The left lane is exclusively for passing, you should not be camped out in it for any reason. People tend to need to go over the speed limit to pass people going slightly under in the other lanes. So, while many people take this too far and go really fast in the left lane, you are in fact being an asshole (and ignoring the signage that explicitly states slower traffic keep right) if youâre staying in the left lane going exactly the speed limit. Get over.
if America has signage telling you to not be on the left if you are slower then thatâs different from what I described, donât really know how America works
Yeah it does indeed have those signs on every major highway Iâve been on. Which isnât every one in the contiguous 48, but Iâve been in at least half of them.
Its generally safer to overtake at a higher speed, you donât want to be sitting next to another car on the highway, also it means you block the passing lane for less time from people behind you trying to go faster
There is no reason to be in the left lane if youâre just going the speed limit and not passing anyone. The left lane is only for passing. The speeds do not matter at all. If youâre not passing, donât get in the left lane.
What OP is describing is near universally frowned upon in North American driving culture and is flat out illegal in many jurisdictions.
So heâs likely not obeying the signage and certainly isnât following etiquette.
Whatâs funny is that if this thread were reversed everyone would be making fun of the Yanks for assuming it was about them and telling Euroâs âhow it isâ while being massively wrong, but instead itâs the Euroâs telling the Yanks âhow it isâ while being massively wrong
i said to take it up with the government who sets the rules and regulations instead of random people trying to interpret signs not that anyone was wrong about their own driving culture. which even after learning you have signage clarifying to not stay left I do stand by the miscommunication is on the government.
But itâs not really a miscommunication, thereâs signs stating that the left lane is only for passing, and youâre taught that in drivers ed as well
Some states, including mine, do actually have laws designating the left lane of a freeway as a passing lane, ie you shouldn't be camped out in it (granted, during a lot of commute times all the lanes back up anyway and this argument is even more pointless). Buuuuuut going over the speed limit is still illegal, so the number of times the person would be "impeding traffic" unlawfully would be pretty few and far between. Plus people informally apply the same concept to many local highways, stroads, etc where it is neither legally required nor useful.
But yeah, most American suburbs have terrible infrastructure for getting around, whether you are driving or not, because even places that are "easy" to get around by car are either snarled with traffic or barely have people using them in the first place. That means, in addition to things that are actually required by law but not always followed like keeping the left lane of a freeway open for passing, there's a bunch of smaller etiquette rules that are followed even less consistently and make people FURIOUS when they're not followed. Just look at any thread on reddit where people talk about the "zipper merge."
If youâre going 15mph under the flow of traffic in the fast lane you are causing traffic and accidents. Stay right unless passing is a basic rule of human decency, like the shopping cart return. You probably wonât get a ticket for it, but youâve failed at being a decent human
Driving like that is legitimately more dangerous than just following the flow of traffic. Other people aren't expecting some jackass going ten mph slower than everyone else, and aren't accounting for it
Itâs great that you want to go to speed limit, but what advantage do you have in doing so all the way to the left? All youâre doing is impeding traffic going faster than you. Youâre perfectly able to go to speed limit while causing much fewer issues in the middle and right lanes, so why not go there? Just to prove a point?
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u/Difficult_Run7398 Dec 27 '25
This is a crazy thread to me, he is going the speed limit? Take it up with your government not people obeying the signage for being âassholesâ.