Keep Right

If you’ve read any of my ride stories you already know I don’t like riding on interstates. But, sometimes you can’t avoid it. As far as I’m concerned, there are only 3 reasons to ride the interstate:

1. Speed – You have a deadline or need to make up time to get where you’re going

2. Rain – You have a little more room to maneuver and visibility (seeing and being seen) is usually better

3. Night – For the same basic reasons as #2

If none of the above is applicable, you’ll usually find me cruising on a two-lane road enjoying the scenery and, hopefully, stumbling upon the unexpected. So, it goes without saying that my frustration level shoots through the roof when riding on the interstate and dealing with drivers who don’t understand the concept of “Keep Right Except To Pass” or “Slower Traffic Keep Right”. These drivers are directly interfering with achieving Number 1 above.

I know I’m not the first to register this complaint, but if I can influence just one person from being the dork that commits the left lane driving offense, then it was worth my time to write this. Actually, it was worth my time anyway because I wanted to get this off my chest.

Now I’m not complaining about urban traffic where every lane is being used to keep traffic flowing. I’m talking about the boneheads who cruise along in the left lane even when there isn’t an entrance or exit ramp, another vehicle, or anything else around for miles. If you insist on riding in the left lane, the onus is on you to pay attention to traffic approaching from behind you and move out of their way. By the way, once you move to the right to let them pass, STAY THERE!

“Keep Right Except To Pass” – Seems like a simple concept, huh? I mean, you use the right lane to cruise along and if you happen to catch up with someone, you move to the left lane, make the pass and then move back to the right lane. Wow, I can’t really make it any more complicated than that. Unfortunately, I use the “Go Right In Order To Pass” option a multitude of times because the “Keep Right Except To Pass” concept was too hard for a large number of drivers to comprehend. Maybe they feel they need a quarter mile gap in order to move back over to the right. No, I refuse to give them the benefit of the doubt. MAKE YOUR PASS AND MOVE THE HELL BACK OVER TO THE RIGHT LANE!

The one thing I see all the time is people moving into the left lane to make a pass, but not accelerating to complete the pass and move out of the way of faster traffic. The problem is they had their cruise control set at 1 mph faster than the guy they were passing, so it took 10 minutes to make the pass while backing up faster traffic behind them. If you find yourself moving into the left lane to pass, MAKE THE PASS! Don’t screw around in the left lane. Here’s a helpful hint: Your gas pedal still works when your cruise control is set. You can actually accelerate by pressing on it to enhance your passing capacity. And guess what else? When you move back to the right lane and lift off of your gas pedal, most of the time your cruise control will revert to the original setting. Cool! (This helpful hint was meant facetiously, but I couldn’t come up with the best set of words to make it flagrantly obnoxious.)

“Slower Traffic Keep Right” – Another simple concept, but yet one that seems to cause mass confusion on the interstate. Look, it doesn’t matter if you’re going 75 mph in a 65 mph zone. If the guy coming up behind you is doing 80 mph, YOU ARE THE SLOWER TRAFFIC! It’s not your responsibility to regulate the speed of others. If you’re passing, make the pass and move over. If you’re cruising, then you’re already in the wrong, so quit cruising in the left lane and MOVE TO THE RIGHT!

Of the hundreds of miles I spent riding on the interstates on my Las Vegas trip earlier this year I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I saw more than 50 drivers abusing the left lane by either not moving back to the right lane after passing or just simply cruising along in the left lane oblivious to all of the other traffic around them (even when 5 or 6 cars passed them on the right). And by the way, this wasn’t just old drivers, women drivers, Asian drivers or any other stereotypical label you might use in a bad driver joke. This disorder knows no bounds when it comes to age, gender, or ethnicity. Drivers of all ilks are equally capable of ignoring these two simple signs and rules of the road.

“Keep Right Except To Pass”, “Slower Traffic Keep Right” – Remember, the ass that gets run over may be your own!