Sometimes I'm proud to be a native Georgian, but almost never when the state legislature has anything to do with it.

How about this approach: "Illegal to stay in the left lane except when passing." Has worked in Germany since the beginning of time.

By the way, despite being the largest state (geographically) east of the Mississippi and having one of the largest populations among southern states, Georgia has the smallest state police force in the south. I doubt a law like this will get much enforcement, but who knows. Georgians are good at making dumb policy decisions.

by Matt Johnson on Feb 18, 2010 9:10 am • link • report

I'm getting super-tired of Virginia treat HOV lanes as SOV (special occupant or vehicle) lanes. First it's select few who buy certain hybrid cars, or bought them before a certain date. Now it's military. What's next, pregnant women? Republicans (Hampton Road only)? Democrats (I-395 only)?

by ah on Feb 18, 2010 9:13 am • link • report

Anybody care to guess the percentage of motor vehicle drivers who consistently obey the law?

by KenF on Feb 18, 2010 9:39 am • link • report

"How about this approach: "Illegal to stay in the left lane except when passing." Has worked in Germany since the beginning of time."

I agree, but when I got my license in Pennsylvania years ago, they passed a law, something to the effect of "No traveling in the left lane for more than 2 miles" and starting ticketing people. All it did was confuse and anger people who couldn't understand why they weren't allowed in the passing lane indefinitely at their own pace. I always tried to explain why the law existed but you try telling that to someone that got slapped on the wrist by highway patrol and they don't really care.

by frank on Feb 18, 2010 9:57 am • link • report

It's called a passing lane for a reason. If I'm going 55 and the person in front of me is going 40, I have to 1) slow down, 2) switch lanes, 3) speed back up, and possibly 4) switch lanes back in order to pass other cars on the right. Each of those steps increases my risk of hiting a patch of ice and wiping out, or losing control of my car for some reason (if it's a Toyota), or being in a collision with a car that is either in my blind spot or that did not see me slow down and rear-ends me.

Going in a straight line at a steady speed (be it 40, 55, 65, or whatever) is much safer than having to go around these people. It's so frustrating when you're on a highway and it seems like the left lane is packed and there are only a few cars in the right lane.

It really just boils down to people being very selfish.

by Teo on Feb 18, 2010 10:24 am • link • report

The problem in this country is that no one respects the rule of having "slower traffic to the right." People pass on both the right and left willy-nilly.

Instead of setting a minimum speed threshold (which does exist in some places in the U.S.), why not just start enforcing the existing rules of the road? It's a basic question on every driving test, yet never enforced. The people who leisurely cruise in the left-hand lane tick me off so much. Not only are they holding up traffic, but they are making everyone else pass unsafely on the right.

I'm sorry if your ego gets bruised when you're staying to the right, but by dilly-dallying in the left lane you're breaking the law.

by SDJ on Feb 18, 2010 10:26 am • link • report

The 55-rule reminds me of a story probably 10 years back in Chicago (IIRC). The truck drivers were sick of being pulled over for speeding through the Dan Ryan or one of the expressways. So they went exactly the speed limit in all six/eight lanes in one direction together. It shut traffic to a crawl through rush hour. People were furious. The drivers got a fine but proved a point and it was all over the news.

by timfry on Feb 18, 2010 10:27 am • link • report

Technically isn't the speed limit "except when passing" i.e. you are allowed to temporarily exceed 55 mph for a few seconds when passing another car? In which case, you wouldn't have to drive exactly the speed limit, you'd just have to use the passing lane for its intended purpose, PASSING.

by Erica on Feb 18, 2010 10:48 am • link • report

Erica: No. The speed limit is the speed limit at all times.

by David Alpert on Feb 18, 2010 10:49 am • link • report

Some people really are too fucking stupid to govern themselves. Why, oh why, didn't we let them secede when we had the chance.

We'd be wealthier for it, since the massive transfer of wealth from Blue states to Red states would stop; and peaches would be cheaper.

by oboe on Feb 18, 2010 11:05 am • link • report

@timfry
Actually, the original article on "How We Drive" references this, but about 4 years ago, a group of Georgia State University students gained notoriety by driving exactly the speed limit on the Perimeter (Beltway). They used 6 cars (the highway is generally 4 lanes wide per direction) and drove 55 around a portion of the perimeter. A camera stationed on the Church Street overpass in Decatur captured the empty freeway prior to their arrival and the solid traffic for sometime afterwards.

Drivers did all sorts of crazy stuff. One car even clipped a broken down vehicle on the shoulder while trying to pass.

I guess Sammy Hagar had it right with "I can't drive Fifty-Five".

Here's a link to their video, "A Meditation on the Speed Limit": http://tinyurl.com/ycrmmc5

by Matt Johnson on Feb 18, 2010 11:06 am • link • report

Anybody care to guess the percentage of motor vehicle drivers who consistently obey the law?

That's easy: it's zero.

