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The Safety-Based Case Against Left Lane Squatters

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  2PumpChump 
#1 ·

If you're a motorcyclist, odds are that you aren't one of those car drivers that squats in the left lane plodding along exactly at the speed limit while everyone else stacks up behind you with their blood pressure nearing the bursting point. Then again, maybe you are one of those mouth-breathers who believes it is their God-given right to drive in whatever lane they want, no matter who it inconveniences. (If you are, we've got a special place in Hell carved out for you to spend all of eternity listening to the Barney Song turned up to 11.)

While we've all experienced the aggravation of the left lane squatter, it turns out that slowing down traffic in the left lane is also a safety hazard because it forces faster drivers to weave back and forth between lanes, which can cause a cascading wave of deceleration in the right lane that further slows and stacks up traffic. Oh yeah, it increases the odds of an accident, too.

So, next time you see some doofus online, bloviating about how safe he is going the speed limit in the left lane instead of sticking to the right unless he's passing, point him in the direction of the video below. While it probably won't change the blowhard's behavior, you might just inform some less experienced driver, like the narrator in the video, about proper lane discipline.
Read more about The Safety-Based Case Against Left Lane Squatters at Motorcycle.com.
 
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#3 ·
In my state (NV) there's no law specifically regarding left-lane travel (though there IS a law prohibiting passing on the right); however, I always point people out to our Nevada Driver Handbook - the book people are supposed to read to take a test to get a driver's permit. In said book, it advises you to LET FASTER DRIVERS THROUGH if you are traveling in the left lane and someone is driving faster behind you, REGARDLESS OF THE SPEED LIMIT.

The video in this article needs to go viral. I constantly see trains of cars driving bumper to bumper at freeway speeds because someone is driving EXACTLY the speed limit in the left lane AND so is everyone else next to that guy, forcing everyone to drive slow and close behind them, aching for a chain-reaction accident to happen.
 
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