When I first wrote and published the article Should Drivers Moving Vehicles Slowly in the Left Lane on a Highway Be Ticketed? here at The Gate With Brian Cohen back on Monday, May 18, 2015, I did not believe that the issue would actually become be worse — but are more slow drivers in the fast lane on highways recently?
Are More Slow Drivers in the Fast Lane on Highways Recently?
Not only do more vehicles seem to be traveling slower in the fast lane; but their drivers seem to want to stay in the fast lane — even if the lanes for slower traffic are empty and devoid of vehicles…
…and this phenomenon is not only increasingly occurring in the United States. I have noticed it happening everywhere I travel in other countries around the world as well. I used the term fast lane because I noticed a similar phenomenon in such countries as the United Kingdom and Australia in the right lanes of highways this year and last year.
I have also noticed more trucks — including tractor trailers with 18 wheels — using the fast lane even though they are usually prohibited by law for doing so.
Worse is when a motorist is in the fast lane and begins to overtake a slower vehicle in an adjacent lane — only to slow down to approximately the speed of that slower vehicle, which creates a bottleneck and results in a line of traffic in the fast lane.
This past week, I was driving on a busy road with one lane in each direction. The traffic was slow due to a lumber truck that lumbered along the road. A passing lane opened on an incline. I could have easily passed the lumber truck — but a van decided to go through the trouble of changing into that lane in front of me but not speeding up, which caused traffic to slow down behind it.
The van never did pass the lumber truck; and everyone was forced to merge back into one lane once again. I have no idea why the driver of the van did not stay in the regular lane instead of blocking the passing lane.
There Oughta Be a Law. Oh, Wait — A Law Already Exists.
In many states, using the fast lane for any purpose other than passing a slower vehicle is a violation the law.
For example, the Department of Driver Services in Georgia has a list of violations of which one can be penalized with points against his or her driver’s license. One of those violations is Impeding the Flow of Traffic — according to the state of Georgia in the United States, Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 40-6-184 — for driving in the left lane when not passing slower traffic earns a penalty of three points. Many of the aforementioned experiences that are included in this article are examples of motorists who have unnecessarily impeded the flow of traffic.
Strangely enough, I see plenty of “speed traps” where law enforcement officers use radar devices and other equipment to purposely catch motorists who are speeding in excess of the posted speed limit on a highway — but they do not seem to be enforcing the law when motorists impede the flow of traffic.
Final Boarding Call
I like to arrive at my destination as quickly, easily, safely, and legally as possible…
…but I have seen signs on highways around the United States which state that the left lane is to be used for passing purposes only; and that is typically the rule in many jurisdictions — so motorists should not be using the fast lane unless they are passing another vehicle.
I do not understand why motorists do not stay out of the fast lane unless they absolutely need to pass another vehicle. Sometimes they travel so slowly that I must pass them using a lane that is meant for slower vehicles…
…and at times, the lane for the slowest vehicles — which is the right lane in the United States — has increasingly become the lane in which travel is the fastest in terms of speed and shortest in terms of time, which is not foolproof due to exit ramps and traffic merging onto the highway from entrance ramps as two of many examples. I do not understand that, either. Is some form of logic missing here?
Have you noticed an increase in motorists who hog the fast lane and drive slow — especially when they are not passing other vehicles, as other lanes are clear — or is this phenomenon just my imagination?
If it is not my imagination, then why is it happening?!?
All photographs ©2015, ©2019, ©2021, and ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
