A Highway Driving Question for all of you...

[battleknight24]

... In the part of the US where you live, is it customary to (on a 2 lane highway) move over to the shoulder to let a faster car behind you pass you?

I live in South Texas (near the Corpus Christi/Alice/Kingsville area), and this is customary... well, at least a majority of drivers do it.


Peace,

[KitchenWitch]

1. No, not customary here

but certainly a courteous move.

[Lilyhoney]

2. Here in CA in the mountain areas they have turn outs to let people

pass. So I will say yes.

[NMMNG]

3. If one is going the speed limit or slightly over, no

However if I'm driving as such and some maniac is still getting proctological on me I will pull over and let him/her pass in the interest of my own safety.

[alarimer]

4. I live there too and I rarely pull over like that

Unless someone is really in my tailpipe. It is a stupid custom; shoulders are not meant to be driven on. They are not maintained as well, there often debris there and, especially at night, there might be vehicles or people on the side of the road you can't see. I pass on the left when it is clear to do so.

[petronius]

5. When a person is going around me in the other lane

I will take my foot off the gas and drift to the right side of the lane, and I do use turnouts on the mountain roads, but it doesn't seem wise to drive full speed on the shoulder.

[hfojvt]

6. what is a turn out?

In Wisconsin and Iowa on hills they sometimes goto a three lane road which allows people going uphill to have a passing lane. I hate using them though because once some maniac forced me onto the shoulder when that 2nd lane ended in a hurry. Often those sections are very short.

[petronius]

8. We have passing lanes as well,

but a turnout is just a wide area on the shoulder where you can pull over and stop while traffic behind you passes. In CA, I believe the law is that you have to pull over once 5 or more vehicles are stacked up behind you.

[hfojvt]

9. I think Wisconsin has a law like that

but I am not sure I would have heeded it even if I had known. I used to sing "Leader of the Pack" to myself when I drove back and forth to Madison. I regularly had half a dozen cars or more stacked up behind me, and it was often too busy to pass, but I would be tanjed if I would pull over. It's kinda ridiculous to require that if I am already going 5 mph over the speed limit, isn't it? I need to pull over to accomodate the law-breakers behind me? Preposterous!

[petronius]

10. I generally let folks by as soon as I can,

but I don't do anything risky, or get myself trapped in the slow lane just so some leadfoot can save a few seconds. I know what you mean about why should you accommodate the speeders behind you, but that's the same argument used by the speed-limit-vigilantes who drive exactly at the limit in the fast lane, and those folks seriously piss me off. Basically, anyone faster than me is a maniac and anyone slower than me is an assmunch, but I'll move over for a maniac when it's convenient.

[WCGreen]

7. Fuck 'em I go slower.........

I always try to get out from ahead of a speeder....

It is just good sense...

Howeve, sometimes you can jag thinking he is going to jig but jags instead and then, well.....

[Blue Gardener]

11. Never heard of that custom in Iowa

Tractors pull over to let you get around if there is enough room on the shoulder, but never cars. If everyone would just go the speed limit there wouldn't be a problem.

[In_The_Wind]

12. not usually ...

I have followed cars for miles because there was a solid yellow line so I couldn't go around someone traveling below the posted speed. upstate New York ~

[chknltl]

13. I blame Starbucks for this:

Here in western Washington state EVERYONE is in my damned way! I am not the only one here who drives like that, so the answer to your question should be yes but it ain't. With everyone driving down the freeway like a zillion bats out of hell, common courtesy becomes a rare commodity! Truthfully when I cut back on the caffeine I do not seem to mind so much, my close Friends are observing that same phenomenon in themselves. Someone should do a study....

[SocratesInSpirit]

14. Not in Metro NYC

I've seen people using the shoulder as a passing lane, but moving over to let someone pass? Fuggedaboudit!