The American Spectator

p> MOVE OVER br> Re: Eric Peters’s Passing Fancy : /p>

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.

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

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.

p>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.