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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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