“I have seen many people pass someone in the middle lane with an open left lane on the right. Or you are already in the right lane, and there is a guy in the middle lane and you just pass him on the right.”
In my state (NJ) passing on the right is permissible on mutiple-lane highways, and I suspect that NJ is not the only entity that permits this. To quote the appropriate statute (N.J.S.A. 39:4-85):
“Most passing should be on the left. Passing on the right is allowed only on roadways with more than one lane going in the same direction, if vehicles on the roadway are moving in two or more substantially continuous lines, or when the motorist ahead is making a left turn and there is room to pass. Never pass on the right shoulder of the road.”
It appears you are suggesting that, if I am driving in the right lane and I encounter somebody in the middle lane who is traveling slower than I am, I should move over two lanes–from the right lane to the left lane–in order to pass him. In case you are not aware of it, doing a lot of lane changing makes one more prone to a collision, so it certainly makes more sense to remain in the right lane and to QUICKLY pass the blood clot in the middle lane. Passing him quickly will minimize the amount of time that you might be in his blind spot.
And, if someone is acting like a blood clot in the left lane, it would seem you are suggesting that I remain in the right lane and drive at the same speed as that clot–or perhaps slower. This is an excellent way of creating a massive bottleneck on a highway. Are you really suggesting that? Instead, as the law permits, I will remain in the right lane (or perhaps the middle lane) and quickly pass that clot on his right.
In my state (NJ) passing on the right is permissible on mutiple-lane highways, and I suspect that NJ is not the only entity that permits this. To quote the appropriate statute (N.J.S.A. 39:4-85):
In MA I almost ALWAYS pass on the right. MANY drivers in MA…get on the highway and immediately get over to the left lane and then just stay there. And a good portion of them are driving BELOW the speed limit. Then 500’ before their exit they’ll cross 3 lanes to exit.
Absolutely the same situation in NJ, Mike!
Because of that reality, just this week one of our state legislators introduced a bill that would bump up the fine for left lane hogs from $100 to $500. If this becomes law, maybe some publicity about this increased penalty will convince some of those left lane hogs to move to the right where they should be in the first place.
And, like you I frequently pass other cars on the right when I am on an Interstate highway. I tend to travel in the right lane–unless I am passing someone on the left, or when I move to the center lane in order to allow merging traffic to enter the flow of traffic in the right lane. Then, I move back to the right lane as soon as it is safe to do so. However, even if I am traveling at–or slightly above–the speed limit, more often than not, I am driving faster than some of the folks in the middle lane–and as a result, I pass them on the right, as it is legal.
Didn’t State Police Chief Dan Matthews (played by Broderick Crawford) say at the end of some the the Highway Patrol television series say at the end of the show:
See Highway Patrol in action again next week. Until then remember 'Aggressive driving doesn’t prove who’s right, only who’s left?"
You probably have to be over 65 to remember this television series.
People will do things in a car they would never do in a grocery store because they feel safe. They can threaten, bully, insult and cause risk of injury with no perceived consequences. If one of these tailgaters gave me the finger in the produce aisle, I’d break it off and shove it up their…
Anyhooo…my therapist gave me a great tool to calm my own anger, in this, and any situation. When I feel the adrenaline surge and the resulting block of reason, I take a deep breath and let it out making a funny noise. It instantly disarms the emotional side of my brain so that reason can take over.
“People will do things in a car they would never do in a grocery store because they feel safe”.
Haven’t you ever experienced ‘grocery cart rage’? I’ve seen gray haired little old ladies whip their grocery carts racing to beat other shoppers to the shortest check-out line. What about the shoppers rage over trying to get a newly released pair of Nike shoes, or the fights to be the first into the store on black Friday to get the specials?
Many people seem to be easily enraged at even the slightest affront to their vain egos. It amazes me and for the most part I allow them some space for their lunacy but continued tail gating or repeated close calls can bring out the best in me and I have, on occasion, taken advantage of whatever opportunity presented itself and slowed intentionally or held close to a car instead of passing it to infuriate the lunatic further. I have had the pleasure of seeing several such drivers on the shoulder with a blue light on them a few miles after they finally passed me with their left hand saluting and the right foot slammed to the floor. Are such people ever content?
