Driving in the right lane trick

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:01 pm

This seems to be universal rule, and it worked for me all over the world, except for left side driving countries – but you just need to change left to right and vise versa for those ones. Its amazingly high accuracy started to diminish somewhat in D.C. area recently, but still stays high. There are exceptions to this rule, and if you drive daily somewhere, you know the prevailing traffic pattern for the time of the day. But if you are in an unfamiliar place, it is your best bet to follow this rule while in traffic jam or in heavy traffic.

It sounds pretty simple: right lane is the fastest.

Explanation is pretty easy: average drivers (which are the majority of drivers on the road) prefer to stay in the left lane(s).

Member Joined: Dec 30, 2009 Posts: 18

Ha! It was just a theory, but now it's true!! I knew this, but didn't know about the rule. But you're right, everyone wants the 'fast' lane.

Active member Joined: Dec 24, 2009 Posts: 52

Be it a fast lane or slow lane, the lanes are constructed only to avoid congestion...

Member Joined: Jan 12, 2010 Posts: 41

Lanes are constructed not only to avoid congestion but also to avoid accidents by controlling the drivers speed.

Member Joined: Jan 23, 2010 Posts: 33

We must have a lot of country bumpkins in Arizona our far left lanes are the quickest and our far right lane is for on-coming and off-going traffic which is the slowest in California I do have to agree with you when it comes to the right lane, it was lickity split on there. lololo Very Happy

Member Joined: Feb 03, 2010 Posts: 18

In the country i live always people tend to choose the right lane and obviously becomes the crowded lane. i always prefer the left lane to ride freely and safely.

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:30 pm

Hey Tony, what side of the road you drive in your country? Welcome to Fun and Safe Driving BTW! Smile

Member Joined: Sep 15, 2010 Posts: 27

I think this is going to work for all. Thanks for sharing this tips dear. I bookmarked this forum. Also I love driving.

Member Joined: Apr 29, 2011 Posts: 44 Location: USA

It may not be so in Estonia, but road laws in NZ, which are based on those in Australia and the UK, say that people must indicate before entering a roundabout if they are turning. The law also says that people must indicate as they leave the roundabout, no matter if they have turned or not.

Master Driver Joined: Mar 27, 2010 Posts: 209

The professional term is that the right lane is the "lane of least ressistance."

This kind of observation is true in countries where keeping right isn't practiced so widely. It's a real shame. The lane choice has to do with the flow of traffic. When traffic keeps right, overtakes briefly from the left and quickly flushes back right, the traffic streams much better. In my country, people are not keen about keeping right, and the right lane is usually fastest. However, once a certain amount of cars are present on the road, traffic will congense and slow down.

However, in countries where people do keep right (Western Europe) traffic will flow at high speeds even when there are a lot of cars on the roads, where in my country (or in the US, for that matter) it would begin to congense and slow down.

But other than this functional and cultural advantage, the idea of keeping to the right is about SAFETY. In right-hand driving countries, where is the driver's seat? On the left! This means that you will have traffic passing you only to your left, rather than passing by you at both sides, or on the right where your awareness is reduced (because you have to look for the mirror all across the cabin).

In most cars, the left-wing mirror will also be bigger, to cover for the obstruction caused by the B pillar when drivers look over their shoulder. In some cars (of american make), the right mirror is made to enlarge the image ("Objects in the mirrors are closer than they appear") but this can cause problems in gauging the exact distance.

Furthermore, the road infrastructure is also made to suit this driving style, where in keeping right you have traffic to your left, with an immediate escape route to the right. In the first left lane (mistakenly called a "middle lane") you have traffic around you in all directions, and in the far-left lane there is often no shoulder or at least a very narrow one, and maybe even a risk of oncoming traffic.

Member Joined: Apr 19, 2012 Posts: 24

In the area that I live in The left lane is that fast lane and the right lane is slow. I guess its different in every area though. I find that the faster lane actually becomes slower to a certain degree because every one is in that lane. Now a days everyone want s to get some where fast so the stick to the fast lane. The lane then becomes more congested and has more accidents because people don't know how to slow down. The problem is that when you get in the fast lane most people speed not thinking that the still need to go the speed limit.