Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Left lane drivers
- This topic has 46 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by KBear.
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May 24, 2016 at 5:15 pm #845209
aaParticipantDo you know you are supposed to drive on the right except for passing? You left lane road hogs going across the bridge heading West, or going up the admiral hill, your selfishness slows traffic and makes driving a mess. Forcing people to pass you on the right which is illegal and dangerous. Move over, put down your phone or burger or toothbrush down and drive properly. Sheesh folks!
May 24, 2016 at 6:57 pm #845211
CMPParticipantThis doesn’t bother me so much on neighborhood arterials or the West Seattle Bridge but on freeways? Heck no! I’ve been on I-5 and I-90 when no one is in the right lane but the left two lanes are full of slow pokes. It’s a special Washington phenomenon. I could go on and on about the deplorable drivers in this region but I know others will chime in that we’re “polite”.
May 24, 2016 at 7:08 pm #845212
DaveBParticipantSeattleites veer left in their politics and their driving.
I’ve talked to people (in their 40s+) who claim they never learned about the left lane in driver’s ed or later.
May 25, 2016 at 9:08 am #845252
CMPParticipantDaveB, there are these weird signs on the freeways that say “Keep Right Except to Pass” so these people must not know how to read either ;-) I grew up here and really don’t remember what I learned in my Defensive Driving classes at age 15. When I moved back to Seattle after college, I had to get a Washington license and the lady at the DMV insisted I had to take the written test even though I knew I didn’t. I read that booklet in a panic, luckily passed the test and the best part was that I relearned things I had forgotten in my 16 year old daze. I’m all in favor of retesting everyone on the written and driving test every five or so years to maintain skills. If that worries anyone, then maybe you shouldn’t be driving!
May 25, 2016 at 2:12 pm #845293
J242Participant” there are these weird signs on the freeways that say “Keep Right Except to Pass” so these people must not know how to read either ;-) ”
Not on I-90, I-5 through town, 520, or 405 there aren’t. You have to get outside the city to see any signs. I agree entirely as my 3-4 highway, two bridge commute each way to/from work is often quite frustrating from this and I keep wishing they would put up signs.
http://www.wsp.wa.gov/information/releases/2016_archive/mr031516b.htm
May 25, 2016 at 2:14 pm #845294
J242ParticipantThe only exception to the stay right I have locally is heading down Admiral Hill towards the bridge. A good portion of the time you’ll be stuck in the right lane and no one will let you merge safely to the left to get on the bridge. Trying to make a left at Luna Park? Also difficult and having to make a right, then find somewhere to make a legal U-Turn is just absurd.
May 25, 2016 at 3:27 pm #845300
KBearParticipantIf you mean turning left from Manning onto Avalon, it’s not just difficult, it’s illegal. https://westseattleblog.com/forums-2/topic/offical-word-about-left-on-avalon-by-luna-park/
May 25, 2016 at 6:27 pm #845319
JanSParticipantgoing up Admiral, I get into the left lane since I am going to be making a left turn at the top of the hill….going down Admiral, I’m in the left lane going to get on the bridge…the right lane is right turn only, and then you block those people because those already in the left lane wont let you in. On the bridge(eastbound) I would only get in the left lane if I was going to go to I-5. I stay in the next lane over, going to Beacon Hill. Then I run into those who did the same thing, but really want into the left lane in front of the others and hold up traffic. Westbound? Right lane all the way…taking an exit at Admiral. And I never wait until the last second to make my move. And I go the speed limit…and if that slows you down because you want to get there as fast as you can, I apologize.
May 25, 2016 at 6:28 pm #845320
JanSParticipantKBear…thanks for pointing that out.
May 25, 2016 at 6:48 pm #845329
CMPParticipantI drove to Bellingham the weekend that “enforcement” on left lane camping took place and I didn’t see a single State Trooper pull anyone over. And I saw plenty of violators. Pass or be passed, no camping please!
May 27, 2016 at 11:32 am #845574
DaveBParticipantThe signs could also be improved where they exist. say “Keep Right Except to Pass” is a little vague. I’d vote for something like “The Left Lane is the Passing Lane. Pass and Get Over.”
If I weren’t so lazy I’d write my representatives, instead of just complaining on a website.
May 28, 2016 at 11:50 am #845667
VVTParticipantGreat rant! I didn’t know that the “keep right except to pass” applied on our local arterials such as Admiral. I’m guilty of staying left, since heading eastbound on Admiral the right lane becomes a right-turn-only lane, and heading westbound up the hill the right lane merges to the left after California. Same on California heading both north and south, the right lane disappears.
I can’t fault people for keeping left on many streets in Seattle. However, the freeway driving thing is a bit silly here. In all my cross-country driving trips, the majority of drivers have known to keep right except to pass, until I encountered Washington drivers for the first time three years ago.May 28, 2016 at 8:27 pm #845702
KBearParticipantExactly, VVT. I thought the keep right signs were ridiculous until I moved here and became acquainted with Washington drivers. Might as well post the entire drivers’ manual on roadside signs. It would be the first time some of them had ever read it. If they bothered to look up from their phones, that is.
