Driving in the left lane all the time as long as you're fast?
 

Oh no not another one of these threads!

Anyway
Just wondering what a majority of you guys think about this.

On the highway, I've always thought you should never stay in the left lane. When I was in europe, even though we were going 180 we stayed in the right and used the left lane to pass other slow cars.

But recently a friend of mine was saying you can just stay in the left as long as you're fast.

What do you guys think?

Do you guys

a) Stay in the left going uber fast and ONLY move over if you see some faster guy coming up behind you? After moving over you switch back to the left? (So basically your drive on highway 1 will be in the left the whole time except if some guy comes up behind you really fast)

or

b) Stay in the right, but when you approach slower moving traffic you switch to the left, pass, then back to the right? (So regardless of whether there are other people in the left already, you stick to the right. Use left to pass, then as you catch up to more traffic up ahead whether it's 1, 2, 3, 10 cars, you pass left then go back to the right.)


Now we're only talking about moderate traffic. If it's rush hour, I'm sure most of us will find that if we stay in the left (both lanes pretty full) you're constantly moving faster than the right lane and so this is the lane to be in.

But no, I'm just talking about iono 1pm on a weekday for #1, or iono noon on a weekend for #1.

I would pick b) but that's also mostly because I've seen first hand how they do it in Europe. Some people complain that there's too much lane changing if you stay on the right.

So it comes down to a)what's convenient, less lane changes
or b) proper method, proper use of the passing lane to *pass* only

Which is why I'm also wondering. Because in my mind presently, I keep thinking that anyone who stays in the left the whole time (doesnt matter if they are not holding anyone up and are going 120kph) are "bad" drivers vs someone who knows to switch back to the right after passing. That's what I keep thinking, maybe it is influenced by my trip to europe a couple years back iono.


What do you guys think?

Keep right except to pass.

In a perfect world I would stay in the right lane and when I approached slower traffic I would change to the left lane, pass and then go back to the right lane. However, with highway driving or any other road area, a large amount of people do not seem to follow the “left lane to pass” rule. As a result of this, I stay in the left lane and drive a bit faster. If someone behind me is approaching and going faster, I will move into the right lane so they don’t have to make an illegal pass.

Convenience wise, stay in the left lane here in BC. I would like to practice the stay in the right lane unless passing rule, but no one else does, so fuck it.

^true that, was on 91 today at non rush hour times, cars were going 90 on left lane, semi's were cruising on both lanes, no one gives a shit here

left lane all the time when i go fast. either that or i'd have to change lanes all the time passing slow cars on the right.

however, if i see a car gaining on me while in the left lane, i'll move to the right and let him pass. it really depends how fast other cars around me are going.

as long as you're aware of not being an asshole in the left lane, it's ok

nice thread, u will get 5+ pages arguments ....

this kinda of thread will never gets old on RS..!!!

i think its a weak sauce thread

Great input..lol

Have you guys noticed that most BC drivers who drive on the I5 , stay on the right except to pass? Why do they do it there, and not at home?

Damn, is it really true that no one gives a shit here? I went down to the states with a couple of friends in two cars, and we were both in the left lane just passing cars and the cop pulled over my friend in the back saying that we were speeding, blah blah.

haha yes, but i think thats because the left lane on the i5 is overwhelming especially the road rage


and to answer OP, im usually in the HOV lane and i go in the "left lane" to pass slow ppl in the HOV

so i guess you could say B) ;)

personally I stay in the right lane usually but I tend to drive fast. However if I see someone faster or just dont care to go fast I move to the right lane

Right lane except to pass. If you're passing cars a lot, just stay in the left lane unless someone is trying hard to pass you.

i wish people here followed that... thats why i love driving in the states

dude I'm not trying to get into an argument about people going slow in the left lane.

I'm just wondering because, since there are a lot of people here who hate people blocking the fast lane, whether you guys actually follow proper procedure and keep to the right except to pass...or do you basically cruise in the left lane the whole time and ONLY move over if someone behind you is going faster?

