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Left Lane Passing Law enforcement

WhoAteMySoup said:
Funny that you say that, because there are actually quite a few "GTF out of my way" signs on our highways, of course they say "Slower traffic keep right", but that's pretty much what they supposed to mean. I am glad you chimed in here, because it illustrates my point of how most drivers in California are not even aware of the fact that they MUST yield to faster moving traffic.
I want to emphasize that this is not about me having a sissy fit about Priuses slowing me down. Going around slower drivers is many situations is simply not safe, as it requires tailgating, cutting people off, etc. Yeah, sure, I can do it, but in most cases I resort to calmly waiting for a safe opportunity to pass. The problem is that most people don't wait for a safe opportunity.
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So if I'm poking along at 65 and you roll up on me doing 80, I can be cited for not yielding to faster moving traffic?
 
WhoAteMySoup said:
Exactly.
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Not exactly, exactly, he does not have to speed up to clear the lane and he does not have to clear the lane until reasonably safe for him to do so. The butthead who blocks his move to the right is not your friend. I might consider packing the rear end of 65 @ 80 unsafe speed for conditions if tracfic is anything more than moderate.
 
David919 said:
Not exactly, exactly, he does not have to speed up to clear the lane and he does not have to clear the lane until reasonably safe for him to do so. The butthead who blocks his move to the right is not your friend. I might consider packing the rear end of 65 @ 80 unsafe speed for conditions if tracfic is anything more than moderate.
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True that, other conditions should be taken into consideration. But suppose car A is flat out blocking car B from passing, technically both drivers need to be cited: one for failing to yield to faster traffic, the other for speeding. In reality it is up to LEOs discretion as far as who should be cited, and what I suspect is that in most cases LEO will pull over the speeding car, which is totally understandable, as it is a much more clear cut offense. The issue I see here is that left lane hoggers virtually never get cited, and as the result they don't even know that they are braking the law. As a said before, I would really like to see one weekend out of the month where the LEOs get a clear directive to cite cars for failing to yield instead of citing speeders (with the exception of gross offenders). This one weekend out of the month will go a LONG way towards educating the public and making our roads safer. This is not a new idea, other states have done it, and Europe has been doing it for decades, which is the one reason why autobahns work there.
 
WhoAteMySoup said:
True that, other conditions should be taken into consideration. But suppose car A is flat out blocking car B from passing, technically both drivers need to be cited: one for failing to yield to faster traffic, the other for speeding. In reality it is up to LEOs discretion as far as who should be cited, and what I suspect is that in most cases LEO will pull over the speeding car, which is totally understandable, as it is a much more clear cut offense. The issue I see here is that left lane hoggers virtually never get cited, and as the result they don't even know that they are braking the law. As a said before, I would really like to see one weekend out of the month where the LEOs get a clear directive to cite cars for failing to yield instead of citing speeders (with the exception of gross offenders). This one weekend out of the month will go a LONG way towards educating the public and making our roads safer. This is not a new idea, other states have done it, and Europe has been doing it for decades, which is the one reason why autobahns work there.
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I agree, especially with the idea of a campaign to educate drivers. Starting with when thay learn to drive or obtain their first license. Right after we teach them lane sharing is OK/good.
 
David919 said:
I agree, especially with the idea of a campaign to educate drivers. Starting with when thay learn to drive or obtain their first license. Right after we teach them lane sharing is OK/good.
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I have seen occasional awareness campaigns pop up here and there. There was a video going around facebook a couple of month ago, which nicely summarized why not yielding to faster traffic creates issues. There was a campaign called "Do The Right Thing". I think they are good, but I feel like LEOs are the most effective drivers of change (without CHP lane splitting would have never became officially legal) so any campaign like that should be supported by LEOs first.
 
65 in a 65 is 65 in a 65. I can't really do much if you're following the max speed limit.
 
