I'd say it's anyone who, regardless of speed, hinders the ability to use the left lane for its intended purpose as a PASSING lane.
To me, to be a LLH, one must be doing one or more of these things:
1) be traveling in the passing lane at a speed equal to or slower than the traffic in the next lane over. Ideally, the left lane should travel at at least 5 mph faster than the lane next to it to allow for efficient passing.
2) traveling in the passing lane when there's no one in the next lane over to pass
3) refuse to move over when traffic allows when someone faster comes up behind them. If you're in the left lane passing someone and a faster car comes up behind you, it's good passing etiquette to speed up if safely possible to complete your pass, then move over so the faster car can pass you.
A good rule of thumb is, if someone's going faster than you, you want them in front of you so they can be your rabbit. Practicing good passing etiquette allows this to happen.
Last edited by kpatz; 08-25-2010 at 07:02 PM.
If I'm passing you on the right, YOU are in the wrong lane!
If speed kills, how come I'm still alive?
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It is the passing lane, not the "fast enough" lane. If you're not currently passing anybody, then move your ass over to the right lane.
It's really that simple.
I wish I understood the fascination some people have with the left lane. Every day I see someone just cruising there with no other cars anywhere around them. Often I see people merge straight from the on-ramp, across 3 or more lanes of traffic, and go straight to the left lane. They then stay there, come hell or high water, until they reach their exit; then it's a mad dash across 3+ lanes of traffic to get off.
Why is "keep right except to pass" such a difficult concept?
Alternatively, you can check your mirrors and delay the start of your pass if you see faster traffic approaching from the rear. Let the faster traffic go by, and then execute your own pass. That way you don't have to speed up if you don't want to. I do this about 1/3 of the time; the rest of the time I speed up (if needed) to complete my pass and return to the right lane before faster traffic catches up with me.
I do that too, if they're close enough that I can tell they're going faster than I plan on going when executing my pass, or determine that they would have to slow down if I got in front of them.
Part of the problem is the underposted and over-enforced speed limits. Some people start to pass, then they're afraid to accelerate over the PSL to complete the pass in an efficient manner. And the end result is, 10 minutes to complete the pass and a huge back-up of cars behind them.
If states got smart and went to a "recommended speed" on freeways instead of a "speed limit", and/or made it a law that the left lane must travel faster than the right lane regardless of the PSL, it would help some. But as long as there's money to be made in speeding tickets, we'll never see this happen. It's a sad commentary on society that those of us who "blatantly disregard" the speed limits are amongst the safest drivers on the highway, and the ones that cause the least hassle to other drivers (unless you're the type who weaves and cuts people off).
Last edited by kpatz; 08-26-2010 at 06:12 AM.
If I'm passing you on the right, YOU are in the wrong lane!
If speed kills, how come I'm still alive?
Active Countermeasures: V1 3.858, Escort Redline, Beltronics STi-R+, LI Dual 7.1x CPU/8.7 Heads (front)
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A small part. The majority of the arrogant LLBs who steadfastly refuse to get out of the way no matter how many people are stuck behind them are WIGARs who are doing it on purpose and are fully cognizant of the situation they have caused. The attitude is "I'll be damned if I'm going to speed up just to accommodate a lawbreaking speeder stuck behind me. I'll move over When I'm Good And Ready."
People who practice the Golden Rule of Driving ("I'll stay out of your way, just as I would have you stay out of mine.") are in the distinct minority.
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I agree you always get people who stay so far back...then speed up when u get on the right to pass em Same asshole did that 3 times yest To me then got pissed when I cut them off it's like wtf ...
Or when you let them go pass you when you are on the right then they slow down when u back get over it's like Wtf you was just going 90mph yet u Want me to slow down to 70 right when you get next to the next person on the right!!!!!
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