jcr > wrote in
:

> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
>> Found this rant in another group:
>>
>> KK > said:
>>
>>> Okay, one of, if not *the* first thing you learn about highway
>>> driving is "keep right, pass left". Right?
>>>
>>> I live about halfway between the Delaware and Hudson rivers that
>>> separate NJ from PA and NY, so there's a significant minority of PA
>>> cars on my daily E-W commutes back and forth. I'll guess 5%-10%.
>>>
>>> Here's what I do when I'm in the left lane. Tell me if I'm doing
>>> something wrong: First, if there's nobody in a lane to my right, I
>>> get out of the left lane. If there *is* someone in a lane to my
>>> right, and I'm not overtaking them, I will find a spot to the right
>>> when I can.
>>>
>>> I am constantly aware of traffic behind me, and when I see someone
>>> overtaking me while I'm in the left lane, I make sure to move out of
>>> their way - and, unless it's not possible, quickly enough so that
>>> they don't have to slow down.
>>>
>>> Ideally, that's what I'd expect when I'm the overtaking vehicle. I
>>> understand, though, that everyone who drives isn't very alert, or
>>> aware, and might even be a woman. So I wait patiently behind them
>>> (not tailgating) until they notice me, which is usually apparent.
>>> At that point, I expect them to try to get to the right.
>>>
>>> Here's where the behavior of PA drivers diverges from that of
>>> others. Even without the universally-accepted-everywhere-but-here
>>> quick flash of the high beams, PA drivers become much more
>>> defensively possesive of "their" lane, and are much more likely to
>>> be the obstinate ass who refuses to move, who slows down - either
>>> for the sake of slowing down or to match the speed of other traffic
>>> to prevent passing - and, when a person gives up and passes on the
>>> right, it's the PA drivers who tend to swerve into the right lane to
>>> prevent it, or who give the finger to the passing person, or
>>> believes it's the start of a race.
>>>
>>> It's not just Pennsylvanians with ****ty cars, or slow cars, or fast
>>> cars, or expensive cars. Or the old, or the young. They all seem
>>> to have no idea that they're supposed to get the **** out of the
>>> way, and consider it a challenge to their manliness if someone
>>> happens to be in more of a hurry than they are.
>>>
>>> And I'm not talking about bumper-to-bumper traffic where there's no
>>> point in moving up a spot. I'm talking about early-morning I-80 and
>>> I-78, where there are more than a few cars but, except for these
>>> human speedbumps, the left lane's moving at 80-90MPH.
>>>
>>> I've repeatedly seen these retards indignantly sit in the left lane,
>>> at the head of what looks like a train of 5 or 10 cars behind them,
>>> each having to pass on the right, each getting a honk or an obscene
>>> gesture
>>>from them, or a limp high-beam. How many people have to go around
>>>them
>>> before these thick-skulled retards realize they're wrong?
>
> Back in the 1970's, the PA police would ticket people frequently for
> hanging out in the left lane. At the time, it was very unusual to see
> anyone in the left lane at all. The concrete and pavement in the
> right lane would be noticeably worn in comparison to the left, in
> fact. I guess things have changed in 30 years.
>

You just described I-176 from Reading to Morgantown to a Tee. Back in the
80's & 90's when I drove it, it got little use. That was before, when it
ended at a stop light at Rt 23. I haven't used that road since they
rebuilt the interchange.

Doug