Overtaking in USA/ Canada

[dkatwa]

Hi. I am from London England and here, we have to overtake on the right and move over to lanes 1 or 2 on the motorway. In the USA, I believe you can overtake in either lane. What are the rules for Canada?
When I was driving in on I5 north of Seattle recently, a red honda, who was tailgating me in the left lane, whilst i was doing the legal limit in my minivan, undertook me on the right and, darting back to my lane, performed a 'brake test', presumably because i was in the wrong in some way....I would be grateful if someone can explain what I did wrong. I was doing the legal limit, there were two lanes and there was traffic in the right hand lane. I could have pulled into the right hand lane but I would have reduced the braking distance for the car behind.
Any ideas?
thanks

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Seattle and Western Washington (tacoma oylmpia) has really aggressive idiotic drivers.

Don't fret.

Just use the left lane for passing, and remain in the right until you need to pass.


I bullied them back when I drove there, as Alberta is known for its aggressive idiotic driving as well

[buh_buh]

There are no laws in Canada pertaining to whether you have to overtake on the left or right lanes. Common courtesy just says you drive on the right, and pass on the left. Also note that probably 80% of drivers don't adhere to common courtesy rule of thumb.

[adam c]

Originally posted by buh_buh
There are no laws in Canada pertaining to whether you have to overtake on the left or right lanes. Common courtesy just says you drive on the right, and pass on the left. Also note that probably 80% of drivers don't adhere to common courtesy rule of thumb.

actually there is, in BC you are not allowed to pass on the right

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by adam c


actually there is, in BC you are not allowed to pass on the right

I think you can't pass on the right in Alberta either.

However, to the OP, unless you're passing somebody GTFO(ut) of the left lane - nothing aggravates people more than people cruising in the left lane...doesn't matter if you're doing 40 over, if somebody's doing 50over behind you, move over!

[old&slow]

[Kloubek]

I actually thought it was law here too you had to pass on the left. I mean, few listen to such a law - even in BC - when there is a slow driver in the left lane.

dkatwa:

It is expected (law or otherwise) that on major routes, people will drive in the right lane unless they are overtaking. (We simply call it "passing".) If you're in the left lane and see someone coming up, move over. It's just consider courtious.

Not sure someone doing this warrants a "brake test" though. I just blow past people on the right when they do this.

[buh_buh]

I've seen the signs, but have never seen them performed nor enforced, so I assumed they were just suggestions. I've never seen or heard of anyone getting pulled over either for the same thing. My bad.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by dkatwa
Hi. I am from London England and here, we have to overtake on the right and move over to lanes 1 or 2 on the motorway. In the USA, I believe you can overtake in either lane. What are the rules for Canada?
When I was driving in on I5 north of Seattle recently, a red honda, who was tailgating me in the left lane, whilst i was doing the legal limit in my minivan, undertook me on the right and, darting back to my lane, performed a 'brake test', presumably because i was in the wrong in some way....I would be grateful if someone can explain what I did wrong. I was doing the legal limit, there were two lanes and there was traffic in the right hand lane. I could have pulled into the right hand lane but I would have reduced the braking distance for the car behind.
Any ideas?
thanks

It's kind of an unwritten rule, many people abide by, that the left lane is the "fast" lane (and in some places it actually is the law too, ie. signs that say "slow traffic keep right"). Also, people don't usually go the speed limit, most average 5-10km/h above the limit, and some go faster.

If you are in the left lane over here, and you see someone coming up behind you quicly, it's a good idea to move to the right lane (assuming it's safe).

You did nothing legally in the wrong, but a lot of people don't follow the letter of the law over here, so they get mad when other people do.

[black13]

yea left lane is for passing and don't try to pass someone doing the limit if there are other cars coming up. Next thing you know the slow driver in the right realizes he has been going slow so he'll speed up to the limit and now both of you are creating a roadblock which causes endless amount of frustration for people behind you so speed up just a bit for taking over. If you don't wanna go over the limit just for a few seconds to pass then stay in the damn right lane so you don't clog traffic.

[Vanner]

Yeah, the left side of lanes in one direction is considered as the faster lane (of 2 or 3 lanes). A driver will have to move over to right to allow other driver go past you at their higher speed.

Of course... that's IF you were at the normal speed limit on the left lane and the other drivers were doing 10, 15 or 20+ km above limit. Many drivers just don't like the standard limit - LOL! None wrong about going the normal speed as long you got time to kill.

For me, if I was doing 10+ on my speed on road and someone behind wants me move over right. Sure, why not? - I'll move to let the idiot have at it! The driver can EARN the speed ticket anyway.

[dkatwa]

thanks for the reply, guys...maybe I was used to driving in the USA (where I was two weeks before coming to Vancouver) so thought that drivers were a bit laid back. However, I did not want to more to the right hand lane as that would have affected the braking distance of the following driver......not a good idea.
Incidently, I drive a BMW 535d in England and 99% of the time, I obey the speed limit and stay on the left hand side (we drive on the left here in England) so letting faster drivers thru is no big deal..it's just that in a two lane road, where the traffice on the left was moving slower than myself, I really did not want to 'cut them up' just so that an idiot behind me could go thru....

[Xtrema]

For me, if I'm on the left and somebody is coming up behind me, I'll move to the right ASAP or speed up and find a spot on the right to get into and let him pass.

And get back out to left as soon as traffic clears.

As for the brake check, there will always be assholes on the road.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Xtrema

As for the brake check, there will always be assholes on the road.

I'd rather be brake checked than have some asshole throwing spark plugs or shit at me

[g-m]

yea if I see someone approaching and I don't want to slow down to the speed of the right lane I speed up to the speed of the driver behind me and wait until theres room in the right lane to slow down.