Yeah, people are trained by society to engage in negative dopamine loops. Like the dopamine we get when we hurt somebody we hate.
Same with people who are desperate for someone to be mad at on the internet.
It’s partially how the rich keep people isolated and individualistic.
Yes they do. Most People who have rage won’t admit part of them likes it. A small feeling of power. No matter how infantile. They love it.
As self destructive as it is.
A small, illusory feeling of power to cover up the larger power imbalances they participate in in life where things don’t go their way, but they’re unwilling to process.
I think sometimes it’s just a bad habit, no positive feelings at all, just pure destruction.
For those saying “Get out of the middle lane!” What if I don’t know the area and I’m trying to minimize the amount of suddenly needed lane changes I need to do to get into the correct one?
What if I’m driving a clunker and my transmission doesn’t handle constant speed changes well making staying on the on-ramp lane a little risky?
What if I’m already fucking going 9mph over the speed limit? Look motherfucker I’m risking being late to work too, but I’m not going 10+ I can’t afford a fucking ticket either and I’m not slowing down or dangerously constantly changing lanes because your rich ass can afford repeated speed tickets.
Those people are wrong. On a 3+ lane highway, the right lane is for entering or exiting, the left lane is for passing, and the middle lane(s) is for cruising. Unless you’re like, only doing 55 or something, in which case just get off the interstate and take surface streets.
US defaultism much?
You know, I was tempted to note (US) after the lanes. I see now that people get angry if you don’t. The logic still applies though. The first lane is for entering/exiting. The middle are for cruising, driving a steady pace near the speed limit. The inside is for passing.
If there is an open lane to the inside, the person trying to pass someone already doing a reasonable pace should be the one making the change. If there’s not, then yeah, the slower vehicle needs to go ahead and move over.
You’ll get ticketed for that in the UK. Keep left (right) unless overtaking.
Not even the f’ing middle lane. If I’m in the left lane, and y’know, actually PASSING vehicles that are in the right then that’s where I should be. In many cases it’s an uphill and I’m passing a bunch of rigs.
In most cases I’m admittedly going a bit over the limit (just to pass quickly and minimize the time I’m sitting within a blind spot, especially with the rigs), yet there’s always and idiot that’s behind me trying to do 20%+ over the limit riding my ass.
People like the are in a hurry to they’re own funeral
I was once driving to work very early in a bank holiday morning. Dual carriageway, literally nobody but me in either direction. I’m doing 70 in the left lane (which, for those who don’t know, is the correct lane and the speed limit here in the UK).
Suddenly, a guy comes haring up behind me at what must have been at least 100. He doesn’t overtake, but instead sits an inch from my bumper. I do what any reasonable person would do - i take my foot completely off the accelerator and just let my car slowly slow down, to encourage him to overtake.
I shit you not, my car got down to 30 MPH before he pulled out and started overtaking.
And then he gave me WTF gestures as he shot past.
Reminder - this was a dual carriageway, two lanes in the direction we were travelling, and there was literally nobody else on the road.
It’s the weirdest thing.
If i were Freddy Kreuger I’d invade the dreams of tailgaters and give them a different nightmare every night - one night they’re paralysed for the rest of their life from an accident they caused, the next they have to live with having killed a child, etc - until they stop fucking doing it.
There have been a few sci-fi shows that covered the concept of a “virtual reality imprisonment” where this convicted are essentially sentenced to be plugged into a system where they live out a sentence that seems fully realistic and in “normal time” - possibly years - to them, but only hours or at least days pass in the real world.
If we ever get that tech, it would seem to be a good sentence for the truly dangerous drivers and road ragers. Get plugged into the machine, and live a few “virtual” months or years where you believe you’ve lost your legs, been paralyzed, or killed the family member that’s you’ve been endangering with your idiocy.
In these situations, sometimes I go full Joker and perform a reverse pass maneuver.
What’s a reverse pass? There’s a tailgater behind you. You move to the passing lane or the opposite direction’s travel lane. Then you slam on your brakes. Then move back into the travel lane. Suddenly the tailgater is in front, and you’re the one riding their bumper! The look of confusion you get is absolutely wonderful.
Yes.
That’s…the main traveling lane though?
