34 — Friday, September 18, 1998 — North Shore News

north shore news

Right lane is right
place for slow aoke ||

IT seems we just can’t
get enough of this
highway driving
theme.

M. Gordon of North
Vancouver wrote in response
to the Sept. 4 Signals col-
umn about Slow Joc, the
hypothetical fellow who dri-
ves slowly in the fast lane as
he travels along, for exam-
pic, the Sca-to-Sky
Highway.

Te reiterate, “Fast Lane”
is merely an invented term
used to describe the left-
most lanc in a multi-laned
highway situation.

“Slow Lane” is also an
idiomatic expression used to
define the right and/or cen-
ter lane on a multi-lane
roadway and is derived from
the righteous regulations
reading “slower traffic keep
right” or “keep right except
to’ pass.”

When there is only one
lane of traffic, as along many
stretches of the Sva-to-Sky,
this lane is neither “fast”
nor “slow,” it is the “what-
ever” lane.

That is to say, the slowest
driver in this singular lane
automatically sets the speed
limit.

Admittedly, many drivers
find the speed limit set on
many highways to be, well,

ng.
Many drivers have a ten-
dency to exceed the limit by
one degree or another, some
dangerously so.
I don’t condone speed-
ing, of course, but it is a
common occurzence just the
same.
Nor do I tetally disap-
prove of slow drivers simply
for the fact that some dri-
vers are safer when motor-

. ing at a lower velocity.

That combined with the
fact that P’ve owned 4 cou-
ple of clunky VW vans in my
day which couldn’r break
the speed limit t save my
life.

However, from my Sept.
4 column M. Gordon
inferred that foc Slow was
the type of driver who crept
along at ar agonizingly slow
speed and was the cause of
great frustration only to dri-
vers who wanted to exceed
the speed limit and travel at
“breakneck speed.”

And, looking back on the
column, I suppose that’s
what was implied, but it was
merely my overzealous use
of hyperbole.

“You seem to suggest,”
writes M, “that Joe Slow is
creeping ‘along. I wonder if
he is creeping along or jusc
goiag the legal timit?”

M goes on to suggest a
couple’ of brilliant new
descriptions for the “fast”
and “stow” lanes: The
“Legal Lane” and the
“[legal Lane.”

That’s perfect.

Remember that it is not
your problem if somebody
else wants to break the faw
and execed the specd limit.
Buc let them do it in the
IMegal Lane.

Shake your head and tee!

~ oe
:

Shaun
Conlin

indignant over there in
the right lane, the Legal

Ne.

But what about thar sin-
gle lane situation?

That Whatever Lane that
clogs up with one slow dri-
ver and a big chain of fast
drivers forced to go slow?

“Remember that
it is not your
problem if
somebody else
wants to break the
- law and exceed
the speed limit.”

That was the meat of the
Sept. 4 columa.

Fine, go slow, but move
it to the righ’. as soon as the
road opens up for a stretch
and keep it slow so the
chain of cars behind you can
get ahead and eventually
disperse.

It is the slow driver who
accelerates dramatically once
the road widens that speedi-
er folk can’t abide.

In truth, there are not
very many of them, but
they cause 2 disproportion-
ate amount of highway
angst.

Also, to properly describe

hypothetical Joe Slow we
could also refer to him as
Joe Legal.

But driving the Sea-to-
Sky safely and lawfully can
cause problems tov.

Not that driving the
speed limit should frustrate
anybody, but the twisty,
bendy, ornery nature of
Highway 99 often forces Joe
Legal to fits of over-com-
pensation.

Many of the “winding:
road” warning signs posted
along the road are also
affixed with small yellow
“speed tabs”

a safer speed at
take this corner or that
bend.

Heeding these warnings
is what makes Joe Slow or
Joe Legal such a nuisance to
drivers who seem ti ‘vant to
travel at breakneck speed.

You see, most modern
cars — certainly modern
sporis cars — are so well
designed that cornering
around the windy bends of
the Sea-to-Sky is an absolute
breeze at full speed, espe-
cially on a dry, warm, sum-
mer day when road cond
tions are as close to pervect
as they'll ever get.

Aisc, many drivers know
that highway as well as they
know their own driveway.
Every litte hump and hill,

ittle curve and chi-

¢ are a joy to drive in
spite of the fact that little
signs advise a speed a little
slower.

By the way, those tinle
speed tabs affixed beneath
“wiggly road” signs are
not setting lawful speed
limits for said wiggly, they
are merely advisory tabs for
the faint-hearted, new-to-
the-road, clunky- vw
drivers.

They are also worth
heeding in less-than-opti-
mum conditions (especially
during the winter).

So, all said and done, Joc
Slow is not merely a fellow
who drives too slowiy on
Highway 99 — he could
also be the guy who motors
along ata fairly decent
clip yet slower than more
experienced drivers with
more powerful cars, who
in the end, end up looking
like maniac speeders for
the simple fact that they
know the road better.

It all comes back to my
original point, however.
Slower traffic keep right.

It is aot up to you to
decide who should or
should nor be breakinz
the law, certainly not you
who should regulate the
speed limit on the Sca-to-
Sky by hindering. faster
folk.

Keep it slow and steady
in the Legal Lane, the-
Clunky VW Lane.

Keep right except to pass
and remember, if folks pass
you at “breakneck” speed, at
least they'll be breaking
their necks out in front of
you where you can keep an
eye on them.

Thanks for the letter, M!

Be safe.

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

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