why are trucks driving in the middle lane(s)?

Well, today I was driving down the highway in the MIDDLE LANE and a question occurred to me: 'Why do 4-WHEELERS drive in the middle lane?' :smt017
Maybe when they can adequately answer that question, they can insert truck into their answers, and voila... the answer to the question they pose to us!

 

Because the trucks are there.

 

see that's where you are wrong. you judge before knowing all the facts. your just judging by what you have read. and why can't i go 70+ ? from what i understand from those road signs, slower traffic is to keep right, except to pass. so this doesn't mean for the slower trucks to hangout in the middlle lane. see what you fail to understand , if a truck is coming up on me faster then i get over and let him by and let the cops chase him around. it's common courtesy to stay in the appropriate lane and it's the law too. impeading the flow of traffic is a ticketable offence.

 

Squid,Law enforcement.O.K.I have in-laws that are in the trade.State police,detective and local.I went the way of a trucker.My Dad was an airline pilot.I should have followed him.I would have been in L.A. in 5 hours compared to 24 on the ground from NY.In traffic for the most part I have stayed out of the merge lane.I don't want to shift gears,I don't want to brake if not needed.I may be going slower than traffic is,but I am proably doing the speed limit as most other motorist are not.When I ran out on the island,that is Long Island,for people that don't drive back east.I would stay in the far right lane.Why? Because no one was moving.It provided me with an exit to get onto a back road for better time.But for the most part I stayed put.Patience.A truck can intinmadate someone because of it's size but most drivers don't want an accident and are aware of what's going on around them.Lane change's for rigs are hard in congested areas.I was new in 1980,I am still new in 2007.

 

This is an ignorant statement coming from what is supposed to be a law enforcement professional. Truck drivers here have explained to you Squid, why we run in the middle lane and you chose not to get it, I presume just because you don't like it. Slam your brakes while in front of a commercial vehicle and one of your partners can tell your family that daddy is dead because he was a arrogant #######. When you cut off a commercial vehicle and slam on the brakes, that is an unsafe lane change. By the time the s cams in the trucks brakes turn and apply preassure to the brakes, you better move you vehicle or you will be road pizza. Just the physics here, wether we like it or not. Why not change lanes behind the truck to get off, that is the safe move. The road is not the place for stupid egotistical games donut boy.
Now back to lane usage. When you are trying to merge, if a commercial vehicle is not in the slow lane, you have a better chance of not getting tangled with it. We avoid that lane as a courtesy to other road users. If a commercial vehicle is in that lane, and it has to slow because the average auto driver does not know how to merge, how much more is that going to booger up traffic now that it will take another mile to get back up to speed. Now EVERYBODY behind that truck will also be impeded. Some will change lanes to get around, and every lane change increases the risk of an accident.
Or the commercial vehicle moves over to let traffic merge. Making another hazardous lane change, and then moving back to the right, another hazardous lane change. The safest operation of a commercial vehicle involves the least amount of lane changes. That's why we chose the middle lane. Safety dictates, use the lane with the least amount of resistance and that is the middle lane. The experienced truckers know how to set their self up to avoid accidents, and if our presence causes you an inconvenience, GO THE ## AROUND. With millions of miles of experience, ongoing safety training, we have a clue as to what the ## we are doing on the road. Wear as the National Insurance Institute and FHTSA both blame automobile drivers for up to 97% of truck/auto accidents.

 

Well, Here goes. I don't just read, I actually drive for a living. I see all to often people who can't or worse, won't move over when they likely should. Cars impede traffic way more than trucks, causeing interaction that in some cases is lethal. By not going with the flow of traffic(i.e. at least the speed limit) they impede and force traffic around them. It works like a river with a rock in the middle. The water is going to follow the path of least resistance around the rock. The signs have been removed across most of the US regarding keep right and that is only enforced in a very few states now(PA, IN, GA? and a few others.) I see all to often people hanging out in the left lane and someone riding there bumper, either an ******* owner operator who can't or won't slow down or another car who is just looking for a reason to cut me off, since I am governed at 65 and use the right lane almost all the time. The means nothing anymore, it has nothing at all to do with safety, but revenue. How much money can the nanny state take from us. How long will the sheeple allow themselves to be fleeced, of both their money and there freedoms. All I can say is welcome to Socialism, it's here. Universal healthcare, BTW, is only the icing on the cake.

BTW, Slower trucks hang out in the middle lane because you morons can't merge. You refuse to either accelerate and go on or time your approach so you come in behind the vehicle passing the ramp. You drive recklessly and we are always blamed for your errors because we are the "professionals", even when you caused the accident. You look for every way in the book to get out of trouble, even saying the driver should not have been there. Before blaming a truck driver for ANYTHING, take a ride with one and see it from my point of view. Until then, Stop your complaining.

 

expect all the slower trucks to run the right lane with all the traffic merging? as a professional driver, you should be a bit more patient to your fellow truckers and understand that you aren't the only truck on the road. I don't know of any city where the speed limit is 70 going thru the city. Once you get thru the city, you can be on your way with your leadfoot gunned to the floor.

 

I can't read this whole post before I put in my two cents. Not this time of day, anyway. My dh told me that it is regulation in some states or highways that the trucks drive in the middle lane. GO ASK DOT why! Don't ASSume that the truckers are doing something to aggrevate the "four wheelers". RULES, they are abiding by rules!

 

beautiful areas of the country. Lucky you. Maybe someday I'll get the hell outta here and head that way. Spectacular scenery.

 

Dito. I love it. Yes, those with common sense stay away from the ramps and the ignorant who just do not know how to exit or merge.


What I don't understand is the road hogs that sit in the fast lane causing people to have to go around them on the right? Then, again, there is the total idiot that weaves in and out and does not care how he/she gets around and ahead.

I think those are blooming idiots looking for a place to be planted.