Yeah, I do notice it as well.

Having said that, I stay in the fast lane because I like to go fast! LOL! However, if someone is going faster than me, I'll get the 'ell outta their way.

 

Camping out in the left lane is not a NC specific phenomena necessarily, but on a trip to FL over the Holiday my daughter and I noticed that many of the log jams were caused by autos with NC plates. We also noted that many of the accidents along the way were caused by autos with NY or NJ tags and those most often pulled over were FL.

I subscribe to the the belief that there are stupid drivers everywhere.

 

Not this shouting/typing match again.

I will say the only place I have ever been to that people cared less about driving slow is the big island in Hawaii. Those people just lolligag around like they are all on Xanax. Island time is a very real thing.

 

I drive 30 mph in our town, even though the limit is 35... pisses off the speeders during rush hour and the foreigners during furniture market... they like to speed through town and take short cuts through neighborhoods to avoid stop lights. I figure they don't mind, 'cause everyone knows NC drivers are slow.

 

I subscribe to the the belief that there are stupid drivers everywhere.

We have a winner!

-R

 

So you knowingly engage in games with other drivers while operating at highway speeds?

Sent from my MB886

 

The funny thing is, NC has no law dictating who may and may not drive in the left lane. We all have our old wives tales, daddy's handed down laws, and preconceived notions as to who is privileged enough to grace the left lane, but at the end of the day, the law of the land wins.

On that same coin is the law that says you're not allowed to drive faster than the posted limit (or the default state speed limit of 25/35 depending on if you're in town or in rural areas and no sign is posted). I'll beat folks to the punch and admit that everyone speeds, even if by only 0.5 MPH. By that pesky letter of the law, that's speeding.

Then we've got those vague black and white regulatory-looking signs on the highway that say "slower traffic keep right". It's not a law, so it shouldn't be black and white (like a speed limit sign, which is enforceable, as opposed to a black and yellow sign which infers "this isn't the law, but it's a good idea" like an exit ramp speed limit). Applying the real laws that are in effect (don't speed), those signs, to me, suggest that if you're not inclined to do the full speed limit, move over to the right hand lane and let others operate at the posted limit.

Add to this the fact that roads are designed for a certain capacity based on estimated vehicle volumes on that route. Each lane carries with it a specific ability to handle a capacity of vehicles. It was carefully calculated, planned, designed, constructed, and paid for that handle that volume of vehicles. Nowhere in the planning or design process were "faster" vehicles accounted for. In other words, the road/highway was planned to function as a multi-lane route, with all lanes in use and equal functioning.

Add one more ingredient to this issue: the fact that cops don't write as many tickets as they used too--or better yet, they aren't inclined to do so. Somewhere in the 80's or 90's lawyers figured out how to manipulate the system and get people "out of jail for free" (free in terms of penalty to the agency who ticketed you). This in turn drags the ticketing cop into court, wastes their time, yadda yadda yadda. So today you get drivers who're under the notion that speeding tickets are just a nuisance and they have no real place in the system because they can be defeated. The threat of losing a lot of money isn't really there anymore. So we get the vast majority of folks who subscribe to the notion of it being ok to automatically add 5, 10, 20 to the speed limit. Side enginerd note: that planning and design stuff comes back into play here since the roadway being sped upon has a maximum design speed. Contrary to urban legend, there is not a huge buffer between the posted speed and that design speed. It's usually 10 MPH. Go above that and you take the laws of physics and years of experience into your own inexperienced hands. Again, I'll take the hit and admit that nearly everyone does this gimmick too.

So what I'm rambling on about and suggesting is this: contrary to popular belief, the driver who is obliterating the speed limit and demanding that others (who're just as likely also breaking the limit, but to a lesser degree) get the hell out of their way is actually the one in the wrong and poses the bigger threat to safety. Sure, if everyone was just passive and moved out of the way and let the excessive speeder blow by, there'd be no issue. But that's not right, and that's what this topic is about: what's right and what's wrong.

I recognize that this is entirely 90 degrees against the grain of our society. We all want to go faster and get there quicker. I could drop references to those driver's ed videos that show just how little the time is that a speeding car saves over one who does the speed limit on a equal trip, but I'll save everyone the boredom and wasted hyperlinks. Instead of speeding above the legal limit and getting increasing hateful toward other drivers (at risk of sounding all hippie-like, I'll throw in "your fellow gun brother"), the better issue to bring up is the average driver's ability to prevent traffic tie ups and SNAFU's. Keeping a constant speed, using signals, paying attention, not braking so often (let the engine slow you down when it's just a little bit needed, instead of lighting up your brake lights and creating a cascade of braking down the highway behind you), etc. You know, all those goody-two-shoes driving habits that would label one as a nerd or something if they were to make an effort to utilize.

I've given up my days of being an outright jackass and purposely driving 100% at the speed limit in the left lane, just hoping to piss off everyone that was going above the limit. That's wrong and dumb--and more importantly, it lets the speeding car further endanger me and those traveling in my vehicle. As I've said here already, everyone is guilty of speeding, including me. I move over if I see someone just cruising along and going faster than me--if I can. If it puts me into slower traffic or some other uncomfortable situation, nope. If someone is acting like a total jackass and flying down the road, sure I'll stay in the way. The flippant argument that I'm making an unsafe condition doesn't faze me one bit. It's like saying that someone who shoots at an armed robber is endangering the rest of the world because they're sending lead downrange. I'm not making the jump of comparing doing the speed limit in the left lane to stopping armed robbery; I'm saying the notion that not setting a new time record for my daily route in the left lane is me being a jerk, is preposterous.