TheRiddler said:
65 in a 65 is 65 in a 65. I can't really do much if you're following the max speed limit.
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What if you see a guy going the speed limit, and 5 cars stacked up right behind him. No other cars in front or behind. Suppose its a 2 lane highway, and the 2nd lane is also blocked. I realize that everyone would be going the speed limit, especially if they spot you first.
It seems safe to assume that the car traveling in the front of the left lane is failing to yield otherwise there would be no other cars stacked immediately behind it. What would happen if you cited the individual under CVC 21654? Have you ever given a citation like that?
 
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WhoAteMySoup said:
I have been commuting on California roads for around 18 years now. Just like everyone else here, I have seen all kinds of terrible drivers: reckless speeders, weaving in and out of traffic; distracted drivers that drift into neighboring lanes; intoxicated drivers, etc. For the most part all of the above are a rare event and they get pulled over by law enforcement officials fairly quickly, however there is this one type of driver that I consider extremely dangerous, and I have yet to see one get pulled over and cited, despite the fact that they are in abundance all over our freeways. The driver I am talking about is a completely sober, law abiding individual, blissfully traveling in the left hand lane at or near the speed limit, completely oblivious to a caravan of 5 or so cars right behind them. You all know who I am talking about, these drivers are responsible for irregular traffic flow and contribute to rear end accidents, in a more subtle sense these drivers contribute to road rage incidents, where in the process of trying to pass them other drivers (whom I am not excusing by the way) engage in reckless maneuvers, often causing accidents. I have always seen signs stating “slower traffic keep right”, and I know we have a law stating that you must move out of the left lane if you are driving slower than normal traffic, yet I have never seen a person get pulled over for this.
I understand that it must be very hard to enforce the left lane law, but is it even being enforced? I have read about campaigns in eastern states where for a whole week the highway patrol focuses on left lane hoggers, pulling them over in droves. Why can’t we do that here, in California? It seems that the main problem for left lane hoggers is a complete lack of awareness that they should let faster traffic through, if people are at least aware of the fact that there is such a law, and that there is a small chance they get pulled over for it, it will go a long way towards public awareness. So my questions for the LEOs: Are there any difficulties with enforcing the left lane passing laws, and what can I, as a citizen, do to help with this problem?
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Ride dirt, Race on Dirt. Get a ZX-10 for pavement, = do what ya want when Ya want...
Then all problems disappear. :thumbup :)
 
WhoAteMySoup said:
What if you see a guy going the speed limit, and 5 cars stacked up right behind him. No other cars in front or behind. Suppose its a 2 lane highway, and the 2nd lane is also blocked. I realize that everyone would be going the speed limit, especially if they spot you first.
It seems safe to assume that the car traveling in the front of the left lane is failing to yield otherwise there would be no other cars stacked immediately behind it. What would happen if you cited the individual under CVC 21654? Have you ever given a citation like that?
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The problem as I see it is this....those "slower traffic keep right" signs were originally put up to keep people that were traveling UNDER the speed limit out of the left lane and to facilitate safe passing.
Over time speed demons have co-opted that to mean "GTF outta my way because I'm coming through no matter how fast you are going, even if you are going OVER the posted speed limit".
I'm not saying I don't speed, but this idea that people need to GTF outta the way just because you feel that it is your right to go as fast as you feel is safe is just wrong. Also if someone is passing a car and the car that is being passed speeds up, you can't expect the passing driver to just speed up, not matter how much it might piss you off that he doesn't. They didn't just magically end up next to each other. One of them had to either speed up or slow down for that condition to come to be, and from my experience it usually is the driver being passed, because for some reason, he all of the sudden doesn't want to be passed as the car starts getting ahead of him. I see this all the time and it baffles me every time it happens.
That's just how I see it.......flame on.
 
It's a safety issue. Get to the right. CHP should absolutely find a way to encourage it....many people don't understand the impact of NOT staying right, which is 95% of the problem.
 
louemc said:
Ride dirt, Race on Dirt. Get a ZX-10 for pavement, = do what ya want when Ya want...
Then all problems disappear. :thumbup :)
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MOD REQUEST

Lou,

While we appreciate you participating in other parts of BARF, please remember that the LEO forum is a place where users come for advice from law enforcement.

