True story. This morning while driving to work I was doing my usual 70 on the most inner left lane. This guy was tailgating me but tought nothing of it since I am getting pretty used to it by now. a mile further down a cop pulls him over, I am sure it was for tailgating. In a way it felt good to get validation of the idea that I am not breaking the law but by driving the speed limit. I gave the cop a big thums up from my window to thank him, IT FELT GOOD. however there must be some karma or something to it because ever since I have been having a terrible day...

 

it's the old even steven rule at play.

 

All--

I read the entire nine(!) pages of this thread and felt like I'd like to add a few of my own opinions into the mix:

1) Regardless of their reasoning, people who drive the speed limit under all circumstances are following the letter of the law. I will concede that these folks are indeed safer if they keep to the far right lane, but they are under no legal or moral obligation to do so. The philosophy that someone "obstructing the flow" of people driving over the speed limit is asking for trouble is dangerous. If I find myself in the middle lane at the speed limit passing a slow semi on a hill, I am within my legal rights to be there -- or the passing lane, for that matter. If someone zips up behind me while speeding and causes an accident, they are at fault. Driving the speed limit is not the dangerous behavior in this scenario, speeding is. I feel no moral or legal compulsion to break the law simply because you are, too.

2) The simple fact of the matter is that speeding and tailgating are always against the law. As annoyed as some get over speed-limit drivers occupying anything but the right-most lane, it is equally annoying to the rest of us that speeding has been allowed to become the norm. It bothers me that law enforcement has declined to such a state that you have to be REALLY REALLY breaking the law in order to get attention.

3) People that claim I have no business in anything but the right-most lane operate under a set of flawed assumptions -- that it is implicitly OK to speed because everyone else is doing it, and that it is not OK to drive slower because the behavior of the masses has made it dangerous.

4) Every day I deal with tailgaters at some point in my commute, and I am endlessly amused that once they pass me most of them end up at the same stoplights I end up at, or better yet, stuck suddenly in a lane behind a left-turner or something while I glide by. Often I smile and wave hello as I pass. If that's annoying to you, consider what it feels like to be borne down upon while you tailgate me. --RN

 

How bout calling 911 for them?

I've done it a couple times for reckless/drunk drivers.

 

Why is it when I read threads like this, there are are number of angry people that push speeding and the like that they come too close to defending whet this guy did when he snapped?

Think about it - does it seem like a few are almost wanting "frontier justice" against drivers that try to obey the law?

 

I don't think anybody will argue that you are within your rights... (except for the part of being in the right most lane). You should always stay right unless passing which is probably the real problem in this country. Saying that, those that choose to do this shouldn't get upset when somebody blows by them on the right then.

The speed limit laws as they stand today need to really be looked at. The highways and cars of today can handle speeds much higher than the posted current limit (55mph being the norm around here). It bothers me that i breaking a law that is antiquated. (70 - 80) mph is safe if everybody follows the rules.

You really don't have any business in anything but the right most lane if you are cruising. It's the safe and smart thing to do. Has nothing to do with whatever everybody else is doing.

Even steven... great you win.

 

So very right Chuck !!!

It is too bad. Too bad, that there are folks who in the absence of greater wisdom, choose to break, refute or disregard the legislated law for sake of their own convenience or self-worth.

Then, in light of this disregard for the law, they have the this perception of entitlement and audacity that somehow they can stand on an unscrutinizable and reasonably solid moral ground to give advice - wow.
Its is a sad, indefensible and embarrasing position to be in.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Yikes folks.... I have yet to read anything that defends what that guy did. You can believe what you want and twist what you want to fit into your tiny worlds. That guy would have killed anybody for doing something he thought was stupid. The lady in the story did everything right and still got shot... which tells me this guy was a complete tool and would killed somebody else on a whim had it bothered him. I can't imagine if somebody did something bad to this guy, what his reaction would be.

 

The US Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Transportation Research Board have all studied speed limits nationwide within the last decade. As a general rule, speed limits are based on the design speed of the roadway (determined by your state's highway engineers and based on, among other things, geometry of the roadway, bottlenecks, surrounding land uses, and population density) and the average speed that drivers travel in observed free flow, minus a discount (called the 85th-percentile rule) for the safety of all modes of traffic. (This is all a quick summary and varies slightly from state-to-state.)

So, according to that 85-percentile rule, your 55-mph highway is actually designed for 65-mph free-flow traffic. Traffic and highway engineers build in a margin of safety to account for naturally slower elements of traffic, such as trucks, cautious drivers, and so on. This is for the safety of both these naturally slower drivers and those operating around them.

I should include that these rules and methods are continuously revisited as roadway and automotive safety improvements warrant. That's why in the late 1990s most states abandoned the old 55-mph federal mandate for more localized solutions. I don't know what your state did, but I suspect they made similar determinations based on real-world observations. In fact, 40 states follow some form of the method I summarized above that was included in the AASHTO "Green Book" on highway design in 2004 (and previous editions).

Caveat: I'm not a DOT employee. Someone out there will understand the nuances that I don't know. I welcome corrections to my understanding of this issue.

 

livvie, I did not say the road rage killing last week had your approval or any other member here. I'm commenting on what a number of members have said collectively - I could have easily quoted someone else.

I am saying this and several threads like this one have a number of people openly advocating aggressive driving. It contributes to an increasing atmosphere of road rage such as that shooting. By aggressive driving I mean the contempt some have expressed for those going the speed limit and various alibis for speeding, contempt even towards those that easily let others pass to the left. It's one thing if someone wants to run up their gas and car repair bills, but this kind of driving also expresses contempt (that word again) to traffic laws, the police that enforce it, the other drivers it's supposed to protect.

Essentially aggressive drivers are telling the rest of us they are the law. What is seriously being twisted is drivers telling us being a road warrior is the norm - flying in the face of the law, safety, and common sense, in the name of narcassism....that's what's happening in these threads, a few are venting their "right" to fly thru - screw everybody else.

Most people just shoot off their mouths in traffic, a few more shoot their finger, and unfortunately some will shoot a gun.

The more aggressive driving is, the more acceptable the behavior and the less of a threashold to someone engaging in road violence.