A passing lane (North American English) or overtaking lane (British, Irish and Australian English) is the lane on a multi-lane highway or motorway closest to the center of the road (the central reservation).
In North American terminology, the passing lane is often known as the number one lane, left lane, or leftmost lane, due to left hand drive (driving on the right), and the rightmost slow lane is sometimes called the "outside lane", because the lane nearest the center of the roadway is considered "inside".
The official British Highway Code uses the term right hand lane, due to right hand drive (driving on the left). Unofficially, the overtaking lane is also called the outer or outside lane, since the edge of the road nearer to the verge (or nearer the hard shoulder, if there is one) is considered "inside" the other lanes. The lane nearest to the verge (or hard shoulder) is officially the left hand lane, or unofficially the "inner" or "inside lane". The official Irish Rules of the Road use the term "Lane 1 (also known as the Inner Lane)" for the lane next to the hard shoulder. The overtaking lane is officially Lane 2 (also called "the outside lane") on a two-lane motorway, or Lane 3 on a three-lane motorway. The Australian Road Rules use the terms left lane and right lane but in the opposite senses to American usage, due to right hand drive (driving on the left). Thus the overtaking lane is the right lane. Note that in some other countries, like Hungary (driving on the right), the lane nearest to the centre of the road is considered "inside". Thus the passing lane is called the inner lane (belső sáv in Hungarian).
In modern traffic planning, passing lanes on freeways are usually designed for through/express traffic, while the inner lanes have entry/exit ramps. However, many freeways often have ramps on the passing lane, these are known as "left exits" in North America.
A passing lane is often colloquially referred to as a fast lane because it is often used for extended periods of time for through traffic or fast traffic. In theory, a passing lane should be used only for passing, thus allowing, even on a road with only two lanes in each direction, motorists to travel at their own pace.
Read more about Passing Lane: Signage, Misuse and Common Practice, Proper Use, Hammer Lane, Climbing Lane, Cultural References
Famous quotes containing the words passing and/or lane:
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Life is a thin narrowness of taken-for-granted, a plank over a canyon in a fog. There is something under our feet, the taken-for-granted. A table is a table, food is food, we are we—because we don’t question these things. And science is the enemy because it is the questioner. Faith saves our souls alive by giving us a universe of the taken-for-granted.”
—Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)