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Oklahomans about to be ticketed for slow driving....

Hmm... I don't see Germans crying about this as they have and do enforce this law. Can only be in the left lane for passing. If you are going a certain speed on the Autobahn in the left lane, but see a faster car coming up behind you, it is expected for you to move over or you will be pulled over. But, I don't know what happens though when you approach the areas of the Autobahn that has a speed limit and get close to a major city where backups do occur. I imagine at that time they make an exception, but when the roads are clear you better be passing in the left lane and thats it. Can a German member clear this up?

Then again Germany and the US has totally different attitudes towards driving. But, I know which attitude is right looking at statistics of accidents. The Autobahn being the safest road and all.....
 
Koodauw said:
I think its a good law. I mean its not for anyone who is driving under the speed limit, just those in the passing lane.
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heehee said:
I do strongly agree with this. If you are not passing, get off the left lane, it's simple, even if you are doing the speed limit. It's a PASSING LANE! :rolleyes:
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Want to hear a funny/stupid story?

I have received only ONE ticket in my 10 years of driving, and it was for going around 88 km/h in an 80 km/h zone (that's around 5 mph over the limit). I told the officer that I was on the passing lane and wanted to pass the massive trucks around me, which were boxing me in and making me nervous.

His response:

"You can pass other cars on the passing lane, but you can't go over the speed limit."

I think he was correct from a legal standpoint, but I asked him to use his good judgement and common sense, how it was physically possible to pass the trucks without going slightly faster than them, and he just smiled and didn't give me a response. All he said was that he'd the smallest possible speeding fine he could. :eek:
 
jsw said:
Nice.

For those who can't see the video, the gist is this: in Oklahoma, drivers driving below the speed limit in the left lane are now getting warnings but soon will get $206 (£6) tickets.

I don't like slow drivers in the left lane, and I especially hate people on cell phones who drive too slowly forever, but I'm not keen on laws where one can, at least in theory, get ticketed for driving anything but exactly the speed limit. They pulled one woman over for 62mph in a 65mph zone. Given the standard variance in speedometers, I think it's a bit unreasonable.

Fine by me if it's a warning or some trivial $20 ticket. But $206 for driving a few miles under the speed limit? Seems severe to me.

And note that I very much detest slow drivers in the left lane. I'm just not a fan of yet one more way to unfairly generate revenue.
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If you want to drive slow, drive in the right hand lanes. Do not hog up the whole road with your über slowness! ;)
 
I am pretty sure this is mostly being enforced in the more open areas where it is not going to be an issue.

It is about time they started to enforce that law. Now I think this is how they are getting them with 62 in a 65. It simple if they are just sitting in the left lane (aka not passing) they are going to nail you for it. Now if you are passing some one you are free and clear because you are doing exactly what the left lane is for PASSING.

Reason they are setting it at the speed limit is so people do not complain for going to slow in the left lane at or above the speed limit.

It is a safety issue. I have more than once had to hit my brakes because of some jack ass sitting in the left lane BELOW the speed limit and I am not talking about the 10 mph but less than 5 mph below the limit. It screws with the flow of traffic. Hell if one is going to exact speed limit it rare they will pass any one any how. Most of the time the left lane is between 0-5 mph over the limit.

I think the news is leaving out the little part about the people not passing some one when they are getting pulled over.
 
Abstract said:
Want to hear a funny/stupid story?

I have received only ONE ticket in my 10 years of driving, and it was for going around 88 km/h in an 80 km/h zone (that's around 5 mph over the limit). I told the officer that I was on the passing lane and wanted to pass the massive trucks around me, which were boxing me in and making me nervous.

His response:

"You can pass other cars on the passing lane, but you can't go over the speed limit."