(Again, not hyperbole, just a simple fact. As we've dealt with over and over here, there's not a single driver who regularly drives under the speed limit; and not a single driver who comes to a complete stop at a stop-sign. Of course, that's okay for some reason. But bikes must be held to 100% compliance at all times.)

by oboe on Feb 18, 2010 11:07 am • link • report

Can WMATA apply for Federal disaster assistance to cover the snow costs? Can it apply via the compact jurisdictions' applications?

Then again, FEMA could refuse since the system's dismal performance during the storm is partly to blame for OPM's decision to shut down the government for several consecutive days.

by Eric F. on Feb 18, 2010 11:33 am • link • report

Actually, I'm not sure if the military HOV lane exception would only apply to Hampton Roads. WVEC only writes about that area, so it isn't clear. But they also didn't say it was only for Hampton Roads.

by Tim on Feb 18, 2010 11:37 am • link • report

The bill itself says that it only applies to I-264 and I-64 in the Hampton Roads Planning District.

by David Alpert on Feb 18, 2010 11:43 am • link • report

In New York state you can and will get pulled over and ticketed for driving in the passing lane for more than a couple of miles (at least on the major highways).

I so desperately wish that VA did the same thing - think of all the extra revenue that would be generated! Possibly enough so that the Gov doesn't have to gut education and health care in the state...

by Elisa on Feb 18, 2010 12:10 pm • link • report

Just abolish the speed limit altogether, and let the motorists determine their own optimum equilibrium speed per lane.

Of course, it will give 'creative destruction' a whole new meaning...

by MPC Von Hayek on Feb 18, 2010 12:30 pm • link • report

@David Alpert:

I believe that Erica is correct about the speed limit while passing in Virginia.

Code of Virginia statute:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-842.1

State Police Enforcement:
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/022006/02092006/166829

by mch on Feb 18, 2010 8:43 pm • link • report

I don't see anything saying that the posted speed limit does not apply to people passing. Both just say you have to move right if someone wants to pass; there's nothing about their speed.

by David Alpert on Feb 18, 2010 9:52 pm • link • report

The author says, "It's dumb for so many reaasons. Does that mean it'll be illegal to drive any speed except the exact speed limit? And what about traffic? (How We Drive)"

I'm not aware of anyone claiming that people should always drive at precisely the speed limit. The idea really is very simple -- keep right except to pass. That's all. When not actively overtaking another vehicle, drivers should be in the right lane when possible.

Obviously this does not apply during rush hour when all lanes are jammed with cars.

I work a night shift and generally do not drive during rush hour. The traffic I encounter is usually light to moderate, yet I see many drivers in the left lane when the right lane is wide open. I could understand somewhat if the right lane was rutted or rough, but that's not the case on I-70 and I-270. For whatever reason, many drivers seem to prefer cruising in the left lane. Sometimes, the right lane becomes the de facto 'passing lane' because 19 out of 20 vehicles are in the left lane for no apparent reason.

Cruising in the left lane is selfish, rude, contributes to road rage, causes other drivers to pass on the right (which is potentially dangerous), and is illegal (at least in VA and some other states).

My guess is that some drivers are just oblivious/distracted, others are fully aware that they should be in the right lane but it's easier to set the cruise and stay left, and another group are "self-appointed speed enforcement vigilantes" -- they are the passive-aggressive types that purposely run under the limit next to a slow moving vehicle in the right lane for mile after agonizing mile, periodically checking their rearview mirror to see if they can get a reaction from the driver behind them.

What the self-appointed speed enforcement vigilantes fail to consider is that the rolling road block they create may delay emergency vehicles (especially when shoulders are packed with snow) or people in their personal vehicles trying to get to the hospital for the birth of a child, etc. This sort of behavior should be severely punished, yet it very rarely is (at least in MD).

For more info: http://www.motorists.org/lanecourtesy/

by Sherman Johnson on Feb 19, 2010 2:31 am • link • report

Erica/David: I know of at least one state that allows you to "temporarily exceed the speed limit" by 10 MPH when passing another vehicle. Though if I recall correctly, this only applies to 2-lane roads and not multi-lane facilities.

by Froggie on Feb 19, 2010 8:51 am • link • report

There are far better ways to handle left lane hogs. For example, in CA you're required to pull over if five or more vehicles are waiting behind you. This along with "keep right except to pass" works pretty well, if cops bother to enforce it.

The problem with the GA situation, and our "three feet to pass" defeat in VA, is that legislators do not know enough about laws and best practices that have been well-proven elsewhere, or the traffic flow principles on which they are based.

One criticism we got about our three feet law was that we didn't do a good enough job selling the idea to rural delegates (mostly Republican) -- which is asking for trouble for a bill sponsored only by a freshman Democrat. We should have recruited co-sponsors, and we need to keep educating.

by mattotoole on Feb 24, 2010 1:56 pm • link • report

What is the "three feet to pass law"?

Thanks.

by Sherman Johnson on Feb 24, 2010 3:52 pm • link • report

@Sherman Johnson
It would require that drivers pass cyclists with at least 3 feet of clearance separating their conveyances.

by Matt Johnson on Feb 24, 2010 3:54 pm • link • report

3 feet or greater seems reasonable to me. There were/are people against this?

by Sherman Johnson on Feb 24, 2010 4:05 pm • link • report