Slower Traffic Keep Right

Time to get on my soapbox for one of my top pet peeves - people who refuse to move out of the passing lane on the freeway.

If you've driven on the freeway, then you've probably seen the signs posted fairly frequently that read "Slower Traffic Keep Right" or "Left Lane Is For Passing Only." Believe it or not, those signs aren't posted just to keep the TxDOT sign painters busy. They are there because there is a LAW that requires slower traffic to move right for faster traffic.

Now I'm not talking about moving over when you're making a legitimate attempt to pass a vehicle in the right lane. Nor am I talking about moving over when there is so much traffic that nobody can really pass anyone. What I'm talking about are the idiots that believe that they can drive in whatever lane they choose, regardless of the speed of the vehicles around them. If you fall into that category, then consider yourself one of the idiots. You have absolutely no valid argument you can make for driving in the left lane when an open lane is available to your right. None, nada, zip. Go ahead - I dare you to make a valid argument. I'll promise you that I can defeat whatever lame excuse you come up with.

Many people believe that as long as they are doing the posted speed, then they do not have to yield for faster traffic unless that traffic happens to be an emergency vehicle. Those people would be wrong. The law says slower traffic must yield to the right. There are no caveats for how fast you are going vs. the vehicle that is coming up behind you in the left lane. The left lane is for passing, 100% of the time.

How many times have you seen what appears to be bumper to bumper traffic ahead of you only to find when you come over the top of a hill that there are cars driving the exact same speed in every lane with about a half-mile of open road in front of them? No? You've never experienced that? Then you must be one of the idiots I mentioned above that does not have the courtesy to get your slow you-know-what out of the left lane.

Have you also noticed the people who weave in and out of traffic trying to gain one or two spots in traffic? Yes, they are just as idiotic as those people blocking the left lanes, but hey, if you weren't driving in the left lane, then maybe there would be fewer reasons for them to weave and bob and drive the rest of us crazy.

So the next time you have people giving you the one-finger salute or checking their horn volume as they pass you by, try moving over a lane or two. You'll be a better driver for it, and maybe the guy that just blew by you at 80 MPH will have a Trooper with a laser detector waiting for him over the next hill. Then you'll get the last laugh after all.