In states where there is a law about who can and can't drive in the left lane, this is all obviously null and void. But for NC, if you're doing the speed limit, the left lane is fair game. Daddy's old rules of the road don't trump the law, or more importantly, the need for everyone to use the lane to keep traffic flowing as intended.

I wore my asbestos underware, so light me up. ;cf

 

But, but, but, the right lane usually has all those tire pop'n nails, screws, and other such rubbish

 

Recognize the SN from CHP. As much as I am on the road for my job back and forth between Conway and Charleston.. I'll say its not just NC people. Its like the right turn signal vanishes from the car when they hit 17 and they cant figure out how to get back in the right lane without the signal.

 

NY is where is was born but been in NC for over 10 years. I feel your pain. I am guessing that NC drivers think they are going fast in their head so they wont move over. hell, were was nascar born people.

 

Not this shouting/typing match again.

Please for all our sakes, someone close this before there is a murder.

 

Most of them camped in the left lane are transplanted yankees!
It's not just a NC thing, there are moron drivers in every state. On a cross country motorcycle trip a few years ago I found I-5 in the Seattle area to be one of the worst for left lane bandits.

 

Ah hell, lets talk about the jack-wagons that don't use their turn signals. ;cf

 

The driving around here when I was growing up wasn't nearly as bad around where I live, but Huntersville used to be all farms, now it's all cookie cutter houses full of yankees and the traffic/drivers are terrible and all the yankees come down here talking about how no one can drive, not realizing they're the problem. Same with politics...used to be more conservative down here, but the yankees that wanted to get away from communist NY moved down here and brought their libtard friends n family with em along with all the problems they were trying to get away from. ...Before the yankees start getting mad...my wifes a yankee if it helps. lol

 

Damnit, If you don't like the way I drive, get off the sidewalk.

 

I'll throw a little gas on the fire! How about those folks that are in the left lane wanting to take the right exit and cut you off!!! Bass Turds!

 

If I ever find out I am going to die in a few days I swear I will buy a snow plow and drive down the left lane crashing the people that do this, it is my end of life fantasy.

 

Some roads (85 especially) I will coast on the left because the right lane is a wreck and feels like driving on a washboard. Then again, I move over to let faster traffic by, so.....

 

Just going to watch this one folks.....

 

I've found that a light tap from my front bumper to the rear bumper of the offending vehicle usually gets them to move over. Be sure you do it dead center otherwise you'll cause them to spin out.


What?

Y'all hadn't thought of this?

:-B

j/k

 

So exactly how fast do I need to be going to 'qualify' for the left lane? I know a guy from NY that goes 100 any place it's 70mph zone in his Mercedes. He gets tickets all the time. But he somehow pays off a lawyer so he can keep driving. No idea how he can keep a driver's lisc. But he does. So is it OK for him to do that? Is 90 OK? 80? How about in a 55mph zone? Is 70 OK there? 80?

I'm of the opinion that it's the fast drivers and the slow drivers that cause most of the wrecks. And Granny!! All of us folks that drive the speed limit + 5-10, not nearly so much. I used to drive fast. I'll never forget the German guys telling me to be sure and stay in the right lane on the autobahn. I had exactly one car pass me on there. Course traffic was a bit heavy and no one was going that fast. Now that I'm a little older and wiser, don't do that stuff any more. Now I just sit in the left hand lane with my NC plates and piss off guys trying to go 15+ over the speed limit.

I did have a guy come right up on my bumper last year on a two lane. It wasn't like I was going slow. There was too much traffic for him to pass. This guy got just inches off my bumper. So I decided to drive the speed limit. That really lit his fire. When it changed to 4 lane after a couple of miles, he pulled up beside me and pulled out a small handgun and showed it to me. Pretty sure it was a Ruger LCR .380. It's a damn good thing he didn't point it at me.

 

What is worse then the left lane thing is NC driver's infatuation with pulling right out in front of you, then taking a mile or more to get up to speed. Even when there is no one behind you and had they waited, they could have stopped dead in the road and no one would have cared.

I want a steel tube bumper for the front of my truck .............

 

Hey, with a few minor mods to my wife's Hyundai, we should be able to shorten her morning commute.

 

I'm in Germany this week and the traffic here spoils me. It is so structured and purposeful. It's like there are no tourists and the only reason these people are in their cars is because they absolutely have to be somewhere and be there now!

When I get back to SC, I know I'm going to have triple digit blood pressure numbers because of the roadtards.

 

I'm in Germany this week and the traffic here spoils me. It is so structured and purposeful. It's like there are no tourists and the only reason these people are in their cars is because they absolutely have to be somewhere and be there now!

When I get back to SC, I know I'm going to have triple digit blood pressure numbers because of the roadtards.

Isn't it a few thousand dollars for them to get their license and years worth of proven experience? It's not an entitlement to them. It's damn near a badge of honor, as I understand it.