by Mike Kennon

Created on: January 07, 2009   Last Updated: January 10, 2009

'Slower Traffic Keep Right' This sign is everywhere. I've heard it referred to as the left lane, the passing lane, and the fast lane. So why do people still sit out there like they own that lane? I've heard them say 'I'm doing the speed limit' or 'they don't need to go any faster', but what was the left lane created for? Traffic. So that people can use it to pass or make a left turn while others can continue to get around. Yet, it is the number one cause of road rage. It is illegal in most states to impede traffic or stay in the left lane after passing. In South Carolina I heard on a local newscast that officers were going to start pulling over the 'left lane hogs'.

I have driven semi trucks all my life and it astonishes me the way people drive- the little regard for others that people have. Besides safety, it's a courtesy. I watch cars speed up all the time to get in front of a truck while a truck works through multiple gears and finally gains his speed only to reach the driver that was so anxious to get around the truck. The anxious driver doesn't speed up and is very hard to pass. So what does a truck driver do? Most the time he backs off (as trucks take a long time to stop), then speed back up in order to finally make the pass, only to find our favorite 'left lane hog' out there in his favorite place.

Always present, an elderly person trolls along in the outer lane. Why? How come they don't know by now that if they stay in the right lane (the slow lane, hello?) they wouldn't be saying 'those darn young whippersnappers! Why are they always on my tail?'

In Germany, a driver wouldn't even think of sitting in the left lane (unless they're doing 100 miles per hour). On the Autobahn, the recommended speed limit (in miles per hour) is about 81, but generally there is no speed limit. Here, like most things in the world we are governed or restricted by a speed limit. Even if it wasn't a law; a courtesy, a reason it was designed for, it is our right and our choice. Didn't your mama teach you that two wrongs don't make a right? Ponder that if you will for a minute. Someone may say, "I'm doing the speed limit, so if I stay out here I'll keep him or her from getting a ticket". Why not say "I'm going to hold up that grocery store so that guy behind me wont do it?" Remember, you are already doing something illegal by impeding traffic, and again, it's just courtesy.

Besides all that- we are all human; all make mistakes, all have our own reasons and excuses. So, why are we so quick to judge? "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1). If that person has to be somewhere so quick, shouldn't we feel lucky and blessed that we don't have to be somewhere so quick; may not get in an accident, get a ticket, or whatever the reason they have to get around?

Move over America. Let's live in peace.

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