Rules of the Road

Ever since the big storm a few weeks ago there has only been one way in and out of the valley I live in. Normally, there are 3 1/2 routes. I usually take the 1/2 route, which is a back road now blocked by a mudslide and downed power lines. The one road that is open is only two lanes and has regulated speeds through the construction areas so it's at a long commute with lots of time spent just plain stopped.

In the mornings, I take as many back roads as possible to join the procession. By the time I meet the bottleneck there are only about four miles to go until I hit the four-lane open road. Of course, at 7:30 a.m., my average speed for the four miles is about 7 mph, give or take a cut-off or two. Like everyone else in the valley, I can live with it and have adjusted accordingly.

What really gets me is the drive home. For the past few weeks I have been loitering in town - at friends' houses, or shopping, or going to the movies - anything to avoid the two hour, 25 mile, drive home. While I appreciate all the hospitality of my friends, sometimes a gal just wants to get home after work and put her feet up on her own coffee table. So a couple of days last week when I chose to brave the traffic in order to get home in time for Jeopardy I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to cut the usual commute in half by merely following the rules of the road.

It's nine miles from the main highway, 101, to my house. The road into the valley, Highway 33, is four lanes of actual highway for five miles, then reduces down to two lanes for the next four miles. Right where it turns into two lanes is where a lot of the flood damage occurred. That is where the construction zones are and where people begin to drive like idiots. What is it about slowed traffic and road signs that causes people to lose all driving skills? I have seen more accidents in that strip in the past three weeks than I have in the six years I've lived there. It amazes me that people can get into accidents while traveling 4 mph.

Anyhow, up to that point, for about five miles, you have four lanes - two each direction. When I first decided to try to go home at 5:00 last week I headed up the highway. About two miles up I ran into a string of cars basically parked in the left lane, politely waiting their collective turns to enter the bottleneck. These people were chatting on cell phones, singing along to music and sitting fairly patiently. They had accepted their plight. I, on the other hand, had run out of peak minutes for the months and just wanted to get home.

The right lane was wide open and I sat in the left lane for a moment contemplating taking the right lane, wondering why no one else was taking it. I weighed whether it was polite, or proper to take it. I felt a twang of guilt about the other folks waiting so patiently. Then, I took it. I drove in the right lane all the way up to where the lanes merge, obeying all the traffic rules, and then merged in. I was in disbelief that those people would just sit three miles back, stacked up for hours, when there was a completely legal lane to take. Where a moment before I had felt I might be doing something bad by taking the open lane, I soon realized the people waiting were not following the rules of the road and my guilt turned to contempt that those folks opted to sit in line for miles when there was a perfectly legal option available.

For the past few nights I have been doing the same thing. I have noted the same people sitting in their SUVs and sedans in the left lane each day as I whiz past. Perhaps they enjoy the time alone, it's an excuse to sit an think, or listen to music, or chat with an old friend. It may afford them exactly what they need in their busy lives - a little time in first gear. Each day I wonder if they will ever catch on and get home sooner, or if I am the one who hasn't caught on by rushing past.