In my part of the country, on and off ramps are treacherously short in some places and have poor sight lines in others, so the left lane acts as a de facto buffer and everyone uses the middle as the cruising lane.
For those saying “Get out of the middle lane!” What if I don’t know the area and I’m trying to minimize the amount of suddenly needed lane changes I need to do to get into the correct one?
What if I’m driving a clunker and my transmission doesn’t handle constant speed changes well making staying on the on-ramp lane a little risky?
What if I’m already fucking going 9mph over the speed limit? Look motherfucker I’m risking being late to work too, but I’m not going 10+ I can’t afford a fucking ticket either and I’m not slowing down or dangerously constantly changing lanes because your rich ass can afford repeated speed tickets.
To be clear, I do not advocate tailgaiting or passing on the right, I pretty much always leave early, always use GPS even for local trips (I’m in the middle of a bunch of suburbs and highways and there’s always a slowdown/accident) and I don’t generally go more than 10 over.
If you’re slower than the flow, you should be in the right unless you know you’re going to need to be on the left. You should not be going slower than the people on your right, legal, not legal, doesn’t really matter.
Those people blowing by on the right are riskier than riding in the middle. Sooner or later, they’ll overtake on the right, find there’s a car in the blind zone ahead, and swerve back into the person running in the middle.
Unknown sudden lange changes? use GPS
Clunker? don’t drive a car that’s unsafe
Already speeding? doesn’t much matter, if everyone else on the road is going faster, you’re putting yourself in danger.
Driving slower in the middle should only be done as an exception, for your own safety.
Those people are wrong. On a 3+ lane highway, the right lane is for entering or exiting, the left lane is for passing, and the middle lane(s) is for cruising. Unless you’re like, only doing 55 or something, in which case just get off the interstate and take surface streets.
You’ll get ticketed for that in the UK. Keep left (right) unless overtaking.
I was once driving to work very early in a bank holiday morning. Dual carriageway, literally nobody but me in either direction. I’m doing 70 in the left lane (which, for those who don’t know, is the correct lane and the speed limit here in the UK).
Suddenly, a guy comes haring up behind me at what must have been at least 100. He doesn’t overtake, but instead sits an inch from my bumper. I do what any reasonable person would do - i take my foot completely off the accelerator and just let my car slowly slow down, to encourage him to overtake.
I shit you not, my car got down to 30 MPH before he pulled out and started overtaking.
And then he gave me WTF gestures as he shot past.
Reminder - this was a dual carriageway, two lanes in the direction we were travelling, and there was literally nobody else on the road.
It’s the weirdest thing.
If i were Freddy Kreuger I’d invade the dreams of tailgaters and give them a different nightmare every night - one night they’re paralysed for the rest of their life from an accident they caused, the next they have to live with having killed a child, etc - until they stop fucking doing it.
Oh this is one of my favorite stories
I lived kinda far outside of the city that I worked. I drove a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, with the 2800 supercharged engine. My commute home often had traffic, and I was tryna get home asap. I found myself behind a car in the left lane, going the speed limit, and I was like manically desperate to get around her.
Finally I have the opportunity to pass, and I roar past her, glancing over to see an older woman in a headscarf, I assume Muslim, with a flip phone wedged between her headscarf and her ear, having a lively conversation with someone. I increase my speed until she is just a dot in the background.
I come to my exit, at the bottom of which is a stoplight, and I wait: white knuckled, sweating bullets, heaving and seething behind the wheel. A car pulls up next to me at the light and look who it is: the same woman, phone to her ear, talking to whoever, oblivious to my existence.
I considered her, then considered myself, and realized I was a fucking maniac likely doing harm to myself and god knows who else, and I didn’t get anywhere any faster than someone going the speed limit.
Then and there I decided to chill the fuck out about driving.
But I miss that car
I’m a chill guy, but put me in a car and I just want to get from A. to B. as fast as possible, and interfering with that will make me angry. I have thought a lot about this and have come to realize I just hate driving. I hate everything about it. I want to limit my time in a car to a minimum, and it can make me act in ways contradictory to my personality. I fully believe this is the same issue suffered by most people who have a road rage problem, even people who love their car or value their independence. Millions of otherwise chill people get out on the road and turn into lunatics because driving a car is an unnatural wholey overstimulating process.
