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Bonehead-Of-The-Day Award
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Getting
Up To Speed On Driving In The Left Lane
Are you fed up with people who get into the highway passing lane but don't pass anyone? Who go mile after mile after mile causing a backlog of angry drivers behind them because nobody can pass any longer? Then move to Seattle because the Seattle police are tired of it too and they are ticketing drivers for even driving the speed limit in the passing lane if passing is being impeded. This is today's feel good story. "It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic," reads the State statute. The left lane must be kept clear for passing. This is because keeping traffic moving diffuses potential road rage incidents, thus avoiding assaults and accidents. Going the speed limit is no protection, you still get yourself a $124 fine. The police action was prompted by several recent collisions caused by slow drivers hogging the passing lane and interfering with traffic flow. UPDATE: August 3, 2008 I've been reading the comments. Many people believe that the speed limit pertains in the passing lane and feel justified, or even righteous, in keeping that lane to the speed limit. Fact is, there are significant speed limit exclusions that pertain to travel in the passing lane. For example, in Massachusetts, according the the MIT website,"This law refers to the "normal" speed of traffic, not the "legal" speed of traffic. The 60 MPH driver in a 55 MPH zone where everybody else is going 65 MPH must move right." So, for those who like to use "the law" to justify your behavior, here, in fact, is the law and it has nothing to do primarily with the speed limits. Massachusetts (General Statute 89-4B), New Jersey, Maine, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and others, make it illegal to fail to yield to traffic that seeks to overtake in the left lane, or to create any other "obstruction" in the passing lane that hinders the flow of traffic. Now get the hell out of the way! KOMO TV, Channel 4
(Seattle, Washington) 24-Jun-08
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Stumble It!
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Copyright (c) 2008 - Gerald Lerman -- All Rights
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