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Gathering Place
Mike Strada |
Europeans set standard
for good driving habitsI had just passed a slower-moving car, then used my turn signal to move back into the right lane, as a silver, turbocharged Volkswagen Passat station wagon with an exhaust pipe the size of an oil drum blew past me on the left at 120 mph. The "slower-moving" car I had just passed was doing 100 mph and I was travelling at 110, but the whole process went as smoothly as if the three of us had been driving like this for years.
Well, two out of three ain't bad, as I was an American on the best roadway in the world with the best drivers -- the German autobahn.
I've driven in Europe for a total of three months during the past three years, and what a delight! Germans drivers are the best, but the rest of Europe is close behind. Italians are good, but crazy. I remember five motorcyclists on big Ducati road racers passing me as if I were standing still, except I was smoothly motoring along at 110 mph. In Europe, the left lane is the passing lane -- as it is supposed to be in America.
I was amazed at how good the drivers were on European expressways, and how each driver understood his role and followed the rules. I often saw automobiles moving at 100-plus mph, transitioning into the left lane to pass and, after passing, moving back to the right. Why? Because the left lane is for passing only.
As I trundle along Oahu's freeways, I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of understanding about what it means to drive a modern automobile on a modern roadway. Many drivers, nice folks in every way, I'm sure, just don't understand that the primary purpose of driving the H-1 is not to carry on a conversation with their passenger, talk on a cell phone, enjoy a relaxing Sunday drive (except that it's a weekday) or haul furniture for their neighbor -- especially not in the far left lane.
There are a few freeway signs encouraging drivers to move from the passing lane to the right -- "SLOWER CARS MOVE RIGHT" -- but those signs don't work. Why? Two reasons:
>> "Slower cars" never think they are "slower cars."
>> The signs are usually on the right-hand side of the freeway, where the drivers in the left lane can't see them. "Brilliant!" as the English say.
I have a dream -- of the perfect sign, placed every two miles on the left side of the expressway, to encourage drivers to move from the far left lane -- "UNLESS PASSING, MOVE RIGHT."
Driving up the three-lane section of the Pali Highway, many drivers must stay in the far right lane (the bus lane) to move faster than a crawl, because the left (passing) lane is choked with slower-moving vehicles. In fact, the second lane often moves faster than the left lane. Cars in the left and right lanes seem to conspire to block any forward movement.
Today's cars -- American, German, Japanese and others -- are made to drive safely at 80-plus mph. Our freeways are built to handle high speeds. The speed limit in Hawaii is a mind-numbing 55 mph (60 mph along certain sections of H-3). In 1973, the Germans passed a speed-limit law of 100 km/h (60 mph) on the autobahn. They had more accidents with the lower speeds and the law was repealed within four months.
Despite the high speeds, the accident and death rates on the autobahn are relatively low. Autobahn crashes account for only 10 percent of national traffic fatalities. In fact, the fatality rate is lower on the autobahn than on U.S. interstates. Why? Because Europe has knowledgeable, courteous and skilled drivers, an open left lane and strict auto-safety standards.
Let's make sure the left lane is always open, whether for an ambulance, police car, getting a friend to the emergency room or for passing. Most accidents, it seems, are caused by speeders hitting cars or immovable objects when weaving in and out of traffic as they try to find an open route. Providing an open left lane for speeders makes sense to me.
So let's raise the speed limit on Oahu's freeways to 70 mph, ask our police and driving instructors to emphasize proper lane etiquette, post plenty of "Move Right" signs and let's get out of the way of the folks in the left lane who have some place to go, even if it's straight to, well, you know.
Mike Strada lives in Haleiwa.