dangerous activity where a lot of independent actors are involved is to be predictable.

Here's a clear scenario:

  1. Driver A is cruising in the left lane
  2. Driver B comes up behind driver A
  3. Driver A notices B, checks to the right (looks over shoulder), and decides to merge right
  4. Driver B gets impatient and starts to overtake A on the right
  5. Driver A, assuming moving to the right is safe (mirrors look good), moves right and collides with B, who is in their blind spot

It's reasonable to assume someone isn't going to jump into your blind spot on the right. That's less reasonable to your left, so you should be extra careful when merging left.

Merging right should always be safer because you may need to move over if an emergency vehicle approaches from behind.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So Driver B made a conscious decision to make an illegal and dangerous pass. That's not Driver A's fault. You guys want to drive like it's NASCAR and blame everyone around you but it's just not true. If you're coming up behind someone you have more situational awareness not less. It's on you to make a safe move, like applying your brakes. That's a safe predictable response to a slower car in front of you. Nobody is forcing you to drive in an unsafe manner.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's... exactly what I'm saying.

My point is it's unsafe to pass on the right. If you can't pass on the left and there's available room to the right, the driver in front should be ticketed, because doing that encourages unsafe passing from those behind them. If the driver behind gets impatient, they should be ticketed for reckless driving by passing on the right.

So don't pass on the right. If there's a driver in front of you that's holding up traffic with room on the right to move over, call traffic enforcement if it's illegal in your area (and if it's not, campaign for it to become illegal).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Yeah if there's no one in front of you and someone can undertake you, you fucked up. I'm glad to see this thread full of so many sensible takes on how to drive safely and maintain efficient flows of traffic. Normally these threads online get flooded with brain dead takes like "I'm going fast enough, why should I move?".