I wish I could do that.
If anyone has a surplus WWII German armoured car going spare, let me know. (I’d love to own an SdKfz 234 Puma, with the 50mm anti-tank gun.)
With that you will be rolling in the slow lane…
I have a “wish” to mount high-power strobe lights in the rear window to deal with tailgaters. And with a firing switch embedded/hidden in the gear stick. Ok, I’m not stupid enough to do it, but they would go away.
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I’d put a scrolling LED message board back there, to ask/ warn them first… but then < blammo! > with the lights.
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The Puma could do 80km/hr. That’s fast enough for all my commuting. 
Good point. But what you want is something with belts. They make the world around you shake. Commuters drinking a coffee? Now they have a top-to-toe coffee shower. Texting? They just told someone to warragrbleeee in 20 messages.
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“You are obligated to move over for faster traffic overtaking you, even if you’re already doing the speed limit.”
Not true in any state where I’ve been licensed to drive. By that logic, simply driving faster than other vehicles effectively establishes authority over them, and creates entitlement to an unobstructed lane.
In Texas, signs say “Slower traffic keep right” and “left lane for passing only”
@Grumpy_24_7’s explanation is exactly how I’ve heard it explained from multiple sources, including defensive driving classes over the years.
In Texas and Louisiana, they will use that as a probably cause excuse to pull you over and jack with you - and see if you’re hauling drugs. In fact, I was once pulled over in Louisiana cruising at the speed limit in the right lane with my cruise control on, because it was “suspicious and consistent with how drug runners drive.”
Interesting commentary on State "keep right" laws includes:
The Uniform Vehicle Code states:
Upon all roadways any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall be driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic …
Note that this law refers to the “normal” speed of traffic, not the “legal” speed of traffic. The 60 MPH driver in a 55 MPH zone where everybody else is going 65 MPH must move right. Contrast Alaska’s rule, 13 AAC 002.50, allowing vehicles driving at the speed limit to use the left lane, and Colorado rev. stat. 42-4-1103, prohibiting blocking the “normal and reasonable” movement of traffic.
Bonus find from the DPS website, posted August 1998
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/publications/chaparral/chap0898.htm
New law requires “left lane for passing” signs
A law passed during the last legislative session requires that the Texas Department of Transportation put up signs that say “Left Lane for Passing Only” whenever the department needs to replace signs that say “Slower Traffic Keep Right.”
The legislation in effect requires slower traffic to travel in a lane other than the left lane. Signs can be placed only on highways with more than one lane traveling in the same direction.
Law enforcement agencies have long had the ability to write citations for slower vehicles failing to keep to the right or for impeding traffic. The new law does not affect that.
The new signs already have been posted in some parts of the state, and TxDOT held a news conference in San Antonio in late June to unveil the new signs.
The new signs don’t give motorists “a license to speed.” Motorists still must obey all traffic laws, including speed laws.
I think we’re just having a semantics issue, or difference in interpretation. “Slower traffic keep right” and using the left lane for passing/overtaking only are standard rules, and consistent with my understanding. However, I would maintain they are not literally equivalent to the original statement.
Perhaps it was a flawed interpretation on my part, but as I read Grumpy’s comment, it implies someone driving in the left lane at the speed limit to overtake slower traffic in the right lane must pull to the right simply because a vehicle moving even faster comes up behind them.
Edit Addition:
I do not disagree that a vehicle is always expected to move to a right lane if it can do so safely (i.e., if it is moving at the same speed as traffic in that lane, or if the lane is empty).
Well, they do, as soon as it’s clear.
Now, the question becomes interesting when you look at lines of traffic. Two lane highway, right lane filled with people going 60, left lane has me going 65 passing these jokers, and a line behind me that wants to go 70.
Do I have to slow down to 60 to let the people going 70 by? Usually this means I’m stuck going 60 for a while, since I have a whole wolfpack stuck behind me by the time I find room to fit in the 60 lane. And then the fun part happens when someone in the right lane who wanted to go 62 pulls out from behind me and tacks themseselves to the end of the 70 line and I have to wait for grandpa to pass me.
But, in reasonably clear traffic, slower traffic does have to yield the right of way to faster traffic.
