Washington state is cracking down on them.
I wish more states would do this. As I wrote in comments there, for decades, I’ve been saying that when I am king, all those stupid signs that say “Slower Drivers Keep Right” will be replaced with “Left Lane For Passing Only.” Because no one thinks that they are a “slower driver.” I’d also put in sensors so that you get an automatic ticket if you’re passed on the right five consecutive times without passing anyone.
I lived in California for 18 years (1980-98) before moving to Austin, TX. I’m here to tell you that, no matter how annoying you think it is in California, you live in a paradise of well-behaved and self-aware drivers compared to here. The problem is so bad here that we even have a well-known colloquialism for it: it’s called “The Texas Roadblock”.
In a state that’s well-known for an independent streak and a certain amount of generic orneriness, you wouldn’t think that the drivers would show a propensity to school together like mullet evading a predator, but there seems to be something deeply ingrained in any Texan overtaking another car that causes him to exactly match the speed of the car on the right just as he pulls up even to it. I’ve even been on the right and watched as somebody will actively accelerate and decelerate to match my speed changes if I attempt to move away from the other guy. It’s… freaky.
Given that the Austin city planners all appear to be aging hippies that think that Cars Are Bad (despite having no public transportation system to speak of and being oblivious to the fact that failure to take traffic engineering seriously results in a situation where Cars are Worse), we have lots of major routes with only four lanes of traffic. The Texas Roadblock can therefore result in twenty or thirty cars stacking up behind some guy who’s decided to let the guy on his right do all his speed control for him while he takes a little breather from the stressful job of having a theory of mind for the drivers in the rearview mirror that he hardly ever checks.
End of rant. I feel better now.
I think it’s an Austin problem. When I was driving I-10 in west Texas moving back from Florida in the BMW, it was like the autobahn. Speed limit 80, many doing 90, and left lane used only for passing.
Not entirely an Austin thing–I see that in Dallas too, although much more frequently on frontage roads and off-ramps. There’s nothing like trying to move left to get on a highway while someone else is sitting next to you or right on your rear left corner, speeding up and slowing down to maintain his position while ignoring your turn signal.
This suggests it’s another example of leftism dementia? The left in the cities can’t drive. Those outside the cities could show them how?
You have to remember that the traffic density in West Texas is approximately zero. Anything outside of the triangle formed by DFW, San Antonio, and Houston really isn’t a problem.
Believe me, I’ve driven places far outside cities (like 5 between Bakersfield and Stockton) where it’s a problem. West Texas was like another planet in comparison.
I’m pretty sure that West Texas is another planet. I-5 and CA-99 are like suburbia compared to WT.
A quick hint, if you ever return: When you get to Crockett County (aka Ozona and Sonora), go the speed limit. I’m pretty sure that I-10 is their only source of revenue, and they’re hard workers.
The Texas Roadblock can therefore result in twenty or thirty cars stacking up behind some guy who’s decided to let the guy on his right do all his speed control for him while he takes a little breather from the stressful job of having a theory of mind for the drivers in the rearview mirror that he hardly ever checks.
That was brilliant.
Houston also suffers from a history of left lane exits, thus creating situations in which slow moving cars have a need to be in the left lane.
Completely agree with the Texan Road Block. I’ve seen it too many times on I-45 between Houston and Dallas. Interestingly, its not so bad on the state highways, but then you have to deal with traffic lights in every town.
WA is one of the worst for this of any state I’ve lived in, but part of the problem is of their own making because of the way they build some highways with lots of exits on the left (including downtown Seattle from the 5.)
Seattle’s traffic problems have little to do with people in the left lane and ticketing people for driving in the left lane, as if any of the lanes are going to be empty, wont stop jerks from zigzagging across four to six lanes of traffic. What Seattle doesn’t need is more people driving recklessly over the speed limit because at some point they will need to stop in a heartbeat for no apparent reason. It seems that in this case, the cops want to enable unsafe drivers.
Question: would you still ticket people in the above scenario when they’re doing 75 or 80 in a 65 zone while those passing them on the right are all doing 95?
Yes. I’d ticket them all for speeding, but I’d add a ticket for traffic obstruction to the left-lane hogs.