Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!egvideo!edhew From: edhew@egvideo.UUCP (Ed Hew) Newsgroups: ont.general Subject: Re: Highway Driving Rules (long) Keywords: driving flame Message-ID: <2006@egvideo.UUCP> Date: 28 Apr 89 04:00:00 GMT References: <8904061731.AA21685@ellesmere.csri.toronto.edu> <1989Apr19.035315.25117@tmsoft.uucp> Distribution: ont Organization: A Box in the Basement, Kitchener, ON Lines: 93 In article <1989Apr19.035315.25117@tmsoft.uucp>, woods@tmsoft.uucp (Greg Woods) writes: > > Third, the rules about passing on multi-lane highways are quite > simple. You MUST move over to the right if approached from behind, > AND you are not driving at the speed limit. However, if you are > driving at the speed limit, you may continue on your merry way. My posting is long enough so some of Greg's material was deleted. > woods@tmsoft.uucp (Greg Woods) At this point, I must disagree. I remember quite distinctly an incident about 18 years ago when I was pulled over on a perfectly deserted highway (the 401 between London and Windsor at about 2 a.m.) for driving in the "passing" lane. A very polite and instructive O.P.P. officer informed me that driving in the passing lane was prohibited (and against the law) except in circumstances where I was actually *passing* another vehicle. As this was not the case (I was just driving on the smoother surface of the passing lane), I was violating the law, and was issued a polite warning. I have remembered that officer's point, and have since acquired a rather concise understanding of both his comments and the law. The intervening 2 decades have resulted in my having to commute to the northern fringe of Toronto (Concord) from Kitchener, that being a precise distance of 104.7km *each_way* daily. During my twice-daily commute, I constantly witness numerous critical situations, almost invariably brought about by drivers (and I use the term loosely) who deem themselves to have the god-given right to enforce their own home-brewed versions of the law, by simply blocking any and all traffic that should presume to approach the posted speed limit. Very simply put, the passing lane(s) is/are for *passing*. If a driver is NOT passing, then they have absolutely no reason and/or right to be block those lanes. Period. The volume of traffic (heavy or light) has absolutely *no* bearing on their position on the road. If one is not passing, one belongs in the furthest right hand lane. Period! (Note the emphatic symbol there, people). One only acquires the right to emerge from the "slow" lane when a necessity (and desire and physical ability) to pass slower traffic transpires. Until this happens, stay where you are. When a requirement to pass a slow vehicle transpires, then do so, safely, quickly, expediently. Do not loiter, sightsee, lollygag, restrain, or otherwise impede in any dangerous fashion the normal (lawfull) flow of other traffic. All drivers sharing the highway have rights to unhindered passage. It is (and most certainly should be!) an offence to unreasonably restrain another driver from going about their lawful business (driving safely, according to the rules, and within the posted speed limit). Note that I am *not* advocating breaking any laws, and if all drivers (there is still a shred of idealism left in my soul) were to observe common sense, respect and decency for others rights, then the highways would be a much more civil place for all. Unfortunately, we get right down to the reality of the situation..... One gets on the highway at 7:30 a.m. Things are decent for the first few miles. You can actually motor along just under the speed limit on a nice sunny dry day at 99.9 km/hr in a 100km/hr zone. Then somebody decides that they are going to be an "enforcer" for the day and proceeds to block the passing lane for the next 10 minutes. To make matters worse, there are dozens of these self-styled "enforcers" on the road simultaneously, all driving way below the speed limit, side by side, blocking traffic. Frustration builds, and normal drivers (faced with the reality of having to be at work at a preset time) become anxious. They start to tail-gate. They start to weave between lanes. They take any advantage that they can get. All it takes is one frustrated driver given the impetous by an idiot who thinks *everybody* has all day to get to work. Others see the actions of the frustrated. They proceed to emulate these actions, after all, the food their families require also depends on them getting to work on time. Now, what have you got? You have a group of total fools trying to block normal traffic, and a group of very anxious drivers trying to get around them. Rules? What rules? At this point the entire rule book has gone out the window! No wonder there are no police on the road in the morning. They value their lives perhaps more than the rest of us. They know what's going on out there, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if their preference is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it. By the time you enter the *3rd* hour of your hour-and-a-quarter commute it seems that the rules are no longer dictated by the law, but by raw survival instinct. You are welcome to disagree with me. Meet me on the eastbound 401 between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. some morning and show me how things are more civilized than they appear. The sad part is that if only those few people who don't know how to drive on the highway were removed, it *could* be civilized. All that needs to be remembered and adhered to is: "slower traffic on the right, pass only on the left. If you aren't passing (expediently), stay on the right." Is that concept really so difficult? --ed {edhew@egvideo.uucp}