🚀 go-pugleaf

In <71d4pu$40t$1@samba.rahul.net> c.c.eiftj@22.usenet.us.com (Rahul Dhesi) writes:

>In <71cnue$h46$1@sparky.wolfe.net> josh@WOLFENET.COM (Joshua_Putnam) writes:

>>If all the traffic moves slower than the speed limit because of
>>congestion, does everyone have to pull out of the left lane?

>>And if most traffic is moving above the speed limit, is it safe
>>to have one self-righteous speed enforcer driving slow in the
>>left lane?  Or should speed enforcement be left to the police,
>>who have the proper safety flashers when they obstruct traffic?

>These are good questions.  Another one that I often ask is:

>   Is it possible to legally drive in the leftmost lane?

>The answer is almost never yes.  Either you are speeding or you are
>obstructing traffic.

In general, at least under Washington law, the left lane is a
passing lane.  You aren't supposed to be there unless you're
passing someone, or preparing to take a left exit.

If traffic is so congested that all the other lanes are moving
below the speed limit, moving into the passing lane allows you
to pass traffic without speeding.  That's the explicitly stated
legilative intent of the law requiring drivers to stay right
except when passing.

>So, if to drive in the leftmost lane, you must break some law, which one
>should it be?  Is it better to be speeding, or to be obstructing
>traffic?

None of the above.  use the lane when it's legal; don't when it
isn't.

>Based on what you write, I assume you think it's better to be speeding
>than to be obstructing traffic.  

Legally speaking, niether.  If you can go faster than traffic by
moving into the passing lane, then by all means pass people in
the passing lane, but do it at a legal speed.  If you would have
to speed to pass people, then you have no legal reason to be
passing them.

--

 Josh@WolfeNet.com  is  Joshua Putnam / P.O. Box 13220 / Burton, WA 98013
                       "My other bike is a car."                   
                     http://www.wolfenet.com/~josh/