When will OPP ticket left-lane hogs????

[backmarkerducati]

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Of all the places I have driven (Europe, NA) so far Ontario is the worse for lane discipline and the worse for highway design (creating the problem).

One of the reasons IMO (maybe the main reason) for left lane bandits is the poorly designed/engineered highways. The left lane is the passing lane, the right lane is the driving lane. The driving lane should never just end (merge or force exit), lanes should be added and subtracted from the left via merges. Exits should be an additional lane(s) on the right that exit, the driving lane should always continue on. Most of our highways add and subtract lanes from the right side, this is wrong. I can jump on the QEW in Toronto, hit the left lane and park myself there without moving pretty much all the way to Fort Erie. Same for the 401 (Toronto to either end) once you are out of the express/collector system. If I do the "right thing"--pun intended--and stay in the right lane I have to change lanes along the way as this lane ends at various places. So back to human nature, we always consciously and subconsciously resist change and many of the left lane bandits are also poor drivers afraid of lane changes--so why would they drive in the right lane if the left never ends??? They may not consciously realize why they do it... This behaviour has been engineered into the system via poor design.

Enforcement will not catch enough of them to change the behaviour of the masses. It can be fixed with changes to the highways, many times all it requires is just a change in painted lines.

 

[Face]

Kinda agreed. Even it is frustrating when someone hangs in a left lane as you think there is space in a right one. The point that you behind him and cannot see clearly situation in front of him. If you think you can - you should cool down your self-confidence - it's not a best choice for the road to predict instead of seeing.
If someone is going 110 in a left lane (which is 10kph over speed limit in Ontario) - it's your own problem that you are blasting 130-140 - it is illegal in Ontario.
The traffic rules in ON might be not perfect, but getting frustrated that somebody prevents you to brake them...

Stay cool on the road and drive/rise safe. Saving 5 minutes might cost a bit more than you expect 

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This mindset is exactly the problem. I'm doing 10 over the arbitrarily low speed limit. That's fine, but 15 or 20 or 25 isn't, so I'm just going to sit there and block everyone who is going faster than I think they should.

Live and let live folks. If you want to do 110, do it in the right lane unless you have to pass someone doing 100, then move back. Same thing if you're doing 125.

 

[ReSTored]

There are 3 types of drivers on the road; the people running at the perfect speed ( i.e. the speed I'm driving/riding at that particular moment), the idiots going too slow and holding me up and, lastly, the maniacs who are going faster than I am. I encounter these people on every road I use, including multilane highways.

In 45 years of driving /riding I've seen exactly 2 cars pulled over for left lane blocking. As annoying as it is it is just not a priority for law enforcement.

 

[Face]

Of all the places I have driven (Europe, NA) so far Ontario is the worse for lane discipline and the worse for highway design (creating the problem).

One of the reasons IMO (maybe the main reason) for left lane bandits is the poorly designed/engineered highways. The left lane is the passing lane, the right lane is the driving lane. The driving lane should never just end (merge or force exit), lanes should be added and subtracted from the left via merges. Exits should be an additional lane(s) on the right that exit, the driving lane should always continue on. Most of our highways add and subtract lanes from the right side, this is wrong. I can jump on the QEW in Toronto, hit the left lane and park myself there without moving pretty much all the way to Fort Erie. Same for the 401 (Toronto to either end) once you are out of the express/collector system. If I do the "right thing"--pun intended--and stay in the right lane I have to change lanes along the way as this lane ends at various places. So back to human nature, we always consciously and subconsciously resist change and many of the left lane bandits are also poor drivers afraid of lane changes--so why would they drive in the right lane if the left never ends??? They may not consciously realize why they do it... This behaviour has been engineered into the system via poor design.

Enforcement will not catch enough of them to change the behaviour of the masses. It can be fixed with changes to the highways, many times all it requires is just a change in painted lines.

