The American Spectator

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Up to Speed

5.6.05 @ 12:01AM

MOVE OVER
Re: Eric Peters's Passing Fancy:

Mr. Peters, that was another excellent article. I hope you're right that things are beginning to change but, if so, it's hard to tell that from my vantage point. Along the interstate highways in Virginia are signs admonishing the slower drivers to keep to the right. No one pays any attention to these signs because the police do not enforce them. The result is that cars become clustered together into formations tight enough to make a Blue Angel sweat. Meanwhile the police perform their revenue enhancement services by writing tickets to the safest drivers on the road, those who know enough to (when possible) maneuver away from the dangerous clusters of cars the left lane road hogs cause.

It's a serious safety issue but to even broach the subject in a sober manner you have to be prepared to endure accusations of being afflicted with "road rage." I suppose the same feeble minds who can't comprehend what's at stake are the same ones operating the vehicles causing these traffic hazards in the first place. Or, equally likely, they are just garden-variety control freaks who enjoy the power they have over the people whose passage they are impeding.

But through efforts of folks like yourself perhaps things can change; keep reminding everyone that the emperor and his carriage drivers are nekkid.
-- R. Trotter
Arlington, Virginia

Don't believe I'll hold my breath while this takes hold in the remaining "lower" 46 states. (Does Alaska and Hawaii need something like this?) I can sense a howl of protest over this seemingly simple action required from responsible drivers. Let's hope the ACLU doesn't notice it. The police may be sued for interfering in left lane blockers' civil rights. However it is good to see something getting done about idiots thinking it's their "divine right" to travel in the left most lanes regardless of how much they impede traffic. It will take a whole bunch of education on the part of the states' "public service" programs and a fistful of tickets to punctuate the effort, but not in all cases! Baby boomers (on the leading edge of the curve) got their drivers license when many states with "no passing on the right" rules enforced them along with turn signal use (and if you didn't have blinkers, hand signals) so they would simply be reverting back to an earlier time when they actually practiced some common courtesy.

Far more needs to be done regarding issuing licenses backed up by driver education (say maybe realistic simulators throwing in emergencies to test reactions and periodic retesting) but in doing that in an organized way, it will likely open the door to hard-over federal guidelines. Is that a bad thing? I think not, based upon our driving habits and distances traveled routinely.
-- John O'Grady
Knotts Island, North Carolina

Left lane hogs are indeed swine and should be targeted. I would like to note that we in Central California have an additional problem, the right lane speed racer. Highway 99, which connects Bakersfield to Sacramento and bisects Fresno, is mostly two lanes that were poured in the '60s. It's overwhelmed with traffic. Typically, a line of cars (sometimes more than 20) in the left lane will be spaced and paced perfectly, doing 70-75 mph with a line of trucks in the right lane doing 60-65 mph. But every time there is a space between lines of trucks, some jerk comes flying up the right lane, reaches the trucks and dives into the left lane. This causes everyone in line to have to hit their brakes. I've driven Barstow to Vegas on a Friday evening with bumper-to-bumper traffic doing 85 mph and it's not nearly as scary.
-- Earl Wright
Clovis, California

As a reader of your online magazine predisposed to agree with much of what is written within, I am compelled to write and express an opinion that disagrees with your views in the abovementioned article. While I agree that Left Lane Hogs (LLHs) are a nuisance and, possibly, even a hazard. This issue is not black and white.

When driving the highways of our country, I am frequently frustrated by these LLHs as well. However, I believe there are two types of drivers that are categorized in your article as LLH, but must be distinguished from one another. The first is a true LLH who plants themselves in the left-most lane as it is most convenient for them. Or, worse, it is some sort of vigilante move to slow all traffic to the posted speed limit. These drivers are characterized by the fact that their speed is often exceeded by the drivers to the right of them. In fact, they are moving slower than nearly all drivers on the road.

The other type, of which I am one, is merely passing drivers in the right lane at a pace slower than some who occupy the left lane would care to tolerate. In other words, my driving slows some faster drivers because the rate at which I am passing others is too slow for their taste. Nearly always, I am exceeding the posted speed limit. Even more often, I am aware that I am slowing others to do so. However, I do not believe it is my rate of speed which is hazardous, but that of a few others which is the problem.

For example, let's say that the posted limit is 65 MPH. Also, assume I would like to travel at 75 MPH, but the trucks (who may be limited to 55 MPH) and other right lane denizens (assuming for a moment this is a four lane highway, with two lanes traveling in either direction) are traveling around 60 to 65 MPH. If I pull out and accelerate to 80 MPH, this maneuver may require several seconds to accomplish, i.e. to pass the slower drivers and merge back ahead of them in the right lane. As often happens, someone going 80+ MPH will quickly accelerate to cut me off, and having anticipated this, I will reach the lane before this person is able to do so. The person directly behind me will often take up a position within a foot or two of my back bumper, wildly gesturing and flashing their brights and or other rude behavior. The key here is the rude behavior.

Don't I, having been slowed by the right lane occupiers I am trying to pass, have just as much right to vent my frustration at them, thereby hastening the level of hostility of all drivers? Or, should I merely pass them without comment and merge back ahead of them as soon as possible? It is much better if all drivers show courtesy and patience for others, acknowledging that some may wish to operate within the law. Or, perhaps these slower drivers may not possess the skills or wherewithal to pace themselves to my liking due to any number of factors (driving in an unknown area, chauffeuring a child or elderly person, be of advanced age, carrying cargo that may be upset with more advanced speed or tactics, etc.).

In short, I think that operating your vehicle with some caution and courtesy towards others is the way to go. Rather than assuming all drivers who aren't facilitating your immediate desires are poor drivers or merely "refusing to allow other motorists to get by" as you state in your article.
-- Steve Keller
Edina, Minnesota

Eric Peters's use of Germany as an example of drivers not hogging the left "fast" lane is perhaps not the best example. In the U.S. getting a drivers license is at best a day long event with no follow up training required no matter how long the driver has been at it or how technology or conditions change. To obtain a German drivers license requires years and thousands of dollars of persistent effort to keep and maintain that most treasured of documents. Only a minority of people in Germany have one. I also find the author's focus on "left lane hogs," while failing to acknowledge the physics of increasing speed, lack of continued testing/training, the limits of human reflexes vs. speed attained and geometrical increases of stopping distances with increased speed also troubling. But then he has an axe to grind against "passive aggressives."
-- Det. Craig C. Sarver
Seattle, Washington

Great article, and right on point. Except, the German Autobahn example is a distortion of reality. It is UNLAWFUL to drive in the left lane on the Autobahn UNLESS you are passing another vehicle in the right lane. You WILL get a ticket if observed doing so. You are NOT required to immediately move to the right lane until it is safe to do so, no matter if the car behind you is doing 300 mph. If you are directly beside the vehicle you are passing it is obviously not safe to immediately move to the right lane. This information is not a state secret of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is easily discoverable by those interested in accuracy in punditry. Google.com reveals this information to everyone, although I knew it from personal experience.
-- C. R. Melton
Arlington, Virginia

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