[techdmn]

Unpopular opinion: People fly by on the right because someone else is camping in the left lane. The disclaimer is that with too much congestion the whole thing breaks down, and some people are determined to drive like idiots regardless, but it's worth examing why the right lane is open when the left lane isn't.

[jcgrillo]

I've noticed that moving right to allow such people to pass on the left (say, in a 3 lane highway) often results in them riding right up behind me, slamming the brakes, and then being blocked out of the left lane. If they were actually driving attentively they would instead merge left and overtake. I suspect what's actually happening is they're playing with their phones, and here in the US drivers sit on the left hand side of the car. So the worst blind spot is when you're merging right. If you're attention-compromised (e.g. because you're constantly checking myspace or tinder or whatever on your phone) then you'll want to spend all your time in the right lane. It's safest that way because nobody can sneak into the blind spot.

[LorenPechtel]

Note the "across three lanes"--this isn't a case of camping in the left lane as there must be at least 4 lanes for this to happen.

Rather, it's idiots weaving through traffic. They treat the flowing traffic as basically static obstacles and things can go very wrong if they cease to be static.

I've also seen it because the guy who flew by me on the right was impatient with the amount of clearance I left before moving back to the right lane--cut right as soon as there was a gap wide enough to move through.