While we might shout this headline at many other drivers on the road the question really is whether or not you understand which lane you should be in when driving on the highway. The fact is if you drive the speed limit or directly with the flow of traffic you should always drive in the right lane and leave the left lane open for faster drivers to pass. This may not make sense to start with, but there’s evidence to show that driving in the left lane is more dangerous when you drive slowly or right at the speed limit than speeding.

When you occupy the left lane and only pace the cars in the right lane this causes faster drivers to make several lane changes before they get ahead of the pack of cars. Lane changes have been reportedly a large part of what causes many accidents on the highway and can lead to a fatality. If all the cars that are traveling at the same speed or slower stay in the right lane, the faster drivers only have to make a lane change to pass and then one to return to the right lane after they’ve passed the cars they wanted to.

Another reason to make sure you stay to the right, unless you are in the act of passing other drivers, is because it’s the law, as you can see in this Vox video. Every single state has some laws against driving in the left lane, especially if you’re driving slower than the flow of traffic or at the same rate of speed as those in the right lane. It is possible to receive a ticket for doing this as you’re causing a dangerous situation and impeding the flow of traffic on the highway where speeds are higher and crashes more deadly.

Not only is it illegal to drive in the left lane for long stretches of time, many states have begun to crack down on this driving habit and have started to issue tickets for drivers who’ve chosen to stay in the left lane when not passing. This could be a costly ticket that eventually ruins your road trip for you and makes it so you need to pay a hefty fine. If you still aren’t convinced, think about the statistics in a manner that takes you to the German Autobahn, where most of the road doesn’t have speed limits.

The Autobahn is known to be the fastest driving public road in the world and yet it’s also one of the safest. Why is this road so safe? It’s safe because the drivers who use the road on a regular basis understand the laws and rules of the road and don’t pass on the right or drive on the left when not passing. This makes perfect sense as those who want to pass are able to do so because the other drivers stay to the right and once the action of passing is completed drivers know to move back over to the right lanes. Isn’t it time for you to practice and share this driving habit as well?