August 18, 1976

Things You Thought You Knew - About Driving But Don't

I don't like to chew my cabbage twice, but I feel I must pass along some things you thought you knew about highway driving, but don't.

The information comes from the State Highway Patrol that says I should have been given a ticket a few weeks ago when I had some difficulty with a trio of hot-rodding truck drivers.

But not for "hogging the passing lane," as a patrolman and some of my trucker friends suggested.

Regular readers of this column may remember that I complained recently of being lectured by a state patrolman for not letting a speeding truck "have the road."

The piece brought me two telephone calls from the State Highway Patrol anxious to set both me and the patrolman straight, three letters from truckers who wanted me hung by the thumbs, and eight personal messages of appreciation from harassed motorists.

I was surprised to learn from Lt. Debevec, and confirmed by Lt. Shearer, that there is no such thing as a "passing lane."

There are two lanes of traffic on an interstate highway.  You may pass in either lane, giving an audible signal as you do so.

Though I had been going 60 miles per hour in the left lane, deliberately holding back a truck that had been endangering me and other motorists, I was guilty of speeding rather than blocking traffic.

The lieutenants emphasized that a highway driver can not exceed 55 miles per hour for passing or any other reason.  The commonly held belief that you should accelerate briefly five or ten miles over the speed limit in order to pass safely is wrong.

On this basis, says the highway patrol, both me and the tail-gating trucker should have been given a ticket.

Slower moving traffic is "supposed" to move right, but vehicles moving at "normal" speed may stay in the left lane.  The patrol officers say they interpret normal to mean 55 miles per hour.  Vehicles going slower than that "should" move into the right lane.

All of this manifests a highly effective, and perfectly legal, defense against speeding drivers: pull into the left lane alongside another car going 55 miles per hour and then roll along side by side.

Of course, this would back up traffic for several miles, but it would reflect the letter of the law which the highway patrol says it attempts to enforce literally.

The highway patrolman who stopped me and said "you know and I know that nobody drives just 55, especially trucks" may have been indiscreet but you known and I know he spoke the truth.

The 55 mile-per-hour speed limit for interstate highways was imposed in the panic of a fuel shortage.  Since then it has become a popular hypocrisy ignored by both citizens and law enforcement officers.

I see no need to return to the former 70 mile-per-hour limit for it was both dangerous and fuel wasting.  A 60-mile-per-hour limit, however, for passenger cars and a 55-mile-per-hour for trucks is practical and would give autos a slight edge in keeping out of the way of trucks.

One of my critics wrote that it was possible I had been reported to the highway patrol by the truck driver I was holding up.  This jibes with another belief expressed by my congratulators that the highway patrol lets trucks and busses "get away with" higher speeds than allowed for cars.  This attitude surprises me, but there it is.

I asked Lt. Debevec and Lt. Shearer if they received complaints from truckers over CB radio and, if so, did they respond?

The lieutenants said they did receive complaints via CB and did act upon them.  They said Channel 9 of the CB spectrum is reserved for emergency calls, and patrol dispatchers monitor that frequency around the clock.

This makes a second defense against speeders manifest: get yourself a CB set and keep the airwaves blue with descriptions and license numbers of vehicles endangering others.

I admit that my recent thesis -'Truckers Abuse CB Radio" - was broadly stated.  Most truckers, like most motorists, are careful and considerate drivers.  Any driver proceeding at excessive speed is a hazard.

Nevertheless, the trucker has a greater responsibility for safe driving simply because his rig is bigger and heavier.  In any accident involving a small car and a large truck it is the car that always loses.  A three-way confrontation between truckers, motorists and patrolmen is counter-productive.  The ultimate answer to safe highway driving is old fashioned courtesy.

Author: Lindsey Williams