In my part of the country, on and off ramps are treacherously short in some places and have poor sight lines in others, so the right lane acts as a de facto buffer and everyone uses the middle as the cruising lane.
EDIT: Holy crap I wrote the wrong lane. The right lane acts as the buffer. The left lane is still the passing lane like always. Fixed it.
“space on both sides”
Please keep to the right when you are able.
this is completely incorrect—stay in the middle lane if you’re going to be on the highway for a while. if there are 3 or more lanes, the right is generally for exiting, far left for passing and middle for general travel.
Oooh, you’d suck driving in Europe.
Wrong.
Several states have “stay in the right lane unless passing” laws.
You might want to read those laws more carefully.
When there are 3 lanes? I think most of the laws are to stay OUT of the left lane, not that you must stick to the right lane. I could be wrong but 2 passing only lanes seems a bit excessive.
That doesn’t make any sense
Which part?
How is it supposed to be efficient to use an entire lane only for exiting?
Depends. If in the US the majority of states have “keep right except to pass” laws along with “failure to yield” laws. Some states do have exceptions for busy merging areas that say taking the center lane is acceptable for the duration.
So if someone is camping the center lane slower than prevailing traffic in that lane they are potentially violating two laws.
I don’t know where you are, so I write this for US people seeing as there seems to be a growing issue of people using the center of three lanes as a slow lane and it really fucks up the flow.
It really doesn’t fuck up the flow people are just driving 20 over and going “hurr this guy going the speed limit or 5 over in the cruising lane is breaking the law!” Then still pass on either side
Countries where you have to drive as much to the right as possible also have laws stating it’s illegal to overtake on the right. Overtaking on the right has the same fine as jogging the middle lane if there’s space on the right.
I guess this mostly indicates to always check the actual road laws of the regions you’re driving in. But generally in Europe hogging the middle lane indicates you’re a danger on the road who should not be allowed to drive a car.
There are several US states that can cite for passing in the right, though I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening.
Check the laws in your state. I doubt it says anything like “stay in the middle lane if you’re going to be in the highway for a while” or “middle is for general travel”, which means you’re probably the driver camping in the middle lane when you should be moving over.
can you cite a state’s traffic law that says (in so many words) “don’t use the middle lane for long term travel” ?
I am speaking toward common sense driving in the US. Not 100% adherence to local traffic code minutia. If you’re going to be on the highway for ~a while~ and it has 3+ lanes, get in the middle lane and set your cruise control to the speed limit. then adjust for local conditions. this isn’t rocket surgery.
Yeah, why be in the right lane (of a 3+ lane highway) if you’re not planning to exit soon.
Yeah, why be in the left lane (of a 3+lane highway) if you’re not going faster to pass for whatever reason.)
of course, there are situations where this doesn’t apply
If you can’t figure out the solutions to those situations, maybe don’t get behind the wheel.
Please tell me what you think the middle 1-5 lanes of highway are REALLY for, other than my suggested assumption of “general travel” (meaning: you’re probably not going to get off the highway for the next 5-20 exits.)
It depends on the flow of traffic. The rightmost lane makes sense when there isn’t slow and frequent traffic in it and there isn’t someone going faster behind you, otherwise you are creating more traffic by constantly switching lanes and making everyone else deal with it. It also depends on whether the lanes are going to be bifurcated or have to deal with exits or entries.
I disagree that changing lanes “creates more traffic.” Even moving right for 30 seconds allows faster traffic behind you to move over. In fact, lots of country roads have passing lanes open up for 2 km stretches where cars are expected to move over only for that distance.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8535848/
https://www.teguyinc.com/post/key-common-sense-behaviours-that-can-improve-traffic-flow
https://scisimple.com/en/articles/2025-09-29-the-impact-of-lane-changes-on-traffic-flow--a9pvypw
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-09014-x
You do you, which apparently means skipping over the conditionals of my comment. If that’s your attention to detail, then you should definitely stick to the right lane. Here, have some articles which are actually nuanced about how changing lanes can contribute to traffic, hopefully they’ll instill a greater sense of awareness.
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Middle is for cruising with 3 or more lanes. Right lane if there are only 2
Not really though, all lanes except the rightmost lane should be passing lanes. It is different in urban areas where they often open up 2 or 3 lanes for exit only or if there is constant heavy merging. But in general, keep right unless passing
in Ontario every lane is a passing lane.
