Then again
I see fast drivers zigzag pointlessly down the motorway. And all because they obsessively want to return to the LH lane, even though in a very short while they'll pull out to the outside lane to overtake again. And ... repeat.

IMO, if you are not in anyone's way, it really doesn't matter much which lane you're in; although tending toward the LH lane does usually help in that respect.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 22:48, 1 reply)

Then you are a fool.
"if you are not in anyone's way, it really doesn't matter much which lane you're in"

Yes it does because soon, through no fault of your own, you can be in someone's way.

Why don't you apply your logic to single lane roads? Just drive on the right hand side of the road constantly unless you find yourself aware that you're in someone else's way. You're argument is tantamount to if there's nobody on a roundabout, what's the harm in going the wrong way round it? Or, if there's no pedestrians on the pavement can't I just use that? Or, I've seen emergency vehicles using the hard shoulder, why can't I.

You should remain in the most left hand lane unless traffic or the road means that you have to change lanes. You of course should not tear up the arse of someone before wildly swinging out to an outer lane, but that goes for whatever speed you are travelling at. If you do need to overtake a slower moving vehicle and there is a vehicle travelling faster than you (note not the same speed or slower) in the right lane then if there is a lane to the right of him or her, they will have hopefully foreseen this or see you now indicating and moved over right themselves. You only end up in trouble if you have not anticipated the flow of traffic or people are driving inappropriately close or in the wrong lane.

Just because you are approaching a slip road, you do not have to and should not move over blindly. If there is traffic entering then, obviously move over safely.

The amount of people who do not move over to and cause pockets of traffic is staggering. It is dangerous and causes accidents.

If you believe that your actions on the road do not matter then you should simply not have a driving license.
( @><|= w0nu!) or cunt to my friends, Mon 4 Apr 2011, 18:01, closed)

The number of people.
You can't have an amount of people unless you're using a blender. Perhaps that's the solution?
(sabre-tooth monkey, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 13:50, closed)

True, true... Although my grammatical error is unlikely to endanger people.
Usage note The traditional distinction between amount and number is that amount is used with mass or uncountable nouns (the amount of paperwork; the amount of energy) and number with countable nouns (a number of songs; a number of days). Although objected to, the use of amount instead of number with countable nouns occurs in both speech and writing, especially when the noun can be considered as a unit or group (the amount of people present; the amount of weapons) or when it refers to money (the amount of dollars paid; the amount of pennies in the till).
( @><|= w0nu!) or cunt to my friends, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 14:40, closed)

Crikey.
I stand by my original pedantry, though not with any keenness. I think Americans may use "an amount of dollars" - where did your usage note come from? As a Brit, I'd use "an amount of money" and treat pounds as discrete rather than continuous. I'd do the same for people, right through to quantities of the order of, say, the number of people in the world.

Another edit: I'm much more interested in this than which lane to drive in. I mostly stay left, unless I spot the BMW badge from a long way away. Then I try to pass someone in the left lane at precisely 0.1mph faster than they are going.
(sabre-tooth monkey, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 16:20, closed)

Fear not, you're right
As a Brit too, I just managed to find something a little bit more "colourful" in its answer.


_{If I were a Yank, shirley I'd expect them to move to the right/}
( @><|= w0nu!) or cunt to my friends, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 0:49, closed)