Left lane ‘campers’ are the real hazard

For years the Washington State Patrol has ignored the impact of slow drivers “camping” in what is legally described as the passing lane. When questioned on the subject, the State Patrol points to its many studies showing speeding as the leading cause of accidents. It says troopers’ time is better spent ticketing speeders than enforcing the “Keep right except to pass” ordinance. But, did their studies look deep enough?

The studies indicate the most accidents occur during lane changes, but fail to look at why the lane change was initiated. Data about a slowpoke in the left lane is not part of the research unless that vehicle was physically involved in the accident studied, which is rarely the case. A study designed to find the true cause of accidents would look beyond vehicle speed and consider why the lane change was initiated, then potentially find fault with the driver who illegally impeded traffic.

Simple logic would indicate that anything that reduces the need for lane changes would result in fewer accidents, regardless of the speeds involved. Experts in flow dynamics would support that logic and add that traffic flow would improve as a result of limiting the impedance.

While emphasis on enforcement of speed limits has appeared to have little effect on driver behavior, perhaps a stronger emphasis on “Keep right except to pass” could reduce accident-causing lane changes, the driver frustration resulting from lane campers and, possibly, the growing incidents of road rage we hear about.

I would encourage WSP to go beyond its plan to simply educate on the issue of impeding traffic and give out as many of the $124 tickets as necessary to end this dangerous practice. Maybe then, travel on our highways would be a safer than it is today.

Let’s hope WSP starts the increased enforcement soon!

Jim Scott

Snohomish