Right Lane Driver

I choose to drive in the right lane on the expressway most of the time.

This is much different then my parents, who always suggested the safest and easiest place to drive on the road is the middle lane on those three lane highways. The right lane has a lot of advantages to the middle lane, including that traffic tends to go slower and drivers are less aggressive in the right lane. But there is another big advantage too – an emergency escape should something happen right in front of your car.

In drivers ed class, they always teach you to plan to have an escape route should something happen immediately in front your vehicle and you lack time to stop. The right lane on most interstates has the shoulder, which in an emergency can be used for stopping should something cut you off or traffic stop right away, and you don’t have time to stop. The shoulder provides a margin of safety that is unavailable in the middle lane, especially if you have cars on both sides of you in the middle lane.

Granted, the right lane isn’t perfect. People are slowing down in the right lane to enter and exit the expressway. Sometimes you have very heavy traffic getting on a ramp, so you best move over to center lane to let traffic on. In the right lane, you have to move over when there is a broke down car or a policeman, which can inconvenient to have to switch lanes. Not to mention, all of the slowest vehicles drive in the right lane, which means you have to move over to center lane to pass.

Driving in the right lane does mean you have to change lanes from time to time and be aware of slow traffic. But the pace is so much more leisurely, and you rarely get traffic on your ass in the slow lane. People just expect you to drive slow. To me, the right lane is the place to be on the highway, whenever traffic allows it.