I think he was correct from a legal standpoint, but I asked him to use his good judgement and common sense, how it was physically possible to pass the trucks without going slightly faster than them, and he just smiled and didn't give me a response. All he said was that he'd the smallest possible speeding fine he could. :eek:
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Did you fight the charges? It's ridiculous you got a ticket for going 8 km/h over. I've gotten a ticket thrown out in court for going 60 km/h over before, thanks to xcopper. :p:D
 
They should simply raise the fine for parking in a handicap-designated parking space to $1000, then hang around public schools at drop-off and pick-up times. They'd make their quota within 2 days. Oh, and for those who park in the striped portion of the parking space, the fine should be $2000.
 
devilot said:
Maybe the east coasters get away w/ stuff, but we sure as heck don't in CA. Dah! Stupid CHP. :p
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What part of CA? Because I have to tell you, that has not been my experience. I've been known to say the Bay Area doesn't have traffic laws; it has traffic suggestions.

I got a couple of tickets before moving here, but however fast I'm inclined to drive, it doesn't seem to be enough to get the attention of the CHP. Not that I want to, mind. I'm just totally outclassed because it seems there's always somebody willing to take one for the team by screaming up the shoulder at 115mph or something.
 
If you watch the video, you'll notice that the roads were all but empty of traffic, so there's no reason why someone should be sitting in the left lane going under the speed limit. If that's how they want to drive, they're free to do so in the right lane.

There's also different varieties of passing lane road hogs:

• The oblivious driver. Oblivious Cranius Rectalus These drivers have no clue about how the current traffic is flowing. When every car behind them blows by them on the right, they fail to take the hint that maybe they should move over.

• The ignorant driver. Idiotus Maximus These drivers think the left lane is some kind of "travel" lane. In other words, if you're not going slow, you don't have to ride in right lane.

• The arrogant vigilante traffic nanny. Small Penis Control Freak. "I am doing the speed limit, so you have no reason to pass me." If you knowingly cause a dangerous traffic jam because you have a problem with other people going a few MPH over the speed limit, you belong on the city bus.

If you fit any of the above profiles, you deserve to be ticketed, if not banned from driving altogether. You are a rolling roadblock, and therefore a hazard to others.
 
That's the law in California. Here's the quote from the California Driver's Handbook:

If you block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic by driving too slowly, you may be given a ticket.​
 
Apple Hobo said:
If you watch the video, you'll notice that the roads were all but empty of traffic, so there's no reason why someone should be sitting in the left lane going under the speed limit. If that's how they want to drive, they're free to do so in the right lane.

There's also different varieties of passing lane road hogs:

• The oblivious driver. Oblivious Cranius Rectalus These drivers have no clue about how the current traffic is flowing. When every car behind them blows by them on the right, they fail to take the hint that maybe they should move over.

• The ignorant driver. Idiotus Maximus These drivers think the left lane is some kind of "travel" lane. In other words, if you're not going slow, you don't have to ride in right lane.

• The arrogant vigilante traffic nanny. Small Penis Control Freak. "I am doing the speed limit, so you have no reason to pass me." If you knowingly cause a dangerous traffic jam because you have a problem with other people going a few MPH over the speed limit, you belong on the city bus.

If you fit any of the above profiles, you deserve to be ticketed, if not banned from driving altogether. You are a rolling roadblock, and therefore a hazard to others.
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Very true. In many states it is against the law to be a rolling roadblock. The worse of them being the traffic nanny ones. It is illeage to intentionally block the flow of traffic. Even if they are doing 20+ the speed limit. And yes mroe than once I have been cruising at 20+ the speed limited by that is how fast traffic was going. When I was driving home from my internship this summer I was driving on I-20 though LA (state not city) at 90mph in a 70. I was not passing cars but instead I was getting pass. It was a little unnervering doing 20 over the limit and still below the flow of traffic sitting in the right lane. Of course there was a traffic nanny sitting in the left lane at one point doing like 72ish which is dangous. You have cars doing 20+ mph faster so it is very easy to get rear ended and at the speed those cars are moving it can turn very ugly.

I hate traffic nanny people. I glad cops are starting to finally pull them over. They in many ways I think are more dangerous than the speeders. They are just encouraging road rage.
 
devilot said:
A bit?! That was one of my first thoughts, too.... How on Earth is this really being enacted?
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It may be enacted, but it won't stand. I can easily see this resulting in a court case declaring it unenforceable.

dukebound85 said:
colorado has a law that if you arent passing, you cant be in left hand lane.
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Which is theoretically how it's supposed to work anyway. I'm not gonna argue fast or slow...too many people stay in the left lane for most or all of their trip. This is bad at any speed.

