Trooper Talk: Distracted driving, left-lane camping rampant in Seattle-area
May 13, 2018, 9:27 AM
Our region seems to have a tremendous problem with distracted driving and left-lane camping.
Left lane camping
On left-lane camping, it’s pretty simple. State law requires that you drive in the right lane unless you are passing on roads with two lanes in the same direction. This does not apply to the HOV lane. One issue that is very common in the Seattle-area is the belief that if you’re driving the speed limit you don’t have to get over. That’s just flat-out wrong.
“That’s for people over the speed limit or under the speed limit,” Washington State Trooper Kyle Yarbrough said. “If you’re not passing another vehicle on a multi-lane roadway, you need to move back over to one of the right-hand lanes to allow people who are traveling faster than you continue on down the road.”
RELATED: Troopers pulled over 13.5k left-lane campers in 2017
And here’s the key: it isn’t your job as a driver to monitor others’ speeds or to slow them to the speed limit.
“It’s law enforcement’s job to police people’s speeding,” Trooper Yarbrough said, “not someone in the left lane.”
Left-lane camping is dangerous. It forces other drivers to make unsafe lane changes. It causes unnecessary congestion, and it can cause accidents, according to the state patrol. Please move right.
Distracted driving
I don’t need to tell you that drivers really don’t seem to care that they can be pulled over for using their phones while behind the wheel. You can’t go very far without seeing another driver violating the law.
I’ll admit that I still check it sometimes while stopped at a signal, which is illegal. I’ll bet you do too. Trooper Yarbrough confirmed that. He sees it all the time. Has anything really changed since the new distracted driving law went into effect last July?
“I think what changed is that people are aware that they can be stopped for using their phone,” Yarbrough said.
However, it’s not really changing behavior.
“Troopers take enforcement every day on people with phone to ear or messing around on whatever social media,” he said.
My son just turned 16. He has grown up with mobile phones. I did not. I can put it down. Many teens can’t.
“You’ve got the rest of your life to send a text,” Yarbrough said. “Driving is for driving. Cars are huge machines. They go fast, and they’re complicated. Driving itself is a divided attention task. You’re checking your speed. You should be checking your mirrors. You don’t need to add another distraction.”
The oddest distracted driving behavior he’s seen so far: drivers taking selfies while heading across the Ship Canal Bridge.
“I would say the Ship Canal Bridge is a nice view of the city and South Lake Union on a nice day, but it’s definitely not for taking a selfie while you’re underway,” Yarbrough said.
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