I agree that driving is unnatural and overstimulating, and that’s definitely part of it. I think another part of it is that it’s really easy to see other drivers on the road as “other cars” more than “other people”. Driving is dehumanizing, in the sense that it makes it harder for people to see other drivers as fellow humans rather than adversarial machines, and people act accordingly.
Oh for sure. Car culture is a blight on the human spirit, its so ironic that being able to drive is associated with freedom, since it is a yoke around our necks.
The psychological effects are so toxically individualist, I’m driving down the road and someone is going below the speed limit, and I get frustrated, pass them, and see its some elderly person. My very first thought is “God who let’s them drive” but then I realize they have literally no choice but to drive, or be driven. What if they have a Dr appt to go to? If they have double seeing or hearing, well we will just ignore that.
I take the vision test to drive without my glasses and I straight up can not fucking see. But I pass the test no problem. Scary stuff
I mean, the actual answer is basically yes.
People who routinely tailgate have anger management problems.
If you are tailgating because you are in some specific, actual emergency situation, getting to a hospital, that’s one thing.
If you tailgate habitually, you almost certainly have some kind of condition that involves anger management issues or emotional regulation problems.
“space on both sides”
Please keep to the right when you are able.
At least where I am in the US, it’s generally good etiquette to be in the middle lane so cars can merge onto the highway easily.
Where I am the on ramps aren’t so frequent that it’s implausible to move over once in a while when there’s an onramp.
Well thank god we all live where you do. Shame traffic is awful now that we have 9 billion people and inconsistent on ramps though.
You should be leaving enough stopping distance between yourself and the next car that someone can merge easily and you have time to react by slowing down or moving to the next lane to make space for them. If you don’t have that much stopping distance, then you’re already in danger if the car in front brakes suddenly, e.g. if they need to do an emergency stop because of something you’ve not seen, they have a medical event making them lose consciousness and accidentally step on the brake pedal, or their car breaks down in a way that forces the breaks on.
It really doesn’t have anything to do if there is a car in front or not.
At least in the Pittsburgh area, because of the hilly terrain, there is often not enough reaction time between seeing if a car is waiting on an on ramp and switching lanes.
Also, it isn’t just me. AAA driving instructions say use the middle lane for through-traffic.
https://autoclubsouth.aaa.com/Assets/PDFs/freeway_driving.pdf
Generally, the right lane of a freeway is for entering and exiting the traffic flow. It is a staging lane, for use at the beginning and end of your freeway run. The middle lanes are for through traffic, and the left lane is for passing. If you are traveling on a roadway with more than two lanes, you should move out of the right lane unless you are driving at a slower speed or preparing to enter or exit.
this is completely incorrect—stay in the middle lane if you’re going to be on the highway for a while. if there are 3 or more lanes, the right is generally for exiting, far left for passing and middle for general travel.
How is it supposed to be efficient to use an entire lane only for exiting?
Oooh, you’d suck driving in Europe.
Wrong.
Several states have “stay in the right lane unless passing” laws.
When there are 3 lanes? I think most of the laws are to stay OUT of the left lane, not that you must stick to the right lane. I could be wrong but 2 passing only lanes seems a bit excessive.
That doesn’t make any sense
Which part?
Depends. If in the US the majority of states have “keep right except to pass” laws along with “failure to yield” laws. Some states do have exceptions for busy merging areas that say taking the center lane is acceptable for the duration.
So if someone is camping the center lane slower than prevailing traffic in that lane they are potentially violating two laws.
I don’t know where you are, so I write this for US people seeing as there seems to be a growing issue of people using the center of three lanes as a slow lane and it really fucks up the flow.
It really doesn’t fuck up the flow people are just driving 20 over and going “hurr this guy going the speed limit or 5 over in the cruising lane is breaking the law!” Then still pass on either side
Countries where you have to drive as much to the right as possible also have laws stating it’s illegal to overtake on the right. Overtaking on the right has the same fine as jogging the middle lane if there’s space on the right.
I guess this mostly indicates to always check the actual road laws of the regions you’re driving in. But generally in Europe hogging the middle lane indicates you’re a danger on the road who should not be allowed to drive a car.
There are several US states that can cite for passing in the right, though I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening.
It depends on the country. In France for example, middle and left are for passing.
