this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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Probably irritated that they're in the middle lane instead of keeping right expect to pass. (or left except to pass in countries that drive on the left).
It's an indicator that the center lane driver is not paying attention. I want to be far away from drivers that are not paying attention.
It could be, but I just think they think it's OK to chill in the center lane. Everyone else is doing it, after all, never mind that everyone else is also causing traffic to be worse.
Another class of driver I want to be far away from
Absolutely
The California DMV handbook literally tells you to do that. If there's three lanes, cruise in the middle lane. If there's two lanes, cruise in the right lane. I don't think it's a requirement, but it is the official recommendation in California.
When did they change that? No wonder traffic is so fucked. That literally conflicts with the LAW that says 'slower traffic keep right.'
Interesting, that seems to me like it would encourage people to pass on the right. In my experience driving with 3 lanes the right lane is often bare and clear while the left lane is clogged and the middle lane is moderately busy which is, of course, the opposite of what it should be, generally. In cities, obviously, cruising in the middle lane can make more sense, as there's much more merging on/off of the freeway.
Passing on the right is also... Not that big a deal. The only thing that supposedly makes it worse than passing on the left is that supposedly people don't check when moving right. Realistically, the people who don't check when moving right are also mostly not checking when moving left.
Legally speaking it's a big deal in some states. California discourages it at highway speeds, but doesn't ban it.
I looked it up to see if they provide reasoning for it, and discovered that they've removed the language about where to cruise (at least I couldn't easily find it) since I took the test years ago, but they're kind of saying it between the lines:
Sidenote: In my experience, on/off ramps in California are ridiculously short, often with low visibility until you're on it, so they're kind of relying on the right lane not being all that crowded.
Yea, in cities it can make sense to cruise in the middle lane. Where there's an exist every few miles, nah, keep to the right.
Unless you drive in Sweden. On 3 lane highways you will regularly see people hog the middle lane for long long times. And while Swedish drivers are generally on average just terrible drivers (fight me on this if you have to, it is true), it is not because they don't pay attention but because Swedish highways are chaoticly designed.
Does the right lane merge into an exit in a kilometer or not? No one knows, it just randomly happens. Or if you have 3 or more lanes in a city that will go differrent directions at the end, you'd think giving clear signs where each will go at the end very early would be helpful. Not here, lets place those as far back as possible. So people stay middle lane just in case they need to make a switch far right or far left.
It is stupid but won't ever change because the highways are just set up that way.
Why are you saying that the signs are bad? The signs above the road are pretty clear. Each arrow above the lane points to its destination. I can't say much about the situation around Stockholm but personally I have never had any issues following directions on the highway.
In and around Gothenburg is where you can make that experience. I don't have issues either, well not anymore after driving these roads for a few years, I just mentioned the potential reason why a ton of drivers here stay in the middle lane.
I am glad I don't need to drive in Gothenburg as well then 😂 I agree that quite a few people here don't know how to drive properly but compared to what I persons have experienced in other countries I would say that we are good drivers in general in Sweden.
One thing I don't like about NY, there isn't a stay-right law. It's actually a "use any open lane" law. Crazy.
Plus all the Stroads.
People often forget, this is only on highways/motorways. On surface streets (recognizable by their lack of entry/exit ramps/infrastructure and same level intersections) left lanes are for those expecting to turn left next, right lanes are for those expecting to turn right next, and middle lanes are for those who will be going straight past the next intersection, with some variance expected on occasion.
You don't need to tell me where you live.
Stroads.
Its sadly not only an America problem. Its not uncommon here in China to see 3 lanes each way, a seperated motorbike lane that's like 10 feet wide, a seperated bus/bicycle/car parking lane, 5 feet of bike parking, and then 15 feet of sidewalk.
And somehow cars still drive on the sidewalks.
Which country do you think this picture got taken in? Hint: It's not America, China or Dubai
I would have said Philippines but the avalanche of cars is missing. So I'll guess Myanmar?
Edit: Lol, I still had this post open from this morning and just saw that you already gave the answer
Probably some parade street in North Korea.
It's Myanmar
Based on the overall frequency of people from Southeast Asia vs. the US on Lemmy, my guess is still going to be "US" when people tell me about 3+ lanes on municipal roads, even though I am of course aware that such roads exist in other countries (including my own).
Where do they live?
Yeah, if I come up on someone in the middle lane when there’s clearly space in the right lane, I get pissed. I don’t even drive fast, so if I catch up to you, you really have no business being anywhere but the right lane.
