[jstarfish]

> Of course, you should always be in the right lanes except for passing.

I used to adhere to this but it does not work in practice.

Right lanes have the highest churn-- people getting off, people getting on. If you're not planning to do either, you have no business being on that side of the road.

This idea about left lanes only being for passing only ever works when you're overtaking a tractor doing 15mph on a country road. The concept does not scale to freeway speeds or traffic. You're not legally passing anyone already doing 70.

[jcgrillo]

I couldn't disagree more strongly :). I always adhere by "keep right except to pass" and it works fine. I also move into the left lane preemptively while approaching an on ramp to give any traffic entering the highway room to merge. I'll be honest, I usually set my cruise control about 10% over the speed limit, because I find I can minimize the number of times I have to change speed this way. Decelerating only to accelerate again wastes fuel so I do whatever I can to maintain a constant speed, but I also want to get there ASAP. So 10% over seems to be the sweet spot--sometimes I'm overtaking, sometimes I'm being overtaken, but I rarely have to disengage cruise.

EDIT: I also drive with two hands on the wheel, don't listen to the radio, and don't play with my phone.

[lsllc]

Agreed, TBH on a quiet 4 line highway I'm in lane 2 to allow the ramp traffic easy on-off. I'll move left to pass if needed, but if there's someone going slower in the far lanes, I'll usually pass on the right to avoid moving over 3 lanes.