Is it legal to speed while passing another car?

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If so, by how much?

It depends upon what percentage of "productivity goals" have been met among the local constabulary.

Former professional Livery driver here  (I deliver the livers).

It's never actually "legal"  to go over the posted speed limit.

If the sign says 65 MPH then that's how fast you are allowed to go.

Most cops will ignore you going 70 in a 65 zone.

 

They teach you to do it in drivers training.  You have to use good discretion

Well I was an actual Driving Instructor back in 1986.  Licensed by the State and all that.
Told the kids that it was not legal to go over the speed limit,  because they could get a ticket, and that's unsafe.

Whatever they did after they got their license;  I don't know.

My philosophy was to teach those kids how to be Safe and under the legal limit.

If they took on bad driving habits later in life,  it wasn't my fault.

Is this a serious question?

It must be regional,  stu. I took drivers training summer 88 and we were instructed that in heavy traffic, if 'everyone' is doing 80 and youre the car going the speed limit at 65, you'll be the one pulled over and ticketed for dangerous driving. 

You have to use discretion while operating

Yes, and if all lanes are full it's ok to use the breakdown lane

I never felt like it was OK to teach those kids how to do illegal or unsafe driving behavior.
Of course,  that was a long time ago.  These days we have newer generations of entitled bumbaclot bad drivers.

Just like back then,  I drive sturdy cars and trucks so those idiots don't kill me when they fuck up.

It's more dangerous to be the car holding up traffic. You're breaking the law if you're the one doing the speed limit and everyone else is doing 80 and you will be the one pulled over and shook down

 

>You're breaking the law if you're the one doing the speed limit and everyone else is doing 80 and you will be the one pulled over and shook down<

 

Not according to my friend, a former LTC for the NJ State Police. You're fine if in the right lane.

yes, but only if you finished all of your beer and you need to get to the liquor store before it closes. 

Is it legal to pass more than one car at a time on a two-lane road (one each way) with a broken white line?

^depends on how much coffee you;'ve had...  but my guess will be that's it's legal to do that

Of the situation calls for it, yes. 

In metro Detroit & throughout Michigan.  

If you're doing the speed limit and every one is zipping past you then you'll be pulled over for careless driving and you'll also be checked for impairment. 

Is this a serious question?<<<

Yes.

And to be more precise:  not asking whether it's OK to speed if "everyone else is already speeding", but whether it's OK to accelerate above the speed limit only during the process of passing?  For example, the car in front of you on a two-lane road is doing 50 mph in a 55 mph speed zone:  is it legal to accelerate to 60 mph as you cross the dotted yellow line into the oncoming lane and remain at 60 mph while in the process of passing said car (that's still doing 50 mph) until you get back into proper lane and then slow down to speed limit 55 mph after having passed said vehicle?

Meant to say "broken yellow line". Oops.

It varies by state. 

But as I stated its a driver discretion situation.  Its expected that you would have to go above the posted speed limit to pass but you can't be careless or reckless when doing so. 

You need to safely pass then decelerate back to the speed limit. ..not continue accelerating and playing chicken with oncoming traffic for example. 

I mean once you are a safe distance past the car you've passed, you let up on the gas and get back in your lane. 

It varies by state. 

But as I stated its a driver discretion situation.  Its expected that you would have to go above the posted speed limit to pass but you can't be careless or reckless when doing so<<<

I've seen the "it varies by state" answer out there, but looking for something more quantifiable re: "drivers' discretion" (if your response is in fact the case).

I will often accelerate as fast as my vehicle will allow in the process of passing; figuring the sooner I close the window of vulnerability the better for all parties.  Still, can't help but wonder if I'd be cited / ticketed for doing 80 mph in a 55 mph zone even if I felt it was "safer" than if I had found a passing zone sufficient in length to creep by and pass at 55 mph?

^ If the slowpoke is doing 50mph in a 55mph zone, you should be fine passing at 60-65mph. If you need to get up to 80mph then you are most likely pulling a dangerous pass. If I was the cop I'd write you a stiff ticket for over "20+mph", reckless driving, reckless endangerment, child endangerment (if with child) and probably arrest you when you start talking non-stop (impeding an officer to perform duties). Enjoy your bologna sandwich.

So I see many different BAD DRIVER interpretations here.

There is never a "legal"  excuse to exceed the speed limit.

