Message Monday - Camp in the park, not the left lane
Lots of us like to get out into the great outdoors. There’s just something restful about living life under the sun, moon, and stars.
Contrast that to travel on an interstate or four-lane highway. There’s not much that’s leisurely about driving in traffic. You always have to be at your best and pay attention to what’s going on around you. That means keeping an appropriate speed and using the left lane for passing, returning to the right lane as quickly as possible to help keep traffic flowing safely and efficiently.
It’s common knowledge that excessive speed is dangerous. But did you know the opposite is also true? Whenever traffic is moving at uneven speeds, especially if someone in the left lane is going less than the flow of traffic, the potential for crashes increases. Driving slowly in the passing lane is not only a safety issue and frustrating for others, it’s also illegal. Here’s the code section, 321.297.
Yep – you really can get pulled over for going slow in the left lane: https://youtu.be/4oqfodY2Lz0
For 2018, there have been 115 fatalities reported. That’s an increase of three since last Monday. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf