Wow is right!! :eek: Reading this thread made me feel a bit better as this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. It drives me utterly insane. I'm a happy, cheerful, easy-going guy but I LOSE IT when I'm stuck behind some moron holding up the left lane.

It is dangerous and self-centered behaviour, plain and simple. I'm not referring to heavy traffic when someone is trying to car hop ahead. That's also stupid behaviour.

I'm talking about the all too-familiar scenario of an average day on the highway. Here in Canada, it doesn't seem to be as bad as some of the places in the US you guys are talking about (Texas sounds particularily bad). Most people do get out of the way when you come up behind them. But there's always a few idiots.

Say the limit is 100 Km/h. The traffic will generally flow along at 120-130 Km/h on a nice day. But you always get some idiot who will sit in the left lane doing exactly 100 km/h. Add another person doing 100 Km/h in the right lane beside them and you create a dangerous traffic dam. They say it is their "right" and they are "doing the limit".

Bull*****. Anyone who subscribes to this point of view is an idiot. It is completely selfish thinking and that's what causes most problems on the road - people don't respect and consider other drivers.

You are not an individual on the highway - you are part of a moving collective of vehicles and it is your duty to be aware of the other vehicles and to respect each other and to avoid situations where you could create dangerous situations through bad judgement.

Is this so hard to comprehend?

It seems like this behaviour is worse in places where people hold individual rights very high. I suppose Texas is a bastion of independance and individual "don't mess with me, I'm a Texan" attitudes. A more social type of thinking - e.g. Germany - produces people who tend to think of the whole and not just themselves.

Personally, to try and bypass these drivers, I use the headlights, left blinker, etc. for a few Kms and then I see if they move. If not, I'll back off and look for an opportunity to pass.

If I can't, I force myself to back off and chill out, although I'm usually fuming at this point. I usually sing the song "I'm an *********" by Denis Leary out loud and imagine myself singing it to the other driver's face. Usually calms me down.

I think one of the reasons it drives me so nuts is that I consider myself a very aware and respectful driver. I always pass quickly and I never block the left lane if someone wants to pass me. I will get out of the way and let them by everytime. I'm also the kind of guy who moves out of the right hand lane when approaching highway on-ramps to allow incoming vehicles to merge onto the highway safely. I'll actively scan ahead to notice these things. I consider it prudent driving. I figure that if I can help make the environment around me safer by my driving decisions and actions, I am in effect helping myself.

Too bad more people don't understand this.

Wow, a good rant, thanks! Happy motoring!

Texans are the absolute worst drivers when it comes to the left hand lane issue. I drive on the interstate every day and I pretty much always have to pass the Texans in the right lane because they won't move their SUV's and trucks out of the way. There is literally not a day that goes by that I don't curse the Texans and their driving habits.

The bad part is that I live in Florida. I can't imagine living in Texas with these inconsiderate fools! I always regretted the times that I had to drive across Texas. I could be up on HWY 287 in the middle of no where and come across some Texas farm truck in the left hand lane going 40 miles an hour in a 65 MPH zone on a four lane HWY. NOT A FREAKIN CLUE THESE TEXAS DRIVERS!!!!!!!!

I apologize to those considerate Texas drivers who don't clog the left lane. However, the considerate ones are few and far between.

Ok it's Friday lets have some fun, what is the most crazy way you can think of to make these idiots move? What about putting flame throwers on your bumper and pulling up to about 6in from theirs and lighting them up.:D What I do when their is an idiot in the left lane is to ride their bumper as close as you can with your highbeams on then, honk your horn and flip them off.:D Once you pass them slaming on your brakes is a must.:D

howdy all,
well with me depends on time of day, an what I'm driving. with me truck, I just turn on the off-road lights... K.C. daylighters #3, it lights up the inside of there car sooooo brite ;) I can usually tell if a guy shaved that morning/ladies if they just put there make up on.
The one that seems to work the best over all is a very nice set of air horns like the truckers have.... an when they looky into there mirrior all they see is grill and bumber...:D still might get a set for the mb. :)

In our case, just get around them as quick as possible, and blow a big diesel stink cloud on their windshield.

Hopefully, this will hinder their visibility enough for them to wipe out by hitting the left lane guard rail, spinning 8 times at 60 - 65 mph and come smashing into a ravine on the other side.

Oh, yeah. I do that all the time.

Mine doesn't smoke that much, maybe if I buy some of the cheapist oil I can find and dump a gallon in my tank...

If you deem it necessary,

GO 4 IT.:)

Would it hurt anything? A smoke show would be cool.

Two peeves ..

The non-passers .. especially truckers going
up a gentle grade and the guy in back just
has to try to make a pass ......:rolleyes:
usually ends up with both lanes blocked and
speeds under 50 mph before we reach the crest
of the hill ..

The merge-morons .. right laners that for some
unknown reason have to 'race' you to the merge
point when you are trying to enter a freeway ..
usually with an empty lane on their left too ..
wouldn't think of moving over or slowing down
so you can enter the traffic flow :confused:

Especially noticeable when driving the diesel ..

Triffin