The left lane is for PASSING you idiot!

OMG, this story has me so pissed off.

Some idiot woman in Maryland was driving 2 miles under the speed limit in the LEFT LANE on I-95 and now, she's bitching because a cop pulled her over and gave her a ticket.

Md. Woman Cited for Driving Too Slowly in Left Lane

According to the citation, she had been driving 63 mph in a 65 mph zone.

"[I was] really shocked," she said. "I thought, 'Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me'."

This was the first time she'd ever gotten a ticket -- but on Friday, she said, the area was experiencing heavy winds and she had slowed down to be safe.

"The reason [the ticket] is silly is because it's sending the wrong message," said John Townsend of AAA Mid-Atlantic. "And that is, 'We will tolerate you driving at more than the speed limit, but it you drive below the speed limit, then you're penalized for that'."

The driver has filed a complaint with Maryland State Police and plans to fight the ticket.

While police said they can't comment on this specific ticket, they said that driving too slowly can impede traffic, and that anyone who wants to fight a citation can do so in court.

NBC Washington

Someone needs to sit this lady down and explain to her that the left lane is there for passing and, if you're not passing anybody, YOU NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THE LEFT LANE AND LET THE OTHER CARS GO AROUND YOU!

She wasn't cited for driving too slowly, you are allowed to drive as slow as you want in any of the other lanes on I-95 so long as you leave the left lane for those people driving faster than you. They complain that this sends the wrong message, I say it sends just the right one; speed doesn't kill, speed differentials kill. People having to slow down and go around this broad in one of the right lanes put other drivers in danger.

She wasn't cited for driving too slow, she was cited for obstructing the left lane. I can't believe she has the nerve to complain about this ticket. I hope they make her waste a whole day in traffic court and then still make her pay for the ticket. The cop who gave her that ticket deserves a commendation, not a complaint on his record from this idiot lady driver.

reply to post by FortAnthem


So our economy is crashing, Korea is threatening a nuclear war, our troops are still in the Middle East, there are shootings happening all over the nation, and you choose to get hacked off over someone driving two miles under the limit in the left lane?

Tell me more about how that is so irritating in comparison to the hell this world is going through.

Yeah, like you guys are any better at driving, running people off the road doing over the speed limit. Obstruction of the left lane.

In the UK we have people called "middle laners" who, despite having an empty road and 3 lanes (you are always meant to use the lane closest to the exits) chose to drive permanently in the middle lane, so they dont have to move to overtake trucks etc and can be passed by other faster cars on the other side.

Its not exactly a crime, but its extremely annoying to have to cross 6 lanes to overtake them because you are in the right lane... i wish cops gave tickets for them

(PS. its illegal to pass on the inside in the UK)

reply to post by FortAnthem


I completely agree. Admittedly, I am one of those annoying drivers who go 10-15 miles below the speed limit but I am really good about staying in the middle or right lane. When on a small country road, I pull over to the shoulder so the person behind me can pass safely.

Fast lane hogs and traffic regulators in the fast lane completely irritate the crud out of me. I totally support her getting that ticket. Not for going too slow- as she is claiming in a round about way. But for not moving over from the left lane.

And maybe I am in a sensitive mood today, but this phrasing of your bothered me:

People having to slow down and go around this broad in one of the right lanes put other drivers in danger.

Surely you meant nothing by it and I'm overreacting like 'some dude...' but it was irritating to read 'this broad.' lol Just had to get that off my chest!

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Hey, I post all my important threads on the ATS side.

Every once and a while, one of these silly stories comes along and really sets me off. Posting it in BTS lets me blow off some steam and helps calm my nerves.

reply to post by Manhater


...and, yes, I would like to drive someone like her off the road. If she can't figure out why she got that ticket and ran whining to the press about her ticket, she doesn't belong on the road IMHO.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


wow really?

some one is irritated about something thats not a prime time news topic and you were so annoyed that you posted to tell them?

irony much? teheheh

Get yourself one of these.

Originally posted by AshleyD


And maybe I am in a sensitive mood today, but this phrasing of your bothered me:

People having to slow down and go around this broad in one of the right lanes put other drivers in danger.

Surely you meant nothing by it and I'm overreacting like 'some dude...' but it was irritating to read 'this broad.' lol Just had to get that off my chest!

Sorry about that.

I was in full blown rant mode when writing that and, its hard to have any respect for this woman when she goes crying to the press like that when this was so obviously her fault.

People driving slow in the left lane really set me off.

Thank you for this rant. I think a lot of people are uneducated about how highway driving is supposed to work, and threads like this slowly educate the masses. I've driven across America quite a bit, and drivers hanging out in the left lane is definitely one of my pet peeves.

reply to post by FortAnthem


'Tis all good!

Again, sorry to be all PC and sensitive! I totally understand. Thanks for understanding, too!

Originally posted by rockymcgilicutty

Love it!

Although, I wonder if it would stir up anyone's 'inner jerk' to make them even more reluctant to move over.

As my mother always says, even the nicest people become monsters behind the wheel. Such a strange phenomenon. You take a normal person who is prone to opening doors for others and who has an 'after you!' type personality, put them behind the wheel, then they suddenly cut you off and have a 'me first!' switch.

I'm guilty of it myself from time to time.

Originally posted by Manhater
Yeah, like you guys are any better at driving, running people off the road doing over the speed limit.

Obstruction of the left lane.

Well see here in America we dont just let anyone behind a 2 ton killing machine, first you must learn the traffic laws, then you must prove you understand, and know how to apply them, so as not to endanger other drivers.

It is clearly stated in every traffic manual in the country, that one must be in the right lane unless passing, thus ensuring people dont pass on the right side, as this is responsibke for many traffic accidents.

