"Left Lane Bandits" News Report From BC

[frizzlefry]

I wish Alberta would get "Keep Right Except To Pass" signs...

Part 1
Part 2

[Sentry]

In Alberta you can pass on the right legally, by the way.

[sxtasy]

Trust me the signs do not work. Van island is freakin terrible for slow people clogging the left lane. Calgary left lanes seems to flow better.

[ercchry]

the most trouble free way to travel on hwy 2 when it is 3 lanes is to sit in the far right... since not a singe person uses it

[Maxt]

Originally posted by ercchry
the most trouble free way to travel on hwy 2 when it is 3 lanes is to sit in the far right... since not a singe person uses it

Exactly... Coming North out of Okotoks is bad as well on the 2A... The right hand lane is usually faster than the left.

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by ercchry
the most trouble free way to travel on hwy 2 when it is 3 lanes is to sit in the far right... since not a singe person uses it

Amen. I love it when it becomes 3 lanes. I usually pass on the right more than on the left when driving hwy 2. Left lane is brutal sometimes.

[you&me]

The problem is that too many people think they're the fast driver... One person thinking 5km/h over is fast enough can cause a backlog behind them. This is then compounded because anyone that gets over to let someone pass can't ever get back into the left lane because it's so packed with people that think they're fast.

The worst I've seen is the Trans Canada heading west into Vancouver

[taemo]

^and the sad thing is that people hogging the left lane don't check their rear-view mirror.
if I see a faster car coming behind me, I'll quickly move to the right lane and let them pass.

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by you&me
The problem is that too many people think they're the fast driver... One person thinking 5km/h over is fast enough can cause a backlog behind them. This is then compounded because anyone that gets over to let someone pass can't ever get back into the left lane because it's so packed with people that think they're fast.

The worst I've seen is the Trans Canada heading west into Vancouver

Man, try that stretch of road on a long weekend. When I was living in Van, and visiting my parents who are in Kelowna on a long weekend, it took me 7 hours to drive home. It normally takes me about 3.5 or so. There wasn't a single accident anywhere, and it was summer. Just idiot drivers and volume, it was insane.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by sxtasy
Trust me the signs do not work. Van island is freakin terrible for slow people clogging the left lane. Calgary left lanes seems to flow better.

Yeah, you got that right. I deal with 'Chinese roadblocks' on the drive to & from work every day... except next to no Chinese people live on the Island.

People are stupid wherever you go.

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by taemo
^and the sad thing is that people hogging the left lane don't check their rear-view mirror.
if I see a faster car coming behind me, I'll quickly move to the right lane and let them pass.

Far too often I see a backlog in the left lane and the person in front would have to be BLIND not to notice the backlog. Especially when it continues for minutes. The people behind them will drift left and right so they appear in the lane hog's side view mirrors. Flash brights. Ride their ass. But the hogs never speed up or move. Possible reasons:
a) they are a speed vigilante, doing it on purpose to keep everyone at 110. Wreckless driving in my mind
b) due to the over enforcement of speed limits, the lane hog is too shit scared to DARE go more than 12km over the speed limit despite what the traffic around them is doing
c) they actually don't notice because they never check their mirrors. If this is the case they should not be driving. Period.

I think about 50% of left lane hogs are doing it because they think they are the fastest. This type reveals itself when you pass on the right and then they change lanes right after realizing they are not, in fact, very fast at all. The remaining 50%...I have no clue. Ignorance I guess.

[brucebanner]

I've been traveling back and forth from Red Deer to Calgary over the last couple months during my weeks off. People cruising at 115-120kmh in the left lane drive me absolutely nuts.

The left lane is there for passing in, not for cruising aimlessly in. I've recently begin to hit the horn after they don't get out of the way, makes for a clear path quickly and is mildly entertaining. Then I proceed change back into the right lane to "show" the other drivers.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by frizzlefry
Possible reasons:

My Mom would do 110 in the left lane on Deerfoot and her thought process was "Well I don't have to get out of the way because I'm already speeding". It had nothing to do with wanting to limit others people's speed or ignorance of the people behind her just that she didn't want to change lanes and she just thought that having no legal requirement to change lanes was justification to not do it.

I always have troubles coming up with an analogy for the situation, I think I said something along the lines of "Imagine you had a pack of gum that never ran out and some stranger asked you for a piece. Would you give them one? You have no obligation to, but it's of benefit to them and no cost to you. Obviously you would give them a piece. This is no different.

You have zero obligation to allow the people behind you to pass, but it's also zero skin off your back to do it. You'd be rude as hell to deny that stranger a piece of gum, so why don't you consider it rude to block people in traffic?"

Obviously there are a handful of other factors that need to be taken into consideration but I don't think a single analogy can teach people everything at once, haha. One step at a time.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Mibz
she just thought that having no legal requirement to change lanes was justification to not do it.

Tell her the legal requirement is in the signs...

"Slower Traffic Keep Right"

That means if I'm doing 195km/h, and she's doing 190km/h, she still has to legally GTFO of the way, otherwise she isn't obeying the traffic signs.

[Kg810]

Originally posted by Mibz
...I always have troubles coming up with an analogy for the situation,...

Why not just explain to her that it is courteous and helps prevent faster cars behind her from having to pull dangerous maneuvers to get in front of her?

[Mibz]

Eh, we looked that up and there is no legal requirement.

When the signs were implemented in the 50s or 60s the Government intended that people in the left lane would go the speed limit, people in the right lane would go less than the speed limit and people would use the middle lane to pass people in the right.

There's no law in Alberta saying that you need to move over for faster traffic, nor is there a law saying you can't pass on the right. There is a charge for obstructing traffic but the spirit of it is obviously not meant for people doing 110 in the left lane on Deerfoot.

Alberta traffic laws are not designed with speeders in mind. Well, sorry, Alberta laws are not designed to accommodate speeders. That's not to say that the laws aren't created with the intention of punishing or profiting from speeders.

EDIT:

Originally posted by Kg810
Why not just explain to her that it is courteous and helps prevent faster cars behind her from having to pull dangerous maneuvers to get in front of her?

Because using the word "courteous" when talking about driving goes in one ear and out the other. Nobody sits and thinks about what it actually means or what's required to actually be courteous on the road. Very few people give a single shit about other people on the road and saying something like "It's the nice thing to do" just garners responses like "Well people don't let me merge sometimes so why should I be nice to them?". Other people think that doing one nice thing that other people don't is all that's necessary. I don't know. It's not like like I'm going around trying to teach all my friends how to drive, this was one scenario and it was my Mom so I wanted to make sure I got my point across clearly and politely, lest she get defensive and I pay for it later, haha.

Also, because I like analogies. They make me feel good.

[codetrap]

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[ercchry]

Originally posted by codetrap
Normally I'd stay in the right lane, but if someone honked at me to move over, I'd lock the cruise at 110 and stay left.

and i'd pass you almost touching bumpers all the way around in the top of 3rd gear

[My_name_is_Rob]

Originally posted by codetrap
Normally I'd stay in the right lane, but if someone honked at me to move over, I'd lock the cruise at 110 and stay left.

So you let other people (drivers), influence you for the worst, and not for the better? Seems backwards.

[codetrap]

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