I don't know why, maybe it's because of my trip to europe in the past, but everytime someone passes me and then moves back over to the right I'm thinking "nicely done this guy knows the rules", and every time I see some guy pass me but stays in the left lane, the word NOOB pretty much screams out at me. NOT because this guy is a "left lane blocker", he knows to move over if someone behind him is looking to pass, but mainly it's because he's driving in the left when he's not passing anyone. That's the noob part in the equation. Iono why but that's what I think everytime I see someone cruising in the left when not passing anyone.

FYI, passing on the right is NOT illegal. As long as there's another lane on the right to use, you can use it to pass. Maybe in Europe it's illegal, but not in north america.

For me, I drive in the left lane most of the time because I'm going faster than others most of the time. However, there are times when I encounter trucks or ricers who drive around 160 km/h coming up fast behind me; that's when I switch over to let them pass. Other than that, I don't see what the problem is using the left lane for cruising faster than those on the right lane.

If I only used the left lane to pass, I would be switching lanes every 5-10 seconds...

City driving I couldn't give 2 shits about "proper" left lane driving. It's a good thing to dream of but face it it's not gonna work out in most van streets. Especially since we don't have alot of left turn lanes. So when there's a possibility (Granville) I find the middle lane is best.

On highway use tho that logic should be strictly enforced IMO. It's also easier/safer to speed up on the highway to pass as it is on regular city roads also.

My biggest, and really only anger enducing thing while driving is people that don't follow that rule. If you're going 120+ in the left lane, there won't be that many people maliciously overtaking you, so it gives you plenty of time to move out of their way. But if you're going 100 or less in the left lane, MOVE THE FUCK OVER!! I don't care if you're passing a car by 1km/h, move over, then move back and pass!
I love driving the I5/I90. HUGE signs every so often stating this rule. And if I'm not mistaken, won't they fine you for this too? Or am I thinking Europe?

I don't really care if people stay in the left lane as long as they're aware of what's going on around them and move the fuck over when someone's approaching from behind.

I personally stay to the right except to pass.

The real question is: WHAT'S THE SOLUTION???

- Better infrastructure
- Better enforcement
- Better education

Cops don't give a shit if someone sits in the passing lane doing 90, when there are 10 cars behind him waiting for an opening in the right lane. The guy passing on the right will get the ticket before the left lane blocker every time.

While the passing lane is addressed in the driver training book, it's rarely brought to people's attention after they get their license. We need bigger, bolder signage in more locations. They should read KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS as done in the States. SLOW TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT leaves too much up in the air. No one thinks they drive slow!!!! So leave the left for passing only.

I'm not even going to read the other responses, pass on the left and get the fuck back into the right lane, I don't care if you're doing 180km/h, get the fuck in the right lane, the left is for passing only.

I think the reason it works and people obey it in the states is because the speed limits are faster, are they not? The faster speed limits are a results of better infrastructure. My cousin from California drove here, and when he hit Hwy 1, he was like what the fuck..

But ya, if the infrastructure was better, maybe the speed limits would be higher and people would stay in the right lane.

You don't have to read the other responses, I'm sure the vast majority agree with your sentiments. But many people don't use the left is for passing, so that screws up everything...

Guys guys, it doesn't matter what we think anymore, what we're taught by our driving instructor is obsolete.

You know why? Cuz fucking C-Lais do whatever the fuck they want. They'll drive 80 on the left lane on HWY 99 with their fucking highbeams on. This is a car that has BI-XENON. GG. (from personal experience)

stay in the left all the time as long as u are going fast enough that no one can catch u or tailgate u
:thumbsup:

haha good stuff
appreciate the responses. I guess it wouldn't be fair to expect someone to stay right pass left if they are going fast enough that they'd be passing cars every few seconds. But I'd say unless you ARE passing cars every few secs, move back to the right anyway.

I still think someone's a noob tho if they allow open space to appear in front of them (ie. no one to pass) for some time, like if you can't see a car to pass or if the next car in front of you is miles ahead.

I always see people who switch to the left lane immediately when they get on the highway..............even when there was nobody in front of them to pass.
It's like wtf keep right except to pass, no?