What is it about the left lane?

In my on going complaints about drivers in this city, I've been trying to figure out what allure the left lane on circle drive has. Just the other day I was trying to merge (yes I know I should give up on that subject) behind a minivan doing 60km/h. The idea here people is that you should be going the speed of traffic when you merge not 40km/h slower. So anyways I have a buffer car between me and the van so I decide to pass when we get on circle and the van cuts me off. Weeee I get to slam on my breaks because someone can't read a sign that says "slower traffic keep right". Mind you I wasn't even speeding I was just trying to get up to the speed limit. In a moment of unusual humility I give her (yes I assumed the driver was a woman)the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she is going to turn left onto Airport drive. Airport drive comes and goes, maybe a left onto avenue C, I know I need 6 kilometres to get ready for a lane change on a empty freeway. Apparently she needs more room than that because she doesn't turn at avenue C. Well I made my left turn so I didn't get to see how far she went before she turned. Who knows it could have been Regina. As she passed I noticed I was right, it was a woman, both hands on the wheel with a terrified look on her face. If you are so scared of driving than stay in the right lane with all the other slow asses.

Now why do people feel the need to drive in the hammer lane? Perhaps if the sign read "Keep right unless to pass". Maybe then people would stay where they should. Now I really don't think so. The general public does not read signs. Working in retail taught me this. Unless the sign has some bright contrasting colours with flashing lights and a naked woman standing beside it people will just pass it by. If they do notice the sign they won't have enough time to read it and even if they do or can read it they won't understand it.

The reason the current one doesn't work is everyone thinks they are the best driver on the road. Why else would I take time to write this. I am obviously the most skilled driver out there and that woman thought it was her duty to make sure I was going less than the speed limit. What about the old guy in the left lane going slowly? Well he's doing 92km/h in a 90 zone so he is the fast traffic. All those people in the right lane passing him go unnoticed because they are blocked by his macular degeneration.

Why does this matter so much anyways? These people aren't causing a problem. It's road-ragers like me that are causing accidents and getting on the news. It is true that there would be fewer problems if we stopped seeing driving as a competition and more as a borring monotonous thing that we have to do to get to work. Did anyone think that if people used their turn signals, didn't cut you off, went the speed limit, knew how to merge and stayed in the damn right lane that we would have nothing to rage about? Is it too much to ask that you follow the rules? I have no problem doing 90 on circle drive, the problem is that no one else does. Most mornings I barely get into fifth gear and I end up doing 70 or 80 in a 90 zone. The irony of it is that the right lane is usually the one that moves the fastest. Everyone is so intent on getting into the left lane that the right one is usually half empty.

So people please drive in the right lane and before you lane change use your head. Signal left, shoulder check, and check your mirrors to make sure that faster traffic isn't coming up behind you in the "fast" lane. How hard is that?

I swear we need better driver training in Saskatchewan.

Random linkage:
If only the UFC was like this