The way I read it, unless local laws specifically say otherwise (like Alaska’s rule listed above), slower vehicle is “impeding traffic” and must move right. Also, it looks like some states differentiate between 2-lane and 3-lane highways. From what I understand, this is strictly enforced and adhered to in Europe. Which reminds me of the flash-to-pass discussion… I remember when cars had the high beam button on the floor. Then later (like in the 80s?), when they moved the switch to a steering column stalk, flash-to-pass was listed as a feature.
I wish it was still on the floor.
Hell, we could always drive like the third world does. I know it’s not quite as uncontrolled as it looks, but damn.
Or we could all drive like Russians. Though with the sheer number of cars and guns in America I don’t think that would work. We’re not stoic enough to casually walk away from our wrecked cars after only shooting twice at the grill of the guy who turned left in the right hand lane across 6 lanes of traffic into a one way street on red, while clipping a light pole.
Well, some places in Europe may adhere to it, but in the UK both adherence and enforcement have been sadly lacking since, well, multi-lane roads were built. My limited experience of other European nations suggests that it isn’t generally better elsewhere.
In theory that should be changing since they introduced fixed penalties for such things as poor lane discipline. In reality enforcement still seems to be non-existent. Just yesterday I watched one idiot sit in the middle lane of a 3 lane road for 15 or so miles. That despite the only thing in the inside lane being me, a safe distance behind.
I don’t wish to flog the dead equine further, since I think we’re technically in agreement, but I’ll stand by my original position. The Uniform Vehicle Code excerpt “at less than the normal speed of traffic” does not contradict it, and there are important points to recognize:
- Use of “normal” in statutes typically includes an intra legem assumption (i.e., that it be “within the law”).
- The standard for “normal” is not established by a single individual.
As a result, one idiot driving 20 mph over the limit while others continue to operate within the legal limits does not create a legal obligation that they get out of his way.
I believe you’re misunderstanding the use of the word “Normal” here?
Let’s say the speed limit is 65 and we’re on a two lane highway and the right lane is traveling 65 and you’re in the left lane at 70. If I’m the idiot coming up behind you at 90 - you are supposed to move over to the right for me so I can pass you. This is certainly true in California and in many other states as well. It is not your job to determine how fast I’m allowed to drive. Plain and simple.
My choice to drive faster than you (even if you’re already doing or exceeding the speed limit), trumps your choice to tootle along in the left lane oblivious to those behind you. In reality, what would likely happen if the CHP happened to see this (me flying up on your tail, with you refusing to move over for me) would be both of us getting cited. Me for speeding and you for refusing to move over.
This is what it says in the California driver handbook…
Choosing A Lane
Traffic lanes are often referred to by number. The left
or “fast” lane is called the “Number 1 Lane.” The lane to the right of
the “Number 1 Lane” is called the “Number 2 Lane,” then the “Number 3
Lane,” etc.
Drive in the lane with the smoothest flow of traffic. If
you can choose among three lanes, pick the middle lane for the
smoothest driving. To drive faster, pass, or turn left, use the left
lane. When you choose to drive slowly or enter or turn off the road, use
the right lane.
If there are only two lanes in your direction, pick the right lane for the smoothest driving.
There’s plenty of room for interpretation there. On that note, what I wish the other driver could hear is, “If I pass you on the right, you’re in the wrong lane!”
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It’s spring and the snow has long gone from this area. Take the studded tires off of your car.
They are just trying to ensure that the road workers have plenty of damage to fix. Keeping Americans working, it’s how we do things.
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What state are you in RRabbit42? I understand why, but sometimes wish Illinois hadn’t outawed studded tires around 40 years back.
RRabbit42 is in western Washington, not too far from me and Sig. Though he lives closer to the mountains than we do, we have seen VERY little snow this year. When we DO see snow, people’s brains evacuate their bodies, and all hell breaks loose. It’s not just because we’re not used to driving in snow, it’s also because most people don’t know how to drive on snow up- or downhill. Studded tires don’t really help you when you cannot figure out how to control your speed on a potentially slick road.
ONE of the things I wish drivers could hear around here: Don’t pass me, then change lanes RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, then SLOW DOWN so that I have to pass you. That is RUDE. 
Another one: If you see me about to merge into traffic in your lane and you are BEHIND me, SLOW THE &$@% DOWN. You may only speed up if I am coming in BEHIND you. !shaking fist!