Is it acceptable to honk at slow people in the left lane being passed on right?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

acceptable?

  • Yes

  • No

  • No but I do it anyways!


Results are only viewable after voting.

superccs

Senior member
Dec 29, 2004
999
0
0
Hell yeah I do it for extended periods of potentially miles of highway driving if they don't move over.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
:D

I would be amused, haha.

The only time the Insight is capable of single digit MPG is in 1st gear with it floored. If you lift up a little at ~4000RPM in 1st, MPG will still be ~10. :p

I'll read yours as you pass the gas station where I have to stop. :)
 

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,828
37
91
If you meant by slow that you were speeding and they were driving the speed limit then no.
One time i was in left lane and a guy flashed me..but i was doing between 5-10 mph over the speed limit too....so i said fuck em and slowed down.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
It's not a contest, folks. Let people go if they want to go. Pass them if they don't want to go. Keep the flow smooth, don't clog it up.
 
Dec 30, 2004
12,553
2
76
If you meant by slow that you were speeding and they were driving the speed limit then no.
One time i was in left lane and a guy flashed me..but i was doing between 5-10 mph over the speed limit too....so i said fuck em and slowed down.

I'm talking about 5-6 lane freeways that I drive on my commute. We could move about 20% more traffic if the slow people in the left lane would keep right. Instead, they go the exact speed of the person to the right of them, eventually leading to grid lock. This is one of the reasons the 55 speed limit needs to be set to 70, doing that right there would move 25% more traffic, and would probably solve the rush hour problems we get from people merging at 45mph (also quickly leads to gridlock)-- they'd have to get up to at least 65 or risk getting honked at.
 
Last edited:

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,670
4
0
Just pass them on the right.

There's way too much childish, temperamental driving on the roads nowadays. Don't add to it.
 

saratoga172

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2009
1,564
1
81
I'm talking about 5-6 lane freeways that I drive on my commute. We could move about 20% more traffic if the slow people in the left lane would keep right. Instead, they go the exact speed of the person to the right of them, eventually leading to grid lock. This is one of the reasons the 55 speed limit needs to be set to 70, doing that right there would move 25% more traffic, and would probably solve the rush hour problems we get from people merging at 45mph (also quickly leads to gridlock)-- they'd have to get up to at least 65 or risk getting honked at.

Trust me. They would still merge at 45. 50 if you're lucky. We have 65mph freeways here and a 70mph turnpike. Most have long on ramps and people still can't seem to get up to the speed limit. Average merge speed here is probably 50-55
 

DVad3r

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2005
5,340
3
81
In Germany you can get a ticket for not letting someone pass. You also get a ticket for passing on the right lane as it's illegal. You also get a ticket if you tailgate. I like Germany!

Here I tailgate, flash lights, honk as I'm passing them from the right. Sometimes I wish I had a huge SUV, I'm pretty sure they would GTFO pretty fast.
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
I say honk, but usually they are clueless to their surroundings so a horn won't even register. I can't tell you how many times I encounter a woman on her cell phone driving 35 in a 55 with another woman on her cell phone next to her with a mile of empty road in front of them.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
I say honk, but usually they are clueless to their surroundings so a horn won't even register. I can't tell you how many times I encounter a woman on her cell phone driving 35 in a 55 with another woman on her cell phone next to her with a mile of empty road in front of them.

Yeah, it seems nobody hears my horn. I want a truck horn.
 

MagickMan

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2008
7,460
3
76
People that like to emo rage and slow down when someone flashes their lights or honks, be careful. A guy I know mounted a CO2 air gun assembly in the grill of his pickup and rigged it to a switch in the cab. When people slowed down to piss him off, he'd start pelting the back of their car with BBs.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Yes and it's also ok to give them a dirty look or flash them a particular finger.

The only problem I really have is the following two things.

1) I'm already doing 10mph over the limit and someone rides my ass and won't go around when they have plenty of room to do it.
2) I am behind someone going slow, but the guy in the lane next to me is going just fast enough to block me and I cannot get around cause now I'm boxed in.


People that like to emo rage and slow down when someone flashes their lights or honks, be careful. A guy I know mounted a CO2 air gun assembly in the grill of his pickup and rigged it to a switch in the cab. When people slowed down to piss him off, he'd start pelting the back of their car with BBs.

In FL that could be considered being attacked with a firearm. Be warned I'm armed with more than a BB gun.
 
