The left lane is not a highway right, it is for passing, and blocking it with selfish cruise, regardless of speed, will contribute to the cause of an accident. Sooner or later.
Indeed it is for passing, and under the "every man for himself" rule there are a thousand and one scenarios where a guy can get in that left lane and pass.
Suppose Ellis is crawling along at 65 mph in the right lane with his Bigfoot camper, a speed he has found to be the best compromise for handling, comfort, and fuel efficiency (filled up yesterday in Ashdown Arkansas for example, 433. 8 miles on the odo and 28. 176 gallons = 15. 4 mpg). In his rearview mirror, he sees several interesting scenarios developing.
Driver #1 is closing the gap rapidly, doing 100 mph. He passes Ellis in a flash at a relative velocity of 35 mph, his bumper-pull trailer full of ATVs bouncing and fishtailing wildly behind him. The driver doesn't even seem to notice the huge camper rig as he whizzes by only inches away, being occupied with a cell-phone conversation, 3 screaming kids, a nagging wife, and the Big Mac he is eating. Supposing for the sake of argument that that he needs a 200 foot window to "pass" Ellis' rig and get back in the right lane, it takes him
less than 4 seconds to pass.
Driver #2 is closing the gap somewhat rapidly, doing a mere 85 mph. He passes Ellis at only 20 mph closing velocity, so it takes him almost
7 valuable seconds to pass. That 7 seconds seems like an eternity to Ellis, because Driver #2 has a double trailer rig full of gravel which is scattering out of the truck at every bounce and expansion joint on the highway. It would have taken way more than 7 seconds to put a tarp on that load before setting out, and besides who cares if a couple of dozen cars lose windshields and paint flakes? The driver has better things to do, including talking on the CB about the nifty seat covers in that Porsche and looking at the Hustler magazine he bought back at the truck stop.
Driver #3 is closing the gap very slowly, he has the cruise control in his Hyundai set at 67 mph and is passing at a relative velocity of only 2 mph. He drifts over into the passing lane and passes Ellis with glacial slowness, requiring
more than a full minute (68 seconds) to pass. He never considers accelerating or clicking off the cruise control, after all he is exceeding the speed limit, he really IS passing, and he is so intent on the plot of his Tom Clancy audiobook that he never sees people stacking up in the left lane behind him, screaming and gesturing about the 68 second-long temporary frustration of their own driving agendas.
Each of the drivers passing Ellis is intent on their own agenda, baffled and hurt that the rest of the drivers on the highway aren't able to sense their God-given right to drive their own particular way. "Speed limits are for dopes", they rationalize, "Everybody should be able to drive the speed they want to, as long as it's the speed I happen to agree with. "
Ultimately, there are two choices for drivers on America's highways - obey the law, or get used to the frustration of dealing with all those inconsiderate drivers out there who don't break the law
exactly the same way as you .
See, that's the big problem with every man for himself - there's one heck of a lot of men out there. "Selfish cruise" is in the eye of the be-speeder :-laf :-laf
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