Agreed

There are 3 types of drivers on the road; the people running at the perfect speed ( i.e. the speed I'm driving/riding at that particular moment), the idiots going too slow and holding me up and, lastly, the maniacs who are going faster than I am. I encounter these people on every road I use, including multilane highways.

In 45 years of driving /riding I've seen exactly 2 cars pulled over for left lane blocking. As annoying as it is it is just not a priority for law enforcement.

Didn't George Carlin do a bit about this?

 

[hedo2002]

OK, bit of a rant here - but I'm so frikken' sick of the OPP ignoring left-lane hogs. I do not condone nor justify road-rage in any way, but consistently I see very stupid driving occur as a result of left-lane hogs.

And I do agree that's it's INSANELY FRUSTRATING when you are stuck behind some left-lane idiot driving the same speed as a middle-laner. Why is it so hard for these idiots to pull out of the way? You are not the speed-police, and just because you are doing 110 doesn't mean you have the right to cruise in the left-lane oblivious to all traffic around you.

Even if I'm doing 130 or 140 and someone closes distance quickly behind me, I'm looking for the first opportunity to lane-change. Why do idiots with 20 tailgaters right behind them not feel the urge to let them pass???? I really don't get it.

Again, I don't condone road rage but this type of driving CLEARLY leads to road rage, so why don't police do more about these idiot lane hogs? STAY RIGHT UNLESS PASSING, how hard is that to understand???????

There is your answer as to why they aren't ticketed. As long as there is a vehicle in the next lane they have a viable defence that they were indeed "passing". They would simply state each time they speed up a bit so did vehicle in other lane and that they couldn't keep increasing their speed for fear of being ticketed. I also don't agree, with hogging the lane but I normally just go around them, (eventually there is room to the right, driving 100+ k per day on the 401 the middle and right lanes are almost always faster then he left lane anyway).

 

[J_F]

If someone wants to do 150 and you're in the left lane at 130 passing cars doing 120 the guy is just gonna have to wait.

In all likelihood he's a doosh in a BMW that will just go around you on the right anyway.

Has nothing to do with the cops.
Except they should be ticketing the guy doing 150 that can't be bothered to find his turn signal lever

 

[Baggsy]

If someone wants to do 150 and you're in the left lane at 130 passing cars doing 120 the guy is just gonna have to wait. In all likelihood he's a doosh in a BMW that will just go around you on the right anyway. Has nothing to do with the cops. Except they should be ticketing the guy doing 150 that can't be bothered to find his turn signal lever

If I'm in the passing lane doing 130, and someone comes towards me at 150, I do a simple calculation, will I pass before they run into me. If no, then I immediately pull over to let them by, otherwise, I accelerate, pass the next car, and then pull over. No one has to wait.

 

[kiwi]

Will never happen. Speeding is much easier to prove in court.

But if you stay right unless you have to pass the odd slow guy in the right lane, or move left to allow a car to merge from an on-ramp, the odds are that you're going to be passing those left lane hogs anyway. Its not illegal to pass on the right on a multi-lane highway. No point stressing about these idiots, just look ahead for the openings and you'll be much further ahead.

Totally agree with Face on this - I drive north every Saturday morning on the 400, and cruise up the right (mostly empty) lane while passing the middle lane dreamers and the passing lane hogs. I'm going to be downunder in a few weeks, this time I'll take some photos of the signs down there where they actively give tickets people who drive too slow on the highway and also those hold up traffic with long lines behind them..

"Too slow drivers get pinged" http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11680777

"Last year police issued the highest number of tickets in a decade for slow or inconsiderate driving. " https://www.aa.co.nz/cars/motoring-blog/motoring-news/watch-out-slow-and-inconsiderate-driving-could-get-you-a-ticket/

This isn't just for the huge highways, as we don't have a lot of multilane highways across the country but for the other roads too.