I've had the experience where I'm trying to pass a slower car, want to use the left lane to do it, check my mirror, see only cars in the distance, put on my signal and begin to change lanes, only to see that "car in the distance" coming up fast in my rear-view mirror and riding my bumper the second I've merged left. Then of course the idiot continues to ride me until I move over and watch him zoom, jet-like, past everyone and disappear into the distance...still in the left lane.

Frickin' idiot obviously has a different interpretation of "passing" than everyone else does.
 
wightstraker said:
Unfortunately cops never accept that excuse, so while the traffic nanny is annoying, maybe they're on to something?
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of course not. But the traffic nanny is a danger to the road and I have known some cops who will pull them over and then chew them out. Of course they only give them a warning but tell them to stay out of the left lane and they are a danger.

It does not change the fact that traffic nannies are dangerous. They are a danger to them selves and everyone else on the road.
Lets say you are being one of those annoy idoit traffic nannies in one of those times traffic is going a fair amount over the limit. Now lets also assume you get hit and are hospitalize. or worse are killed. While it would not be your fault not like it would be worth it having some major injuries or death. You could still loses your job because you can not work and if you are dead what the point in that. I am sorry but I think I would rather be alive than be some idiot thinking they are doing the right thing trying to slow down traffic.

As for a cop pulling some one over at one of those times. It can be argue out in court saying that it was safer be speeding. Also most of the time cops are not going to go after a car going the speed of traffic but instead get some one going a fair amount faster. They are easier targets and can not really fight back about the speeding.
 
Personally, I think drivers that create "rolling roadblocks" in the left lane should just have their driver's license suspended for six months, with no traffic fine or other monetary penalties.
Part of the problem is that lack of education; many drivers are simply not aware that they are causing a safety hazard.

By the same token, aggressive drivers that endanger the lives of everyone around them should have their license suspended, and 6 months of mandatory behavior counseling at their own expense.
Repeat offenders should go to jail.
It's similar to domestic violence, except that the anger/frustration is inflicted randomly upon complete strangers.
These narcissists are well aware that their behavior is wrong; they simply do not care.
 
Markleshark said:
Hahahaha. ;) Funny and True.

Speed is such a grey area in the UK. I failed a driving test not for breaking the speed limit but 'reaching it too quickly' WTF??
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The argument against you is that everything you do should be smooth - i.e. don't snatch gear changes (I used to do this. In older cars you might even beat the sync mesh), don't accelerate hard (not only will you burn fuel like no tomorrow you'll damage your engine, especially if you've just turned it on), don't yank the steering wheel etc.

At first it feels like you're going slower doing all this...crap...but when you read into it, and take the hit on pride to criticise your own driving, you'll notice that your driving will excel very quickly, you'll save petrol and you'll develop an ability to 'keep going' when it's safe.

In addition, your behaviour will be more consistent and predictable to other drivers - which is an important point.

AppleMatt
 
Being from oklahoma I can comment...this is totally stupid...true if i'm driving i'm speeding anyway and i do use the left lane cause well everyone else is going too slow.....but jeez listening to jo hick fuzz miester talk about how he needs to not have to slow down ahahah

I swear they should worry about better things than this. This has revenue written all over it.
 
Xenious said:
I swear they should worry about better things than this. This has revenue written all over it.
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It has nothing to do with revenue. There's no shortage of law braking citizens, that's for certain.

For example, I see people speeding every day (I'm sure Oklahoma is no different); if this was about money it would be more cost effective to ticket more speeders, rather than enact a new law and ticket people under said law.

Fact is driving under the speed limit in the left lane is dangerous for numerous reasons. In California, the law states that if the car behind you wishes to go faster, you must pull over the the right (unless you're already in the right-most lane). This scenario is especially dangerous when there's only two lanes in each direction; if you're moving too slow in the left lane, drivers are forced to pass on the right.

That's why this law is already enforced in other states and countries worldwide.


For reference, CA Driver's Handbook:

To drive faster, pass, or turn left, use the left lane. When you choose to drive slowly or enter or turn off the road, use the right lane.
​
 
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