What I Notice on the Highway

I drive my Panamera almost every day, and take the highway once or twice a week. Today, I got to thinking about passing-lane etiquette on the highway. I looked up the definition of a passing lane, and found this:

In Japan, when a highway or motor-vehicle-only road has multiple lanes in one direction, the passing lane is the far-right lane. It is used to overtake vehicles traveling in the lane to its left.

Passing lane – Wikipedia

On the highway, I use the regular lane when traffic is light, but otherwise I usually end up in the passing lane. It’s not that I’m in a hurry; I just don’t particularly enjoy cruising along slowly in my Panamera. At the same time, I don’t like tailgating, so when I see a car ahead, I ease off and leave a reasonable following distance.

If a car comes charging up behind me, though, I move left and let it pass as soon as I spot it in the rearview mirror. The Panamera has more power and acceleration than most cars, and I think I could probably outrun just about anything coming up behind me. But I’d rather avoid a confrontation, and it’s better to simply let them by. (It’s not about winning or losing.)

Are You Passing, or Aren’t You?

That said, some things can really get under my skin. One is a car that just keeps creeping along in the passing lane. (The other day, someone stayed at 80 km/h the whole time.) The passing lane is supposed to be for overtaking the car ahead. Yet this driver wasn’t passing anyone—in fact, they were driving alongside another car…

If you’re not planning to pass, stay out of the passing lane!

Before long, a line of cars began building up behind them. And yet, they just carried on in the passing lane as if nothing were wrong.

Come on, read the room… (-_-)

I could understand keeping that speed if there were a speed camera a kilometer ahead, or if the road had a long, steep climb or a series of sharp curves. But on a clear, straight stretch, why keep going that slowly? Were they not checking their mirrors? Or had they noticed the cars behind and decided to keep at it just to annoy everyone? lol

That’s what I thought—until I learned a surprising fact.

Of course, even in the passing lane, you must not exceed the legal speed limit.

Passing lane – Wikipedia

Wait, really!?

Still, it’s called the passing lane for a reason. If you’re not going to pass anyone, I wish you’d stay out of it. That’s what I’ve been thinking lately.