Driving on your side of the road.

While driving in to work today I was listening to "The Big Show" with Johnboy and Billy. Robert D. Raiford, the show's commentator, read a letter from a listener complaining about the "idiot drivers who cruise in the left lane". Mr Raiford concurs with the letter and he goes on to state that in most states it is in fact illegal to cruise in the left hand lane.

I will agree that slow traffic should stay in the right lane so as not to obstruct progress of those drivers going the speed limit. Mind you I define "slow" traffic as anyone traveling UNDER the speed limit. But it is not the responsibility of the law abiding driver to yield to those drivers who want to drive recklessly and travel significantly over the speed limit.

Here is a quote from the NCDOT Driver's handbook:

The law requires you to drive on the right side of the road. Driving on the left side is legal only in some cases, such as on one-way streets and while passing. When you are moving slower than the posted speed limit on a multi-lane highway, drive in the extreme right lane unless you are passing, turning left or avoiding an obstruction.

The first sentence obviously deals with 2 lane (one in each direction) roads. The second sentence specifically deals with the question at hand. It does not say you must drive in the right hand lane of a multi lane highway unless traveling under the speed limit.

Further support for my opinion can be found in the section on Passing:

Passing on the right is against the law except in areas where it is specifically permitted. Passing on the right places your vehicle on the blind side of the car you are passing. The car you are passing could unexpectedly make a right turn or pull over to the right side of the road. Exceptions where passing on the right is allowed:

• on highways having at least two lanes traveling in each direction;
• ...

So if you are in a hurry and don't want to drive behind someone traveling the speed limit, THEN PASS THEM!

I hear the complaints from all the folks I work with about people driving in the passing lane and they also state it is illegal. Well to that I reply "So is speeding." If the "idiot" in the left lane is going the speed limit or above and you want to pass them, it is YOU that is breaking the law not the driver traveling the speed limit.

I do for the most part travel in the right lane, probably 85% of the time because I usually travel the speed limit, give or take 5 miles per hour, an anomaly these days. However when I am driving in the left lane of a multi-lane highway, I do not feel I should be forced to weave in and out of right lane to maintain the legal speed limit. If there are slower cars scattered about in the right lane then I will stay in the left lane. Without fail a car, or more likely a pickup truck, will pull up behind me, tailgating me, his not so subtle signal for me to get out of his way. If I choose not to relinquish my position I am next graced with flashing high beams in my rear view mirror. A little after that then the middle fingers start flying.

Kids read the following carefully!

Mind I usually make it a point to not tick off other drivers, however wrong their actions are. Over the years I have learned to just get out of their way and let them speed by. It only took one incident of being literally pushed off the road by a maniac, who was displeased with my unwillingness to yield to his wishes, to realize I do no need to be a vigilante traffic cop. Instead I just take pleasure in the thought of, a couple of miles ahead, seeing the said driver sitting on the side of the road with red and blue flashing lights reflecting off his rear view mirror.