Will probably be a series of complaints but today I just have to rant about use of the passing lane. Those of us with common sense and/or driving experience call the left-most lane traveling in your direction the "passing lane" while everyone else must just call it the "desirable lane". I do not as a rule speed so when I pass someone it is because they are driving under the speed limit, driving erratically, or emitting some smell that is driving me up the wall. At all other times I am in the right lane. This is where most people should be. Why? Because on almost every road in the country it eventually merges into fewer lanes. Filling up both lanes will not increase throughput since everyone ends up taking off-ramps anyway, which are almost always single lanes.
I understand the mentality of those that drive slowly in the passing lane. You don't want to contend with having to switch lanes if someone in front of you slows down (taking an off-ramp, or turn). Basically its laziness. This mentality is a factor in being accident prone and thus a threat to everyone else on the road.
Then there are the obnoxious ones. When blocking those behind you by driving at the same speed as another car to the right this behavior will result in you becoming the victim of road rage some day and I highly discourage it. When it happens to me I fall back and get back behind the driver in the right lane - 5/10 times they will speed up. Absolutely do not tailgate these people, only serves to prolong the situation.
Still not convinced? Ok, the best reason of all to stop this behavior is because you are more likely to be stopped by police while driving in the passing lane than in other lanes - especially in moderate to light traffic. If you are close to a speeding vehicle passing you on the right YOU are more likely to be stopped rather than the speeder because the officer may have difficulty determining which one was traveling faster - at that point they may assume its the person in the passing lane - which is YOU.
No comments:
Post a Comment