The passing lane is the left lane (that's the one on your left here in North America).

Slow lane is the right lane (that's the lane on your right here in North America).

All of you bumblef*cks who never took driver's education,  (or had brain-damaged instructors) urinate me off on a daily basis.

And no,  it's not proper to pass me on the right while I am signaling a right turn to exit the roadway.
Not that I mind running you into the ditch if you do that,  but you're probably too stupid to learn anything.  Also,  you probably don't carry insurance to cover my paint job.

But please,  don't hurt yourself or others while driving like an idiot.

 

^ If the slowpoke is doing 50mph in a 55mph zone, you should be fine passing at 60-65mph. If you need to get up to 80mph then you are most likely pulling a dangerous pass<<<

What's the "cut off"?  Would 66 mph be OK with officer ned?

Laws vary. I have always heard it called , The general speed law.

To be interpreted by the officers of the law.

It’s definitely ok to speed to pass people but only if you pass on the right, especially with 18 wheelers. 

I don't know, FOM. You're were speeding 80mph in a 55mph zone. Why not just go to 85 or 90mph since you have deemed it OK....shrink that window, breh!

In California 10 MPH over the speed limit is fine as long as you are white and driving a well maintained car. 

In other news I just read that 45 people in California died in crashes over the Thanksgiving weekend and almost half of them weren't wearing seat belts. Who the fuck doesn't wear a seat belt anymore. I didn't even know that was still a thing. 

My top land speed in the USA was 130 or so MPH but that was in Nebraska,  on a freshly-paved interstate just after Sunrise.

So no other traffic,  and I saw all the Nebraska state cops swarming a U-Haul truck.

Had four nice new tires and good brakes.  Had I been caught,  revoked license for 99 years.  It's difficult to explain 130 in a 70 zone.

fTRAV_YOS_JMG_5742_full_750c.jpg

FOM, have you consulted the highway patrol, internet or your driver's manual for laws in your state? One or more of those would seem to be able to accuraately answer your question.

 the seatbelt thing is all relative.  I mean if you can legally ride a motorcycle without a helmet it's hard to justify them although I usually wear mine. I know someone who was paralyzed from waist down because of a seat belt malfunction that he was wearing.  Definitely in the minority but true just the same.  

for the most part seatbelt laws are a way for a cop to justify pulling you over. I think they should be installed but these new cars that tell a cpu 'black box' if and when you hit your brakes or whether your seat belts were clicked is a bit intrusive. Imo

Nowadays you can't click on a tv show that isn't shaming people Into using back seat belts.

 

Telegraph Rd. Is one of the busiest in Detroit area...it runs out to the suburbs and near Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills approaching Pontiac there is a stretch of 4 lanes one way lanes each side seperated by a median.

 

And during rush hour everyone is going 70+ mph, bumper to bumper, and its posted 55mph. But if there were a cop that saw someone 'carelessly' driving 55, endangering everyone,  I guarantee that person will be the one pulled over and treated like a drunk or impaired because of the bad judgment call. Doing the speed limit but breaking the law nonetheless. 

Cops cruising 70 as well

They put those signs out in the park where a bear got killed there. Sad. It’s a lot of them.

I lived in Montana when they changed the top speed limit on highways to "reasonable and prudent."    People thought that meant no speed limit and traveled to the state in their high performance sports cars to see how fast they could go, but it only lasted a few years before the law was stuck down as been unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous.    In other words, the speed limit didn't let one know when they were breaking the law and what was "reasonable and prudent" for one driver might not be the same as for another driver.

FOM, have you consulted the highway patrol, internet or your driver's manual for laws in your state? One or more of those would seem to be able to accuraately answer your question<<<

Well, I just learned that it may vary by state ... and I regularly drive in several different states over the course of a year ... although still not sure that "it varies" if the speed limit is always the speed limit?

But yeah, it could be found out for sure ... I'll start by taking a look for Colorado on internet

You're overthinking it. Just safely pass and get back in your lane and drop your speed back down.  That's it. 

< top land speed in the USA was 130 >

Wow that's sick. In what kind of car my man ?

I hit 115 in my brand new baby blue with silver skirts 5 speed manual 89 dodge daytona (not a Shelby), also on a newly paved highway at 6am, just got off work. Only for about 2 miles, I had to see what she could do. Smooth as silk, not a shimmy or a shake. I'll never do that again

I think these guys passed on the left at high speed.....just happened....

