In section 48 of the Traffic Code here in Utah, it makes it abundantly clear, that on any highway where you have two or more lanes, the left lane, is the fast lane. Now, I've been retired for a few years now, and am going from memory, but I think I'm pretty much accurate on this. It does NOT say you can stay in that lane if you are going the speed limit, but that if there are cars behind you, YOU have to move over. And if they give you, "an auditory, or visual signal" which means horn or flash of lights, not, "the finger", you have to move over and let them pass.
Basically this means that if I have to pass you on your right hand side? YOU are in the WRONG lane! And just for every one's edification who hasn't been out of this country, when someone flashes their bright lights behind you, and you are in the left most lane, it's not the equivalent of giving you, "the finger". It is the polite way of asking you to move out of the FAST LANE because I want to go faster than you.
And this brings us to the problem. If you think just because you are going the speed limit, you can STAY in the fast lane, you are wrong. And if you insist on doing it, even when you could move over, you are an Asshole! And if you continue to do it despite the fact that there are 6 t0 10 cars lined up behind you who can't go around because you're going the speed limit? You are a good reason we should use the death penalty more often. Because you are such a self centered, navel gazing, ego maniacal prick that the only thing you are good for is stopping bullets!
I don't know the law in all the other Western States, but I'm going to assume that if they bother to put up signs every mile or so that say, "Slower Traffic Must Move Right" we are pretty close to being on the same page with this.
Friday, Deb and I drove over to Denver to spend the weekend. We saw, Lisa Landry do a comedy show on Saturday night, and she's as funny as she is gracious and beautiful. I'll try to attach a picture.
So that being the case, I had to drive home today (Sunday). Yeah, I went there and back on I80 through Wyoming. Not the prettiest drive in America. If it weren't for the bright, red, Halliburton trucks, there would be no color in southern Wyoming from Cheyenne to the Utah border. There is good reason the University of Wyoming's colors are yellow and brown.
I've been to Colorado and Wyoming many, many times for football games in the fall over the years. And this makes coming west on I80 at least, a yearly occurrence for me. And it appears that every truck driver in America chooses to traverse Wyoming on Sunday afternoon.
This makes every construction zone, no matter the posted speed limit, run only as fast as the truck in front. And every hill, there is a trucker that thinks he/she can pass the truck in front of them, but they are wrong, so they keep the rest of us from going by. This I expect. They run for money. Paid by the mile. Time is money. It's a pain in my ass, but at least I understand it.
Now, when they stay in the left lane, despite having many chances to move over, and don't? That's just spite. Move over trucker! I'm going home, too!
But the guy in a pickup or SUV, and it's ALWAYS a guy, who sets his cruise control at 75, and will drive next to a truck or a guy with a trailer, for miles so he doesn't have to reset HIS cruise control, while you have to shut yours OFF is just an asshole.
Here's a tip for you if you have ever done this (who am I kidding. If you're reading ME! You already know this). You CAN step on the gas, get around the truck/trailer/camper you are next to, move to the right and let me go by and still not have to re-set your cruise control! It will go back to your set speed. Just be courteous and get the hell out of the way!
Oh, and, "Grandma from Idaho" who comes out of a one lane construction zone, stays in the left lane and sets your cruise control to the speed limit while the truckers do the right thing and stay right, and holds up a whole line of cars who want to get the hell around you? The, "Slower Traffic Must Move Right" signs are talking to YOU! No one made you the, "SPEED LIMIT SHERIFF!" I'll take my chances, and pick my speed. Get the hell out of my way!
If a line of cars behind you, honking and flashing their lights don't get your attention, the fact that every one of them that finally DOES get to pass you on the right hand side gives you, "The Finger" should give you a clue that YOU are the problem!
If you know us, you know we travel. And here's a little hint for you. Cops will always give you a little, "wiggle room" on your speed, for several reasons. If you pass them in a 75 Zone and their radar says, 80, they might not win that fight. You can pretty well argue that your car's speed control might be off by as much as five MPH, and you are, in fact, trying to be a responsible driver. If you pass them in a 75 Zone, at 85 or more? Well, they trust their Radar/Laser because they have calibrated them.
And let's be honest. The guy traveling five MPH over the speed limit isn't the problem, is he?
I passed a WHP car this afternoon with the Audi set just the North side of 80, and he didn't bust me in a long line of everyone else being in the right lane going slower. So I kind of, stood out.
Bottom line of this, "rant"? If you think you should stay in the left lane just because you can go the speed limit? You're an asshole. Move over, get out of the way, and let the rest of the world live it's life at the pace IT decides. And if YOU don't ever have to change your cruise control? EVERYONE ELSE DOES, you, ASSHOLE! Step on the gas once in a while, will ya?
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