Check the laws in your state. I doubt it says anything like “stay in the middle lane if you’re going to be in the highway for a while” or “middle is for general travel”, which means you’re probably the driver camping in the middle lane when you should be moving over.
It depends on the flow of traffic. The rightmost lane makes sense when there isn’t slow and frequent traffic in it and there isn’t someone going faster behind you, otherwise you are creating more traffic by constantly switching lanes and making everyone else deal with it. It also depends on whether the lanes are going to be bifurcated or have to deal with exits or entries.
I disagree that changing lanes “creates more traffic.” Even moving right for 30 seconds allows faster traffic behind you to move over. In fact, lots of country roads have passing lanes open up for 2 km stretches where cars are expected to move over only for that distance.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8535848/
https://www.teguyinc.com/post/key-common-sense-behaviours-that-can-improve-traffic-flow
https://scisimple.com/en/articles/2025-09-29-the-impact-of-lane-changes-on-traffic-flow--a9pvypw
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-09014-x
You do you, which apparently means skipping over the conditionals of my comment. If that’s your attention to detail, then you should definitely stick to the right lane. Here, have some articles which are actually nuanced about how changing lanes can contribute to traffic, hopefully they’ll instill a greater sense of awareness.
Middle is for cruising with 3 or more lanes. Right lane if there are only 2
Not really though, all lanes except the rightmost lane should be passing lanes. It is different in urban areas where they often open up 2 or 3 lanes for exit only or I there is constant heavy merging. But in general, keep right unless passing
in Ontario every lane is a passing lane.
Middle, and the right if no middle available.
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
I didn’t realize driving in the middle lane when not passing was that controversial.
It shouldn’t be. Lemmy just has a bad habit of assuming their exact existence is the right one and anyone disagreeing is testing their resolve.
I agree why the heck are they in the middle lane when the slow lane is open, and yes I do like being angry so get the fuck over to the slow lane.
I’m a school bus driver and I get tailgaters like this all the time. They don’t seem to grasp that I absolutely cannot see them at all when they’re that close, not in my mirrors nor even through the windows in the back door. It’s extra fun when they do it in a 15mph school zone and lay on the horn for good measure. Like yeah dude, I’m going to speed through a school zone in a fucking school bus so you can get to the red light up ahead five seconds sooner, thanks for letting me know.
Dude yesterday I was driving the few hundred feet between 2 school zones at about 8am and this car comes up behind me and honks at me for going 22ish and at first I go “huh yeah I suppose I should have my lights on it is kinda overcast out” and turned my lights on. Then I realized as they tailgated they were mad that I was going a couple mph under the limit. So when I reached the next school zone (which is actually setup for a park so no children present at 8am) I slowed all the way down to 15mph which really got them to lay on their horn. They then sped off from behind me into the high school when I turned onto the road the highschool is on. Like bro, if you’re that late to class the extra 30 seconds of commute time driving a bit slower isn’t going to make any difference, but your anger level absolutely will
Anyways folks need to calm down on the “gotta go fast” mentality. I’ve biked that same route, as in all manual hauling 100lbs of kids behind me. If it makes no noticable difference going 2-10mph (depending on hills) while biking it’s not going to make any difference at all whether you go 22mph or 27mph. And I find it wild that folks don’t play with that at all. Even when I had a 70 mile commute I tested it and found no noticable change in commute time whether I went exactly the speed limit or 5-8mph over the limit (speed of traffic) but I did see a noticable reduction in gas consumption by going a bit slower, as in an entire gallon of fuel each direction saved
I hope you slow down a little when they lay on the horn
Nah, I don’t want them thinking they’re influencing my actions in any way whatsoever.
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.
they’re selfish and ignorant
Depending on the road, this might be reasonable.
The right lane is often used for exiting or merging, so being in the middle lane is safer and allows others to use the right lane for this purpose more easily.
Frequently switching between right and middle lane because of the occasional slower/merging car only increases the chances of a collision, because switching lanes is more complicated than staying in one lane.
Staying in one lane all throughout the drive reduces cognitive load for the driver. This means they’re less distracted and can respond better to surprises or emergencies. (I’m assuming they’re not distracted by something else like using their phone, that’s a whole other topic)
In urban areas, the right lane is closer to parked cars, cyclists and pedestrians, making it inherently more dangerous to drive in.