In a feat of engineering, human will and blatant disregard of speed limits, three men claim that they broke the record for the "Cannonball Run," a cross-country drive from New York to Los Angeles.

Arne Toman, Douglas Tabbutt and Berkeley Chadwick say they started their drive on November 11 at 12:57 a.m. at the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan and ended at the Portofino hotel in Redondo Beach in 27 hours and 25 minutes, beating the previous record of 28 hours and 50 minutes.

The trio claims their average speed was 103 miles per hour, and the highest was 193.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cannonball-run-drive-new-record/index...

You're overthinking it. Just safely pass and get back in your lane and drop your speed back down.  That's it.<<<<

Be this as it may, tell me you (and others) will not think about this the next time you pass someone?

>> You're overthinking it. <<

No!

FOM overthinks for us, so we can live life unshackled from the drudgery of such concerns.

While I've been kinda wondering about this for a while, part of what got me wondering even more is how some states (such as Colorado) make it illegal to drive in the left lane (of a four lane hwy) if one is not passing.

I abide by this rule, but unless the traffic is going miserably slow below posted speed limit, I normally go off cruise and increase my speed in order to get past traffic in the right lane. This is especially true on interstates with a lot of trucks.

 

that's right ned, don't forget that I do thinking around here

.... I'll let you when it's time to "tend the rabbits"

>> part of what got me wondering even more is how some states (such as Colorado) make it illegal to drive in the left lane (of a four lane hwy) if one is not passing. <<

 

It is not illegal to drive in the left lane of a 4-Lane highway in CO. It's illegal only when signs state "Keep Right Except to Pass" which is common when 2-Lane highways have an added 2nd passing lane up steep grades. Many times the downhill lane will have a dashed line allowing passing. So, they want you to keep right if you're not passing someone so cars driving downhill can safely use the same passing lane.

Obviously you have NOT overthunk ths one.... BAD FOM.

Is there something about the conditional I included "if one is not passing" that eludes you?

Would it not be more dangerous to have one truck "passing" another truck by only a 2 mph differential in order to stay under the speed limit while passing? 

My daughter got a $300 dollar ticket here in fla. for driving in the left hand lane when no other cars were present on I-75

 

My favorite hobby on the road is passing cops when they are out of their jurisdiction. Actually it may be a fetish 

My daughter got a $300 dollar ticket here in fla. for driving in the left hand lane when no other cars were present on I-75

 

My favorite hobby on the road is passing cops when they are out of their jurisdiction. Actually it may be a fetish 

>> Is there something about the conditional I included "if one is not passing" that eludes you? <<

 

I just explained the spirit of the law in context to 2-Lane highways with added passing lanes (when this law is most applied...especially between Buena Vista and Salida). I know you know this...don't be extraordinarily obtuse.

why do people drive slow in the fast lane? why?

 

>It's illegal only when signs state "Keep Right Except to Pass"<

 

It's the law in all of NJ

>>>>>passing cops when they are out of their jurisdiction

 

Around here the jurisdictions often have cooperative arrangements.

Yes, but usually if they are out of their jurisdiction they are either on their way home or going to work, or transporting a felon, it takes a real committed cop to pull you over under those circumstances 

Don’t count on cops out of their jurisdiction not messing with you. I remember going to a wedding in Reno and one of the guests at our table was Sheriff in Reno. Because I lived in San Francisco at the time he told a story about when they were in town for a conference and spotted a person at 16th and Market smoking a joint. This was before legal weed. They put on their lights and rolled up on the sidewalk and arrested the guy, and called the local PD. When SFPD got there and found out what the situation was they told the Reno Sheriff to get the fuck out of town and stop causing trouble. He told this story as an example of what shit hole San Francisco was. The guy getting busted must of thought he entered the twilight zone.

 

I just explained the spirit of the law in context to 2-Lane highways with added passing lanes (when this law is most applied...especially between Buena Vista and Salida). I know you know this...don't be extraordinarily obtuse<<<

You brought up the example of the third (passing) lane on a two lane hwy example that was not 100% on target to the OP, but yeah I "get it" regarding spirit & wasn't trying to be obtuse ...  seemed like you were the one to have been in the bickering spirit.