Minnesotans drive slow? (insurance, legal, safety)

[StilltheSame]

Of course they drive slow here - a good 5-6 months of the year if you mess around and speed under the wrong circumstances you are spinning until you stop in a ditch - if you are lucky.

[DirtMagurt]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

Of course they drive slow here - a good 5-6 months of the year if you mess around and speed under the wrong circumstances you are spinning until you stop in a ditch - if you are lucky.

I'm not talking about driving during inclement weather, I'm talking about generally, on dry pavement (vast majority of the time of course), not during rush hour. People here drive very slowly for what seems like no particular reason. I mean there are herds of them out tooling around at 10 mph under the speed limit and they really seem to gravitate towards the passing lane for some bizarre reason, and then won't let traffic pass by.

It's not as though it's unique to this place, people do it everywhere. Definitely not to the same degree.

[DirtMagurt]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

I don't see anything wrong with doing the speed limit. If the sign says 55, I do 55. What drives me nuts are the nice people who drive one inch off my back bumper because I'm doing the speed limit. They're jerks.

Well of course aggressive drivers are jerks but c'mon. Not everyone who happens to be behind you in traffic, waiting for you to allow them to pass, is a jerk.

Nobody said there was anything "wrong with doing the speed limit", but if someone is doing less than the speed limit, there is no reason for them to ever enter the left lane in the first place.

Several states have laws that prohibit drivers from hunkering down in the left lane for anything more than passing and troopers will ticket drivers for staying there too long no matter what speed they're going. Other states (Minnesota) ticket drivers for impeding traffic by not moving to the right to allow traffic to pass. If a person is parked in the left lane for miles on end with cars backed up behind them, they're technically breaking the law because they are screwing with the flow of traffic.

Good, succinct piece from a MN state trooper:
Driving in the left lane

Don't be this guy!
Profile of a 'left-lane bandit' | StarTribune.com (http://www.startribune.com/cars/11356391.html - broken link)

[Missourian11]

Slow drivers annoy the heck out of me. I believe you either drive at the speed limit or stay on the slow lane. LOL!

I usually drive about 5 to 10 MPH over the speed limit in the fast lane except during bad weather.

[sholomar]

In the town I live there's a street, 8th street south, where certain people always drive 25 and the speed limit is 35. Usually old timers. Baffles my mind. It's like they don't have a care in the world, they've just got worlds of time to wittle away completely oblivious to their surroundings. Speed limit must have been 25 on this road at one time, that's the only thing I can think of. It's in town and one lane so there's no passing. Slow drivers are everywhere, and like fast drivers, they tend to shove it in people's faces by being obnoxious sometimes.

Best drivers simply are unassuming, go with the flow types. Also the safest. People on both extremes are the ones that cause accidents... well not exactly, also middle aged women texting and in general not paying attention to what they are doing also do. I must admit, when I'm already going 10 above and someone pulls up on my bumper, they are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise when they find me slowing to 5 under.

I must admit it's relaxing in south dakota to simply put the cruise on 75 and park it in the right lane and almost never have to pass anyone and still feel like I'm getting somewhere in a timely manner. I usually go about 77 through I-90 in southern MN and I've done this maybe 20 times by now and never a ticket, though I've seen people fly by me going over 100 get tickets. This day in age with everyone having a cell phone you're simply not going to get away with that.

Nobody is supposed to drive in the fast lane unless they are passing. For the most part I have never had a problem with this driving on 90 through southern MN. Most are in the right lane, going around 73-75. Traffic density is fairly low anyways so no biggie.

[audadvnc]

I sometimes drive slower when some a-hole behind me gets all up in my rear view mirror, just for grins...

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

I don't see anything wrong with doing the speed limit. If the sign says 55, I do 55. What drives me nuts are the nice people who drive one inch off my back bumper because I'm doing the speed limit. They're jerks.

Ironically, they're probably thinking the same thing about you.

[DirtMagurt]

Originally Posted by stockwiz

Nobody is supposed to drive in the fast lane unless they are passing.

but then you go on to say

I must admit, when I'm already going 10 above and someone pulls up on my bumper, they are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise when they find me slowing to 5 under.

Well then which is it? Can't have it both ways.

[knke0204]

I don't get why people have such a hard time getting into the right lane.

Recently a friend and I went to the Xcel from the NW burbs on 94. It was an early SUNDAY morning, and in the 70 mph zones we hardly got up over 68, and when we got to the 60 mph zone we hardly got above 58. It was frustrating. Just slow hogs who have nothing better to do than to waste other people's time.

And to those who panick about weather driving: Just keep your eyes on the road and your hadns on the wheel and drive 4wd

[northstar22]

I forgot to add -- I almost always stay in the right lane, unless I'm passing a slower vehicle. I don't get the people who hog the left lane going slow.