Get off my tail! That’s why I’m driving in the slow lane: Roadshow
"Don’t endanger me by riding my tail in the slow lane because you’re frustrated with the fast lane."
Q: I completely agree with your response to David Comney about the fast lane. Slower drivers should always move over and allow faster drivers to pass. That is the safe thing to do and it’s the law in many countries.
But let’s now review slow lane etiquette. A fast driver should not pressure slow drivers when trying to use the slow lane as a passing lane (which happens way too often on Highway 17). If I’m driving the speed limit in the slow lane, leaving space ahead of me in case traffic stops, a fast driver should not ride my tail to try to speed me up so they can pass someone in the fast lane.
I’ve chosen to go the speed limit and am in the slow lane. If there is a road boulder in the fast lane, then that is a fast driver’s problem, not mine. Don’t endanger me by riding my tail in the slow lane because you’re frustrated with the fast lane.
Anna Durante, Aptos
A: You raise some very good points. What do others advise about slow lane etiquette?
Q: I drove half an hour to get to Highway 17 on Bear Creek Road and 17 northbound was backed up all the way at 9:30 a.m. I expected it was an accident, so headed back to Highway 9 to get to work. Later KQED finally said there was tree trimming between Lexington Reservoir and Los Gatos, and traffic was backed all the way up to the summit.
Why in God’s name can’t planned work occur outside of commute hours, namely after 11 a.m.?
And can we get earlier notice of tree trimming, such as on Caltrans’ digital billboards, and KQED? Else, like today, my 45-minute drive to Milpitas ends up costing me 2 hours of drive time.
Craig Curtis, Boulder Creek
A: You’re right that a heads-up would help people plan alternate routes or drive times to avoid or prevent traffic jams as you experienced. Tree trimming is very labor-intensive, requiring several hours of prep, before the trimming, itself, so it does take a long time.
Q: Part of Quito Road was resurfaced and re-striped a few months back, and in some parts, car lanes were made into bike lanes. The lanes are tagged for green striping and intersection painting with white spray paint, but this has not yet been done. This has caused a dangerous situation for bicyclists and pedestrians in some places as cars still turn into the old lanes that are now bike lanes.
Do you know when they will complete the green striping of bike lanes on Quito Road?
Dave Goldberg
A: The striping will be done this month.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.