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      01-04-2017, 09:10 AM   #1
VRG_135
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The Strange Siren Call of the Left Lane.....

I've noticed, over the years, that the left lane is almost always the slowest lane in rush hour traffic. Is that true in your area? I'm in Dallas. I think its because most people think its going to be the faster lane, so more cars are in that lane. Thoughts?
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      01-04-2017, 09:17 AM   #2
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The right lane is the fast lane: no one's in it.
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      01-04-2017, 09:21 AM   #3
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Around here if you're in the left lane you had damned well better be on the gas or else you'll have a mirror full of the car behind you. Especially true during times of high traffic volume. About the only time it's not true is when traffic is truly at a crawl.
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      01-04-2017, 09:26 AM   #4
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I'm in your neck of the woods (Mckinney) and I agree with you...I usually take the 121 into work and the left lane always seems the slowest to me as well.
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      01-04-2017, 09:31 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by F80Dreamer View Post
I'm in your neck of the woods (Mckinney) and I agree with you...I usually take the 121 into work and the left lane always seems the slowest to me as well.
Hey Neighbor! That's how I go to work every day......McKinney to DFW. But I've also noticed it on Bush Tollway & on 75,
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      01-04-2017, 09:33 AM   #6
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All the lanes are the fast lane .. and ask the grandmas and they will say all the lanes are the slow lane .. weave baby weave
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      01-04-2017, 09:33 AM   #7
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Stays near the right myself. Start seeing brake lights...boom, I'm off on to the feeder road. Especially 635, 75 and the toll roads. If you're in the far left on the north toll and there's a wreck/stall ahead, you are probably stuck for awhile.
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      01-04-2017, 09:39 AM   #8
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Ah, feeder roads. Not enough real estate around these parts (east coast megalopolis) for such niceties.
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      01-04-2017, 09:45 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gonzo View Post
Stays near the right myself. Start seeing brake lights...boom, I'm off on to the feeder road. Especially 635, 75 and the toll roads. If you're in the far left on the north toll and there's a wreck/stall ahead, you are probably stuck for awhile.
Unfortunetly, most feeder roads in Frisco are just as bad. Only spot I do that is when 121 narrows to 2 lanes by business 121. Added bonus is that its right after the tollway ends so I'm not paying any extra toll money.
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      01-04-2017, 09:46 AM   #10
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Haha, DFW right laner here. I also frequently take the exits that have an entrance without a stop light to get around the riff raff driving slow on the actual highway.

It's amazing how little lane discipline we have in this country. After spending a few years in Germany, the only time I had to pass a car on the right (illegally) it turned out to be two GI's clogging the lane.
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      01-04-2017, 09:54 AM   #11
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Looking at the new Raptor too.
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      01-04-2017, 11:38 AM   #12
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Its just dumbass people in the left lane. Thinking that is the lane they are suppose to be in. Speed limit is 60, they're doing 60 or slower. Come up on a slower moving car....they slow down and pace that car.

Usually the right lane is faster in certain areas, from my experience, because there are a bunch of people taking a certain exit and opens up that lane for a while.

I try to stay in a certain lane in certain areas because I know it will be faster. Its always funny to watch dumbasses get immediately to the left lane and then come to a immediate stop.

I wish America had the rules like Germany and would actually enforce them on drivers.
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      01-04-2017, 12:27 PM   #13
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Love when I come up on a slow car in the left lane, politely flash my high beams, then get the finger like I'm the asshole. I refuse to pass on the right especially if someone is dumb enough to be driving slow in the passing lane no telling what they will do.
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      01-04-2017, 07:08 PM   #14
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Like many (I presume), I have commuted the same roads for so long I decisively know the correct lane(s) to be in at each stage of my commute - and it is almost always NOT the left lane.
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      01-04-2017, 11:55 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VRG_135 View Post
I've noticed, over the years, that the left lane is almost always the slowest lane in rush hour traffic. Is that true in your area? I'm in Dallas. I think its because most people think its going to be the faster lane, so more cars are in that lane. Thoughts?
You're in Dallas, so you are screwed no matter what. I have to travel there for work every 3 months or so (next week actually) and it's always horrible. The infrastructure is way way behind the out of control sprawl, which keeps certain sections of road eternally under construction. Over the nearly 5 years I've been going down there, the same stretch has been under construction the entire time. So many people are merging on and off there, getting in the fast lane or others, that there isn't really a good way to win. Then you got all the merges, Dallas seems to have a higher number of left lands that end and merge into the next lane on the left, which throws the "fast lane" into chaos. Instead of fixing this crap, they've been building some toll-road work-arounds.

The problem is Texas.
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      01-05-2017, 10:55 AM   #16
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Same here in SA. I call the left lane the cell phone lane. I think those that don't plan on getting off for a while figure it's one less lane on the side to have to pay attention to. Drives me nuts when there's a big gap and they won't let me by. I have no problem passing them on the right if I have to.
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      01-05-2017, 11:10 AM   #17
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Good point. My dad's deaf in his left ear, so he bee lines to the left lane so he can ignore what's on his left side. Then he drives about three over the speed limit, agnostic to what's behind him. Terrifying to be his passenger.
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      01-05-2017, 11:10 AM   #18
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What is the preferred "signal" to a slow driver ahead that you want to pass?
1. Headlight flash
2. Honk
3. left turn signal
4. Stink eye
5. the "bird"

I usually go with 1 and/or 3, and honk as I pass.
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      01-05-2017, 11:13 AM   #19
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1, then 5 after I get in front of him, or sometimes a sideways gesture. Idiots never get the hint, or decide to move over after I already started my passing maneuver.
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      01-05-2017, 11:15 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shil View Post
The right lane is the fast lane: no one's in it.
This X1000!
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      01-05-2017, 11:17 AM   #21
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So annoying. Bob and weave my friend..
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      01-05-2017, 11:20 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VRG_135 View Post
What is the preferred "signal" to a slow driver ahead that you want to pass?
1. Headlight flash
2. Honk
3. left turn signal
4. Stink eye
5. the "bird"

I usually go with 1 and/or 3, and honk as I pass.
Luckily passing on the right is legal in my province, so it is usually a rage pass on the right with the horn blaring as I go by. Sometimes followed by an emptying of my w/w reservoir.
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