Last edited:

KIAman

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
3,342
23
81
No, because if they are that stupid to go slower than the speed limit in the fast lane, then honking might trigger them to fly through the center divider.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
way to be mature.

What do you propose I do? Speed up? Why should I have to do that?

I slow down as a signal that I'm not going to speed up because you're riding my ass, so you need to pass me.

Remember, I said that I don't drive in the left lane in the Insight.
 

IcePickFreak

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2007
2,428
9
81
I never understand why it seems people in the left lane like to slow down especially for semi's in the middle lane. They'll get to the back corner of the trailer and just hang there. That's the last place I want to be, I make a point of not lingering along side them or behind them. It get's especially annoying when it's raining and they sit in the spray from the rig indefinitely (meaning you end up stuck in it too) instead of giving it a few extra mph to get past them and out of the spray.

I had a rubber chunk about the size of a tennis ball come tumbling straight at my windshield and my face once. I assume it came off the semi maybe 80 yards ahead of me, there was even another car between me and him. I've seen the retreads they use disintegrate at speed before. It hit right at eye level on the driver side and I thought for sure something was coming through my windshield, and there was pretty much no time to react safely. It wasn't until it bounced off the windshield without breaking it, only leaving an greasy mark right where it hit that I realized it wasn't a chunk of something a bit more deadly like a metal coming to take off my head. That pair of underwear went in the garbage and I started following that rule.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
I never understand why it seems people in the left lane like to slow down especially for semi's in the middle lane. They'll get to the back corner of the trailer and just hang there. That's the last place I want to be, I make a point of not lingering along side them or behind them. It get's especially annoying when it's raining and they sit in the spray from the rig indefinitely (meaning you end up stuck in it too) instead of giving it a few extra mph to get past them and out of the spray.

I had a rubber chunk about the size of a tennis ball come tumbling straight at my windshield and my face once. I assume it came off the semi maybe 80 yards ahead of me, there was even another car between me and him. I've seen the retreads they use disintegrate at speed before. It hit right at eye level on the driver side and I thought for sure something was coming through my windshield, and there was pretty much no time to react safely. It wasn't until it bounced off the windshield without breaking it, only leaving an greasy mark right where it hit that I realized it wasn't a chunk of something a bit more deadly like a metal coming to take off my head. That pair of underwear went in the garbage and I started following that rule.

They aren't compensating for the wind off the trailer, I think.

People do the same thing when they get to the front and they get hit by the wind off the nose of the truck.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
In FL that could be considered being attacked with a firearm. Be warned I'm armed with more than a BB gun.

Yeah, I think in most states that 911 call would have every cop on APB.

In FL, just brandishing a BB gun is a serious offense. People think they won't get in trouble since it's just a BB gun, but the law thinks otherwise.
 

Ancalagon44

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2010
3,274
202
106
I'm talking about 5-6 lane freeways that I drive on my commute. We could move about 20% more traffic if the slow people in the left lane would keep right. Instead, they go the exact speed of the person to the right of them, eventually leading to grid lock. This is one of the reasons the 55 speed limit needs to be set to 70, doing that right there would move 25% more traffic, and would probably solve the rush hour problems we get from people merging at 45mph (also quickly leads to gridlock)-- they'd have to get up to at least 65 or risk getting honked at.

If you raise the speed limit, you might also have the problem of people driving like idiots, causing accidents that then block the entire freeway.

I stick left if its just me and move left as soon as I can after overtaking. If I'm overtaking and someone is riding up my ass, honking or flashing, you can bet I'm not going to move over in a hurry. I'll still move over, I just wont do it with anything resembling haste.
 

kami333

Diamond Member
Dec 12, 2001
5,110
2
76
In Germany you can get a ticket for not letting someone pass. You also get a ticket for passing on the right lane as it's illegal.

It's the same in the US, in some states the left lane is for passing only and others it's illegal to obstruct the flow of traffic regardless of speed (but they also make exceptions of interstates). There's only a few states where it's illegal to pass on the right and is generally permitted on an interstate (divided highway, more than 3lanes each way, etc).

I've only heard of one person being ticketed for not using the left lane as a passing lane in 30years, it's much more lucrative just to go after speeders.

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
 

JCH13

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2010
4,981
66
91
If by "honk the horn" you mean a light beep or two, sure. It might be appropriate and a decent wake-up call. I would not stand on the horn for something so minor though.

The real annoyance, for me anyway, is when someone going 65.1mph is trying to pass someone going 64.9mph.