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Comment by c22 | Hacker News Reader

One of the biggest problems I experience on freeways in the US is that traveling 5 or even 10 mph above the posted speed limit makes you a "slow driver". So even though you might feel that travelling at or above the maximum legal speed limit should give you the right to occupy the "fast" lane someone will prove you wrong by screaming up your ass at 80 mph, 90 mph, or more, flashing their high beams and becoming irate.

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You don't get the "right" to "occupy" the left lane just because you're going fast. You have the obligation to yield the passing lane to anyone who wants to go faster.

You do not know who has an emergency, and who doesn't. You don't get to enforce one law (speed limits) and flout the other (yield the passing lane). In fact, you don't get to enforce any laws if that isn't your job, and if it were your job, you should not disregard one of those laws.

Hey, I exclusively drive the speed limit in the right or middle lane. This is just an observation I've made that seemed relevant. For what it's worth, I highly doubt that there was any sort of "emergency" involved in the vast majority of times I've observed this behavior. Also, apart from properly lighted emergency vehicles no one has the right to exceed the speed limit regardless of the situation.

Edit: According to this resource[0] only 4 states require you to yield to faster traffic approaching from behind in the left lane, so this seems to be far from a universal requirement.

[0] https://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

What is the rule exactly?

1) Yield the passing lane for anyone that wants to go faster

2) Yield the passing lane if lane on the right is free.

I am asking because I am not sure, but (2) would make more sense to me. You should not be required to break the speed limit to be allowed to pass the slower traffic.

It seems to vary by state (see the link I posted in a sibling of your comment) but the general rule is that the left lane should only be used for passing in which case logically there should only be one "pass" happening at a time so yielding is not an issue.

Of course, in heavy traffic this goes out the window.

The rule is mostly (varies by state) that if there are two lanes, or one lane and an improved shoulder (i.e., wide enough for a vehicle), then at your earliest convenience you must yield the left lane (or the only lane) to passers.

It's very, very simple.

BTW, in Texas it is now legal to pass on the right because of all those who fail to yield the passing lane. Passing on the right isn't very good, but it's what you get when people decide that the left lane is for themselves.

You don't get the right to speed due to an emergency. Call an ambulance.

To your other point, it is not "flouting the other" law (yield the passing lane) if its 1 person doing 100 mph trying to pass you. The law is in respect to the "normal" flow of traffic, not the fact that any one person is trying to go faster than you.

When my father had a heart attack, I was told to drive to the hospital, which was a ~10 minute drive (at the speed limit). Another family member called the hospital to let them know we were coming.

During this drive, the speed limit mattered very little to me, and I drove as fast as I possibly could.

Whether this was "right" or "wrong" isn't something that crossed my mind at the time. When one's own life (or the life of a loved one) is on the line, people have a tendency to do things that don't make sense to an outside observer.

Luckily for us, we arrived at the hospital without further incident, and my father was quickly cared for. I didn't time the trip, but I imagine it was only marginally faster than driving at the speed limit, as my vehicle at the time wasn't particularly fast.

I would have done the same thing.

It doesn't mean there is a law granting us permission to do so, which was the part of the comment I replied to that I took issue with.

Its just something that is gray and we have to do when we need to.

It is the same logic as the, "I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by 6" crowd, interestingly.

I don't care what you think of whoever is trying to pas you, so long as you let them pass. That's the law. Let law enforcement worry about who is violating it; you follow the law.

This. I've had this discussion with many people who think they're entitled to use the left lane if they're going the speed limit or above, because they see themselves as enforcing the speed limit for the people behind them. I ask them to show me their badge, and when they cannot I explain that they have no authority to enforce speed limits without one. Most of them still don't get it.

'You don't get the "right" to "occupy" the left lane just because you're going fast. You have the obligation to yield the passing lane to anyone who wants to go faster.'

Not directed at OP, but I wish more people understood this!

While I think you shouldn't be a self-righteous bottleneck on the left lane, it is clear that speeding is a major factor in these highway traffic jams. It makes it impossible to keep reasonable gaps between cars as drivers always try to go as fast as possible, getting too close to the next car in the process. This always makes me go crazy when driving in the US (although this problem is probably pretty universal to any country with a lot of traffic).

Yes, I experience this issue most commonly when there are two lanes and I am using cruise control. I come up behind a truck or a bus and I need to pass it, but someone is coming down the passing lane like it's their own personal express lane. If I change lanes and pass at the speed limit then the person behind me will catch up quickly and start high beaming me. The alternative is I disengage my cruise control and hang back, allowing the speeder to pass first, but this plan often backfires in denser traffic because speeders often run in packs and other cars will jump over and immediately accelerate, after letting them pass and merging behind them they will vary their speed erratically as they try to sort themselves back into the right lane (or not, some of them of them just keep barrelling down the left lane forever). Usually in this situation I'll try to compromise by accelerating to +10 over during the pass, but I am not really comfortable doing it and often it's still not enough to stop me from getting flashed at.

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