From Chris S., who writes: "As I was
driving home from work on Friday, I started thinking about the unwritten driving
rules that all my fellow commuters seem to be following. When I got home I wrote
down as many as I could remember."
| Rules for Driving on a Road with a passing
lane: This road was designed with you in mind. We know you are an important person with places to be, so we have given you this passing lane (or dotted line) to get around all of the idiots. 1) SPEED LIMIT We expect you to speed. If you are going to drive the speed limit, stay in the right lane. As long as you are speeding (even if it is only by 1 MPH) you are entitled to stay in the passing lane. 2) THE PASSING LANE While driving in the passing lane, the car in front of you must go as fast or faster than you. If you want to go faster, even only 1 MPH faster, they must let you pass. If the driver does not yield, you are permitted to tailgate (see tailgating). If they still do not yield you may pass abruptly (Turn signal optional). However now you must go as fast as or faster than the car you just passed—if that car decides that it wants to go faster, it is up to you to accelerate, get out of the way, or face the consequences. 3) MERGING Traffic is moving: The onus is not on you to let in any new traffic, it’s the responsibility of the merging car to either accelerate rapidly and join the flow OR wait until it is clear. If a merging car does manage to get in front of you, give them the benefit of the doubt to bring themselves up to speed- DO NOT slow down unless you come within one car length of the new car. If they still don’t speed up, you may pass as soon as possible- if they drive below the speed limit you may tailgate (see tailgating). Traffic is crawling: You may let one car in front of you at the absolute last possible moment- it is not necessary to let any cars in before the actual merge point. As soon as that car starts to merge into your lane start pulling up, to prevent any more cars from sneaking in behind that one. If at any point you have an opportunity to get out of the merging lane, do so. 4) TAILGATING Tailgating is a tactic, not a practice. It is to be used only as a last resort to punish drivers who get in your way and stay there. It is up to you how close you want to follow, however you want to be close enough so that the driver CANNOT see your front wheels in their rearview mirror. You should pass abruptly as soon as you feel you have taught the driver a lesson OR as soon as you can get around them. Sometimes you can make a stronger point by cutting in front of them without using a turn signal. 5) WEAVING If a roadway is congested, use both lanes to try and get ahead—every car you get in front of is one car length closer to your destination. Even if you are in the right lane and .1 miles away from your exit, if you see a chance to whip around the car in front of you, take it—that’s one more idiot left in your dust. |