Your right not to pass may be about to pass

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By D.L. Stewart, Staff Writer 1:03 PM Saturday, February 4, 2012

Apparently concerned that Ohio is falling behind in the production of NASCAR drivers, a state legislator has proposed a bill that would make it illegal to drive anywhere in the immediate vicinity of the legal speed limit.

The bill introduced by state Rep. Ron Maag, R-Lebanon, would make it a misdemeanor to drive in the left-hand lane on Ohio’s highways unless passing slower vehicles.

“Give me one good reason why someone should be driving in that (left) lane and not passing,” he asks. (One good reason, a State Highway Patrol spokeswoman replied, is that enforcing the law would be “almost impossible.”)

Like most law-abiding motorists, I generally drive anywhere from five to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit at all times when there is not a cop car in sight. But, as nearly as I can tell, if the bill passes I’ll have to adjust my driving habits in one of two ways:

A) Increase my speed to 15 miles an hour over the speed limit because there’s a Rusty Wallace wannabe behind me who thinks it’s his or her constitutional right to drive 20 miles an hour over the speed limit and is convinced that “assured clear distance” means not actually making a dent in my rear license plate with his or her front bumper.

Or, B) immediately pull over as legally required into the right-hand lane where I probably will be stuck for the next few miles behind a wheezing motor home driven by Ma or Pa Kettle.

Neither option seems quite fair to me.

But not everyone, I realize, sees much room for debate about this bill. As one reader so eloquently commented online when the story first was reported, “STAY TO THE RIGHT, MORON.”

And when I mentioned my reservations about the bill to my middle son, Leadfoot Stewart, he insisted that I should have my driver’s license taken away and not be permitted to operate any vehicle more powerful than a motorized wheelchair.

To be be fair, I can understand how this bill might work to my advantage, though.

During a recent drive home from Atlanta on I-75, for instance, my GPS reported that I would arrive at my destination at 4:41 p.m. By driving 10 miles an hour over the speed limit, I actually got there at 4:39.

But if I hadn’t been stuck behind some jerk poking along at only 5 miles an hour over the speed limit in the left lane, I might have made it to my destination by 4:38.

Contact D.L. Stewart at  dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.

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