Utah is famous for having awful drivers, but no one seems willing to take responsibility for it.
If you’re reading this and have ever criticized another driver’s technique on the roadway, I’ve got a hunch that you’re part of the problem.
I won’t pretend to be Mario Andretti or the head honcho at the DMV, but if I’m allowed, I would like to step on a soap box.
Passing on the right is a huge pet peeve of mine, and the practice stems from drivers moving slowly in the left lane.
Perhaps the word “slowly” is the wrong thing to say. Maybe the phrase “slower than traffic allows” is more accurate.
In my experience, drivers on Utah’s highways and freeways often avoid the right lane, perhaps because they don’t want to be associated with driving slow. Instead, they move into one of the middle or left lanes and drive the same speed.
This altogether isn’t a lynchable offense, but what really irks me is when another driver traveling at a higher speed approaches from behind and the first driver won’t move over to let the second car pass.
I’ve had many experiences in which the above example has occurred, and despite my requests for the driver in front of me to move over — extreme patience, flashing lights and a honked horn immediately after the pair of us pass a sign that reads “slower traffic keep right” — I still find myself stuck behind this unobservant traveler.
Eventually, I get frustrated and join the norm, which seems to be the awful offense of passing on the right. Only then will my travel companion realize his or her error and move into the right lane. That is, if they realize their mistake.
Let me quote a portion of the Utah law code regarding the subject. Law 41-6a-704 states “on a highway having more than one lane in the same direction, the operator of a vehicle traveling in the left general purpose lane: (a) shall, upon being overtaken by another vehicle in the same lane, yield to the overtaking vehicle by moving safely to a lane to the right; and (b) may not impede the movement or free flow of traffic in the left general purpose lane.”
In everyday English, this means that on every highway with more than one lane, all cars should “keep right except to pass.”
Wait, I feel like I’ve read that before. Somewhere. I don’t know, maybe not, it just seems really familiar.
I know a police officer who has been tasked to combat this traffic violation. He related to me an instance in which he pulled a gentleman over who was traveling well below the speed limit in the left lane of a highway. Traffic had backed up, and when the officer asked the man for the reason behind his behavior, the man said something to the effect of “but sir, if I don’t slow these speedsters down, they’ll never learn.”
If we want a highway full of vigilantes, we may as well lay off the entire sheriff’s office. Wait. That was an exaggeration; please don’t get any crazy ideas.
There are various roads I frequent that are better and there are some that are worse than the norm. Any time I take Legacy Highway to visit my fiancée, nearly all motorists will stay within five miles per hour of the speed limit in the right-hand lane, leaving the left lane free for others who wish to brave the threat of a speeding ticket on the specially protected roadway.
Others, like SR-36 from Tooele to Stansbury Park, and SR-111 in Magna, are riddled with drivers who hold up traffic, even though both of those roads have several signs that read “Slower Traffic Keep Right.”
I wonder if the wording has any impact. Perhaps there would be some behavioral change if the signs read “Keep Right Except to Pass.” I don’t know; I just study words for a living.
Let me cite another state document. The drivers handbook says anyone “can be issued a citation for impeding traffic if a vehicle is following behind you in the left lane of travel on a multi-lane highway and you do not change lanes and allow for the other vehicle to pass. Do Not Drive in the Left Lane [sic] — The left lane on freeways is for passing only.”
Of course this doesn’t apply in heavy traffic, but what about that ticket the handbook mentions if you get caught causing a traffic jam? The police officer I mentioned said it can cost up to $120 for a class-C misdemeanor.
Maybe we can all remember that the next time we’re headed out and make traffic flow a little smoother.
Stucki claims to be a mild-mannered driver, and the only accident on his record was the fault of another driver. He was issued a British drivers license during his LDS Church mission to Scotland — a prize, he says, from one of the best driving countries in the world.