That is the only point on which I agree with you. The Interstates in NJ have a 65 mph speed limit, and the prevailing speed tends to be 70-75. When I encounter a backup on an expressway, the cause is almost always a car with NY plates which is cruising at 55-60 mph in the left lane. Somehow, the phenomenon of cars zooming up behind them and then swerving past them on the right doesn’t give them the needed clue that they are doing something wrong.
Many years ago, I had occasion to drive on US-1 several times each week. This old, congested highway has “Jersey Barriers”, and every intersection has signs (both in words and with a universal symbol) stating No Left Turn. Almost every time that I drove on US-1, I would encounter a car stopped in the left lane–right next to the No Left Turn sign–waiting to make a left turn, despite the fact that the Jersey Barrier makes it very difficult to see oncoming traffic. Many times, this led to a crash.
And, 100% of the times that I observed this mindless lawlessness, the vehicle had NY plates.
Also known as the “slow poke law”, drivers may not travel in the most left-hand lane of any street or highway with two or more lanes allowing for movement in the same direction, once they reasonably know they are being overtaken from the rear by a vehicle traveling at a higher speed
I would like to remind everyone that this post is about turning on your indicator and a vehicle about half car length behind you in the left lane would intentionally speed up to get in front of you.
This post is not about changing lanes while a car is half car length behind in the left lane.
By addressing the merging between lanes instead of discussing why people would speed up the moment they see your indicator on is ignoring the actual purpose of the post.
Maybe I didn’t word my question correctly. I believe by me using the phrase “ steady pace “ caused the question to be problematic.
A better word should have been “ Constant Speed”.
I wanted to note that the car in the left lane and is about half car length behind is traveling at a constant speed ( not passing/ just stuck there behind you as the both of you keep moving forward at whatever speed, then as soon as you turn your indicator on — the car in the left lane would attempt to get in front of you.
If my wording causes confusion, I apologize for this. I believe this to be the case as most of the answers are discussing merging.
Bing, same here. I’m also a motorcycle rider and very aware of blind spots. When passing, I get the pass over with as quick as possible.
I ride from NC down to FL every late Feb/early March. I try to stay off I95 as much as I can but sometimes I just want to put on miles quick. But on my bike I go max ~65 mph. So I stay in the right lane, cruise on 65. Works well for me. One of my peeves: someone passes me, moves in front of me and proceeds to slow down! Ahhhh!
I will repeat my earlier comment:
If you are driving in heavy, slow-moving traffic, you should be attempting to merge well before you reach 1/2 mile from that left turn.
Around here, you’ll get two extremes; no one will let you in OR people will stop on the through way to let someone else out. You have to be prepared for this latter situation as it sometimes is quite unexpected- like two cars and then it’s open behind but the car in front comes to an abrupt stop to let the person out.
The former situation is often handled by the slow merge. The merging car just drifts slowly over into the desired lane until someone values their car more than the merger and they give way
What difference would it make if I turned the indicator 1 mile before my destination? Won’t the cars in the left lane do the same thing: attempt to get in front ?
I can’t predict the behaviors of all drivers, and neither can you.
But, attempting to merge sooner would increase your chances of finding someone who will allow you to merge. It’s sort of like buying 10 raffle tickets instead of just one.
Because the car that is half a space back is close enough to you to be able to accelerate to try and block you from merging in, so they do. It’s New York. They don’t like another car to be in front of them. The person behind them should be the one to set you merge in, not themselves. There is no courtesy in New York.
Why don’t you try making sure there is enough space to move over, then signal and then be prapared to change lanes abruptly at the first indication that the car behind is starting to speed up. Or just move over at the same instance that you start to signal. I think that’s what a lot of people do to prevent the other car from having a chance to go faster.
Here in Illinois if there is a two lane to one lane merger, people merge way ahead of time. Then there are a few drivers who go all the way to the end and force their way in, bringing the whole line of hundreds of cars to a near complete stop.
I think it depends on your point of view. Is making a left turn on a two lane highway in heavy traffic a selfish act? You might wait there minutes before there is a break in oncoming traffic to allow you to make a left. Meanwhile all the traffic behind you is blocked. The two lane highway situation is actually worse since nobody else is causing the problem. In the lane change situation it is other drivers who tailgate and cut you off that creates the need to stop in the first place. So it’s really a result of an over all failure to follow traffic rules that creates the problem to begin with.
Oh, I know about the Slow Poke Law, in fact many starts have some version of this law… As for NY, I was born in upstate NY, grew up there, and at 16, got my first license there… As with almost all males in the 1960’s, a driver’s license was a must-have. And in my school, it was a badge of honor to ace the written exam (as I did…)…
In fact here is a copy of my old paper license, the multiple addresses were caused by my various assignments in the Air Force… Back then, with paper licenses, you could simply write the new address on your license when you moved… They never anticipated a Military Member might move several times between renewals… Another factor was a Military Member’s driver’s license was valid beyond it’s expiration date as long as you served in the military…
However, I finally had to get the local state’s license as all states honor the two state rule. A Military Member can maintain their driver’s license and vehicle registration from their home of record, but there cannot be a third state in there… For example, I was stationed in Virginia, I had a New York driver’s license, but my car was registered in Nebraska…
All very interesting, but back on point, Your reference,
“Once they reasonably know they are being overtaken from the rear by a vehicle traveling at a higher speed”
Does not negate my contention, that “not all vehicles in the Left Lane must be moving faster that the vehicles in Right Lane”, only that you cannot hold up traffic by driving in the Left Lane…
The OP’s only assertion was that the vehicle in the Left Lane was pacing them and no mention was made of that vehicle holding up traffic…
If you have ever taken a driver safety course you would know about the 3 second rule. you need to leave 3 seconds of space in front of you for braking time. the same holds true for merging. there should be at least 3 seconds of space in front of you and behind you in the left lane when you merge. if you merge and the car in the left lane is only a half a car back, and then the cars in front jamb on their brakes. well, i guess you can figure out what will happen.
I have asked Tn State Troopers how they handle this, I was told by many that if they see 5 or more vehicles behind the lead vehicle in the left lane holding up those 5 or more vehicles then they Trooper would pull them over for the ticket…
Also if you are going 5ish miles over the speed limit and a Trooper comes up on your rear and doesn’t light you up, don’t slow down, if they wanted to ticket you they would have already done it, normally it has been a long day and they probably need to use the bathroom and you slowing down just pisses them off…
I think why this bothers me a lot is because I have the island DNA in me. We believe a car’s indicator acts as a way to communicate with people on the road. Seeing an indicator on tells that the driver is politely signaling his intention. I personally don’t care if someone turns on their car indicator at the last minute. As long as he/she turns it on that tells me they’re politely alerting me. Now, just cutting in front without signaling is rude and obnoxious to me, and to a lot of us Caribbean folks.
My visit to Jacksonville, FL was very pleasing. People were courteous and willing to give way to turn signals. Many times a driver would flash his bright light to let me know he’s letting me in. Back there was just so much different from here in NY.
Thanks for the tips everyone and for stopping by. I appreciate you all.
That is just one of the reasons why I suggested a Driver Improvement course and provided a link to one that can be done online. I STRONGLY suggest that the OP should take a course of this type.
