this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 58 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (4 children)

"space on both sides"

Please keep to the right when you are able.

[–] Sibshops@lemmy.myserv.one 11 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

At least where I am in the US, it's generally good etiquette to be in the middle lane so cars can merge onto the highway easily.

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 13 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Where I am the on ramps aren't so frequent that it's implausible to move over once in a while when there's an onramp.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol -1 points 1 hour ago

Well thank god we all live where you do. Shame traffic is awful now that we have 9 billion people and inconsistent on ramps though.

[–] Quadhammer@lemmy.world -2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Middle is for cruising with 3 or more lanes. Right lane if there are only 2

[–] Emerald@lemmy.world 3 points 37 minutes ago* (last edited 36 minutes ago) (1 children)

Not really though, all lanes except the rightmost lane should be passing lanes. It is different in urban areas where they often open up 2 or 3 lanes for exit only or I there is constant heavy merging. But in general, keep right unless passing

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 28 minutes ago

in Ontario every lane is a passing lane.

[–] Donebrach@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (7 children)

this is completely incorrect—stay in the middle lane if you’re going to be on the highway for a while. if there are 3 or more lanes, the right is generally for exiting, far left for passing and middle for general travel.

[–] Emerald@lemmy.world 2 points 35 minutes ago

How is it supposed to be efficient to use an entire lane only for exiting?

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 13 points 2 hours ago

Oooh, you'd suck driving in Europe.

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 18 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Wrong.

Several states have “stay in the right lane unless passing” laws.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 14 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Depends. If in the US the majority of states have “keep right except to pass” laws along with “failure to yield” laws. Some states do have exceptions for busy merging areas that say taking the center lane is acceptable for the duration.

So if someone is camping the center lane slower than prevailing traffic in that lane they are potentially violating two laws.

I don’t know where you are, so I write this for US people seeing as there seems to be a growing issue of people using the center of three lanes as a slow lane and it really fucks up the flow.

[–] Quadhammer@lemmy.world -3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

It really doesn't fuck up the flow people are just driving 20 over and going "hurr this guy going the speed limit or 5 over in the cruising lane is breaking the law!" Then still pass on either side

[–] DV8@lemmy.world 2 points 26 minutes ago

Countries where you have to drive as much to the right as possible also have laws stating it's illegal to overtake on the right. Overtaking on the right has the same fine as jogging the middle lane if there's space on the right.

I guess this mostly indicates to always check the actual road laws of the regions you're driving in. But generally in Europe hogging the middle lane indicates you're a danger on the road who should not be allowed to drive a car.

[–] Redfugee@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago

Check the laws in your state. I doubt it says anything like "stay in the middle lane if you're going to be in the highway for a while" or "middle is for general travel", which means you're probably the driver camping in the middle lane when you should be moving over.

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 11 points 4 hours ago

It depends on the country. In France for example, middle and left are for passing.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

It depends on the flow of traffic. The rightmost lane makes sense when there isn't slow and frequent traffic in it and there isn't someone going faster behind you, otherwise you are creating more traffic by constantly switching lanes and making everyone else deal with it. It also depends on whether the lanes are going to be bifurcated or have to deal with exits or entries.

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I disagree that changing lanes "creates more traffic." Even moving right for 30 seconds allows faster traffic behind you to move over. In fact, lots of country roads have passing lanes open up for 2 km stretches where cars are expected to move over only for that distance.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8535848/

https://www.teguyinc.com/post/key-common-sense-behaviours-that-can-improve-traffic-flow

https://scisimple.com/en/articles/2025-09-29-the-impact-of-lane-changes-on-traffic-flow--a9pvypw

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-09014-x

You do you, which apparently means skipping over the conditionals of my comment. If that's your attention to detail, then you should definitely stick to the right lane. Here, have some articles which are actually nuanced about how changing lanes can contribute to traffic, hopefully they'll instill a greater sense of awareness.

[–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 0 points 4 hours ago

Middle, and the right if no middle available.