Even funnier(?) when they eventually pass on the right, then move back to the left, and after the slowpoke moves over and another faster car comes up behind them, they don’t move over!
(I pass them on the right and stay on the right, leading by example and all that.)
When I said right I obviously meant left.
(or whichever, depends which country you’re driving in, anyway).
Oh, well, that changes it completely, tailgating is perfectly fine then.
(I kid! I kid!)
There is no “fast lane”. You’re misreading your link. Texas law clearly states that you stay right unless you’re passing, turning left, etc. regardless of signage.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.545.htm
545.051. DRIVING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY. (a) An operator on a roadway of sufficient width shall drive on the right half of the roadway, unless:
(1) the operator is passing another vehicle;
(2) an obstruction necessitates moving the vehicle left of the center of the roadway and the operator yields the right-of-way to a vehicle that:
(A) is moving in the proper direction on the unobstructed portion of the roadway; and
(B) is an immediate hazard;
(3) the operator is on a roadway divided into three marked lanes for traffic; or
(4) the operator is on a roadway restricted to one-way traffic.
(b) An operator of a vehicle on a roadway moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles at the time and place under the existing conditions shall drive in the right-hand lane available for vehicles, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless the operator is:
(1) passing another vehicle; or
(2) preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
© An operator on a roadway having four or more lanes for moving vehicles and providing for two-way movement of vehicles may not drive left of the center line of the roadway except:
(1) as authorized by an official traffic-control device designating a specified lane to the left side of the center
of the roadway for use by a vehicle not otherwise permitted to use the lane;
(2) under the conditions described by Subsection (a)(2); or
(3) in crossing the center line to make a left turn into or out of an alley, private road, or driveway.
Not only this, but there is another car in the on ramp that is about to occupy the lane where the “slow” car would go to get out of the tailgater’s way. The brake checker has nowhere to go.
For every one tailgater I see 5 people hanging out in the left lane not passing. Tailgating is dangerous, I do not endorse it under any circumstance. Hanging out in the passing lane when you’re not passing is also dangerous and illegal as it disrupts the flow of traffic.
Look at your info again.
This is the law that says you drive on the right side of the road. This is why it keeps referencing “left of center of the roadway” and why the section is entitled DRIVING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY and why one of the unless conditions is (3) the operator is on a roadway divided into three marked lanes for traffic.
On a road with 3 or more lanes in total, you can drive on the left hand land which is right of the center of the roadway.
Edit to add: In Texas, the “Left Lane Is For Passing Only” roads and highways are extremely rare.
That rider made many terrible decisions in that video, but at least he was bright enough to wear protective gear for the ride. Maybe he’d watched too many of those, “Calico cat scares off black bear” videos?
More likely, he’s just a dumbass.
Law still says to stay right unless passing… There’s even news articles about it.
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
Victim blaming?
Question. Assume we’re in the most stereotypically pro-gun American state. I walk up to you, point a gun at you, and say “walk faster, or I’ll shoot”. You happen to be the fastest gunslinger in the West, so you can easily draw and shoot me before I can react. Would that count as self-defense?
I did think Americans had the right to use their guns to defend themselves against people who threaten their lives. And “threatening somebody’s life” is just how I would describe someone tailgating at that distance.
I’ll do another of my “in Austria we do this differently” posts. For 0.2 seconds distance, you can be fined up to about 2000€ and lose your license for at least half a year. If you did it on purpose, because you wanted to get the other driver to go faster or to change lanes, you have comitted a criminal offence on top of that. In order to get your way, you have threatened another person with serious bodily harm or serious damage to his property. Up to 1 year in prison.
And for reference, the maximum penalty for killing multiple people by drunk driving in that same country is three years.
So I can’t quite wrap my head around the concept that both drivers in this video are even on the same order of magnitude of guilt. But, I have to admit, there are plenty of drivers in Austria who can, I’ve had several of them drive behind me…
If people are getting hit on purpose, that means that the damages paid are higher than the actual damages caused by the accident.
I agree that the left lane is and should be for passing only. I tend to be a cautious conservative driver, and having been stuck a very slow person in the left lane does put you in the awkward position of switching lanes to pass. When i did it, even though there were no cops around, i wanted to be less obvious about it so i drove slightly faster than the car in the left so it looked like i wanted to be on the right lane. After a while i switched back to the left lane.
