My son took the teener to a VW show in Sacramento. (It says Volkswagenwerk on the door sticker, doesn't it?)

He passed his buddies on the freeway. They filmed it, so now I know about it: Evidence.

someones got some 'splainin' to do!


but hey - at least the car is running well

is it legal to overtake on the right side ????

Gustl

Yes it's legal. That always surprises Europeans. And if you flash someone who won't leave the fast lane they can get very upset. Something even more surprising for Europeans is that here we can carry handguns, so upsetting a stranger on the highway can quickly become a VERY bad thing...

Pretty different, no?

He passed a split window bus, coming onto the freeway from what I can tell. He must have been doing about 50mph

LOL

Busted!

Yes, perfectly legal here. However, the speed he was going was probably not legal. And not using your turn signal when changing lanes is also not legal.

The thing about the US, there are no dedicated "fast" lanes and everybody is going about the same speed in all lanes, so passing on the right is less of a problem.

On the Autobahn, you would be dead within a week doing that ...
Andy

wow ...

if you do so in my country, and got caught by the Police, you will loose your driving license for at least one month

and the handgun thing ... that's really scarying me

Actually there IS a dedicated "fast" lane in the US. At least here in Calfironia. The far left or number 1 lane is the "fast" lane. The next lane to the right should be for slower traffic. Passing at high speed on the right is dangerous and stupid. No one expecting fast traffic to the right of them. The drivers in Germany are more disciplined and have more respect for driving at highway speeds. You rarely will see a cup holder in a German auto unless it's marked for export to the United States. A German will get in his or her car to DRIVE. Not to read a map or drink coffee or apply mascara. I felt safer at 200kph on the autobahn than at 70mph on any highway in the states.

That's a MYTH ... There is no such thing as a "Fast Lane" in CA ...

Just ask your friendly CHP officer next time you get pulled over. The traffic code makes no mentioning of a "Fast Lane".
Andy

Blown way out of proportion to scare the big Austrian.

There's literally millions of cars on the road here in the Bay Area at any time of the day and yes, there are road rage incidents, and yes, maybe one or two per year end up in someone being shot.

Compare that to all the people that die or get hurt badly around here in "normal" accidents every day and the "carry guns" comment quickly becomes meaningless.
Andy

It may not be the "law" but is certainly not a "MYTH". It's common sense and good disciplined driving technique. In California the far left lane has been refered to as the "fast Lane" since they first started building the freeways back in the fifties. The only thing I say to the CHP is "yes sir" and "no sir", even if he is young enough to be my aaah younger brother. Ask a good driving instructor what they think the "fast lane" is. Or what it SHOULD be.

But that's not the point. I really do understand the concept of a fast lane, but by law, there is no such thing here in CA.
You can call it anything you want, there is in fact no law that requires anybody to move to the right lanes if they want to go slower or to the left lanes if they want to go faster.
The same speed limit applies to all lanes.

And as far as "common sense", that is obviously labeled wrong as common sense usually isn't all that common ...
Andy

Actually, Elliot is right. I know, it seems hard to believe ...
Andy

Was he really going that fast? Seemed like the white van that passed on the other side was going pretty much as fast...

Then again, I wouldn't know, I never speed.

Too true, and worse near a large city. Driving across the north end of Toronto it's a packed, 27 lane free-for-all . . . mind you, up here at least, once you are away from the metropolitan areas the left lane/fast lane rule is generally respected.

Yikes! No respect.
OK. I'm gonna flog this dead horse one more time. The California Drivers Handbook explains that the lanes on California highways are numbered. The far left lane is number one, the next number two, then three etc. It also mentions that the number one lane is considered the "fast" lane and slower traffic should keep to the further right lanes. There may not be a law against going 65 in the far right lane but if the CHP sees you doing it you may very well get a ticket. If the CHP officer thinks you are unsafe (going much faster than everyone else in the right lane even though you are below the limit), you WILL get stopped. Anyway, that's how it was explained to me by the nice young officer on the 405 southbound in Orange County about five years ago.

Are all Germans this argumentative or just Andy and Thomas?

Before most "Americans" lost all common sense and semblance of being polite, we were taught to 'stay right except to pass', making the left lane faster lane. Now with so many brain dead zombies on the roads spending their time babbling on their cell phones (or even worse, texting!), you're lucky if you arrive at your destination without any scars. Bullets are the least of your worries!

