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What I'm seeing in this comment section is that everyone has their own internal rules to explain how everyone else is at fault for making driving dangerous but they themselves would be perfect without any other cars on the road.
Wow, what impeccable and inscrutable logic.
Now let's try it with recognition that other people will always be on the road and no matter who you want to blame for it they need to be considered
Conclusion after reading the comments: the country information is very relevant!! In Germany tailgating is forbidden, and is also driving in the middle lane. It is forbidden to pass using the right lane in highways. In USA I remember the recommendation was different, try to stay in your lane, they considered the constant change of lanes more dangerous than passing using the right lane.
Moral of the story: Don't judge without the complete information.
Relevant point: Driving in the middle lane in Germany is allowed as long as there's at least infrequent slower traffic on the right lane. There's been a supreme court ruling on this.
I'm not German but the rule I always use there and in Czechia where I live is to vacate the left lane any time you can do it for a while or if there's someone behind you.
What is it with people who stay in the middle lane whilst driving slow when there's nobody of the right lane which is were the driving code says they're suppose to be?
This depends on the country/state, the speed limit of the road, and possibly other local laws.
Broadly speaking, in the US on roads with speed limits at or above 55mph: the laws for many states require keeping right except to pass. [Generally] On roads under 55mph: there is no such rule but it's not uncommon for people to think there is, probably due to confusion with the 55+ law, or perhaps there's a different state or local law where they live.
99.9% of people don't look up differing traffic laws before driving through multiple states, which is why most differences are posted with road signage.
EDIT: An obvious exception to the speed limit rule are interstate highways where the speed limit will drop in urban areas but still require to keep right except to pass.
I clean my windshield if someone is too close behind.
The wind always carries some spray over the top and hits their car and they have to wipe their windshield.
It might seem petty, but seems to trigger something subconscious that makes them back off a bit.
It always seems to work
Story time. There is a long winding road through the woods from a friends place to my old home. It was late at night, we were coming from an overly long D&D session, and as I was a bit tired, I stuck to the speed limit on that road, despite it being nearly empty.
Suddenly, a BMW popped up in the rear view and instantly tailgated me. And kept there, because the road is winding and overtaking in the curves and bends is seriously bad. And as if cursed, whenever we ended a longer straight strip, someone was coming our way, so he could not overtake either.
He tailgated me for about five kilometers, getting angrier by the second judging by his movements, when the last bend came up. From there, it is a longer straight strip towards the city limits, where we knew was a permanent speed trap right behind it.
He started overtaking us in the bend and flew towards the city, probably attempting to catch up on the time he "lost" to us. And we all were waiting. Was the speed trap armed tonight? He was already quite far ahead of us despite the short distance, when FLASH he got caught. With at least 50km/h over the speed limit in the city, this was a sure ticket to lose the driving license.
this was a sure ticket to lose the driving license
Thank you stranger. This story has warmed my heart on a cold morning.
They forgot the passes you and then slows down.
I've had tailgaters while driving on the fucking right lane, but the worst are the ones that keep blinking the headlights despite me driving close to the speed limit on highways that have speed cameras every 200m.
If you’re in the right lane, and people are blinking their lights, those people need to fuck off and die.
Worst I've seen is in the Chicago loop you can be stopped at a red light and people will come up behind you and lay on their horn to get out of their way so that they can run the red. Like taking a walk around being a tourist for an hour I saw it happen basically every light cycle at at least one light within my line of site that entire time
I firmly believe that the vast majority of tailgaters, and in fact drivers just don't know what correct following distance at speed looks like. It's not so much anger as incompetence.
Especially in the US where almost noone leaves a good gap.
I was in a car a few years ago with my cousin and her husband who was driving; they were both around 60 years old at the time. He was insanely close to the car in front while we were doing over 50 mph and my cousin was screaming at him to back off. He got irate and said "but I'm maintaining a one-car-length distance!" It's hard to believe that a person could drive for 45 fucking years and never have learned what a safe following distance is, but there you go.
Especially in the US where almost noone leaves a good gap.
Part of the dilemma (at least on multi-lane highways) is that if you leave a proper gap someone will cut in front of you and then you won't have a proper gap any more.
Funny how this comic is about idiots cruising in the middle lane, when there's space on the right lane while most commenters don't get it and get upset about the tailgating driver (not saying tailgating was right, though). This comic is about you middle-lane-snails. Hate to tell you, but YOU are the problem here.
It seems like road rage is the problem here, but okay lol
middle-lane-snails. Hate to tell you, but YOU are the problem here.
This will vary wildly by jurisdiction, road design and specific circumstances. Is the right lane an exit lane only? Is the right lane currently occupied by a stopped/disabled vehicle on the shoulder? Are there parked cars, cyclists and/or pedestrians near the right lane making the middle lane safer for you to occupy? Are there other road conditions that currently make the right lane less safe to drive on, such as better snow plowing in the left lanes?
Honestly the bigger problem is this insistance on going fast. Going 5-10mph faster or slower will make no noticable difference in your driving time because of all of the time you will spend slowing, stopping and speeding up. I should know, I've biked and driven the same city routes and confirmed no realistic difference in commute time, and I've driven hour+ long highway commutes and tested this. The only thing going faster does is increase fuel consumption noticably (an extra gallon or more per hour was what my experiments found) and increase the risk of a ticket and/or a severe traffic collision
Speeding is bad for you, bad for the environment and bad for other drivers. Literally nobody benefits from it, not even the speeders