Passing Etiquette

[greenwald]

Upon further reading:

The driver of a motor vehicle may overtake and pass to the right of another vehicle only under the following conditions;

* when the vehicle overetaken is making or is about to make a left turn.
* Upon a city street when unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two or more lines of vehicles in each direction.
* Upon a one way street
* Upon any highway outside a city with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width and clearly marked for four or more lanes of traffic.


So....what is a person to believe?

KEn

The simple answer Ken is to "believe and abide by" what is legal in your state.

That's why I said early on in this 'discussion' that the first thing I take note of on any interstate when I roll thru a new state is whether or not they prohibit using the left lane for anything other than passing ("Keep Right Unless To Pass") or simply caution me that traffic in the left lane can proceed at the legally posted limit and that if you intend to operate under the posted limit (cautious, trailering, mechanical problems, etc.), you need to be in the right lane ("Slower Traffic Keep Right"), i.e. my home state of Wisconsin.

No signage authorizes anyone to travel 'as fast as they wish,' simply becuase they are operating in the left lane - the left lane still carries the restriction of the maximum speed limit posted for that roadway.

Two simple choices, depending on which state you happen to be in at the time you're touring.

Safe travels.

 

[JDOCKERY132445]

The simple answer Ken is to "believe and abide by" what is legal in your state.

or simply caution me that traffic in the left lane can proceed at the legally posted limit and that if you intend to operate under the posted limit (cautious, trailering, mechanical problems, etc.), you need to be in the right lane ("Slower Traffic Keep Right"), i.e. my home state of Wisconsin.

"Slower Traffic Keep Right", means exactly what it says. If you are doing 70 and someone else is running 80, YOU are the slower traffic...get the hell over to the right.

 

[greenwald]

"Slower Traffic Keep Right", means exactly what it says. If you are doing 70 and someone else is running 80, YOU are the slower traffic...get the hell over to the right.

Sorry Jerry. Wishful thinking, but once the speed limit is set by a state legislature, that requirement to "keep right" does not void the max speed for that roadway. Only an antuhorized emergency vehicle has the statutory authority to do that.

Your logic/rationalization has been tried (no pun intended) in courts of law, and speed limits prevail. Given your academic creds, I would think you know that.

I'll try to "keep right" within a 50 mile radius of where you live.

Got to go teach a BRC now.

 

[bikerfish1100]

Sorry Jerry. Wishful thinking, but once the speed limit is set by a state legislature, that requirement to "keep right" does not void the max speed for that roadway.

Your logic/rationalization has been tried (no pun intended) in courts of law, and speed limits prevail.

I'll be sure to "keep right" within a 50 mile radius of where you live.

Kevin- tell me how i'm wrong wth this: your thinking there would validate the "i'm doing 1 over the speed limit in the left lane, so to hell with the fact that traffic is backed up behind me for a 1/2 mile, and i have a clear right lane to go into- any of them would be breaking the law to pass me, so i am good right here."
isn't that much of what we've been talking about in this thread- common courtesy and overall road safety?

 

[junkjohn]

Sorry Jerry. Wishful thinking, but once the speed limit is set by a state legislature, that requirement to "keep right" does not void the max speed for that roadway. Only an antuhorized emergency vehicle has the statutory authority to do that.

Your logic/rationalization has been tried (no pun intended) in courts of law, and speed limits prevail. Given your academic creds, I would think you know that.

I'll try to "keep right" within a 50 mile radius of where you live.

Got to go teach a BRC now.

You are single handedly costing your state speeding ticket revenue, by blocking us speeders. So if you break the law it is O.K. and most likely will not get a ticket?

 

[lmo1131]

The simple answer Ken is to "believe and abide by" what is legal in your state.

That's why I said early on in this 'discussion' that the first thing I take note of on any interstate when I roll thru a new state is whether or not they prohibit using the left lane for anything other than passing ("Keep Right Unless To Pass") or simply caution me that traffic in the left lane can proceed at the legally posted limit and that if you intend to operate under the posted limit (cautious, trailering, mechanical problems, etc.), you need to be in the right lane ("Slower Traffic Keep Right"), i.e. my home state of Wisconsin.

If you are questioning what the term "normal speed" means. See > http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

 

[JDOCKERY132445]

Too young

Sorry Jerry. Wishful thinking, but once the speed limit is set by a state legislature, that requirement to "keep right" does not void the max speed for that roadway. Only an antuhorized emergency vehicle has the statutory authority to do that.

Your logic/rationalization has been tried (no pun intended) in courts of law, and speed limits prevail. Given your academic creds, I would think you know that.

I'll try to "keep right" within a 50 mile radius of where you live.

Got to go teach a BRC now.