So.. to help the OP (instead of just coming up with theories about why people get angry at bad drivers)...
The two things that do it for me are 1) In town, people that right turn on red WITHOUT paying attention, they pull out in a 45MPH zone in front of someone going 45 and then speed up to like 20. This has been getting FAR worse recently as people mistakenly think "old granny" accleration saves them gas (getting up to speed then cruising is better for gas usage, and in addition getting stop lights green is better than grannying along until it's a red light.) 2) Left lane pacers, you know, sit there in the left lane and obstruct traffic. If there's room to pass them on the right I will (they know they're being rude and have ceded any rights to polite driving behavior towards them) but usually of course they make sure there's not quite enough room to do it.
Anyway, this of course won't work on some roads, but the thing that helped me was realizing when *I* didn't tailgate some idiot, I could sit back in the right lane and somebody else tailgates them FOR me within a matter of seconds. Agression by proxy? I don't know, but it did cut back on it a lot.
I put this aggressive stuff down to testosterone. Males, when they are in a group (as, for instance, a queue), tend to be jockeying for position. Gentlemen, hold their position in the queue but are quick to respond if they perceive a queue jumper or even the threat of one. Boys in the school-yard behave the same, jockeying for position. Dogs in a pack. Bulls in a group of cattle; Just watch them to see who is going to be boss and you see it developing. I’m male and I know I’ve got it in me and have to stifle it. It is so fundamental to our behaviour that we accept it and only notice when it becomes aberrant or blatant.
I notice when I go to a different city where people drive with different habits, following closely I tend to start to “show them” how to drive, perhaps braking aggressively to show them the error of their ways. The “Disney Goofy” act out is, in my opinion, very apt.
Aggressive Females?, perhaps it’s learned from but I suspect there’s some of the innate herd protective stuff going on there too. They can become aggressive when threatened to protect their family from threat or perceived insult.
That’s the way I view it.
PS
Now that I’m 65 I’m kind of relieved to find that hot head stuff settling back. I’m content to drive the speed limit for hours on a long trip. And I’m able to constantly beat the advertised MPG predictions for the car.
There if a not-too-nice term for tailgaters - bullies. This is someone who is willing to threaten other drivers to get their way. Listen to all the advice about dealing with tailgaters and you will hear much the same things we were always told to deal with bullies. (And we know how well that works in the schools don't we.)
Of course, the driver who wants to make everyone behind them drive at "their" speed is a bully too.
If you can get the aggressor to notice the feeling of rage come up and then ignore it you may have good results. Instead of being like velcro, try being like teflon. This is an intro meditation technique. Another intro technique is to simply be kind to the person who cut you off – “May your journey go well and serve it’s intended purpose. May you learn from your bad driving before you cause damage to yourself and to others.” Yet another intro technique is to realize your actions will reinforce habits, and bad actions reinforce bad habits (the law of carma 101).
I have this scenario that should be a great script in a sitcom. A guy is driving to an important job interview, or to meet with a new potentially very lucrative client. On the way, a slowpoke is holding him up. He flashes his lights, gets closer and beeps the horn, eventually makes a dangerous pass while showing the finger. You can guess whats next, and who the slowpoke turns out to be.
Keith–Trust me, it’s been done by Hollywood. I can’t recall whether it was in a movie or a TV show, but the exact scenario that you described was a plot element in some sort of video presentation that I saw years ago.
He has the meditation down, so it seems self control while driving is the issue. he needs to extend his self control to realize he has a problem. try “Get over this carp donkey behavior or get psychological help, your 2 options Frank!” Now if he needs a release be forwarned he might just come home and kick the dog. He needs a different outlet for his frustrations.
One of the farmers near my house has parked a black late model Dodge Charger–complete with spotlight–at the crest of a hill. Although there are small for sale signs on the Charger, people who are cresting the hill for the first time are confronted with what looks–for all the world–like an unmarked police car, and they all jam their brakes on.
