Anonymous
7/18/2025, 6:41:10 AM No.28521418
Here’s a question: If all the cars in all the lanes on the freeway are moving at the speed limit, which is the passing lane?
Answer: None of them. Because everyone is already at the speed limit. The law doesn’t allow speeding, even to pass.
A driver at the speed limit, in any lane, has no obligation to yield to a car that wants to speed. That car would be breaking the law; they don’t have right of way to do so.
Some states have laws that allow temporary speeding to pass. Most do not.
The idea of a passing-only left lane comes from the early highway era, when planners had a romantic vision of low-traffic roads with an always-open left lane. That vision has no relationship to today's crowded roads and notoriously strict speed enforcement.
The practice of using the left lane as a regular driving lane, and having speeders pass where they can, is a rational adaptation to these circumstances.
I’d argue it’s best to give up on the idea of the passing-only left lane.
Answer: None of them. Because everyone is already at the speed limit. The law doesn’t allow speeding, even to pass.
A driver at the speed limit, in any lane, has no obligation to yield to a car that wants to speed. That car would be breaking the law; they don’t have right of way to do so.
Some states have laws that allow temporary speeding to pass. Most do not.
The idea of a passing-only left lane comes from the early highway era, when planners had a romantic vision of low-traffic roads with an always-open left lane. That vision has no relationship to today's crowded roads and notoriously strict speed enforcement.
The practice of using the left lane as a regular driving lane, and having speeders pass where they can, is a rational adaptation to these circumstances.
I’d argue it’s best to give up on the idea of the passing-only left lane.
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