I know that I have not gotten any more tickets since Idaho raised our speed limits to a reasonable level. I used to get ticketed every once in a while for for seventy five on the interstate, that's the limit now.
I know that in Oregon the law states that you must drive in the left lane except when passing. Idaho has no such law. Idaho expects that traffic will make use of both lanes. You are almost as likely to be passed on the right while driving in the left lane as vice versa.
Some drivers have difficulty with that concept.
I do relate to you on the Oregon stuff. I got pulled over years ago after I got off I5 in Central OR, got on the 99W and kept going 65 as it was night, there was no traffic, it was a rural area and I thought 65 was the limit. Fortunately, the OSP officer let me go with a warning and informed me that in OR unless on a real freeway the limit is 55. AS screwy as California is, when I grew up they had a "basic speed law". It was 65 everywhere unless posted otherwise or conditions dictated slower (rain, snow, limited visibility, etc.)
"I know that in Oregon the law states that you must drive in the
left lane except when passing"
I'm thinking you meant to type right lane?
Oregon and many other states have passed that right lane only law only in "recent" times (recent for an older guy like me anyway) due to the fact that they couldn't enforce keeping slower folks in the right lane without it. Even Cali has had signs (for over 40 years that I know of) on most roads when you enter the state that say "Slower traffic
MUST mover over to allow passing", My emphasis on "must". That does not mean you "should" pull over, or that you "can" pull over; "Must" means "must" in the English I grew up with. Lots of other states have passed laws now requiring normal travel in the right lane only to save the left for passing. They've also had to pass laws requiring people to slow down and/or move over for emergency vehicles because some folks have no common sense and blow right past a cop car/ambulance/tow truck on the side of the road at 65, 75, or higher. Those folks on the side of the road love that.
I don't know if Idaho "expects" traffic to use both lanes and that one should expect to be passed on the right. Maybe this is a generational thing. When I learned to drive they taught that on roads with more than one lane of travel in each direction the right lane was the travel lane and is to also be used for entering and exiting the road, the left lane was to be used for passing slower traffic and to move into to allow others to enter and exit. If there was 3 or more lanes in one direction the right lane was for slow traffic like trucks and for entering and exiting, the middle lanes were for travelling, and the left (or "fast" ) lane was for passing and emergency vehicle use. When used like that folks could go for miles in the middle lanes not having to worry about other merging onto the highway or slowing to exit. Or worry about passing vehicles coming up in the right lane unexpectedly. Traffic flows pretty smoothly if the lanes are used that way. All it takes is for someone (I'll be nice and not use an expletive to describe them) to use the fast lane as a travel lane though and someone is going to want to pass on the right, therefor causing those in the real travel lane to brake or get out of the way 'cuase someone cut them off to get around the slow on e out there in the fast lane.
Do they even teach that stuff in driving classes nowadays? Do they teach that the proper way to get on a high speed road is to adjust your speed to the traffic on the road you're entering? (After all, the little sign on the "on ramp" usually says merge or yield, not "STOP".) Do they teach one to look 6-12 seconds down the road so you can plan ahead if you see a slow vehicle or emergency vehicle and you can move over without cutting people off?
Not picking on Idaho, I kinda like my Neighbor to the east. After all I live only about thirty miles from the ID/WA border. However, I might have difficulty with the "concept" of "expecting" traffic to use both lanes. Might be the reason so many states have had to write it into law. It's hard to legislate common sense, but sometimes there's no way around it. Unfortunately it doesn't get enforced enough and folks still drive slow in the fast lane forcing others to pass them on the right.
