How all troopers should handle left lane slow drivers

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Absolutely love it! I would applaud the trooper that enforced the left lane for passing law. Far too many idiots do not understand the rules of the road and this is a great reminder for the braindead.
 
That is about the stupidest cop I have ever seen. Driving less than two car lengths on another cars tail at 60 miles per hour is just plain stupid. And it is illegal. As long as he doesn't have his lights on he has to follow the rules of the road just like everyone else does. Once he turns on his light he can violate rules because then he is an emergency vehicle.

And you will notice he pulled the guy over but he did not give him a ticket because he was not breaking any laws. So the cop is enforcing his own vehicle code, what a jerk.

The speed limit is just that, a speed you can't go faster than. However the speed limit rules don't mean that since the speed limit is 70 you must do 70. The minimum speed is 50.

If the guy is breaking the law then give him a ticket. This is just plain old harassment by a cop who thinks he makes all the rules.
 
Tom up here in MA. slower traffic is to keep right by law. The far left lane is for passing, if three lanes, middle is thru traffic and right is local. The police write tickets here for that. I got a speeding and failure to keep right 5-6 years ago. Fought it, got the speeding dropped but not the keep right part.

Bill
 
Same in NH. It is against the law to travel in the passing lane (left lane) if you're not going the speed limit. If anyone is a jerk, it's the one's who doesn't pull over. I'm in FL right now and I see it all the time and it really pisse's me off.  Does anyone know if it is a law in FL? I know that FL is very liberal about their motor vehicle laws as compared to New England. If someone is in the left passing lane, they should have the courtesy to move to the right is someone is behind them and wants to pass.
 
Here's the Virginia code - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-804 - "Any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions existing, shall be driven in the lane nearest the right edge or right curb of the highway when such lane is available for travel except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or where right lanes are reserved for slow-moving traffic as permitted in this section."

Passing or preparing for a left turn are the only reasons to be in a left lane...
 
The fact that the driver might have been breaking a law does not matter. The cop was breaking the law trying to discourage him from driving slow in the left lane. What the cop did was dangerous, stupid and against the law.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

If the driver was breaking the law then pull him over and give him a ticket. Pulling a stunt like that should get the cop removed from the force.
 
I think the cop did the right thing by following the driver to the right lane and then letting him or her go.  When an office pulls someone over to give them a citation it has a major impact on traffic flow. Who knows maybe the officer was late for break.  ;D

I never understood the mentality that as long as someone is driving the speed limit they have the right to stay in the passing lane and let everyone else be damned. Why is it so hard to just pull over and let anyone that wants to go faster go? We've all seen too many near accidents when a line of cars are jockeying for position to get around a lane hog going the speed limit.
 
A passing lane is called a passing lane for a good reason.  The name says it all. Drivers meandering along in the passing lane is a good reason for caution. Personally witnessed a horrible accident because of that. Those type of drivers are all over the US. In spite of the very obvious signs posted to use the left lane only for passing, it almost seems as if some people are illiterate!
 
Depending on the area I use use the left lane at times when not passing, going from Nampa to Boise there are a two freeway entrances where nobody seems to like to merge at freeway speeds, so I get in the left lane before I reach them.  I have had a few times that I have had to slow down to 50 because I couldn't get over, so I attempt to before that.  If however there is someone coming up behind me speeding I will move over before they reach me.  In most areas if there are more than 2 lanes I drive in the middle except to pass (sometimes I have to pass in the left lane because people driving slow in the fast lane)
I would rather stay back and give people room, if a lane is open I will pass, other than that I like it when I have at least 4 or more car lengths between me and the other cars if possible, and when also when in more traffic I will sometimes stagger myself to allow sudden lane changes by other drivers, its better then them not seeing you and changing lanes when you accidentally get in the blind spot or they just don't pay attention.


And in the video the cop broke the law, illegal lane change, he didn't use his blinker to move back to the left after his lights where off.
 
I might question the officers actions, but fact is it was not all that dangerous, compared to driving 40 in the "Fast lane" it was downright safe..  He cleared the "obstruction" and continued on.  I might not give him an at-a-boy but I'd sure not slap him down for it.

We had a case where I got a 9-1-1 call complaining about a trooper driving EXACTLY 2mph over the speed limit.. Seems nobody was willing to pass him and thus the caller thought the trooper was going to cause an accident.. I transfered to my Sgt... And wound up relaying a message to the trooper for the Sgt..... "Good Job".

Sgt and I are both kicking ourselves for not getting the callers name and address so we could send him a love note (Ticket for non-emergency call to 9-1-1)
 
briguy, the last time I drove I-84 in your area I took my chances and traveled the left lane. The right was so rough I couldn't take the pounding, we were in an empty two axle truck.
 
the freeway was redone a few years ago...
Its still the same though, I think it buckled when they did the right lanes in the middle of winter.
 
Maybe I'm missing something but I didn't see him obstructing much traffic.  It seems that everyone was driving the same speed.  I agree that the cop was "tailgating", plus no siganls either right or left.
 
Wow, one Facebook entry by an unknown source caused all this mayhem ? I would rather take a nap than worry about who is wrong or right.  ::)


 
Out of all the replies on the first facebook page, I found this link provided in one the most interesting.  It shows a map with each state's left-lane usage laws.
http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map

While I agreed with many of the points made above, I will admit that when I'm hauling my trailer, it bothers me a lot less that people are blocking the passing lane because I'm over to the right...

 
It is common knowledge and sense that the left lane on a multi lane highway is for passing.  Can we all at least agree on that?
In this case I see the driver in the left lane is not only not passing, but also preventing anyone from passing because he is holding the same pace as the vehicle in the lane to his right.  Pure ignorance as I see it.
Too often on my commute to work I find cars going 55-65 in the passsing lane holding everyone else up as they ever so slowly pass cars on the right...Only to speed up to 75, staying in the left lane, when they are not passing anyone.  Low and behold they slow down to 55-65 when thet are passing again.  Its a joke.
Sometimes it folks not paying attention, but often its folks just not wanting to be passed....  It is a reicipe for road rage.
Kinda sad, just last week a guy got up to about 80MPH to prevent me from passing him on his right.  Why?  I mean I was 3-5 cars behind him for miles doing under 65 and decided to pass them on the right since there was NO ONE in the right lane for a looong way and they were going about 65 and I wanted to go about 70.
 
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