So yeah, if the right lane is completely empty of cars and it’s not an urban area, they should use it. Otherwise, middle lane is probably the best choice.
The middle lane is an overtaking lane just like any other lanes toward the middle of the roadway (reverse that for the handful of countries that drive on the other side of the road). Every country I’ve sat for a drivers test in has had that as a very basic concept and the single country I’ve actually seen it followed had the best damn driving experience (German’s follow the rules and their roads are better for it).
I agree with you. The thing is, the overriding principle (and law) of driving is to be cautious. By my interpretation, all other laws can be bent if bending them is safer than strictly adhering to them. Hence my previous comment.
You thouched the core of the thing at the very end: basically how appropriate or not it is to ride in center lane when there’s plenty of room in the rightmost lane depends on how frequent exits and entrances are in the stretch of road you’re in as well as how those entrances and exits are setup (basically, how long is the merge lane), the speed you’re going at and the risk due to things on the side of the road.
I don’t think anybody is contesting not being on the right lane all the time in an avenue in the middle of a city where there are constant junctions with side streets.
That said your “cognitive load” theory is all about doing what’s best for yourself and fuck everybody else - if somebody is needlessly on the center lane when there’s plenty of room on the right lane and plenty of distance between entrances, then they’re just needlesslesy forcing others to endanger themselves by going into an even more dangerous lane, and doing because they lazy and selfish (because having to pay attention maybe once every couple of minutes to entrances or overtaking isn’t all that much cognitive load unless one is an actual moron in the scientific sense.
That’s the same logic used by people who don’t use direction indicators unless it’s helpful for them personally.
The optimal level of selfishness so that the road is as safe as possible for everybody is quite a bit below “whatever is less of a hassle for me”.
Thanks, I think we’re mostly in agreement.
Regarding the selfishness thing: first, I should clarify that I only meant that part assuming the right lane would occasionally have obstacles (other cars). If it’s totally free, there’s no reason to leave it.
I’m talking about when the choice is either constantly zigzagging between middle and right, or staying in the middle. In that case I think staying in the middle reduces cognitive load both for yourself and for other drivers. Less lane switches on the road, less chaos. It’s not as selfish as you make it out.
Also, each time you switch lanes you temporarily occupy both lanes at the same time, so if you zigzag you’re taking up more of the road, which is arguably more selfish.
Comparing to people who don’t indicate is not fair. They’re just idiots, even selfishness can’t explain it because they’re making it more likely that they’ll be in a crash. There is not a single sensible argument to not use turn signals.
On highways in town no such rule.
Why does the guys in the middle lane have to be driving slow? The speed limit is usually 65 on highways by me, and if the fella is doing 75, can he not stay in the middle lane? If he is not getting off for a time, 75 in the middle lane seems reasonable? He could be doing 80 and this scenario can still happen.
You’ll have the guy in the truck come up behind you doing 90. Is the car really slow, at ten over the speed limit? Or is the car only slow once someone fast doing 90 shows up? Why must the barely rule abiding citizen, yeild to the blatant speeder?
The determining factor isn’t speed, it’s the availability of the right lane. If there aren’t any vehicles to your right, that’s where you belong.
I don’t care if I’m doing 90, if there is no one slower than me that I’ll catch up to in the next 20-30 seconds, I move right.
That’s terrifying for any car that now has to merge onto a highway starting at 90mph
Why would they have to do that? If they’re in front of me, I’ll move left to pass. If they’re behind me, they’re already behind me. Have you never driven on a highway before? This is pretty standard stuff.
If they merge in front of you and you were going 90 in the right lane because it was “empty”, you are personally trying to recreate a train by merging your cars together.
Choosing to go as fast as you want in the most unpredictable lane is bad driving even if you consider it standard bad practice.
So, I suppose I’ll have to move left, as I said. Or, if the left lane isn’t available I guess I’ll have to summon up the energy to lift my right foot a bit, accelerators can be in more than one position.
This is not a difficult concept. Allowing someone to merge is a perfectly normal thing. I don’t understand how you don’t understand this.
Reading your comments is like watching one of those commercials for some cheap gadget that “solves” a problem I can’t believe exists. You know the ones, where some hapless dweeb is struggling and fumbling to complete some simple task then looks at the camera and says “If only there was an easier way!” You can’t believe anyone would buy this thing, but then you think if people this stupid didn’t exist, neither would these commercials.