If I merged onto the highway on the left, I have to eventually get right. I'll move to the middle lane when it's safe, but then 1-2 miles before my exit, I'll move to the right lane (for right exits). But it's unreasonable to expect drivers to crowd the far right lane all the time, making merging/exiting the highway more congested and dangerous just because I only drive 0-9 mph over the speed limit at the speed of traffic flow...
As long as you’re not impeding the flow of traffic that’s fine. Some people stay left or center and impede traffic because they want to make everyone go slower. My brother is one of those people.
I tell him he’s not the police and is actually being more dangerous than just getting the fuck out of the way.
Just like someone wants to go slower. Let others live and they can live or die with the consequences. Don’t inject yourself into a dangerous situation to prove a point.
Most of the time they will be bringing others with them in the "die with the consequences" phase. Speeding benefits nobody, not even the speeder (speeding doesn't save any noticable amount of time at all)
My point is that if you are not in a police vehicle, You should focus on keeping yourself safe and get out of the way.
If I am going the posted limit and others feel like speeding, why is it my job to get out of the way? Whether it's a country road with intermittent passing lanes or a multi lane highway with plenty of lanes to the left, that's their choice to speed but I ain't risking my license because some chucklefucks choose to be hostile to anyone they share the road with
Whether they feel like speeding or running red lights, they're going to have to contend with other drivers who don't feel like breaking the law, and they'll have to choose to either abide by best driving practices or to continue to be careless
I’m not saying you HAVE to. But the safest thing you can do for yourself is get out of the way. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be safe? There’s a reason that it’s called defensive driving.
Yeah. If I stayed in the right lane, every couple miles I'd need to change lanes to avoid an exit only, or free up space for entering traffic to merge. But that leaves one of not two open lanes to my left.
Also changing lanes is stressful for me: the situation changes quickly, and even after checking blind spots I've almost sideswiped someone a couple times. (Also honked to keep a pair of cars in front of me from picking the same moment to shift into each other.)
So, I get the principle, and I also am annoyed with slow traffic in the left lane. But if there's room to pass on the left, that's what I see as necessary.
It is the job of the person merging onto the freeway to find a safe place to merge. The person on the freeway is also able to move out of the right lane if they so desire, but they aren't required to from what I understand.
All of that said, I see people being center lane campers all the time whether it be in the middle of a city, where it's arguably fine, to rural but populated areas where it causes traffic, to the middle of nowhere, where it isn't inconveniencing me, but is just weird.
Part of merging is to let the vehicles merging safely merge. That might mean slowing down a bit, speeding up a bit for a moment or moving a lane over. The only time when doing nothing for a merging vehicle is okay is when there's literally nothing you can do due to the quantity of traffic
But it's entirely unreasonable and incredibly dangerous to expect someone on a freeway onramp to stop and wait for an opening. Drivers must leave enough room to allow a speed-appropriate merge in front of them.
When did I say stop and wait for an opening? Don't stop on an on-ramp.
So what do you do when there are two lanes? Ride the left lane? No? But then how do people possibly merge? Huh, somehow it works. Shockingly, you can move to the other lane when someone needs to merge because, whoa you guessed it, the lane isn't full of people going slower.
It's not unreasonable, and there's a reason why it's the (sadly often unenforced) rule almost everywhere to keep right/left. Somehow it works in Germany where it is more heavily enforced. Oh, and guess what, it's safer for everyone.
This is totally psychological (thinking it's crowding the right lane and causing merge issues). You may not realize it, but you're doing this just because you unconsciously feel more comfortable with more space (for yourself) on both sides. It's called the "space cushion". You might even tell yourself you are safer because you have more directions to escape to if a situation arises. Or you might just be lazy, as it's a lot easier to sit in your cushy middle lane and not have to think about what you're doing.
But you're actually creating more problems by riding the middle lane, leading to people passing on both sides, doing more dangerous weaving maneuvers, reducing the optimal flow of traffic overall, and making the road less safe for everyone. And did you know you're probably making merging worse? Yeah, the fact that you think you don't have to change lanes to assist with people merging just because you're in the middle lane means that you're part of the problem. You still have to pay attention and be ready to move over, in case there is already someone in the right lane who needs to move over.
It's pretty selfish to be honest. Stop being a lane hog.
This is the 4th time you've commented this, something isn't going right on your instance (or my instance), I though I left this bug behind when I left reddit haha.
On my connection or app, I think.
Somethin' like that
This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
That's a lot of lane.