Oh, and I must say its' a very much Ontario thing.. When driving out east near Quebec city, it was very noticeable people kept right except to pass, even on the avenues, not just the highways

 

[Baggsy]

QUEBEC. One thing to keep in mind. There is no passing on the right, and some drivers will try and bait Ontario plates into passing that way, in well known patrolled areas.

 

[Bagman]

.... it's INSANELY FRUSTRATING when you are stuck behind some left-lane idiot driving the same speed as a middle-laner. Why is it so hard for these idiots to pull out of the way?...

Even if I'm doing 130 or 140 and someone closes distance quickly behind me, I'm looking for the first opportunity to lane-change. ...

It is frustrating when people like you think that lane bandit-ing ends with the left lane. The driver in the left lane can't move to the right cause the car in the middle lane won't move one over either. Pass Left / Move Right, means move all the way to the right. So when you're doing 130kph in your lane and you only bother move over when some one is coming up behind you means you're a left lane bandit too.

OPP don't ticket, because it ain't an offence, and it's nigh impossible to gather enough driving evidence to garner any other relatable charge. Don't forget, when a cop is around everyone magically knows how to drive again.

 

[Xhumeka]

It is frustrating when people like you think that lane bandit-ing ends with the left lane. The driver in the left lane can't move to the right cause the car in the middle lane won't move one over either. Pass Left / Move Right, means move all the way to the right. So when you're doing 130kph in your lane and you only bother move over when some one is coming up behind you means you're a left lane bandit too.

OPP don't ticket, because it ain't an offence, and it's nigh impossible to gather enough driving evidence to garner any other relatable charge. Don't forget, when a cop is around everyone magically knows how to drive again.

I'm not "hanging out in the left lane" cruising at 130km/h like you imply - the scenario I referred to is if I'm passing a line of cars and someone quickly approaches behind me. I'll squeeze into the line of cars I'm passing to let the speed demon behind me pass, then pull back into the left lane to complete my pass. I don't know about you guys, but I can't stand tailgators and feel unsafe when there is one behind me. My reaction is not to slow down or even continue at the same rate - I want that guy/girl away from me, so let him/her pass!

 

[J_F]

If I'm in the passing lane doing 130, and someone comes towards me at 150, I do a simple calculation, will I pass before they run into me. If no, then I immediately pull over to let them by, otherwise, I accelerate, pass the next car, and then pull over. No one has to wait.

That's very considerate of you.

If I can move right safely I will.

If not

Not going to exceed the speed limit

By 40 or more to acknowledge the specialness

of someone that wants to go 150

F' em.....he can wait until I complete my pass

 

[Baggsy]

That's very considerate of you.

If I can move right safely I will.

If not

Not going to exceed the speed limit

By 40 or more to acknowledge the specialness

of someone that wants to go 150

F' em.....he can wait until I complete my pass

and thus an ever growing area surrounding Toronto, has become an enclave of self-righteous left lane bandits.

 

[J_F]

and thus an ever growing area surrounding Toronto, have become an enclave of self-righteous left lane bandits.

Best thing for you to do then
is keep your smug self in the valley
and congratulate yourself for being so much nicer

 

[Baggsy]

Best thing for you to do then
is keep your smug self in the valley
and congratulate yourself for being so much nicer

If I were smug, I wouldn't try and help you correct your ways. I'd sit around and chuckle about how bad you are instead.

 

[J_F]

Take a course

 

[Baggsy]

Take a course

Come on up, and sign up early, and I'll see if I can demo for you.

 

[J_F]

Alright..I'm in...haha

 

[jc100]

Might isn’t right.....if I’m passing at a reasonable speed I’m not accelerating to warp speed 9 so someone behind can continue at his/her nutbar speed. Again, it’s about being courteous and that includes being aware that maybe not everyone has to speed up to accommodate you.

 

[GP_RZ]

Is there something in the HTA
that specifies you must move to the right?

Not sure but its common sense that the left lane is fast lane right lane is a slow lane.

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