I guess what I’m saying is, assuming you’re not just being contrary or trying to justify your own shitty driving, if you really think simple highway tasks are this hard, then for your own sake, since you obviously don’t give a shit about anyone else, stick with surface streets and stay off the highway.
I’m not gonna live your fantasy, nor legitimize it.
Your insistence that I don’t see things your way when at the root level I disagree with it is not changing me. Nor your petty insistence that I am somehow incompetent for being safe and cautious about driving instead of… Self indulgent.
You share the highway with people that aren’t you. Get used to it.
The speed limit is usually 65 on highways by me, and if the fella is doing 75, can he not stay in the middle lane?
Traffic flows more smoothly when drivers keep to the right when possible, even if you’re speeding a little bit.
I swear my drivers ed book said the right most lane is for entering/exiting the highway, middle lane is for cruising, and left lane for passing.
Y’all I cursed myself anyway, just drove the highway today, I don’t have to take it often these days, and no less then three times was a fella in the left lane doing 60mph. I get the gripe, I don’t understand the need to go 90. But that’s me and kind of irrelevant unless theres a left exit to take.
I think there are as many drivers who should get some patience for others, as there are folks who need to move tf over. Both are dangerous to other drivers.
If that were true there should be only two lanes per direction, and no use to the third lane.
What BS. So everyone in right lane who goes slower then YOU. is the answer.
Everyone to the right, regardless of speed, unless actively passing is the answer.
They forgot the passes you and then slows down.
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 workAngle your rear spray to spray backwards away from you rear window, then fill the dispenser with baby oil. They’ll have to stop to clean their windshield.
Thanks for the protip lol
I just turn my brake lights on, usually that makes them think I’m braking and they back off a bit
they almost always come back, though…
How do you do that? Does your light come on before you actually start braking?
just press lightly and it triggers the lights with barely any actual braking effect
done with the left foot so I don’t actually change speed
Fun story, my car had a recall for the brake light coming on randomly. After they replaced the part, then the brake light wouldn’t come on at all. Then they made it so the brake light would only sometimes come on. I said screw it and finally fixed it myself. The pedal pushed down on two different things, one to actually operate the brakes, and a separate little button for the electronic brake indication for the lights and for the cruise control to disengage (the cruise control also stayed active even when hitting the brake pedal).
Anyway, they screwed up setting the electronic button and I had to position it correctly in the little bracket, where it gets pressed if the brake pedal barely moves even if it takes a smidge of actual distance to start the real braking.
The fact these are separate is fucked up…
Yes, just lightly press on the brake pedal.
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.
In Germany tailgating is forbidden, and is also driving in the middle lane.
Truly an egalitarian society.
Also depends a bit by state (in the USA), Georgia enacted a law that essentially made it illegal to be passed on the right, speeding or not, if you are slower than the car behind you they want you to be to the right (https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-40/chapter-6/article-9/section-40-6-184/).
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.
It used to be the law that you should move to the right whenever possible. That restriction was eased to say that if there’s at least some traffic every once in a while on the right lane that you don’t have to move over, if you are on a 3-lane highway.
The reason for that easing was to reduce the danger that is created by frequent unnecessary lane changes.
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 like the ones that ride your ass when you’re leaving an appropriate distance while in the left lane behind a dozen cars passing a line of a dozen cars at 1km/h because the driver at the front is oblivious
like, what do you want me to do, buddy? we’re here for the next five to ten minutes and nothinge I can do will change that
despite me driving close to the speed limit on highways
I mean are you driving the speed limit though?
It’s a limit not a minimum
Fun fact: some car speedometers are usually set to show speed faster than what you are actually driving at, which can be tested with GPS. Also, the German Autobahn exists and limits are generally set to prevent accidents when accidents are liable to occur.
When people are generally horrible about determining when they have to drive carefully (or simply because local governments need more funds), they get treated as hard limits, but enforcement and usage varies widely. It and the backlash it would receive is the reason traffic enforcement hasn’t begun requiring and/or subpoena’ing people’s routes through GPS to automatically fine them when they exceed the limits, something they could easily do in today’s world. If you take that as saying that you can drive however you want though, you just need another asshole like yourself to have an accident.
It’s absolutely a minimum if conditions aren’t bad. Get better tires and skill lmao
