BELLEVUE – It’s the law. Move over.
It’s also an impossible rule to live by around here. Even the Washington State Patrol agrees.
Though dawdlers regularly hang out in the freeway fast lane, vexing other drivers, gridlock appears to have trumped state law.
Very few drivers are ticketed for driving slow in the fast lane, and there are only a few signs to remind drivers.
The rule is clear. “Keep right except to pass” and “Slower traffic keep right.”
Angst-ridden drivers point to the state law that says the left lane is meant only for passing. It’s taught in driver’s education classes and is in the Washington Drivers Guide.
But like many driving rules, it is forgotten, replaced by bad habits, or evaporates under the stress of the commuting crunch.
“Nobody does it, and the cops don’t enforce the rule,” said Jon Wright of Bellevue. “I would love to see law enforcement be as aggressive for ticketing drivers who languish in the left as they are in doling out speeding tickets.
“My prediction? If people on the road actually did keep right except to pass, road rage would diminish considerably.”
As drivers’ blood boils over, the state is now discussing how it might better educate drivers.
Some say the law can’t be followed.
“It’s definitely not followed,” said Trooper Kelly Spangler. “It’s almost impossible in the greater Seattle and Bellevue area to have enough room to obey that law.”
State Patrol figures prove it. Only 1,300 tickets were written for driving in the left lane or impeding traffic in 2003, and about one-third were for big rigs using the left lane. About 6,500 warnings were issued.
Those tickets are one-half of 1 percent of the more than 260,000 speeding tickets statewide in 2003.
If troopers enforced the law more strictly, Spangler said, it would create another problem: more speeders in the left lane.
“People don’t even know there’s a law,” she said. “I’ve also heard excuses that the speed limit is 60 mph, and ‘I’m going to travel in this left lane and make sure everybody goes 60.’
“That’s wrong and creates feelings of road rage,” she said. “If somebody comes up from behind and wants to pass, simply move over and get out of the way and let us do the enforcement.”
Puget Sound drivers face a quandary, said Jon Campbell, a traffic safety instructor for three decades. If drivers stick to the right-hand lanes, speeders and drivers in a hurry zip by.
“To me, that is safer than what we have – people trying to pass at 70 to 80 mph going from one lane to another. I think we’re in a real dilemma.”
The state Department of Transportation agrees. Officials thinned the number of “Keep right” signs in Pierce and Thurston counties in the late 1990s. According to a state inventory of signs, there are only two such signs on I-405, one in Kirkland and one at the King-Snohomish county line.
On I-5, there are 29 “Keep right except to pass” or “Slower traffic keep right” signs between Vancouver, Wash., and Ferndale. Fifteen are southbound, 14 are northbound. The list might not be complete.
Still, some drivers complain bitterly about their brethren who hang out in the left lane.
“If there is clear space in front of you and a line of cars behind you, it means something!” said Charlie Beck of Bothell. “What it means is that you are the cause of a traffic backup. You do not have that right. Move over! Don’t pause to look at your speedometer, just move over.”
State officials say they are listening to the complaints of drivers.
“This is a difficult issue because there are people who drive the speed limit no matter what, and others think they should get out of the way of cars who are coming up fast behind you,” said Linda Mullen, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
“We put signs on the road, but we all know the most disregarded sign is the speed limit sign, so enforcement is a key issue.
“We think some combination of improved education would be helpful. Our own experience and in focus groups show that education is not enough and that we also need enforcement.”
State Patrol troopers are focused on catching speeders, drunken and aggressive drivers, and seat-belt violators, Spangler said.
That saves the most lives, Spangler said. However, troopers do enforce the law against impeding traffic flow.
“The farther you get out of the metro area, the better people are about moving right and allowing people to pass,” Spangler said.
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