It's so much fun driving around a metropolitan area that I have no desire to even have the Porsches at home. I keep them at our lake house in Wisconsin where you can still enjoy some top down, fresh air motoring!

On the 4 lane freeways like I5 there is a phenomenon that I like to call "2nd lane wannabes and 3rd lane slo-boys" it occurs when folks get on the freeway on the right and immediately move to the #2 lane because they "don't like to deal with merging traffic"...they don't speed up to freeway speed...they just move over and get in the way....the 3rd lane wannabes are going approximately the same speed as the #2 lane but would very much like to be near the "fast lane" as I jokingly refer to it. The result of this behavior is that the freeway is reduced to at least a 3 lane road and in some cased a 2 lane road because of poor speed control.....and don't even get me started on poor car control, whether caused by cell phones or not, many drivers cannot keep themselves in a single lane to save their lives...it's embarrassing. In my experience, European drivers are fast and generally show good car control and seldom seem distracted, well maybe a few of the Italian drivers were a little crazy but what are you gonna do?

Well... just three weeks ago I was in a BMW M5 on the autobahn going north from Cologne when the driver took both hands off the wheel at 240 kph to gesture, to make his point. I was enormously impressed, on a lot of different levels.

The law in California really is drive right, pass left. And it's really in the driver's handbook. I don't think it's enforced often, especially these days when all the lanes are clogged to a standstill, but I did have a friend in a Kombi who was ticketed for driving too slow in the left lane.

It looks like the 914 was coming in from an on ramp on the right, then merged left to pass. Nothing illegal, except maybe the speed.

Maybe no guns in California, Andy, but I'm in Texas. They believe in them back here.

I think it's legal in some states, in others it's not:

Here's what California says:

Pass traffic on the left. You may pass on the right only when:

* An open highway is clearly marked for two or more lanes of travel in your direction.
* The driver ahead of you is turning left and you do not drive off the roadway. Never pass on the left if the driver is signaling a left turn.

So I guess this means that YES, you can legally pass on the right on any road with more than one lane going in the same direction.

In another time and galaxy (New Jersey) where I learned to drive, it was pounded into my head that I am to pass on the left only and then move right. Here's what NJ says:

The laws of New Jersey require motorists to keep right except when passing... On a multi-lane roadway, motorists must drive in the lane nearest to the right-hand edge or curb when the lane is available for travel, except when overtaking another vehicle or in preparation for a left hand turn.

To this day, I thought it was the law in all states! I figured everyone was just ignoring the law!

To finish this up there's no problem. The son explained that he was convoying with the bus and just couldn't drive 55, which I can certainly understand. He'd drive normally (75-80mph on that freeway) then wait on an overpass for the buddy to catch up, then leapfrog again up ahead. He may have juiced it a bit to merge and to have a little fun with the bus but I'd probably do the same. Can't complain much about that.

So we ended up no harm no foul, just a promise to keep it down a bit. And if he can't manage to keep it down then at least to make sure I get the chance to enjoy any future videos.

Here in Colorado, remaining in the left lane when faster traffic comes up behind you can get you a ticket, its designated as a "passing lane" and if you don't get out of the way of faster moving traffic you're "impeding traffic".

Of course people here have no idea what flashing your lights means (its just not part of our driving rules) and most take it as a rude gesture.

As for the handgun thing ... those that carry their handguns here LEGALLY are not the ones that are going to use them inappropriately ... I'm sure there are armed criminals in Germany too.

Don't know if it's law or not, but I do know for a fact my grandfather got a ticket on I-5 back in the day for going too slow in the "fast lane" He kept the ticket and was pissed about it until the day he died. Maybe he should have fought it harder?

I call it the hammer lane cause your hammer`n the go pedal

No? When we moved to Texas one of the first things we saw was a newspaper article about a society woman who was cut off in the Galleria (a fancy shopping district) by two scruffy guys in a car. Exchange of rude gestures, they got aggressive, so she got afraid and took off. They followed her onto the freeway, she waved her gun at them to scare them off, they blocked her car, everybody got out and did an O.K. Corral, and they killed her. She had a permit but they were undercover cops, so all was forgiven.

Right now there's a proposal to let university students in Texas carry handguns, to avoid another Virginia Tech incident. Fact is that the Texas schools typically rate high on the lists of "best party schools", so it's likely that Real Soon Now we're going to see how "appropriately" those crowds of drunken 19 year olds will be with their handguns. I'm not bein' critical, understand, I'm just sayin'....