Please keep that in mind before posting about your off-topic opinion on proper genres of motorcycles for forum members. Discussion needs to stay on topic more so in this forum than other places on BARF.

-Nick
 
If the speed limit is 65, there's a a car traveling 55-65 on the left lane, and 2-3 cars are going 70mph, while they may be breaking the speed limit, they will be blocked behind the car going 55-65, and then all cars behind will start to pile up, and the unnecessary traffic starts.

Another scenario: 65mph limit. And there is an oblivious prius driver on the left lane, going 55, not paying attention behind, then a car comes by doing 60, they want to pass them, but they can't. Other cars will start piling up and traffic starts.

The flow of cars is important to avoid traffic and slow downs. And that is why these exist: http://i.imgur.com/ICyKb1S.jpg and not many drivers in the bay area seem to understand why.
 
WhoAteMySoup said:
With all of that said, for longer commutes, over 300 miles, going 80-85 mph will shave hours of off your commute, not minutes, HOURS
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Let's do some math:

300 miles at 65 mph will take 4 hrs 37 min
300 miles at 70 mph will take 4 hrs 17 min
300 miles at 75 mph will take 4 hrs
300 miles at 80 mph will take 3 hrs 45 min
300 miles at 85 mph will take 3 hrs 32 min

So, the difference between 65 mph and 85 mph for your 300 mile commute is pretty close to an hour. But, that assumes there's NO traffic, no stops, etc. - if your commute is that long you need to move closer to work! If you're on vacation you need to relax and enjoy the trip...
 
The most important thing to take away from all this is that, drivers breaking the speed limit is a completely different problem than drivers not moving out of the way.

The driver breaking the speed limit may or may not affect someone, and is likely to eventually get caught by law enforcement, so let them, again, it's law enforcement's job to do so, not yours, the average citizen.

On the other hand, the driver not moving out of the way can affect many cars, by creating traffic and not allowing the cars to flow properly. IMO, this is more selfish than "speeding."
 
I couldn't reasonably articulate that they were in violation of 21654 if they're at the speed limit. That'd be indirectly condoning exceeding the speed limit to everyone behind them.

I've never written that code. Closest I've done is encountered people like this doing 50 in a 65 in the left lane with no traffic around. I've turned my lights on, had them move to the right lane, turned my lights off and continued on.
 
Alan_Hepburn said:
Let's do some math:

300 miles at 65 mph will take 4 hrs 37 min
300 miles at 70 mph will take 4 hrs 17 min
300 miles at 75 mph will take 4 hrs
300 miles at 80 mph will take 3 hrs 45 min
300 miles at 85 mph will take 3 hrs 32 min

So, the difference between 65 mph and 85 mph for your 300 mile commute is pretty close to an hour. But, that assumes there's NO traffic, no stops, etc. - if your commute is that long you need to move closer to work! If you're on vacation you need to relax and enjoy the trip...
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I did the math in my head as soon as I read the 300 mile statement and came to the same conclusion. Much ado about nothing. We live in a traffic congested region. You can't fight it or change it. Grasp the Zen and bend with the wind grasshopper.
 
TheRiddler said:
I couldn't reasonably articulate that they were in violation of 21654 if they're at the speed limit. That'd be indirectly condoning exceeding the speed limit to everyone behind them.

I've never written that code. Closest I've done is encountered people like this doing 50 in a 65 in the left lane with no traffic around. I've turned my lights on, had them move to the right lane, turned my lights off and continued on.
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Thanks for the reply.
About 10 years ago I attended traffic school (before internet traffic schools) and there was one guy in there who was cited for going 55 in the left lane on a 65 mph speed limit road. He was complaining the whole day about how it was so unfair, while the rest of the class was plotting to jump him after class. (no, no one did, but it was funny).
 
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