WhiteS2k

Our local newspaper (the San Jose Mercury News) runs a daily column that answers questions about driving, road conditions, traffic, and so on. Recently someone asked about "passing on the right in California", here is the link to the column.

Now, I understand the concept of "passing" on a one-lane road, where you move out into the lane of on-coming traffic (when safe, of course), go ahead of the slower moving vehicle, and then move back into your own lane. You have now "passed" the slower moving vehicle. And sometimes there are specific "passing lanes" where an additional lane is provided for the purpose of "passing" slower moving vehicles.

It is not legal to drive on the shoulder of the road in all the states, so by saying "it is legal to pass on the right", I interpret that to mean there is more than one lane going in the same direction.

I learn to drive in California, where we use all the lanes , so I am a little confused about this "passing on the right" thing (the question seems to imply that it is illegal in some states). If traffic in the next lane is moving faster than the lane I am in, I can change lanes (either left or right) and move ahead of the slower traffic -- does this constitute "passing"? What if I am already in the right lane and it moves faster than the traffic in the left lane, would I be breaking the law in some states because I "passed" slower traffic on my left? And when there is a "passing lane", but the slow idiot who is blocking traffic takes the left lane anyway, does that mean all the following traffic must stay behind the slow poke and cannot "pass" on the right lane?

Finally, I don't really understand what is so bad about "passing on the right" that the columnist said "I believe that if put up to a vote, motorists would overwhelmingly favor a law banning passing on the right." I'd really like to know what constitutes "passing", and why is "passing on the right" such a bad thing (for us in LHD countries, in RHD countries, it is probably "passing on the left" that is frown upon)? And for people in states where "passing on the right" is illegal, does that mean the speed of the vehicle in the left-most lane determines the speed of all traffic on that road?

I am very confused by this "passing" thing.

ButtonBoy

Passing on the right means that some idiot is comatose in the left lane. A common occurence in Seattle- often a Subuvo Exhibition with a sinlge driver pickin' the shnoz...

accreese

There's even hope that Washington may make it a ticketable offense to get passed on the right. It would sure move the traffic along in the left lanes and get the constant convoy of extra long trucks out of the center lanes. But it won't happen in this century.

ButtonBoy

It won't happen in our "politically sensitive" culture either. Although I think it should be a hanging offense!
{calm down now... breathe deeply... say a short prayer for patience....}
Ahh. I feel better now.

WhiteS2k

I certainly hope that this "ticketable offense" thing will not happen because all it takes is one slow idiot/car in the leftmost lane and traffic grinds to a halt across all the lanes. Not even the Highway Patrol will be able to catch up to give the guy a ticket because the traffic behind will be too thick for them to get through .

But still, what is so bad about using ALL the lanes like we do here in California? If traffic in the right lane happens to move faster than the traffic in the left lane, so be it. What is so bad about it that they have to issue tickets? I still don't get it.

dbw

i think the "passing on the right" goes back to the days of two lane undivided roads...often folks behind a big rig on a grade would pass on the shoulder to get around....i think on a four lane roadway[two in each direction] you can go faster in either lane....say someone is making a left turn from the left lane then you have no choice but to go by him....

anyone remember these on the back of trucks?

............<passing side----suicide>................

WhiteS2k

Yes, I know the "suicide" signs. But as I said, it is ALWAYS illegal to drive on the shoulder in all the states that I know, including California. So you can never pass on the shoulder anyway. As far as I can tell, the only legal way to pass on the right is when there is a lane; and I don't see how that can be bad.

Zam

Maybe they're trying to follow suit with one of the most important rules of driving on the Autobahn here in Germany. Basically, if there are 4 lanes of autobahn traffic going in one direction & you are in a hurry, you get in the left most lane. Now if the autobahn is totally empty except for the far left lane, guess what, you stay in the far left lane. You wait until that guy way up front decides/realizes there are 20 cars behind him & gets out of the way. And yes 98% of the time, people will get out of the way(unless of course they are Americans, simply idiots, or unaware of their surroundings).
So yes, this is more of a respect thing since you could probably pass on the right all day long and never get ticketed(because Polizei is never around). You'll probably cause an accident, since everyone is used to the passenger side blind spot being clear. So would it work in the U.S.? Heck no, especially since you'd have to respect that guy behind you by getting out of his/her way.

What is cool though, is that people will jump out of your way much quicker if:
a)you ride about 6 feet off their rear bumper(at around 90+ mph this is something you must get used to)
b)drive an S2000 or M3(does not work in 4Runner)
c)or flash your left turn signal while approaching from the rear

ralper

I have been driving for 35 years and I remember being taught to pass only on the left. My father has been driving for 63 years and remembers being taught the same thing.

Neither of us can remember being told why, but I think I was told the following:

The assumption was that faster moving traffic would always move to the left. Therefore passing on the right made for a dangerous mix of fast and slow moving vehicles in the same lane. I think I remember hearing about the danger of being in the blind spot of the car that you were attempting to pass if you were passing in the right lane.

The Professor

Agreed, Rob. There's a driving logic that calls for faster traffic to run in the left-most lane, often referred to on the Interstates as the passing lane. The Autobahnen have got it right; they are much better "organisiert".