Why Americans are horrible drivers

I recently took a two week road trip through the Southwest with my two friends from Germany. Driving 3000 miles with them on the highways of the good old US of A gave me some insight as to why we have traffic jams even on 6 lane highways.

Unbelievable to most Americans, German highways have no speed limit and are almost exclusively only two lanes wide. Accidents and extreme overcrowding are the only times when German highways experience traffic jams.

Ok, now I will reveal to you the secret as to how German highways could possibly function better than ours:
The left lane is the FAST lane. If a Mercedes is gaining ground behind you at 140 mph flashing its lights and honking its horn, you GET THE HELL out of the left lane. There is absolutely NO passing on the right. This makes for smooth sailing, easy passing, and free and open highways no matter what speed you choose to drive.

In America, drivers think they can sit in the left land going any old speed they choose. If someone coming behind wants to go faster, that's just too bad. They can pass on the right or just slow down. "It's not my problem." This attitude creates blockage of lanes and makes it impossible for faster traffic to pass. It creates "herds" of cars straddling the lanes, passing and weaving any old way just to get ahead of the pack. This is dangererous, inefficient, and ineffective.

In America, we have a speed limit. If everyone really adhered to it, there would be no problem. Drivers in the fast lane would never be going faster than the speed limit, so cars behind would not need to pass on the right. The problem is, some people adhere to the speed limit, some people don't. It is perfectly acceptable to drive about 15 mph above the speed limit, and some people get away with going 20 or more mph above the limit. Sticklers driving in the left lane at 65 mph don't feel the need to move over for speedsters to pass them. Or is it that we simply don't look into our rear view mirrors? I just don't know.

Next time you're driving, do an experiment. Drive in the left lane and every time you gain on the car in front of you, keep driving and tailgate them. See how many people actually move over and let you pass. It's no wonder Americans pass on the right.