I am betting you are not old enough to remember when semi trucks tried your trick during the Carter administration by riding the 55 mph speed limit on interstates.

You just keep up your line of thinking and some Richard Petty type will do a pit maneuver on you. Or do they do it differently in Wisconsin?

 

[rxcrider]

In defense of Greenwald

Kevin did say that he hangs out at the limit + 7 (not 55) in the left lane and moves over for faster traffic unless they are driving like it is their personal salt flat or Talladega. While this is not a practice I subscribe to, he isn't just haging out there regardless of what is behind him. That means for all of us who certainly drive with calm heads in a brisk, but curteous manner, Kevin will graciously slide to the right and allow us to continue on our merry way, maybe even with a friendly wave. If you are riding in another fashion, maybe you should trade your beemer for a stretched busa with neons. I get the feeling that we are picking on a minute detail and that we wouldn't really be offended by the way he rides if we came up behind him. Just the fact that he pays attention to what is behind him is enough to set him apart from most left lane campers. He has also made comment that he isn't prone to stepping in front of a speeding semi just because he has the right of way. I'd like to take that as his way of saying that he isn't going to cause an unsafe situation. As it sounds like he is or was in law enforcement, he certainly should know the potential results of doing something stupid just because it is legal and know when it is time to twist it and exit a situation.

On a different note, would Richard Petty really punt someone on the freeway?

 

[20774]

Guys, guys, and gals...this thread has drifted from my first post about getting around slower traffic on a twisty road to debates about the proper attidude about left lane camping on a multi-lane road. I don't think anyone here has actually ridden with anyone else, so let's not debate who is breaking or pushing the law and/or who punts who off the road. As bikerfish1100 says this was supposed to be about specific situation or maybe in general "common courtesy and overall road safety".

Please keep things to a dull roar...don't want to have to give anyone a "posting ticket"!

 

[junkjohn]

Kevin did say that he hangs out at the limit + 7 (not 55) in the left lane and moves over for faster traffic unless they are driving like it is their personal salt flat or Talladega. While this is not a practice I subscribe to, he isn't just haging out there regardless of what is behind him. That means for all of us who certainly drive with calm heads in a brisk, but curteous manner, Kevin will graciously slide to the right and allow us to continue on our merry way, maybe even with a friendly wave. If you are riding in another fashion, maybe you should trade your beemer for a stretched busa with neons. I get the feeling that we are picking on a minute detail and that we wouldn't really be offended by the way he rides if we came up behind him. Just the fact that he pays attention to what is behind him is enough to set him apart from most left lane campers. He has also made comment that he isn't prone to stepping in front of a speeding semi just because he has the right of way. I'd like to take that as his way of saying that he isn't going to cause an unsafe situation. As it sounds like he is or was in law enforcement, he certainly should know the potential results of doing something stupid just because it is legal and know when it is time to twist it and exit a situation.

On a different note, would Richard Petty really punt someone on the freeway?

9-19-96
The News +Observer of Raleigh reported : Richard Petty who was campaigning to become N.C. Secretary of State, Wednesday was charged with hit and run and reckless driving in connection with an accident in Cabarrus County last week. State Highway patrol officials said the accident happened on I 85 as Petty was trying to pass another driver. Petty is accused of bumping the other car from behind, then passing it and driving away.

 

[rxcrider]

That was rude. I would have expected that from someone like Robbie Gordon fogetting he wasn't racing Baja. I figured the king would have had a calmer head off the track; guess not.
___________________________________________

Richard Petty's Aggressive Hit and Run Highway Maneuvers
09/23/96

Reuters has reported that Richard Petty, the "King" of stock car racing and the Republican candidate for the North Carolina's Secretary of State, was charged last Wednesday with reckless driving and hit and run property damage. Petty allegedly put his stock car racing tactics to use on the highway, bumping repeatedly into the back of a motorist he was trying to pass on Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

Petty allegedly bumped, James Rassette, who stopped a state trooper at a rest stop and reported the incident and Petty's license plate number. Police are investigating the incident.

A police statement indicated that the length of time between the incident and the formal citations being handed to Petty is common, given Rassette's minimal damage assessment. Petty, now a NASCAR team owner, had been in Delaware over the weekend for the NASCAR MBNA 500 race.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
_________________________________________________________

OK - back to the original (polite) discussion

 

[20774]

OK - back to the original (polite) discussion

Why are we digging up 15 year old stuff?? Please, let it alone!

Thanks...

 

[bikerfish1100]

Why are we digging up 15 year old stuff?? Please, let it alone!

Thanks...

because it was a tangent that some felt compelled to follow?

 

[lmo1131]

. .. ...