Look, about driving, handguns, or anything else, you go with the flow. You may think Italians drive like idiots, but they have rules. Ever see a flock of birds take off from a field, fly as a group this way and that, but don't run into each other? That's the way Italians (and Spanish, and Brasilians, etc.) drive, just like those birds. Stop signs, speed limits, the lines dividing lanes, all mere suggestions. It's crazy, but the keep their distances and don't run into each other very much. Well they do, but not as much as you'd think. But put an American, or German, in the middle of those Italians and he won't understand their unwritten rules, and he'll likely get somebody killed. The same as putting an American or Italian onto a German autobahn. He won't understand the etiquette, will pass on the right, and he'll get somebody killed. It's not a question of right or wrong, it almost never is when you're someplace different than where you learned things. It's really "when in Rome".

Same with handguns. I grew up in the country with guns, but since I went urban forty years ago I haven't seen the need. These days I'm thinking I may have to do as Texans do, and get me something to defend myself from hordes of drunken teenagers. When in Rome... or when in Houston...

In Oregon "keep right except to pass" is the law and it's posted all over the interstate. However, it only helps a little.

Its a rule of thumb, that if you are slower traffic, you should stay on the right. However, the law does not mandate that you have to be slower in the right lane and faster in the left lane. the speed limit (65 on the normal highway, 70 in less dense areas, and 55 for areas of high density (like near Hollywood)) applies to all lanes. A CHP won't care which lane you were in.

Also, since when have you typically seen people in the left lane being the faster one. Driving in the central and southern parts of California, the safe rule of thumb is hardly ever followed. Thats why even though we have more enforced rules, more traffic regulation, slower speeds, we are still much more dangerous drivers than, lets say, Germans.... We just don't have that defensive driving mentality that a road like the autobahn should teach you.



and I love the picture comment... Busted-dad... but at least the car is running in good shape

Ya, especially when there's a Washington driver in the fast lane.

Life in the fast lane
Surely make you lose your mind
Life in the fast lane

I can't drive.....55!!!


I wonder if any of those songs were playing while he was driving....

So what was the kids reaction when you showed him this video? I noticed in the other video the red 914 was in front as they rolled into the show. Was that your car too?
I see the same cars on the way to work everyday. If one of them gets me pissed I remind myself I'll probably see them again tomorrow, which keeps me from being an ass and tailgating. I'm on the look out now for an envoy I see once in awhile who about ran me off the road while honking. If your gonna put a fish and a cross on your tailgate save it and get one that says hiprocrit instead.

So true. I've been to Italy for work several times. In Naples actually, which isn't really like the rest of Italy. My favorite part is driving there. Quite scary if you can't figure out the rules. One of the guys I was there with wouldn't even hold the car keys.

Traffic signals? Why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqG63cZgIhk

So (seemingly) disorganized on side streets, but on the autostrada everyone was so well behaved as far as lane discipline. Only passing in the left lane. Too bad no body here seems to understand that concept.

SUV's are the worst drivers period. Male, female, makes no difference. They tailgate, change lanes like they are driving an F1 car, no signals, and typically doing something else while doing all of the above like talking on cell phone, texting, etc.

There should be a secondary DMV test to permit people to drive 3 ton POS!

With the condition of the roads these days I'm starting to reconsider my hatred of SUVs.

The first time you hit your head on the roof of your 914 because of a pothole while wearing 5-points you begin to wonder if a truck & trailer might not be more pleasant.

lots of keep right laws on the books according to this site:

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

and the CA laws:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displayc...ile=21650-21664

One thing I used to always try to keep in mind was the possibility of a person day dreaming in front of me while I was hauling a$$. I have day dreamed while driving in my job and had the s**t scared of of me by a guy going about 90 passing me on either side. If I see him coming thats ok but when he is on me before I see him coming I think good thing I didn't decide to exit for a drink or something.
When I used to ride a bike real fast it was always in my mind on two lane roads that farmers are apt to appear over a rise going 30. Or they might pull out on the highway with a cattle trailer and block both sides of the road. When you are speeding and cause a accident it doesn't matter what lane you are in if any one survives your life will change forever.
I live in TX. and don't remember the galleria incident, I hope the cops got what they deserved, their license to carry carries the same responsibilities as a normal citizen with the right to carry but they will have the court starting out on their side. It's all about the witnesses and being judged by 12 or carried by 6.

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