Keep left, except when overtaking

THE EDITOR: Please permit me a few lines which may ultimately end up saving more than a few lives.

I, like many of your readers, traverse our nation's roadways daily and almost without fail there exists one practise which needs immediate change, namely on our nation's highways.

This poor habit, if changed either by the maturity of my fellow readers (fingers crossed) or by the nudge of our law makers, will undoubtedly curb the amount of accidents, reduce traffic and improve the quality and experience of our motorists.

What is this magic cure? Simple: Keep left except when overtaking."

Yes, it's that easy. The road signs are not a recommendation or a piece of advice, if we keep left except when overtaking, many of the challenges we face will no longer be there.

Gone would be the days of having to accelerate beyond the speed limit only for the slow right lane driver to try and "squeeze" when you attempt to overtake.

Gone would be the days of a heavily loaded truck doing 80km on the right lane with miles of empty space in front of him. Gone would be the days of the motorist trying to merge through two to three lanes because his turn off is on the extreme left and he can't drive other than on the extreme right lane.

Gone would be the days of tailgating, extreme lane zig-zagging and the occasional road-raged left lane driver squeezing when he finally merges right.

These are but a few examples of hazards which will be reduced if we obey the law and not have the statistics overwhelm government into more stringent enforcement.

It is my hope that level-minded individuals reading this, will improve their driving habits. Sadly, there are those who won't or probably can't drive any better, and I'm afraid that's where the law makers come in. If the carrot doesn't work the stick has to be implemented.

S.ALI

Penal