This idiot, by driving slower than the posted speed limit in the passing lane, was intentionally driving slower than posted in the passing only lane, causing traffic to slow, beginning the accordion effect, of braking accelerating then braking and accelerating again, which leads to wrecks and deaths and injuries.

While also forcing drivers that are following the traffic laws, to pass on the right, a huge no no, as was stated at the top of my post, causes accidents.

So she was endangering herself and every other person around her by intentionally causing traffic congestion, which only ever makes things worse.

How can you not see that her actions are reckless endangerment? She was blatantly, and purposefully doing it also, as all she had to do was click the right signal, look in her mirror than blind spot, and barely ease the wheel right for a couple of seconds.

Star and flag op, this woman is crazy.

!! I deal with this.... E V E R Y F R E A K I N M O R N I N G.

This is what happens.... some slow moron goes at 10 km below speed limit on left lane. On the right Lane, 18 wheelers pass him at a higher speed.... cars behind the 18 wheelers over takes him and cuts in front of him, pushing me further back...

I usually try cut in front of them at close proximity to show them what a slow sht they are, then press gas and move ahead.

I guess because of the Canadian in me, i barely press the horn. i only pressed the horn maybe 5x in my life. Most of the due to late start at a green light.

Mini rant over!

Originally posted by Biigs
In the UK we have people called "middle laners" who, despite having an empty road and 3 lanes (you are always meant to use the lane closest to the exits) chose to drive permanently in the middle lane, so they dont have to move to overtake trucks etc and can be passed by other faster cars on the other side.

Its not exactly a crime, but its extremely annoying to have to cross 6 lanes to overtake them because you are in the right lane... i wish cops gave tickets for them

(PS. its illegal to pass on the inside in the UK)

edit on 12-3-2013 by Biigs because: (no reason given)

The traffic laws are the same, we drive on the opposite side, where it is illegal to pass on the left for you guys, it is illegal to pass on the right everywhere in america. It one of the basics of driving.

Just like yielding to pedestrians and bycicles, and stopping at stop signs and red lights, and yeilding to emergency vehicles etc.....

I is basic driving, and a requirement for safety for everyone. I guess some dont drive much, such as city dwellers, orarent worried about making it to their desired location safely, basically just holding down the gas, as far as they feel like, not as far as they should, while just driving down the road any old way they like.

I see these people all the time, they are the type that slams on the brakes when it is snowing, or text and drive while swerving all over etc.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

So our economy is crashing, Korea is threatening a nuclear war, our troops are still in the Middle East, there are shootings happening all over the nation, and you choose to get hacked off over someone driving two miles under the limit in the left lane?

I think I should also point out that this made the evening news in the Washington DC area.

If the local news thinks this is worthy of their time during a 30 minute broadcast when all of that other stuff is going on around the world, I think it is they who really has their sense of priorities messed up.

Oh OP, I couldn't agree more! Having spent a fair part of my life on the highways in a truck, I think your point and perspective are well taken and right on this.

Especially when a state has gone through the trouble of actually making the left lane passing only by sign and law (as more than one has on the open interstate), people need to respect it and get out of it. The idea of restricting trucks out of it is another matter and the same rule should go. Above the flow of traffic or get out of the left lane entirely....and indeed..stay out.

Drivers Ed was a paid-for and supplied course of Public Education when I was going to school. Minimal fees if any, where any applied. ....Now Driver's Ed is almost a joke in concept and truly has little value in results. It's one of my biggest pet peeves......drivers who cannot grasp BASIC traffic laws and principles. I think more accidents happen from pure Ignorance as much as stupidity.

You would not make it a day here in El Paso, TX. I-10 Left Lane is a magnet for people whose top speed is 45mph. I've named them the 45ers and have fantasized repeatedly about mounting a gun on top of my jeep and blowing them 45ers off the road. 90% of the time they will have a Chihauhua licence plate. (our government really needs to rethink this one and keep them off our roads or make them pass a test)

I traded in my x3 for a 4x4 jeep, that I have to have a freaking ladder to get into, in a moment of insanity thinking I would just make my own roads around El Paso but my hubby talked me out of it. Oh boy, this is going to go off topic soon if I don't take a chill pill. I need therapy just to survive this place..lol?

reply to post by AfterInfinity


.........And what are you doing about those problems?... Huh?.... Are people not allowed to post things that irritate them unless it has to do with Korea... Middle East...? Give me a break!

Question for you.... Does this thread irritate you???.... But don't answer that because it has nothing to do with the BIG problems in this sh***y world....

Not going to lie, I drive like Mad Max.

I do the vast majority of my driving on I-5, the massively long route between British Columbia and Mexico. It's loaded at all hours of the day and night with triple tractor-trailers and logging trucks, as well as passenger vehicles and RVs of all sorts.

It's NECESSARY to use all the lanes of traffic to just cruise along in, there's not enough room for all the cars otherwise. I can see the left laners being a pain if they are going slower than normal traffic but 2 miles under the speed limit is not 'obstructing traffic'. Regardless of how much faster than the speed limit YOU want to go, it's YOU who are the hazard, not this woman. And why should she keep changing lanes to get out of your GD way, when YOU'RE the one who wants to speed?

I see your type all the time; constant tail-gating 'because everyone else is too slow', changing lanes every few seconds, peeling off people's bumpers and then cutting in on them with inches to spare, etc.

The truth of the matter is that the right hand lane can't carry enough traffic in a lot of instances, and someone has to use the left lane also. If someone comes up behind me while I'm doing very close to the speed limit and starts tailgating, I consider that very dangerous behavior. In fact, I'm tempted to let off on the gas in those instances and slowly let my speed drift down, just to wake them up.

In short, if everyone stays within a few MPH of everyone else, this wouldn't be a big problem, would it?