 

[RoadRdr]

I don't believe the chart is accurate, at least for New Jersey. I know NJ is a keep right except to pass state. Our neighbor Pennsylvania did not have a "keep right" law until a few years ago.

But drivers don't know the laws so it's kind of irrelevant.

Now in the real world I try to ride by two primary rules 1- what is safest for me in the current traffic situation. 2 - courtesy between drivers goes a long way for safety and sometimes progress. 2(b) - I will use all resources at hand to effect a pass if necessary to get it done quickly. I never hang out next to a truck. Blown tires and assorted dislodged parts scare me almost as much as deer.

 

[Bud]

I don't believe the chart is accurate, at least for New Jersey. I know NJ is a keep right except to pass state. Our neighbor Pennsylvania did not have a "keep right" law until a few years ago.

But drivers don't know the laws so it's kind of irrelevant.

Now in the real world I try to ride by two primary rules 1- what is safest for me in the current traffic situation. 2 - courtesy between drivers goes a long way for safety and sometimes progress. 2(b) - I will use all resources at hand to effect a pass if necessary to get it done quickly. I never hang out next to a truck. Blown tires and assorted dislodged parts scare me almost as much as deer.

Excellent advice Tom.

In addition to not hanging out on the side of a truck. I leave a lot of room if there is one in front of me due to all the stuff on the road that can fly up behind a semi.

 

[greenwald]

Kevin- tell me how i'm wrong wth this: your thinking there would validate the "i'm doing 1 over the speed limit in the left lane, so to hell with the fact that traffic is backed up behind me for a 1/2 mile, and i have a clear right lane to go into- any of them would be breaking the law to pass me, so i am good right here."
isn't that much of what we've been talking about in this thread- common courtesy and overall road safety?

Boy - and I thought my students this afternoon asked interesting questions in the BRC class!

A flaw in your scenario. Said this several times already in this thread, but will say it again. On a multi-lane roadway, you're NOT PASSING when, in the right lane, you're simply overtaking a slower motorist to your left. You're just overtaking. Don't give it a second thought - LEO's don't.

Secondly, it is others on this Forum that label me a moving roadblock. I again have said that I graciously yield to all but the most obnoxious drivers. Ergo, there would never be "traffic backed up behind me for a 1/2 mile."

Funny how everyone is anxious to talk the talk when it comes to' courtesy and road safety,' just so long as no one suggests they not SPEED. Then the baseball bats and chains come out!

 

[greenwald]

As for the ever so colorful chart posted by Lmo1131.

Really? Really???!

FYI, it's source is JALOPNIK, a goofy site started up in 2004 and notorious for 'rephrasing" traffic law.

Case in point: The chart lists states, incluing my own (WI) as "Must move if driving slower than normal traffic."

That conveniently quotes (and only partially, of course!) statute 346.59. They conveniently ignore statute 346.57which applies to NO ONE ALLOWED over any and all posted limits.

You can't hide behind the verbiage of one statute while selectively ignoring others. These laws work in harmony and no state in the Union permits unrestricted speeds in the left lane just because all other traffic is 'slower.' Ran that past a WI state trooper once during a friendly discussion. Slower traffic keep right never supercedes the posted limit - in ANY state.

You could try that approach sometime in court (tried here is WI, where JALOPNIK says that should work) - your day will not end well.

I can understand the frustration of a rider who has chosen to break the law and speed, but that unlawful decision on his/her part doesn't impose a duty on someone already going at or above the posted limit to "get the hell out of the way."

 

[greenwald]

Kevin did say that he hangs out at the limit + 7 (not 55) in the left lane and moves over for faster traffic unless they are driving like it is their personal salt flat or Talladega. While this is not a practice I subscribe to, he isn't just haging out there regardless of what is behind him. That means for all of us who certainly drive with calm heads in a brisk, but curteous manner, Kevin will graciously slide to the right and allow us to continue on our merry way, maybe even with a friendly wave. If you are riding in another fashion, maybe you should trade your beemer for a stretched busa with neons. I get the feeling that we are picking on a minute detail and that we wouldn't really be offended by the way he rides if we came up behind him. Just the fact that he pays attention to what is behind him is enough to set him apart from most left lane campers. He has also made comment that he isn't prone to stepping in front of a speeding semi just because he has the right of way. I'd like to take that as his way of saying that he isn't going to cause an unsafe situation. As it sounds like he is or was in law enforcement, he certainly should know the potential results of doing something stupid just because it is legal and know when it is time to twist it and exit a situation.

On a different note, would Richard Petty really punt someone on the freeway?

+1 !

 

[moot]

Greenwald: Call me ignorant or maybe just practical but I struggle with the distinction between passing and overtaking a slower vehicle. Seems like the same thing to me.