Keep right except to pass

Driving the highways in B.C., it is the law to keep right, let others pass.

The law applies to all motorists on highways with two or more lanes of traffic travelling in the same direction and a posted speed limit of 80 km/h or greater. For example, the highway from West Kelowna to Kelowna.

But, that rule is ignored by many and rarely enforced on this stretch of highway.

In a 2014 TRANBC survey, complaints were catalogued about drivers “hogging” the left lane – despite direction in the Motor Vehicle Act that slow drivers should use the right lane. Slower-moving vehicles travelling in the left lane not only reduce the efficiency of the highway system, they cause driver frustration. This results in aggressive and erratic driving behaviour which is unsafe for everyone.

Anyone driving from Penticton to Vernon, or vice versa, can attest to this fact.

B.C. legislation prohibits driving in the left lane unless a motorist is: overtaking and passing another vehicle;  moving left to allow traffic to merge; preparing for a left hand turn (this does not mean driving 40 km because you are going to turn left down the highway); passing a stopped official vehicle displaying red, blue or yellow flashing lights, such as police cars, ambulances, tow trucks, maintenance or construction vehicles.

It's the law – even here in the Okanagan.

Patrick W. Olenick, West Kelowna