Since my month-long experiment with not driving, I
’m sorry to say I’ve spent most of June in my car. And I’m not
happy. As I mentioned in a previous column, though I spent a lot of
time on a bus or waiting for one, not driving did my spirit a lot
of good.
Since my month-long experiment with not driving, I’m sorry to say I’ve spent most of June in my car. And I’m not happy. As I mentioned in a previous column, though I spent a lot of time on a bus or waiting for one, not driving did my spirit a lot of good. However, I am also not happy with the recent talk around about “lane hogs.”
Lane Hogs, you might already know, are people who don’t want to fly down the freeway at 90 mph, instead driving the speed limit, and don’t move over immediately when they see the front grill of someone filling their rear view. This is not just a problem in the “fast lane,” but any lane. (NOTE: there isn’t a law that allows people to speed in the far left lane. The DMV recommends that drivers who prefer to go slower drive in the far right lane).
I’m also unhappy because some numb-nut has seriously recommended that some lawmaker make it against the law for a driver going the speed limit to not get out of the way for a speeding car that wants to overtake it. He has asserted that those who refuse to get out of the way shouldn’t be appointing themselves “all-knowing keeper of traditional values.”
Pass a law that outlaws the law abiders and lets the lawbreakers get away with breaking the law? That’s just preposterous. And, I didn’t realize that driving 65 mph was such a “traditional value.” I guess I finally have found common ground with the “traditional values” crowd from which I am usually opposite.
Here’s how I see it working: if you are in the carpool lane during carpool hours, and you are trying to set an example for your teen children or grandchildren by driving the speed limit (not to mention, just trying to be safe), you should move over into the traffic-heavy non-carpool lane because some scofflaw who didn’t plan his travel time correctly should pass you? And if you don’t, your otherwise law-abiding self will be pulled over and ticketed?
We in South County who must commute to points north on the “Sig Sanchez Speedway” are no strangers to the dilemma of choosing to speed or go against the tide and drive safely. It often seems impossible to go any speed less than 75 mph, even in the far right lane. The only place it’s possible to go the speed limit is the far right lane, and then you’re probably traveling only 50 mph because you’re invariably behind the commercial trucks.
My daughter commutes to San Jose for school, and one of my greatest worries when she began driving solo was how she would cope with other drivers barreling down on her from behind.
Never mind all the studies – and physics – that document the escalation in damage caused by the impact of a car going 85 mph over a car traveling 65 mph. Never mind there is less maneuverability at the higher speeds, making it less likely someone can get out of trouble than someone traveling 20 mph slower. And, never mind the documentation about fuel efficiency being better at 65 mph. Instead, we should all care about the people who want to put others’ lives at risk and drive as fast as they please? Proponents say the “lawbreaker’s protection law” works on the Autostrada. With all due respect to those who share my ethnic heritage, having been to Italy, the last people I would use as models for driving are the Italians.
The need for a decent and time-efficient alternative to braving U.S. 101 between South County and San Jose is acute. One of the things I realized during my month without a car is how sick I am of that 12-mile stretch as larger cars bear down on me like Mastadons, no matter what lane I’m in.
Having been previously a driver who always seemed to go 5 to 10 mph over whatever speed limit was posted, I understand the frustration people feel when someone in front of them is going much slower. However, I always realized that I was the one in the wrong, as I was breaking the law.
Here’s my suggestion. Leave the people driving 65 mph alone. Ticket everyone who drives too fast. I’m sure the revenue generated from those fines will help the government deficit. And you can count on me vigorously campaigning against any lawmaker who proposes anything like what the numb-nut suggested.
