🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4es7gu$k3i@news1.usa.pipeline.com>, whorning@usa.pipeline.com(Walt Horning) says:

>The reason most states allow passing on the right is because they have 
>to. It is the lessor of two evils. 
> 
>If we had passing on the left only laws (the way it should be) then there 
>would have to be more rigorous enforcement of laws pertaining to 
>"impeding the flow of traffic".  But that flys directly in the face of speed
>limits. 
> 
>In contrast, the USA is practically alone in allowing passing on the right.
>
>In Germany,passing 
>on the left is only allowed, it must be done "expeditiously" so as not to 
>cause bottlenecks and "packs" of vehicles. (The left lane is to pass, 
>not mass.) But this does not fly straight in the face of speed limits, 
>because most sections of the autobahns have no speed limit, only a 
>suggested one.

You are right, but there are other aspects to the problem too.  

Firstly, there is a simplistic (almost oafish) interpretation of speed limits
as limiting speeds, like that of light.  But since cars are not physically
linked to each other and different drivers will never choose an identical
"safe and reasonable" speed, some will always be faster than others.
Unless slower drivers are required to yield promptly to faster ones, irrespective
of posted limits, conflicts are inevitable between irresistible forces (the faster
drivers) and immovable objects (the legalistic slower ones). 

Second, there are many laws for safe superhighway driving (keep right, pass
left, yield promptly, keep safe distance, signal lane changes, etc.) and they form
a hierarchy -- some are more important than others.  But political correctness
denies this difference in importance and treats them the same (actually, it
overturns the hierarchy, but that's another post).

Third, having sown the seeds of trouble, politicians avoid reaping the harvest.
The system will not -- cannot! -- "work" in any meaningful sense of the word
under such conditions, as those who have driven in other advanced motoring
countries readily recognise.  To avoid complete breakdown, overtaking on the
right is allowed as a safety valve.  Like all dishonest quick fixes, this cure
ignores the correct diagnosis and is worse than the disease.

Personal views, of course.

Nitin Kibe