🚀 go-pugleaf

Clark Simmons wrote:
> 
> Olin Murrell wrote:
> > This, of course, is Really Good Reason #4,612 to simply allow speeders to
> > get on by, down the road and away from YOUR car.
> >
> > You (the generic 'you') really have no clue "why" they want to go faster
> > than you, just that they do. If you can pull over safely, it costs you
> > nothing, and really does add to overall road safety.
> 
> No, I have no clue for why someone wants to exceed the posted limit
> except in the case of a bona fide emergency, nor do I care except when
> it directly affects me.
> >
> > The simple fact is, you left lane campers can come up with all the
> > rationalizations you wish for your actions, but they really amount to a
> > lower form of vigilantism, and they ARE illegal. People HAVE been
> > ticketed for obstructing traffic in Texas, and CAN be again. Because some
> > cop claims "there's no such law," merely points to how ignorant some
> > officers can be.
> 
> I know on no one who has been ticketed for driving the posted limit in
> the left lane and failing to yield to traffic approaching from the
> rear.  Nor have you. And you won't, because it's perfectly legal.
> Perhaps you can cite something to the contrary.  I've made cites showing
> the legality of it from a pretty authorative source.

OK, Clark. How about the Texas Department of Public Safety. Two officers 
there have confirmed the existance of a Texas law that clearly states 
obstruction of traffic is a ticketable offense. How about a pretty widly 
published story several years ago, along your very route (San 
Antonio/Austin)? Seems two guys decided they'd save all the out of 
towners the hassle of having to visit the Selma City Hall, so there they 
drove, right down I-35, at 55mph, then the posted speed limit in that 
famous/infamous little burg. Only problem was, one of the cars stuck in 
the five or six mile long traffic jam behind them was a DPS trooper, who 
got out onto the service road to see what was going on. When he found 
out, he pulled them BOTH over, and wrote them a ticket for, guess what, 
obstructing traffic! And, guess what? It stuck and they paid whatever 
fine the court levied.

> >
> > It's true that such tickets are rarely written, mostly in favor of the
> > more easily defended "speeding" tickets, but consider this. Relatively
> > few "failure to yield right of way," "improper lane change," and
> > "improper speed for conditions" tickets are written either. Does that
> > mean these actions are any less dangerous? I don't think so, and
> > obstructing traffic leads to increased frustration levels, which
> > dramatically increases the danger level on the roads.
> 
> The simple reason that it's not required for a driver driving at the
> posted limit in the left lane to pull over for traffic approaching from
> the rear is because its safer than lane weaving.  And it is the law.
> >

Ah, Clark, have you noticed what's being talked about is the OBSTRUCTION 
of traffic. If you're driving down a stretch of freeway, with very little 
traffic, then most folks will pass you on the right with no more than a 
ponderous glance. It's when somebody is driving along at the same speed 
as the car next to them that obstruction of traffic can occur. And, I'm 
sorry if your sources have misled you to believe that is not a ticketable 
offense, at ANY speed, above or below the posted limit, because it most 
assuredly is one in Texas.

-- 
Olin Murrell
Austin, TX
olin@bga.com
http://www.realtime.com/~olin