Road Trip Tip #1: Keep Right

[Kent McLean]

Road Trip Tip # 1: Keep Right

(That would be the Left lane for Brits, Aussies, and others
who drive on the left side of the road.)

Just got back from a trip from NC to NH, about 850 miles.
Left NC at 7:30pm, drove through the night (the only time to
drive Rte 95 on the East Coast of the USA, to get by NYC
and Washington DC with a minimum of traffic), arrived in
NH around 10am.

It was about 3:00am, I had just left the Maryland House,  a
rest stop in the median strip of the highway, after having
taken my mandatory 1-hour wee-hours-of-the-morning
power nap.  I accelerated down the on ramp, into the left
lane, and made my way over to the right lane; easy to do
at 3am when there is light traffic.

As I cruised at 10mph (or so :-) over the limit, some Bozo[1]
in the middle lane driving a non-descript compact car (Ford
Contour?) pulled up next to me and stayed there. It bothered
my as it limited my defensive-driving escape routes.  There
was very little traffic on the road, he/she didn't have to sit there.
We drove side by side that way for a mile or two.

Being concerned with the Bozo's positioning, I failed to notice
another car that had come up behind us.  I didn't fail to notice
the bright blue flashing lights that suddenly lit up my car. F---!.
I slowed down and started to pull over into the breakdown lane.
This gave the Bozo enough room to pull over to the right lane.
Which also gave the fine officer enough room to pull over in
front of me, behind the Bozo. :-)  Yes, Johnny Law had his
man... the Bozo who had been crowding me for a few miles.


So, even though we were both driving over the speed limit,
side-by-side, only one of us got the ticket.  Maybe, just maybe,
the Bozo had been speeding, and the cop had identified him/her,
before he/she pulled up next to me. But I don't think so.

I felt badly for the poor guy/gal. But that feeling quickly passed.

Moral of the story: Keep Right.

Kent
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" earning the name "Night Train"

[1] In the US, Bozo is a TV clown, whose bright red hair flares
out to the sides (like Dilbert's manager). His name has come
into the vernacular as a (usually) derogatory term for a person.