I'm european and i can tell you that you will get tailgated, headlight-flashed and all around road-raged if you drive at the speed limit in the left-most highway lane in EVERY SINGLE EU country.

You won't get pulled by cops tho.

Some states have laws that restrict use of left lanes for passing. Many states have laws requiring drivers who are moving slower than the rest of the traffic, regardless of the speed limit, to keep right.

Most of the time if somebody is going the speed limit for any length of time in the left lane, there often is legitimately is an issue that they can be ticketed for.

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

I'm pretty sure that "speed limit + 9mph" refers to the unwritten rule that you are allowed to exceed the speed limit by 9mph and not get a ticket. Cops don't typically pull people over for less than 10mph over the limit on the freeway. They are allowed to (and do at times if they have a particular bug in their hat or have a quota to fill) but that is not the norm.

Based on the California driving code you are supposed to keep up with the flow of the traffic on the road around you so if the rest of the road is going 70mph in theory you could get a ticket for doing 60mph.

Generally unless you are the only car on the road or you are weaving dangerously between cars at high speed its unlikely you will get a speeding ticket if you are part of a pack of cars for this reason.

Then again I'm not a lawyer so don't go off my knowledge ;)

I'm reading this as a half joke or deliberate troll. "Speed limit + 9" is the typical speed on most of the Bay Area highways I drive on.

You should get tailgated, headlight-flashed and all around road-raged if you drive at any speed in the left lane and you are not passing.