In my opinion if you have to pass someone do it that way rather than speed around them.
Brake checking is not self defense. Brake checking can be a criminal offense, especially if it causes a crash. Tailgating is illegal and dumb, no one should do it. Honestly I think that nobody should do any action purposefully that could potentially lead to a crash . Brake checking, tailgating, reckless driving, whatever. I can’t believe that there are so many people here defending someone who purposefully caused a crash.
Again, check your own links and info
Sec. 544.011. LANE USE SIGNS. If, on a highway having more than one lane with vehicles traveling in the same direction, the Texas Department of Transportation or a local authority places a sign that directs slower traffic to travel in a lane other than the farthest left lane, the sign must read “left lane for passing only.”
If no such sign exists then there is no restriction
The link listing states and their laws clearly states that Texas is a ‘slow traffic keep right’ state.
Another of your links also proves my point
545.051. DRIVING ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY. (a) An operator on a roadway of sufficient width shall drive on the right half of the roadway, unless:
This is the law stating you drive on the right HALF of the road and not that you cannot drive in the left lane of a multi lane road.
Also, police officers are one of the worst places to go for legal advice.
That article is mainly talking about people going slower than the speed limit.
I see many more people breaking the speed limit in the left lane, than I see people going under the speed limit.
Most tailgaters don’t appear to know they’re doing it since they’re so used to driving in heavy traffic, and sitting on someone’s ass is a good way to offload speed control (for the most part) to the person ahead. They have little understanding of following distance or stopping distances when at speed. But there are plenty of folks, described above, who do the passive aggressive tailgating, clearly intended to frighten the tailgatee into another lane.
It’s this second group that needs to be killed immediately. The first group can be killed somewhat more discriminately over a longer period of time.
Also, sorry cousin Ted. I’ve seen the way you drive, so you go to the front of the death queue.
Ok fine… if a sign is there then that’s the law in texas… whatever. There’s still no law that designates the left lane as the “fast” lane, anywhere in texas law.
Also the fact that most states do have laws regarding passing lanes on highways has made it a general courtesy in the US to stay in the right lane unless you are actively passing. And when I say highways I don’t mean streets, i mean divided, higher speed highways. If you want to camp in the left lane and hold up passing and disrupting the flow of traffic because there isn’t a bloody sign… feel free to do so on your texas highways, I could give a shit.
Buy a motorcycle and move to California? (Or Australia, lane filtering is legal in all of the Eastern states here now).
No, I don’t think they share equal guilt. I think though when ever someone is being aggressive, the smart thing to do is to TRY to diffuse and avoid, not spark something to make it worse.
First off, with your analogy, we have to change things around. A weapon like a gun or a knife would be viewed as a direct threat. Brandishing both weapons like that is a crime in the US. A direct deadly threat I think warrants more direct action.
But let’s just say you have some big guy come up and get real close to you and say “move” or “walk faster”, possibly adding a threat of violence. There in lies the grey area. What do you do? Let the aggressive person go by? Refuse? Attack him first? Sure, this guy has no right to bully you, but being an aggressive asshole can’t always be made in to a criminal act. Out side of your car, I bet 9 time out of 10 you would, and should, just let the person go by. You may be in the right, but why escalate things to where you might get hurt or killed?
As for tailgating in a car, I disagree someone tail gating me is threatening my life, and I think the law says the same thing. Is it dangerous? Sure. So is it when some guy flies by you 15mph faster and you are already 10mph over the limit.
I don’t know if there are tailgating laws on the books. I bet it varies from state to state. I would agree that if done on purpose it should be a criminal offense. Of course it is rather hard to catch something like this. You nearly have to be in the traffic to spot it. I do know many states have catch all laws where something like that could result in being pulled over for reckless driving.
They didn’t “purposefully cause a crash” - they MAY have purposefully braked to get the tailgater off their back. They may also have seen some debris in the road or had other reasons to brake. The crash happened because the tailgater was following too closely. One car length is UNQUESTIONABLY too close at any speeds over 10 mph.
As for your article - all of the reasons cited that the front car might have committed assault are ALSO true of the tailgating car:
Only with #4 - the FRONT car could be argued to be acting in self-defense as the tailgater has committed assault FIRST by endangering the FRONT driver first.
