What drives me crazy? Snails in the left lane

The ICBC FAQ section states that “the rule requires the driver to move out of the left lane even if the driver is driving at the posted speed limit.”

SLt M.X. Déry, Contributor ~

Over the last five years on this coast, I’ve adapted to many aspects of B.C. culture, such as riding my bike year-round and the extortionate cost of living. But the Quebecois driver in me just can’t adapt to B.C. driving and hogging the left lane.

Every time I drive to or from the airport or ferry terminal, I end up behind a conga line of slow drivers doing 70km/h in the left lane of an 80km/h highway, with drivers in the right lane cruising along at nearly the same speed. No one flashes their high beams or honks their horns at the slow driver at the front of the pack, because once that driver exits the highway, the next car keeps the same pace.

It isn’t just one slow driver in the left lane, it is an escargatoire of snails in no hurry and oblivious to the ire they create in the heavy-footed drivers trapped behind them.

When driving through the rest of Canada, if a car is driving faster than the one in the left lane the slower drivers get out of the way without prompting. When driving through Washington State, there are signs directing drivers to pull over and let vehicles pass if there are more than five cars behind them. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I had seen it on my journeys to Seattle, but they actually pull over completely!

In B.C., however, drivers remain in the left lane regardless of the speed they are doing. There has been a push in the last three years to get these road hogs out of the left lane. Despite handing out $167 fines, posting multiple road signs on the highway and an ad campaign, I’m still stuck behind a slow car in the passing lane.

I was driving with a colleague in the passenger seat and she prompted me to go in the left lane. I refused since I wasn’t passing and explained how I had no business in the left lane.

“Oh, when I drive to Nanaimo, I stay in the left lane the whole time,” said my former colleague, who shall remain nameless.

I pointed out the sign on the highway, but that too fell on deaf ears.

“I’ve lived here my whole life. No one follows those signs,” she added with a laugh.

Don’t get me wrong, there are multiple reasons to be in the left lane besides passing, such as to allow traffic to merge, preparing for a left hand turn or passing a stopped official vehicle, the law also only applies when the posted limit is above 80km/h.

In anticipation that you are a member of the escargatoire and you fancy yourself the speed police by putting yourself on cruise control at 80km/h to block faster drivers, think again.

The ICBC FAQ section states that “the rule requires the driver to move out of the left lane even if the driver is driving at the posted speed limit.”

To end this rant on a safety note from someone who grew up in a province that experiences winter in a more extreme way than most of B.C., take the time to defrost your vehicle in the morning and switch to your winter tires.

Winter is coming, and no one wants to clear their car of frost or even mild dew, but how can I trust that you can see me when all your windows are fogged up? Start your car, get out, wipe off the dew or frost, and once done, wait until your cold oil temperature indicator isn’t on.

Then maybe you’ll see my frustrated face more clearly in your rear-view mirror as I wait for you to get out of the way so that I can attempt to speed up to something approaching the speed limit.