Middle, and the right if no middle available.
I agree why the heck are they in the middle lane when the slow lane is open, and yes I do like being angry so get the fuck over to the slow lane.
I mean, the actual answer is basically yes.
People who routinely tailgate have anger management problems.
If you are tailgating because you are in some specific, actual emergency situation, getting to a hospital, that’s one thing.
If you tailgate habitually, you almost certainly have some kind of condition that involves anger management issues or emotional regulation problems.
There’s no reason to tailgate ever. You can always signal to the car in front of you you want to pass without getting dangerously close to them. I use the lights, it works well.
I’m a school bus driver and I get tailgaters like this all the time. They don’t seem to grasp that I absolutely cannot see them at all when they’re that close, not in my mirrors nor even through the windows in the back door. It’s extra fun when they do it in a 15mph school zone and lay on the horn for good measure. Like yeah dude, I’m going to speed through a school zone in a fucking school bus so you can get to the red light up ahead five seconds sooner, thanks for letting me know.
I hope you slow down a little when they lay on the horn
Nah, I don’t want them thinking they’re influencing my actions in any way whatsoever.
What is it with people who stay in the middle lane whilst driving slow when there’s nobody of the right lane which is were the driving code says they’re suppose to be?
they’re selfish and ignorant
Why does the guys in the middle lane have to be driving slow? The speed limit is usually 65 on highways by me, and if the fella is doing 75, can he not stay in the middle lane? If he is not getting off for a time, 75 in the middle lane seems reasonable? He could be doing 80 and this scenario can still happen.
You’ll have the guy in the truck come up behind you doing 90. Is the car really slow, at ten over the speed limit? Or is the car only slow once someone fast doing 90 shows up? Why must the barely rule abiding citizen, yeild to the blatant speeder?
The determining factor isn’t speed, it’s the availability of the right lane. If there aren’t any vehicles to your right, that’s where you belong.
I don’t care if I’m doing 90, if there is no one slower than me that I’ll catch up to in the next 20-30 seconds, I move right.
The speed limit is usually 65 on highways by me, and if the fella is doing 75, can he not stay in the middle lane?
Traffic flows more smoothly when drivers keep to the right when possible, even if you’re speeding a little bit.
I swear my drivers ed book said the right most lane is for entering/exiting the highway, middle lane is for cruising, and left lane for passing.
Y’all I cursed myself anyway, just drove the highway today, I don’t have to take it often these days, and no less then three times was a fella in the left lane doing 60mph. I get the gripe, I don’t understand the need to go 90. But that’s me and kind of irrelevant unless theres a left exit to take.
I think there are as many drivers who should get some patience for others, as there are folks who need to move tf over. Both are dangerous to other drivers.
If that were true there should be only two lanes per direction, and no use to the third lane.
What BS. So everyone in right lane who goes slower then YOU. is the answer.
Everyone to the right, regardless of speed, unless actively passing is the answer.
On highways in town no such rule.
Artist is tipping their hand that they drive like a moron
Conclusion after reading the comments: the country information is very relevant!! In Germany tailgating is forbidden, and is also driving in the middle lane. It is forbidden to pass using the right lane in highways. In USA I remember the recommendation was different, try to stay in your lane, they considered the constant change of lanes more dangerous than passing using the right lane.
Moral of the story: Don’t judge without the complete information.
True, though I’m pretty sure tailgating is forbidden almost everywhere.
Relevant point: Driving in the middle lane in Germany is allowed as long as there’s at least infrequent slower traffic on the right lane. There’s been a supreme court ruling on this.
Also depends a bit by state (in the USA), Georgia enacted a law that essentially made it illegal to be passed on the right, speeding or not, if you are slower than the car behind you they want you to be to the right (https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-40/chapter-6/article-9/section-40-6-184/).
I clean my windshield if someone is too close behind.
The wind always carries some spray over the top and hits their car and they have to wipe their windshield.
It might seem petty, but seems to trigger something subconscious that makes them back off a bit.
It always seems to workI just turn my brake lights on, usually that makes them think I’m braking and they back off a bit
they almost always come back, though…
