Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 22:12:43 GMT From: Josh Landess <jlandessnopsam.com> Subject: Re: ROAD RAGE
On Sat, 06 Nov 1999 20:13:39 +0100, Martin Hilvers <NOSPAMmhilversnopsamir1.inter.NL.net> wrote: >> >I'm aware that some of the New England states are strict about no >> >passing on the right. I've also seen traffic backed up for miles >> >by someone "poking along" in the left lane while the right lane >> >was clear. > >Funny thing. Where I live (Holland, Europe) at the moment passing on the >right is illegal. It is also illegal to hang in the left lane if the >right lane is empty (BMW owners will remind you with flasing headlights >if you do and pass you on the right anyway). >Now, some political people suggest to change the 'no right passing' into >the 'stay in your lane' principle as they think it will be a solution to >ever increasing peak hour traffic jams (in the west of Holland). They >claim that 'stay in your lane' is common in the USA. I think that their debate pretty much sums things up. There is a = conception here that in Europe higher speeds are somewhat more tolerated, so long as everyone observes the principle of yielding to faster vehicles. The "stay in your lane" idea does seem to work here under = moderate-to-heavy traffic. People whom you wouldn't normally allow within 10 feet of your = house seem to be able to cooperate with you to result in a traffic pattern that results in people getting pretty much where they need to go. Traffic can move at 65-75 under such circumstances. Under such = circumstances, people who weave in and out of traffic are, in my opinion, driving = unsafely. At first you find yourself trying to pass on the left, and retreat to the= right as a matter of general principle, only to have to pass on the left again.= But if the traffic gets heavy, then it gets heavy, and one ceases to retreat = to the right after awhile, realizing that each lane has a pace, and that's that,= and there isn't going to be much point to doing the whole "pass on the left" = thing. The lane to your right may temporarily go faster than you, and you kind = of learn to let it go. It's not overly hard to adjust to such a principle, IMO, because even = under normal circumstances I don't expect to go more than 20 mph more than the = next guy. But if it were Europe, where differentials in speeds can exceed 50 = mph (from what I've vaguely heard) then people may have a harder time = adjusting. Personally, I'm generally against such differentials as I think they are = a big contributor to accidents. There's something to the debate they're having, and I'm not sure what the= right answers are. Curious to hear what others think, and what the de facto = standards are in European areas. jl
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