When we are on a national highway, basically on a four lane highway we are going crazy while driving. It is the most fun for drive head, and also very dangerous for some of the craziest nuts.

You know how it feels to be on the highway, anticipating a nice ride, only to find oneself stranded behind a truck traveling at 55 miles per hour? You feel as though you’ve entered a different reality where speed limits are merely recommendations. 

To be honest, it may be quite difficult to navigate the lanes out there. There are the speed demons who believe they are in a race, the center lane turtles, and the left lane hoggers. It’s funny and a little hectic. 

So, collectively, let’s try to make sense of this lane chaos and unravel the insanity of our beloved highways.

Lane One

Lane one is the leftmost lane, commonly known as the “travel lane.” This is the lane you should be using at all times unless you’re overtaking. In the real world, though, when do you realistically use this lane? This lane often becomes the truck lane; just take a look down the road, and you’ll see a line of trucks sitting in it.

If you’re after fantastic fuel economy, here’s a tip: get a little closer to a truck, match their speed, usually about 60 mph and cruise along like this. It’s a bit more relaxing and peaceful. If you have adaptive cruise control, just set it to follow the truck ahead; it’s amazing! 

Now, not many people are going to do this unless, say, they’re really tight on cash and trying to save on fuel.

Lane Two

Lane two is the “truck overtaking lane,” where trucks use it to overtake other trucks. You’ll often see flatbeds carrying broken-down Honda Civics Type R, but realistically, this lane is for trucks overtaking other trucks. So, if you’re in this lane, you’re likely going to be stuck going 60 mph, watching one truck slowly pass another.

If this lane is free, though, you should use it. One big issue we have on the U.S. motorway system is people hogging the middle lane—specifically, lane three. This happens because lanes one and two are primarily truck lanes, so most people avoid them and stay in lane three.

Lane Three

Now let’s move on to lane three. 

In the real world, this becomes the travel lane. Even advanced drivers are here, sometimes dealing with someone who can’t even stay in their lane (I mean, come on, mate, your truck isn’t that big!).

Realistically, on the U.S. motorway, this lane serves as the main travel lane.

Ideally, you’d move back to lane two after overtaking, but with all the trucks and slower traffic, people are usually doing around 65 mph here, sometimes even 60 mph. 

Sure, you could use lane two, but you’d just catch up to the slower traffic and trucks again, making 200 lane changes per minute. So, most cars in this lane settle in at about 65 to 70 mph.

The problem with lane three is that no one uses cruise control, and nobody seems in a hurry to get anywhere. You’re moving at 65 mph here, but ideally, everyone should shift back. Yet, if they do, they’ll end up stuck behind a truck. This is why we see the classic “lane three hogging” issue in the U.S. – it’s the only place where people can travel without constant interruptions from truck traffic. 

So, the only lane left for real progress becomes lane four.

Lane Four

The thing with lane four is that, yes, we have speed limits and speed cameras in the U.S., and typically, the speed limit on our motorways is 70 mph. But we all know that speed cameras have a margin of error, and so do our speedometers. 

Realistically, your speedometer over-reads slightly, so when you’re doing 77 mph, you’re likely closer to 70 mph in real terms, and most cameras won’t flash until you’re about 77 mph anyway.

So, in lane four, you can safely do something like 82-83 mph and avoid a speeding ticket. Many people know this and cruise here at roughly 80 mph, which creates a significant speed differential between lanes three and four—everyone in lane three is doing around 65 mph, while lane four often exceeds 70 mph by a good margin.

Large Motorway Problems

There are some rare occasions when you can shift over to lane three and maintain the speed limit comfortably, which is nice. At this point, you might also use lane two, but you’re likely to get caught up again, so there’s really no point.

Say the BMW X5 in front of me has chosen to do the right thing and move over, but then he’s stuck, so I have to let him out. He’s just going to end up catching other slower vehicles. This is why people don’t like using lane two—you’re just stuck in it with slower traffic.

There’s no lane where everyone is just doing 70 mph; no comfortable travel lane exists here. Lane three is the closest thing to that on a busy motorway, where you might manage about 70 mph, but eventually, you’ll catch someone going 65 mph. Then, you’ll have to jump over to lane four again, only to deal with a white van driver speeding by at 85 mph.

This is a perfect example of how people don’t use lane two. You’ve got the white van driver, others speeding, and the constant issue of getting stuck behind slower vehicles. So now I’m doing the speed limit but end up having to undertake other cars who should’ve moved over but don’t want to get stuck behind a truck. The result? A messy, awkward road system that rarely works smoothly.

Small Motorway Problems

You know the drill with smaller motorways. I’m trying to be a good driver, sticking to Lane One as people say you should. 

But if I actually want to get anywhere on time, that’s a lost cause. I’ll be stuck doing 58 mph, crawling behind a truck, and feeling miserable. I see people following this rule on two-lane motorways, and I think, What are you doing? You’re adding an extra 10-15% to your journey time.

Lane One on these motorways is practically just for entering and exiting, so you’re constantly dealing with cars merging in. It’s tedious. 

Realistically, the only real travel lane is the fast lane, or the overtaking lane. With only two lanes, someone’s always in it. Sure, sometimes there’s a gap and I can enjoy a mile or two of uninterrupted driving in the fast lane, which is a rare treat. But most of the time, it’s like playing leapfrog at 70 mph.

And here comes someone faster, clocking about 82 mph, which is actually fine. This is how the road system is supposed to work. Technically, I should be doing 70, but the fast lane keeps moving as long as the road is open. 

If only it could stay that way! In half a mile, the congestion starts again. I’ll give the USA truck drivers some credit, they’re good at lane etiquette and usually move over once they’re done overtaking. But the problem is, the overtakes take forever. The trucks take 30 seconds to pass each other, and meanwhile, a mile or two of cars get backed up, all going 55 mph. 

There’s no real solution.

Sure, if I were following the rules to the letter, I’d move back over to Lane One. Great, now I’m going the speed limit. But I’ll be trapped behind slower traffic, unable to merge back into the faster lane. It’s even worse when there’s a line of cars blocking the way out. The two-lane motorways don’t work well, and honestly, the four-lane ones aren’t much better. 

In the USA, I’ve yet to find a motorway where I can set cruise control at 70 mph and just enjoy a consistent drive. It simply doesn’t exist.

At Last…

Let’s talk about tailgating. After everything I’ve said here, there’s this one guy with a huge gap in front of him, barely doing 60 mph. I get that there’s a truck up ahead, but it’s still not okay. 

If he wants to drive like this, he should stick to Lane One. 

And the worst part? He’s probably not even going to move back over. I’d bet on it.

You guys might say, Oh, he’s overtaking, or some excuse like that. But if he’s going to overtake, he should at least do it at 65 mph or more. Move along! There’s no one in front of him, and yet he sits there like he owns the lane.

What would I do with drivers like this? Well… let’s just say they’d get a polite reminder to use Lane One.