I mean if you aren’t moving faster than the other cars then you’re clearly not passing them. So it still fits it’s just a less nice way of saying that.
Yeah but there’s some plausible deniability when it’s called the “fast lane” because some will think “oh I’m already going as fast as the law says I can (or faster), therefore I don’t need to worry about those people going even faster than that because that’s illegal”.
Calling it the passing lane would throw away that argument because the speed and legality of that speed no longer matter: it’s all about going faster than those on the right so they can be passed, not how fast one should be legally able to go.
How? If you’re not moving faster then you’re not passing. So if you’re in what’s called the “passing lane” and you’re not moving faster than a car to your right then you’re not passing. It fits either way. Even if you call it the fast lane it’s still the same concept. “If you’re not moving faster get out of the fast lane” is just as accurate as “If you’re not passing get out of the passing lane”
I was more disputing the “less nice” thing, I don’t see how calling it the fast lane is “meaner” than calling it the passing lane. But objectively it is less accurate to the purpose of the lane. I do definitely really care about this though, it’s a globally critical distinction lol
there are times when you want to match speed with the people beside you because of road hazards or the like but if you’re in the lane without the intent to pass that’s the problem. also speed is a little vague, I thought to define it in terms of intent to pass rather than going faster than traffic because I know tradition for the left lane is about 30% faster than the speed limit which I feel is also a hazard.
a small distinction but in my opinion an important one when talking about a situation like this
I mean if you aren’t moving faster than the other cars then you’re clearly not passing them. So it still fits it’s just a less nice way of saying that.
Yeah but there’s some plausible deniability when it’s called the “fast lane” because some will think “oh I’m already going as fast as the law says I can (or faster), therefore I don’t need to worry about those people going even faster than that because that’s illegal”.
Calling it the passing lane would throw away that argument because the speed and legality of that speed no longer matter: it’s all about going faster than those on the right so they can be passed, not how fast one should be legally able to go.
It’s not less nice, it’s less accurate.
How? If you’re not moving faster then you’re not passing. So if you’re in what’s called the “passing lane” and you’re not moving faster than a car to your right then you’re not passing. It fits either way. Even if you call it the fast lane it’s still the same concept. “If you’re not moving faster get out of the fast lane” is just as accurate as “If you’re not passing get out of the passing lane”
Shouldn’t you call it the “faster lane” then?
I was more disputing the “less nice” thing, I don’t see how calling it the fast lane is “meaner” than calling it the passing lane. But objectively it is less accurate to the purpose of the lane. I do definitely really care about this though, it’s a globally critical distinction lol
there are times when you want to match speed with the people beside you because of road hazards or the like but if you’re in the lane without the intent to pass that’s the problem. also speed is a little vague, I thought to define it in terms of intent to pass rather than going faster than traffic because I know tradition for the left lane is about 30% faster than the speed limit which I feel is also a hazard.
a small distinction but in my opinion an important one when talking about a situation like this