Province cracking down on left lane hogs
Posted March 23, 2015 11:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s a pet peeve of many drivers, slow drivers in the fast lane. The province has brought in a new law which is in effect now which allows police officers to give those left lane hogs a ticket but only on BC highways.
Chief Neil Dubord with the BC Association Chiefs of Police says the Coquihalla and the Trans-Canada highway are known for this problem, drivers in the left lane not going the speed limit, creating a hazardous situation sometimes ending in road rage.
“As a result they (drivers) would show their frustration and sometimes it would come out of their driving behaviours which would become erratic and that doesn’t increase safety when people drive erratically…they do things that they wouldn’t normally do when they’re driving on the road and it does cause safety concerns.”
This new legislation says the left lane should only be used for passing, allowing traffic to merge, preparing for a left turn or passing an emergency vehicle.
A ticket, if you get one, will cost you $109 and three points.
Kurtis Strelau with Young Drivers Canada BC he welcomes the new law but feels drivers should co-operate without the legislation, instead it should be common sense.
“I welcome any legislation that is going to reduce carnage on our roads but it just seems to me that there’s ways of just cooperating as drivers rather than having to legislate these things.”
He teaches drivers to go with the flow and get out of the way when necessary.
“When they’re going to slow in the fast lane, it just creates frustration for other drivers and they’ll do unsafe things that’s when it will result in the crashes they’re talking about [in] statistics.”