May 29, 2016 at 6:55 am #845721
JoBParticipantI agree that keeping to the right except to pass makes great sense on freeways.. but on city arterials using the left hand lane as a passing lane works only until someone has to turn left.. and then those speeding up to pass have to come to a screeching halt…
i love to watch the road jockeys speed up to wait for me to catch them at the next light.. or better yet to come to a screeching halt behind someone turning left.
i try to resist the temptation to wave at them as i pass ;-)
May 31, 2016 at 10:47 am #845964
ShawnParticipantI purposefully drive in the left lane down Highland Park Way and Admiral doing exactly the posted speed limit (30MPH in both cases) just to piss off the people who feel it is their right to do 50 down these streets.
June 1, 2016 at 8:51 pm #846151
JanSParticipantShawn…thank you, thank you…I do that , too…at least on Admiral…and hopefully, if they get in the right lane to speed up and pass, they have to wait to get in line, because mostly they aren’t turning right down there on Admiral. And I always think….where’s a cop when you need them. I know it’s not nice, but I smile when I see someone getting stopped for speeding on Admiral, either direction :D
June 2, 2016 at 7:29 am #846176
mtnfreakParticipantAs we love to point out over and over, the West Seattle Bridge is not a freeway. Its simply not practical to weave between lanes to satisfy your request, especially during heavy use periods. The safe thing to do is to pick the lane you know you need for your exit, and sit tight.
In the last few years, I’ve become very conscious of how pedestrian and bicyclist survivability it dramatically impacted by just a difference of 5mph, and now I try not to speed at all in areas posted below 40mph. So I’m one of those people insisting on driving the speed limit or really close to it, in the left lane on Admiral between the bridge and California.
Slow down folks – the difference of 5mph isn’t going to dramatically change your commute time, but it might save someone’s life…
June 2, 2016 at 8:47 am #846190
J242ParticipantAgreed Mtnfreak, although I usually stay right heading up Admiral until the view curve goes from north to west, then merge over right after the light as I’m usually going to the Safeway on the left. If I’m going to the MM or Muttley Crew I stay in the right lane. Nice and easy and I go the speed limit. Too many houses right there to have to be aware of possible cars, bikers, joggers, animals, etc. Better safe than sorry! :)
June 2, 2016 at 6:21 pm #846244
sboneParticipantPlease help me understand. A couple of you are advocating and promoting breaking the law and taking the law into your own hands by driving slow in the left hand lane because you feel you have the right to slow somebody else down. Why do you even care? How do you know it’s not an emergency situation and you are in the way? Do you also block joggers when they try to pass you out on a walk? Have you ever heard of the saying, “two wrongs do not make a right”?
June 3, 2016 at 6:20 am #846292
935ParticipantHey Sbone…looks like you havent been here in a while, but your evaluation is SPOT on. Don’t know how long some of these other “regular” posters have been here. BUT I can say that many of the moral compasses are very skewed in the “self” direction…As in – ‘what i say is correct and i am going to MAKE you acquiesce”
People so sad with their day to day lives, they must come here and metastasize their disdain…
Stick around – they’ll probably respond to this post…or take a look at some of the other posts (especially politically related) and they become apparent…..June 3, 2016 at 6:54 am #846293
SunuvaParticipantAs the last couple posts have pointed out, it is NOT okay (also not funny or cool) to purposefully block people from passing you. On freeways, where “stay right except to pass” is in force, it is absolutely illegal. If you are not a law enforcement officer then it is not your job to enforce the speed limit. It is also a fantastic way to spur road rage, which can escalate into very dangerous situations. Frustrated drivers may doing something even more dangerous than traveling above the speed limit because you blocked them, and engaging in that behavior makes you part of the problem. Instead, please just move over and let people by you if it’s safe to do so, take a deep breath and move on with your day just as the person who you let by will do.
- This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Sunuva.
June 3, 2016 at 8:23 am #846306
SmittyParticipantSo many people on this forum beg the US to be “more like Europe”….well…..if you’ve ever driven in Europe you DO NOT go the speed limit in the left lane. You just don’t. They don;t have signs, it is just KNOWN.
Be like Europe!
June 3, 2016 at 11:54 am #846328
JanSParticipantSmitty…having spent a bit of time living in Frankfurt, Germany back in the early/mid 70’s, I can attest that you don’t go the speed limit(what speed limit?) in the right lane, either…the autobahn can be a scary thing at times. “Oh, you wanna go faster? OK” – lol…
June 3, 2016 at 12:02 pm #846330
JanSParticipanta question I have…when did it become such a sin to go the posted speed limit…it seems there are people who think that’s wrong…I guess I just don’t get it. Should we just take the speed limit signs down? Yes, someone will come back and say it’s just a suggested speed limit…well, when you get stopped for going 10 miles over the “suggested” speed limit, tell that to the sympathetic cop.. The odds are you won’t get stopped…but it CAN happen…it did to me… #moneyIdonthave
June 3, 2016 at 1:12 pm #846343
ShawnParticipantI think the intent of the “stay right except to pass” law is meant to apply to freeways that DON’T have frequent cross streets where people are taking a left turn from. Telling me it is illegal to drive down the left lane of Admiral Way or Highland Park Way is simply ridiculous. Same as 35th (where it is still a 4-lane street), are you all saying I should be in the right lane until I am to the point where I need to turn left?
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